North And Windy

    March activities in the library       It was March break for kids and local library organised some sessions for kids. Library is not only for adults but fun for kids too. There’s always something going on for them. For the first time, I have seen libraries occupied and people sitting, reading and working earnestly on their laptops. As a freelancer, I usually dig for a place which offers WiFi, comfy seats and an opportunity for serendipitous encounters. And libraries in Canada provide all three in abundance. They serve as my de facto workspace. I occasionally bring my son here and he joyfully explores kids section while I fire away my reports from my laptop.  In one such encounter, I met a guy from Syria. He shared his experience which was quite unique to Canada.  “I grew up in Syria and was not allowed to read books. My first exposure to non-fiction books was in my college. And I started reading management books. Then I moved to Dubai and I continued readi

It is five minutes to nine in the night. It is dark and temperatures are frigid. Gary is standing outside an apparel store and he has his coffee to give him company. He is waiting for his shift to start. He works part-time with a company which does inventory for retail stores. Most of his shifts are either in the night after store is closed for customers or on the weekends. He is a student in Canada studying in a Brampton college  that’s known as College of Desis (locals from Punjab, Northern India) amongst Indians. As a student in Canada, he can work officially for 20 hours per week. However, in that time frame he does not earn much to cover his expenses that he is loaded with.  He lives in a rented basement in Northern Brampton. He pays about $500 for that basement and has promised the owner to help with some chores. He cleans the snow from driveway during winters. He rakes leaves during fall. And doing such tasks is helping in keeping his rent low. His semester fees are arou

  Canada is an amazing place and it brings its own challenges.   In my quest to understand Canada better, I tend to meet people from different walks of life and try to understand their perspective of Canada. As I am living in Greater Toronto Area, I encounter numerous immigrants regularly. All of them have come from different countries and cultures and they had their fair share of struggles in the past. And many of them continue to face challenges in their new home country. While browsing in a library, I had a chance encounter with a lady from Krygisitan who landed in Canada nearly three years back. In her school, she learned two languages - Kyrgyz and Persian. She never had a chance of forming a complete sentence in English for first 20-odd years of her life. To get away from a place where the government never delivered, never provided basic necessities and never enforced the rule of law, she moved to Canada with her family. However, upon landing here, she faced differ