Peel Arya Samaj will be offering scholarships to College/University bound students who have contributed to the organization.
By removing financial barriers, we strive to enable high potential individuals to excel and contribute to the Canadian community.
We are pleased to award scholarships in 2019 with a total of $4,000.

Applicant Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible for PAS Scholarship, you must:
• have applied to a Canadian post-secondary institution
• be a full-time Student in high school or secondary institution with a minimum average of 80% from top four subjects including core of Mathematics and English Language.

Conditions for Disbursement
If you are selected to receive the PAS Scholarship, you must meet the following criteria to receive your award:
• Be accepted by Canadian post-secondary institution
• Complete 40+ hours of Voluntary Service within the Samaj.

Application Deadline: August 15,2019.

Please submit your application on the Peel Arya Samaj Scholarship Application Form available from Bahen Molly Balraju, General Secretary, at mollybalraju@yahoo.ca. Incomplete applications will not be accepted.
Successful applicants will be informed by August 31, 2019 and awards will be presented at the PAS Annual Veda Yajna on Sunday September 15, 2019.

Hosted by Seelal Binda & Family at the Devi Mandir, 2590 Brock Road, Pickering from July 14th to July 21st. Puja starts at 5:30 pm and discourses run from 7-9 pm on weekdays. On Sunday July 21st, from 10 am to 12 noon. Officiating is Pandit Laikram Tiwari assisted by Temple Pandits. Goberdhan Puja on Thursday July 18. For more information, contact Seelal Binda at 416-759-0698 ot the temple at 905-686-8434.

Canal #2, Wales and Patentia annual picnic will be held on August 11th from 10 am to 8.30 pm at Milliken Park, Area B, 5555 Steeles Ave E, Scarborough M9L 1S7. Bring your picnic basket and enjoy a fun day with your family meeting old friends and villagers. For more information, contact Jason at 416-498-8506; Townie at 416-283-7639 or Nevil at 416-755-5652.

