Desh Pardesh Festival Program (1997)
Program for the seventh annual Desh Pardesh festival in Toronto, dated June 11-15, 1997. The program lists the scheduled workshops and events and includes a number of advertisements from festival sponsors.
Ramu by Moses Bhagwan
Moses Bhagwan wrote "Ramu," a moving tribute to an archetypal figure in Guiana's history, the sugar cane cutter carrying his cutlass home from the fields, in 1964. At the time, Bhagwan was a political prisoner in a detention camp run by British colonial authorities. He wrote the poem, another one dedicated to his wife, and another invoking freedom in a notebook given to him by his sister.
Poem, "Ramu" Manuscript
This is the original manuscript for Ramu, composed while Moses Bhagwan was imprisoned by the British for his role as an anti-colonial leader, in the youth wing of the Guiana's People's Progressive Party.
repeat movement until by Nadia Misir
"repeat movement until" was composed by Nadia Misir, who holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Queens College. The poem gives elegaic voice to a wedding ring handed down in a family and evokes its experience with labor, with skin, with surfaces, with temperatures, with grandmothers and granddaughters, with death.
One Last Bag by Elizabeth Jaikaran
"One Last Bag" was composed by Elizabeth Jaikaran, the author of the short story collection Trauma. With its buoyant wit, it levitates what is otherwise heavy: the weight of an overstuffed suitcase and, through the figure of a migrant trying to please her Queens cousin, the weight of family expectations.
Fatima Oral History Interview
Fatima is an Afghan woman who has lived in the U.S. for the last 6 years. She discusses her struggles as a refugee living in Iran where she grew up. She lived in Afghanistan for 10 years before moving to the U.S. She has been very active in speaking out against injustices regarding women's rights, minority rights and human rights in general.
Jabin Ahmed Oral History Interview
Jabin Ahmed talks about what led her to form her organization, Jaago Hudson, and her activities during the pandemic.
Content Warning: sexual violence
In this slideshow, you will see:
A Jaago protest in Hudson.
Farzana Musomi and Jabin Ahmed at a Jaago protest.
An illustration by Jabin Ahmed.
A Jaago protest in Hudson.
Ghanesh Maragh Oral History Interview
Ghanesh Maragh, a hospitality and entertainment professional, discusses his families' origin in India, his faith as a Hindu, and his craft as one of the remaining Nachaniya dancers - a folk dance brought from North India to Jamaica.
In this slideshow, you will see:
Henry Jaghai Oral History Interview
Henry Jaghai, a retired horse breeder & owner, and entrepreneur, discusses his love of horses, tracing his ancestry from India to Jamaica, his record label in Jamaica that produced Indo-Jamaican music, and why his family ultimately moved to the U.S.
Savitri Tolan Oral History Interview
Savitri Tolan, a behavioral therapist, discusses her wedding (which was a fusion of Indo-Jamaican/Indo-Guyanese traditions), her faith as a Hindu, her passion for Bollywood dancing, her family's musical traditions with songbooks and memorization, the annual family reunion, and her desire to preserve Indo-Jamaican traditions to teach her son.