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The man from Bangladesh who reached for the skies!

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Today marks what would have been Fazlur Rahman Khan’s, a structural engineer who helped design some of America’s most iconic skyscrapers, 88th birthday.  Khan’s most important contribution to modern day skyscrapers is his “trussed tube” system.  Through his firm, Skidmore, Owing & Merrill, Khan’s design was first used in the Hancock building and then again in the iconic Sears Tower (Willis Tower today).  This new system made it cheaper, safer and easier to build tall structures, especially over 40 stories high.  His work shaped the way our cities look today.

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Asha and the “Unorthodox Whales”, Sri Lanka’s First and Only Marine Mammal Researcher

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Asha de Vos has committed her life’s work to saving a subspecies of blue whales that breed, feed and live in the northern Indian ocean.  She calls them “the Unorthodox Whales” for the many different characteristics they have from blue whales, such as their feeding habits in warmer climates, they are about 1.5 foot shorter than other pygmy blue whales, and they don’t necessarily migrate long ranges for breeding.

She is the first and only Sri Lankan to have a Ph.D. in marine-mammal research.  Due to lack of Marine Biology programs in Sri Lanka, she received her undergraduate degree, with honors, in Marine and Environmental Biology at the University of St. Andrews, UK, her graduate degree in Integrative Biosciences at the University of Oxford, UK, and finally her  Ph.D. at the University of Western Australia.

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International Wrestling, Promoting Gender Equality and Shattering Cultural Stereotypes

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Mahavir Singh Phogat and his daughters are an inspiration for South Asians around the world.  Not only do they bring pride to India via wrestling, they are constantly promoting a healthy dialogue on breaking down barriers for women in a, historically, male dominated society.

Mahavir Singh is a renowned athlete who is the recipient of The Dronacharya Award by the Wrestling Federation of India.  He is also known worldwide as an exceptional coach and currently is a senior coach for the Olympics.  He has also coached his own daughters, Geeta and Babita, who took home the gold medal in the Commonwealth Games in 2010 and 2014, respectively. His niece Vinesh who is also a gold medalist was also coached by him.  More than his wrestling, Mahavir is celebrated as a father who fought for the rights of his daughters and showed his community that gender is not a gating factor to achieving your goals.

Born in a small village in India, his actions to coach his daughters in wrestling was not received with support.  In many South Asian countries, especially in rural areas, the role of a woman is perceived to be a homemaker.  Mr. Phogat did not accept this and his message to treat sons and daughters with zero bias between them has spread like wildfire around the globe.  He believes that it was his duty as a father to ask his daughters about their dreams and help them achieve those dreams.

With the help of their father, Geeta and Babita along with their sisters have become role models for young women everywhere.  Geeta is the first Indian female wrestler to qualify for the Rio Olympics.  Recently, their story has been captured in the critically acclaimed Bollywood movie, Dangal, which stars Amir Khan.

The Many Different Religions of South Asia

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To the unaccustomed eye, the medley of 1.7 billion South Asians spanning across six countries may look very similar.  However, many different cultural practices, languages, and even religions make up this region.  Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Jainism are some of the most widely practiced religions in South Asia.

While India and Nepal make up the majority of the Hindu population in South Asia, there exist many beautiful temples and places of worship in widely Islamic countries like Bangladesh and Pakistan.  Similarly, historic mosques, prominent Buddhist and Jain temples, one-of-a-kind Sikh gurdwaras, and amazing churches exist across all countries in South Asia.

 Katas Raj Temple in Pakistan

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June 30th… India’s Independence Day?

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As over one billion Indian’s celebrate India’s freedom from British rule on August 15th, we can’t help but think about how one man’s personal moment of glory dictated the date that will forever be a part of a nation’s history.  The last viceroy of India, Louis Mountbatten originally declared that transfer of power by June 30th, 1948.  However, realizing that a declaration of independence that far out would likely yield revolt and bloodshed, leaving little to no power for transfer, Lord Mountbatten moved the date up to August 15th, 1947.   When asked why the date was chosen, his response was that he knew he had to choose a date in August or September, but then chose August 15th as it aligned to the date Japan surrendered to the allies in 1945.  Coincidentally, during that time he was the Supreme Allied Commander of South-East Asia Command.

Eleven days before returning independence to India, Lord Mountbatten works with his advisors to divide India peaceably. New Delhi, India, August 4th, 1947. (David Douglas Duncan)

The Congress Party led by Jawaharlal Nehru had declared January 26th as India’s independence day and people continued to celebrate this day until the official independence from British rule. After August 15th, 1947, the process to adopt a constitution began and was put into place January 26th, 1950, celebrated as Republic Day.

Click here to learn more about India’s government system.

Nepal’s Wunderkind at the Rio 2016 Games

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This year at the Olympics, Nepal is proud to have Gaurika Singh on their team.  Gaurika is the youngest member of the national team at only 13 years old.  Not only is she the youngest on the team, but she is the youngest participant in the Olympics.  She brings the spotlight to Nepal despite leaving the country with her family at the age of  two.  Singh currently resides in London and attends the prestigious Haberdashers’ Aske’s School for Girls and will enter the ninth grade after returning home.

She is a survivor of the devastating earthquake that hit Nepal last year.  Nearly 9,000 people were killed in one of the worst natural disasters for the country and Singh was lucky enough to have survived even though she was in a five-store building at the time the earthquake hit.


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Learn more about how Vibrant South Asian started

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Vibrant South Asian was inspired by the idea of breaking down stereotypes associated with South Asian countries by educating our community about positive attributes of the region. We recognized that many people in our community were enthusiastic to learn about these countries but needed guidance and resources.
While connecting our community to South Asia was important to us, we also wanted to do something to give back to the vibrant region of South Asia. Filled with rich cultures and traditions, this region is also home to areas of extreme poverty.  We decided we wanted to do something to improve access to education.  It seemed fitting that we would focus on educating our community about South Asia while enabling the people of that region to obtain an education that could improve their lives.  We contemplated various ways of improving access to education and eventually decided to focus our efforts on building libraries in impoverished areas of the countries.

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Sri Dalada Maligawa or Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic in Sri Lanka 

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The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic is a Buddhist temple in the sacred city of Kandy, Sri Lanka. It is located in the royal palace complex of the former Kingdom of Kandy, which houses the relic of the tooth of the Buddha. Since ancient times, the relic has played an important role in local politics because it is believed that whoever holds the relic holds the governance of the country. Kandy was the last capital of the Sri Lankan kings and is a World Heritage Site mainly due to the temple.

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Bidya Devi Bhandari, the first female President of Nepal

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As of 2015, Nepal has welcomed their first female President.  Bidya Devi Bhandari, the wife of popular communist leader Madan Bhandari, took office last year taking Nepal’s communist movement to a new level.  Bhandari is a native of the village of Bhojpur and prior to winning her position in office, she held the position of Defense Minister and as Vice Chair of the All Nepal Women Association.  The 54-year-old is the second President of Nepal after Ram Baran Yadav once the country abolished the monarchy.

pg-26-nepal-getty

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Hello, Namaste, Namaskar, Vanakkam, Sat Srī Akāl… The Many Languages of India!

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India has 23 constitutionally recognized official languages but Hindi and English are the official languages used by the Central Government.  The Indian Constitution (Article 343) declares Hindi to be the official language of India.  The eighth schedule of the Constitution of India lists 22 regional languages, giving them official status.

The people of India speak in about 780 different languages and write in 86 different scripts. Hindi is the native language of about 20% of the Indian population and is most widely spoken in northern parts of India including the states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttaranchal, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh.