Search the Internet          Tips

A rangoli for Canada's birthday

The world's largest rangoli -- or floor art mosaic -- was made on Sunday by 500 South Asians at Toronto's International Centre to mark Canada's 134th birthday.

Entitled 'Canada -- Home to the World', the 3600 square foot design was a tribute to Canada by the Hindu TRAC (tradition, religion, aspiration and culture). Before this, the largest rangoli was in Malaysia and covered 2,600 square feet.

The occasion was also used to showcase the diverse yet unified communities in Canada through singing, dancing and fashions shows. A South Asian consumer mela was also part of the rangoli feast.

Despite heavy showers and gusty winds, over 100,000 people from all over the country descended on Ottawa to celebrate the occasion. They congregated on Parliament Hill to watch the raising of the Canadian Maple Leaf and a bit of partying.

Many of them had their cheeks painted with the Canadian national flag and Canada written on their foreheads.

"A little bit of fresh water is not bad," quipped Prime Minister Jean Chretien, standing under a red and white umbrella, the colours of the Canadian Maple Leaf.

"The way we have managed to welcome people" from all over the earth is "an example to the world", he continued. But he warned that people should not take their country for granted.

Despite the rain, Governor General Adrienne Clarkson arrived in an open landau as planned. She was, however, protected by two large umbrellas.

South Asians and other ethnic groups were in the forefront of the celebrations. Rasu Ratnam, who immigrated from Sri Lanka 13 years ago, drove with his family from Toronto to Ottawa to join the Parliament Hill bash.

"It is a great feeling to be here," he said, adding that his two daughters, Anitha and Niruba, "are very proud to be Canadian".

An annual front-page news story is the Canada Day parade organised by Indo-Trinidadian couple Roopnarain Singh and his wife in Montreal.

Finance Minister Paul Martin joined this year's parade in an open truck. "I don't know of another country that has the potential and the opportunities that we do," the soaking wet minister said at the end of the parade.

In Quebec City, about 50 people tried to disrupt the Canada Day festivities with a peaceful demonstration, waving large Quebec flags and chanting, "Independence!"

In Toronto, there were two events organised by South Asian groups. One was a two-day South Asian consumer mela and rangoli feast. "Greater Toronto Area alone has become home to people from 160 countries speaking over 90 different languages and their central square is Toronto," said the Toronto Star in an editorial.

The other was organised by the Zafar Sultan Memorial Trust on June 30 in suburban Mississauga. This was attended by a large number of people, including federal, provincial and local politicians and community leaders.

The events featured samples of the traditional music and dances from various regions of Pakistan and India. The proceeds from the ticket sales will go to the poor people in the community, said Haroon Khan, organiser of the festivities.

In Vancouver 134 new Canadians from more than 40 countries, including India, were sworn in as citizens at a special ceremony. Citizenship Judge Peter Oberlander, who administered their oath of allegiance, told them that Canada is a tapestry and each Canadian a thread in that tapestry.

At the end of the parade, Chretien paid homage to his two mentors: prime ministers Lester Pearson (winner of the Nobel Peace Prize) and Pierre Elliott Trudeau who in the mid-1960s opened the country to immigrants from developing countries and is know as the architect of the country's policy of multiculturalism.

Trudeau, who died last fall, was a "man of passion and vision; this giant of our times was moved by the dream of a just society," Chretien said. "And he used the power and example of his high office to ensure that our laws and institutions nurture the array of cultures that give Canadian life its special energy, creativity and flavour."

But there are some differences over Canada's multicultural policy. Montreal-based Indo-Trinidadian author Neil Bissoondath feels that Ottawa "has encouraged Canadians to take multiculturalism to absurd lengths. Why do we need a federal programme to tell us who we are?"

"Are we not all Canadians?" he asks, referring to the accepted practice of describing people from different ethnic groups as hyphenated Canadians: Indo-Canadians, South Asian-Canadians, Chinese-Canadians, as opposed to the mainstream Canadians -- French and English.

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report