New in Toronto

Dear Laky,

I have a cousin who has recently immigrated to Toronto from India and needs to be pointed in the right direction. He's a young, bright and handsome guy.

He arrived to Toronto in October, and unlike me he has lived through both harsh extremes of the weather scale, deathly hot in India and deathly cold in Toronto, so kudos to him. He has found work, is doing well, and has a place to live so there
is no problem there.

The only thing that he is having difficulty with is that he's desperately lonely. He is in Toronto all alone and has no other relatives in North America except for myself (But I'm in San Francisco). The only friends he has made are his roommates who are similarly new to the country.

If it's not too much trouble I was hoping you could give him some ideas or contact information on where he could meet young adults from India or of Indian origin living in Toronto. Perhaps there are some Indian Associations, clubs, groups, organizations, or temple groups that you know of that he can contact or social events that he can attend. If you can help him, I would greatly appreciate it.

New in Toronto

Dear New in Toronto,

I wouldn't feel too bad for your cousin because Toronto is a great place to be and he should have no problems making friends and meeting interesting people. Your cousin seems to have overcome the largest obstacle that many newcomers face, THE WEATHER.

Toronto can be a very warm and friendly place but at the same time it can also be very cold and isolating. The primary place for your cousin to find out what's happening in Toronto is the Mybindi web site. I advise this site because it lists a large arrange of events taking place in the Toronto area, it also lists a huge variety of events that cater to different taste buds. They also provide links to many other interesting sites that may peak his interest. In reality I could type off a lengthy list of places and web sites, but none of them will help if they don't match his interests and hobbies. Your cousin could also subscribe to mybindi and that way he will get e-mails about all their new initiatives and upcoming events. Your cousin can also check at his local church, they often run activities that cater to the younger crowd. I'm not sure whether your cousin likes dancing, but he can also go to the local clubs. Some of them even have DJ's that play Indian music. He can also pick up the Indian newspapers from his local Indian grocery store; they often have advertisements about upcoming events. There are a variety of Indian programs that air on the weekends; they also announce new things happening in the community. I know that the long weekend in May, Canada's Wonderland is having their South Asian Day.

My ultimate advice to your cousin is for him to get out, try different things and go to different places. He won't meet new people if he stays at home. I know that it's a daunting prospect, but there are thousands of friendly and interesting Indians in Toronto and he will make a whole slew of new friends. Pretty soon his social calendar will be so full, he won't even have time for his cousin (joke, lets hope not) A lot depends on what your cousin likes to do, there are always things happening in the South Asian community. I wish your cousin the best of luck and I hope that he makes some lifelong friends.

Laky