By Everald Seupaul

Rambharack Maharaj, who founded and operated with success the iconic 1st Trinidad roti shop in Toronto – Ram’s Roti Shop passed away on June 8, 2019 lovingly surrounded by his lifelong wife and companion, Ruby and his five children – Shanti, Kavi, Surry, Vijay and Shoba. He was 86 and lived a full life, with many accomplishments both here in Canada and his native Trinidad.
Mr Ram, as he was affectionately known, was born in Lengua, but grew up in the Bunsee shop area of Debe Village, on the Siparia Erin Main Road, between San Fernando and Penal. He attended the Debe CM (Presbyterian) School; then graduated from the San Fernando Technical Institute with a diploma as a diesel mechanic. Subsequently he built up a successful career in the machine shop at Texaco’s Point a Pierre oil refinery.
As an ambitious man of many talents, he was a founding member of the Debe Village Council, successfully lobbying the various government bodies for additional services in Debe; a passionate and early member of the highly well-known Paragon Sports Club which played cricket and volleyball at high levels in Trinidad’s sports leagues; he put his organizing skills learnt at Texaco in helping in organizing Debe’s annual Krishna Leela’s two-week festival under the spiritual guidance of Pundits Darhee Baba, his uncle and spiritual guru, and Jankie Persad Sharma, the Dharamacharya of Trinidad and Tobago.
Mr. Ram immigrated to Canada in 1964 lured by the vision of providing a more promising future for his family and in particular his children. In Toronto, he quickly found gainful employment as a heavy mechanic, working in equipment installation, repair and maintenance in major infrastructure projects throughout Canada, but in particular in Alberta and the Northwest Territories, bitterly cold and very difficult work environments. Mr. Ram took great pride in saying that in this role he helped to physically build Canada. Within four months he bought his first house in Canada for Ruby and the five kids who joined him shortly after in their new home and country.
While working full-time in his chosen field, Uncle Ram, with admirable help from his wife Ruby, opened Toronto’s first roti shop – Rams’ Roti Shop – in 1967, in a small plaza in Dupont Street. Both Uncle Ram and Ruby learnt the delicate art of making East Indian food, once derided in Trinidad as country food, from their parents and from the Singh, Hassanali, Sheik and Haniff families who sold their food in Bunsee Shop Junction, under Phillip Aqui’s shop. These were the pioneering purveyors of East Indian food in Trinidad and established Debe as the East Indian culinary capital of Trinidad to complement its fame as the place where doubles was invented.
This shop was immensely popular with the Trinidad diaspora here in Toronto and also was widely patronized by other visiting Trinidadians from outside cities. Slowly, but surely, many other entrepreneurs were motivated by Mr. Ram’s success to open up additional shops so that today doubles and roti have become mainstream food among all Canadians. These shops buy goods and services and provide many well-paying jobs thereby making an identifiable, admirable contribution to our economy.
Rams’ Roti Shop was also a social gathering place for many Trinidadians to meet their friends for a roti, drink and to hang out. They came in great numbers to eat his great delicious food and to interact with other Trinidadians and to remind themselves of their roots and culture. Here they felt at home, especially during their early days in Toronto when missing home and family was more keenly felt.
A full page article, with pictures in the commemorative book published by the High Commissioner for Trinidad in Ottawa in 2012 had this to say: “Rams’ Roti Shop was very important in establishing and fostering the entire West Indian community in Toronto. It provided a meeting place and a spot where all Trinidadians could appreciate the delicious food of their native land. The shop also figured prominently in the early days of Caribana, providing food for mas players and organizers and a convenient meeting place for planning meetings in the early years of Caribana.”
In addition to business acumen, Ram also believed in giving back to his community. As one of the early Trinidadians who immigrated to Canada in the mid-60’s, Uncle Ram accommodated many, complete strangers at times, who came to the shop seeking help. In his home and the basement of the roti shop where he prepared a makeshift bedroom, he provided a warm welcome, companionship, lodging, food and invaluable information on transportation, job and educational opportunities, immigration matters and indispensable advice on how to successfully adjust to Canadian life and values. Many times he had to unexpectedly put up and accommodate several of them when they were asked to leave their friends' and families' homes or when they were refused accommodation on their arrival in Toronto from Trinidad. For this help they are all eternally grateful.
Ram was among the founding members of the Prarthana Samaj, one of the earliest religious and cultural Hindu organizations in Toronto and has been recognized for his volunteer work at the Hindu Sabha Temple in Brampton. A deeply religious man, Ram could expound very eruditely on the religious and philosophical tenents of Hinduism.
He was also a talented singer of vintage Indian classical songs sung by CH Atma, Manna Dey, KL Saigal and others. He also played the harmonium, left handed.
His momentous life was celebrated at the Lotus Funeral Home where his final farewells were conducted under Hindu rites before a large and appreciative gathering of family and friends on Friday June 14. He left behind a rich legacy for his wife, five children, 10 grandchildren and eight great grandchildren who all will miss him dearly.

On June 22, 2019 Toronto Tabla Ensemble (TTE) was present at the 17th Annual Independent Music Awards (IMA) ceremony at Symphony Space in Manhattan, NY. The IMAs are an international award program created to recognize self-distributed recordings and releases. Some of the past judges have included Keith Richards, Norah Jones, and Peter Gabriel. At this year’s ceremony, TTE was nominated for awards in the categories of Best World Traditional Song and Best Music Video Performance, winning the former for their song Faceoff.
Led by Artistic Director and Canadian tabla maestro Ritesh Das, TTE is the area’s foremost non-profit charitable organization of its kind. Das’ groundbreaking blend of world music influences — from Japanese Taiko, to Celtic, to Flamenco, to rock n’ roll — with traditional Hindustani instruments and the tabla have been long-lauded for introducing the style to the mainstream public.
Their recent album Bhumika has received international acclaim especially with the release of the music video for Faceoff. The song’s composers Razak Pirani, Shamir Panchal, and Nivethan Vela describe it as “an energetic meeting between Hindustani and Carnatic rhythmic systems”. The song also features San Francisco-based violin player Raaginder Singh Momi, one of the Ensemble’s newest guest artists. The song’s music video, created by Melissa Das-Arp, has won awards at short film festivals across Canada, Europe, and India.
Toronto Tabla Ensemble was nominated for a JUNO Award for their album Firedance, and their compositions have been licensed for numerous commercials and films. TTE created the theme music for CBC Radio’s daily Metro Morning.
For more information, please contact: Toronto Tabla Ensemble at 416-429-0916.

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