Ariadne’s Notes: On November 22, 1: 30 PM, PST, the World Poetry Café Radio Show had a wonderful interview with great interview about respect and diversity with Pardeep Singh Nagra whose film TIGER is inspired by his true story . the inspiration of the award winning film TIGER, an aspiring boxer who must fight for his religious beliefs after being banned from the sport for refusing to shave his beard. He called to tell us about his fascinating experiences and advice as a human rights activist as well as to promote the film.

LISTEN TO THE SHOW HERE!

 Photo and bio source: https://humanrights.ca/blog/asian-history-month-interview-pardeep.

Pardeep Singh Nagra is a man of many talents. He is the Executive Director of the Sikh Heritage Museum of Canada, located in Mississauga, Ontario; he is also an historian, a researcher, an athlete, a public speaker and a human rights advocate. 

 Host Ariadne writes: “For me the most important aspects of his interview was to “stand up for what you believe in and do something about it.” Have the courage to keep going no matter what negative or even positive aspects happen or how long it takes. Do not give up or sit on the fence. Promote respect and diversity . Use the power of social media to send powerful messages of respect, peace and harmony. Be care what you say or write.”

From comments of those who heard the interview; prejudice, dislike and even hatred are common around the world. They said that his interview gave them hope and the commitment to keep going.

A comment from the authors “Listening to Pradeep was inspiring. His focus and determination to defeat racist attitudes and to work for acceptance and inclusion are so important. Rene DeFazio and Tamara Veitch of The One Great Year Series who were on in the first section of the show and greatly appreciated what Predeep sent this message : “Listening to Pradeep was inspiring. His focus and determination to defeat racist attitudes and to work for acceptance and inclusion are so important. In our fiction we write about characters that reincarnate, in every race, religion and gender. We see a connection between our work and Pradeep’s because he, like us, imagines a world without hatred and separation. Where tolerance is the norm and peace and harmony prevail. We look forward to seeing his movie Tiger and wish him the best in the future.”

Also on the show was a new welcome song from the wonderful Laura Kelsey called I Am a Love Spell http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/love-is-a-spell-single/1442036710  plus an e-poem from Stephen Robert Sutton from England with his new book of poetry.

World Poetry has a new exciting collaboration with a film company from India,  Anhad Films, Delhi based film makers,  They make documentaries, short films as well as videos on issues that are of
concern to their society.

Sania Hashmi

Mohan Kimawat