A little over a month ago, Urban Desi Radio decided to participate in the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention overnight walk in NYC, we asked Jagmeet’s family if we could do it in memory of him, they gave us their blessings – little did we know it would only take us a month to reach our goal. With the help of Dr. Harkesh Sandhu, founder of Sahaita, we were able to do a fundraiser at the San Jose Gurdwara. Slightly over an hour, we raised over 158 dollars, UDR was joined by Dr. Sonie Sandhu, a chiropractor who has a clinic in San Jose. Dr. Sonie also has a radio show she does every Wednesday on Radio CK (formally Geet Radio). She’s been a wonderful supporter  to Urban Desi Radio.  The patrons at the San Jose Gurdwara generously donated whatever they could and wanted to know more about suicide prevention. We had flyers given out in English and Punjabi, hopefully this will create a healthy platform for dialogue and coming together as a community.

Booth at the San Jose Gurdwara 01/30/11

Sonie Clinic is putting together a Chinese New Year Health Celebration February 3rd and 4th, from 10am to 6pm.

- Enjoy traditional Chinese New Year Treats and Music. FREE Chair massage.

- $20 Acupuncture Anti Stress relief treatment. FREE Chiropractic and Acupuncture Consultations

- FREE Wellness Blood pressure check

- FREE Hormone Balance check

Visit Sonie Clinic or call 408-729-1808

Vaishali Rana put together this event in two weeks for CureSonia.org, she brought in Urban Desi artists like Mandeep Sethi, Pree Mayall, Rav E and Mixman Shawn. In the back, AADP Workers (Debbie and the new South Asian coordinator, Vicky) were busy with donor registrations. They easily rounded up 70 new donors! We even got a couple of shots of Mixman, Pree and Diamond Lane Records manager AJ supporting the cause and becoming donors. This was a successful event for CureSonia.org and we can’t wait for the next one! Music is the way to bring people together!

I would say Ringo! Pree plays the Dhol and Ringo played the drums for the Beatles. We just need to get Pree some funky shades and he will be all set to rock. He took a sample of the Beatles smashing hit HELP… check it out!

Help – Sample by PreeMayall

Our friends at the Jakara Movement are putting together a 2 day Social Networking Conference (Sikholars) at California State University East Bay.  It’s geared towards those 25 and older, so if you see something that might sparks your interest, sign up!

Sikholars will be held February 25-27, 2011 at California State University, East Bay. The two day conference, a premier destination for young Sikh professionals to interact and network with peers, creates an open forum surrounding the intersection of Sikh academic research and professional social interaction.

Sikholars allows for attendees to enjoy and engage in interactive research presentations pertaining to Sikh economic, political, health, cultural, and social life. This will be the first conference tailored towards Sikh professionals ages 25+. Based on last year’s reception of the conference, attendees from throughout the US and Canada will be in attendance.

Register Now!

2011 Abstracts

In Memory of Ajeet Singh Matharu

Earlier this year at our first Sikholars 2010: Sikh Graduate Student Conference, young researchers from across North America came to present their work on the Stanford University campus.  Each with their own work; each with their own perspective.  One of the most memorable was Ajeet Singh Matharu.  Ajeet Singh presented his paper “Punjab and Sikh Studies in Historiographical Moments”.  This past summer, he was taken to us far too soon.  At the upcoming Sikholars 2011 we seek to create a proper legacy tribute for Ajeet Singh.  Please feel free to send us suggestions.

Below you will find an ‘In Remembrance’ article about Ajeet Singh by a friend, colleague, and brother.

AFSP Overnight fundraiser In Memory of Jagmeet (Rana) Sidhu

January 30th (Sunday), 12pm

San Jose Gurdwara, 3636 Murillo Avenue
San Jose, CA 95148

Come and meet us at the San Jose Gurdwara, this Sunday, we will be collecting donations, which will be going to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, in memory of Rana. Learn more about AFSP and the programs  they offer to help those who have lost family and friends to suicide and those who have been suicidal/dealing with depression. There will be information in Punjabi and English for you to take home and look over. Special thanks goes out to Dr. Harkesh Sandhu, Sahaita Organization, Dr. Sonie Sandhu and the San Jose Gurdwara for their compassion and understanding to this important cause. And many thanks to those who have promoted the fundraiser all over their social networks and have donated.

