Under the glow of white patio lights, amidst a swirl of friendly faces, Indian music playing in the background, over 300 of Toronto’s Jewish and Indian young professionals gathered last Thursday evening at Tryst Nightclub on Peter Street, to experience BINDAAS – an artistic and inspirational event celebrating a fusion of Indian and Jewish music, food, art and dance.
The word, “bindaas”, Hindi slang for “cool” or “it’s all good”, best described this spectacular event, organized and sponsored by The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), SizeDoesntMatter.com and Hillel of Greater Toronto, in partnership with 16 other organizations from Toronto’s Indian and Jewish communities.
Catering to all the senses, guests attending BINDAAS were welcomed with a line-up of savoury Indian and Jewish foods. Vegetarian pakoras, samosas served with spicy mango dip and mini pita falafel sandwiches floated about the room, and an assortment of colourful Indian sweets, honey cake and halva followed. Henna tattoos were a big hit, and it was worth the wait to have one of Vaishali Shah’s (Shagun Henna Designs, vaishalivms@yahoo.com) beautiful creations. The excitement continued with a mesmerizing classical Indian dance performance, called Katahk, performed by husband and wife team, Hemand and Vaishali Panwar of the Panwar Dance Academy.
The highlight of the evening’s entertainment was internationally acclaimed Israeli composer, producer and performer, Shye Ben Tzur and his four Indian bandmates, the Rajashthan Gypsies. Ben Tzur, formerly part of the rock band, Sword of Damocles, moved to India for more than a decade and learned Qawwali, a form of Sufi devotional music. With two albums to his name, Ben Tzur has created his own unique Qawwali music, infused with Hebrew verses, as well as other unique compositions and Hebrew poetry. Ben Tzur played to a captivated audience whodanced and moved to his exotic music.
The idea for BINDAAS first surfaced only a few months ago when Shirin Ezekiel- Hayat, Associate Executive Director and Director of Israeli Programming for Hillel of Greater Toronto, whose parents emigrated from India to Israel in the 60’s, had always wanted to do something with Toronto’s Jewish Indian community. When she was approached by the Ashkenaz Festival about possibly having Shye Ben Tzur play at a joint event, after making his North American debut at the Ashkenaz Festival, Ezekiel-Hayat immediately contacted Dan Haddad, Assistant Director, Special Projects, CIJA and Founder of SizeDoesn’tMatter.com, who was equally excited to help launch an event that would highlight the rich cultures of both India and Israel.
Having an Israeli-Indian fusion theme was well received in the Indian and Jewish communities, and ultimately, it was this vested interest on both sides of the table that made this networking mixer such a success. Cineplex Entertainment’s CEO, Jacob Ellis, an Indian Jew from Calcutta, was the first to express an interest in becoming an event sponsor. Some of the other BINDAAS partners who later signed on were RogersTV, Panorama India, an Indo-Canadian umbrella organization, the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce, The Consulate General of Israel, Impact Toronto, UJA Federation of Greater Toronto and RANA, The Rajasthan Association of North America.
Always seeking opportunities to reach out to other communities and showcase Israeli art and music, Haddad saw BINDAAS as the perfect way to connect the Toronto Indian and Jewish young professionals, an effort, which he plans to nurture and grow with other non-Jewish communities in the future.
“I think the Jewish community is in a certain bubble and we think that there’s not that much interest from the non- Jewish community out there, but the reality is at the end of the day we are all curious and want to learn about each other’s culture.” Haddad said.
Sarina Rehal, CIJA Assistant Director, Community Relations at the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, whose family background is Sikh, saw BINDAAS as a natural fit between the two young groups. She spoke of the similarities of both being immigrant groups in Toronto, also noting the warm diplomatic relations that exists between India and Israel with strong partnerships in the areas of agriculture, technology and tourism.
Rehal knows that investing in events like BINDAAS and creating a positive platform to connect and make new friendships, “often leads to collaboration on more critical issues that may arise later in time .”
Director of the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce and the Chamber’s Young Professionals Committee, Avi Goel, VP at Blair Franklin and Asset Management Inc., thought that working with the other partners on BINDAAS was a great opportunity to learn about Israel and make new connections. He believes that BINDAAS will definitely be the first of many more joint programs, knowing that the two groups had such a positive time together.
Yogesh K. Sharma, President of the Rajasthan Foundation of North America , also was confident that after such an extraordinary event, these young Indian and Jewish people will hopefully form a community of their own and “join hands in other future initiatives,” a sentiment shared by co-organizers Sarina Rehal (CIJA) and Dan Haddad (CIJA, SizeDoesntMatter.com), and Shirin Ezekiel-Hayat (Hillel).
Rehal was ecstatic about the overwhelming turnout and commented on the exceptional commitment from the sponsorship partners and their young leadership. “ The sponsors have been partners in planning every aspect of this event, and that speaks volumes to the connection between the two communities.”
To learn more about the BINDAAS event visit www.sizedoesntmatter.com.
> This article by Rena Godfrey appeared in The Canadian Jewish News, September 2012.