Six-year-old Uma has been diagnosed with Bone Marrow failure aka Aplastic Anemia, she has a low blood count and that makes her bruise easily. Uma is more prone to infections and anemia. She’s in need of a bone marrow transplant. Nearly 60% of all bone marrow donations are Caucasians, there’s a need for more South Asians to step up to become marrow donors. In the last couple of months, due to Sonia Rai’s illness, donors of South Asian origin are coming in at a steady pace – but there’s still an urgency for more South Asians to sign up. Uma is currently receiving immunosuppressive therapy, but a bone marrow match is needed to save Uma’s life. This story hits close to home, I can relate to the needle probing and testing little Uma had to go through before being properly diagnosed. I have chronic ITP, where my blood platelets spontaneously becomes low, I was prone to bruising. That’s why when it comes to marrow causes, I make sure all of us at UDR push it to the fullest.

How to help Uma?

Contact a local recruiter by going to bethematch.org or calling 1-800-marrow2

If you are eligible, join the national marrow registry, by giving the promo code: SAVEUMA

Host a drive! Get your school, work, place of worship and community centers involved

Contact

Ms. Indira Menon – (404) 219-4611 or (770) 988-9938 kimus18[@]yahoo.com

Mr. Pramod Kalia -  (404) 219-4638 pkrk5[@]yahoo.com

Process of Bone Marrow Donation

Undergo a mouth swab, you can get a free swab kit from the National Marrow Registry promo code: SAVEUMA

If matched, provide a blood sample

The final process a simple blood donation, no need to worry about missing work or school.

Sullee J, turns a negative into a positive, you can certainly feel his positive energy on our In Memory of Jagmeet Page, where he shared a special poem about suicide. It’s not an easy topic to discuss, but his words on the topic, I believe can save a life. A couple of weeks ago, we played “Weakness of Man” on the Junction. This is the first single to his new album, Vindication, which will spread a positive message among the youth and those striving to make a change. The powerful video (Weakness of Man), which premiered on January 15, 2011 on illVibes-DMV shows the role positivity plays in fighting off corruption, hatred and crime of the world. In the video, Sullee J takes on the role of positivity when he continues to fight for what is right, despite being beaten down, emptied out and tortured.

What makes a good management team? Its when they give the fans a behind the scene look of their artist. It’s always fun to see the making of a music video, if you have had the chance to be in one, you know there’s a lot of waiting around and retakes. It’s a work of art, but these behind the scene videos make it look so easy (for some of us who will never be on a set with Dark MC) get an up close and personal look behind his new single – Jaadu. Download Jaadu

Catch Rafyl Photography on set of WORLD exclusive footage of behind the scenes of the new EP from Dark mc JAADU
Edited by Innov8 Films

Tu Pateya is currently number 8 on the SimplyBhangra Chart show on Urban Desi Radio, we were the first US Desi station debut the track on the Junction,  we can’t get enough of it!

Midland DJs & DJ Anil are proud to present their debut video for the single ‘Tu Pateya’, featuring the electrifying vocals of Daljit Mattu!

The single ‘Tu Pateya’, which is out now on iTunes, comes off the debut album by the duo which is set to release on January 27^th via Limitless Records. The album features a high calibre line up of international stars; Daljit Mattu, Miss Pooja, Jaswinder Daghamia, Lehmber Hussainpuri, Sanjay Dhaliwal, Jaswinder Jassi, Billa Bakshi, & Aasia Sammam. ‘Tu Pateya’, the album, also sees the long awaited return of the legendary Bhangra group Anari Sangeet Party.

The video sees the coming together of a number of different dance & dhol groups all over the UK; including Nachdey Hasdey, Nachda Sansar, Bhangra Heads, Paragon Dhol Academy & the introduction of Midland DJs very own academy of Dhol!

Watch the video now online and on your TV screens!

Midland DJs & DJ Anil – Tu Pateya – The Album – Out 27^th January in stores and via iTunes.

Sundays are usually my favorite days because we get the chart tracks from our sponsor and friends at Simply Bhangra, check out Taqdeer Lucky and Ravi Ball, their song Sunyara is number 10. Listen to the show