Diwali, also called Deepavali or Deepawali, is the Hindu festival of lights, with variations celebrated in other Indian religions such as Jainism and Sikhism. It symbolises the spiritual victory of Dharma over Adharma, light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance. Diwali is celebrated during the Hindu lunisolar months of Ashvin and Kartika—between around mid-September and mid-November. The celebrations generally last five or six days.
Tandoori chicken is a dish made from chicken marinated in yogurt and spices and roasted in a tandoor, a cylindrical clay oven. The dish is now popular worldwide. The modern form of the dish was popularized by the Moti Mahal restaurant in New Delhi, India in the late 1940s.
During the Second World War (1939–1945), India was a part of the British Empire. British India officially declared war on Nazi Germany in September 1939. India, as a part of the Allied Nations, sent over two and a half million soldiers to fight under British command against the Axis powers. India was also used as the base for American operations in support of China in the China Burma India Theater.
The Dawoodi Bohras are a religious denomination within the Ismā'īlī branch of Shia Islam. They number approximately one million worldwide and have settled in over 40 countries around the world. The majority of the Dawoodi Bohra community resides in India, with sizable congregations in Pakistan, Yemen, East Africa, and the Middle East. They also have a growing presence in Europe, North America, and Australia. The present leader is the 53rd al-Dai al-Mutlaq, Mufaddal Saifuddin who assumed office in January 2014.
Abdul Sattar EdhiNI LPP was a Pakistani humanitarian, philanthropist and ascetic who founded the Edhi Foundation, which runs the world's largest ambulance network, along with homeless shelters, animal shelters, rehabilitation centres, and orphanages across Pakistan.
Nihari is a stew originating in Lucknow, the capital of 18th-century Awadh under the Mughal Empire in the Indian subcontinent. It consists of slow-cooked meat, mainly a shank cut of beef, lamb and mutton, or goat meat, as well as chicken and bone marrow. It is flavoured with long pepper, a relative of black pepper. In Pakistan and Bangladesh, nihari is often served and consumed with naan.
Christianity is the third largest religion in Pakistan and the second largest Abrahamic religion there, making up about 1.37% of the population according to the 2023 Census. Of these, approximately half are Catholic and half Protestant. A small number of Eastern Orthodox Christians, and Oriental Orthodox Christians also live in Pakistan.
Food Yoga International, formally Food For Life Global, is a non-profit vegan food relief organization founded in 1995 to serve as the headquarters for Food Yoga International projects. Food Yoga International has its roots in ISKCON dating back to 1974. It is a completely independent non-profit organization that supports the work of Food Yoga International projects both inside and outside of ISKCON. Its network of 291 affiliates span the globe, with projects occupying over 65 countries. Volunteers provide over 1 million free meals daily. Food Yoga International engages in various sorts of hunger relief, including outreach to the homeless, provision for disadvantaged children throughout India, and provision for victims of natural disasters around the world.
Sindhi cuisine refers to the distinct native cuisine of the Sindhi people from Sindh, Pakistan. Sindhi cuisine has been influenced by Central Asian, Iranian, Mughal food traditions. It is mostly a non-vegetarian cuisine, with even Sindhi Hindus widely accepting of meat consumption. The daily food in most Sindhi households consists of wheat-based flat-bread (Mani) or rice accompanied by two dishes, one gravy and one dry with curd, papad or pickle. Freshwater fish and a wide variety of vegetables are usually used in Sindhi cuisine. Restaurants specializing in Sindhi cuisine are rare, although it is found at truck stops in rural areas of Sindh province, and in a few restaurants in urban Sindh.
Gerrard India Bazaar, also known as Little India, is a commercial South Asian ethnic enclave in the Leslieville neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Caritas Pakistan opened in 1965 and has many years of humanitarian assistance history in Pakistan. It is affiliated with Caritas Internationalis, a Roman Catholic humanitarian organisation and one of the largest networks dedicated to reducing poverty and injustice in the world.
The cultural history of Karachi dates back at least five thousand years to the rise of the Indus Valley Civilization in the third millennium BC. The early culture was mostly predominantly Neolithic, characterised by the widespread use of small tools and semi-precious stones. The numerous megalithic Arab graves found around Karachi suggest significant megalithic activity from the Arabian Peninsula.
Dawat-e-Islami is a Sunni Islamic organization based in Pakistan. It has several Islamic educational institutions around the world.
A suspended meal or pending meal is a meal which people pay for in advance, to be provided to those that request it later. The extra meal that they purchase is suspended; that is, the restaurant will mark down the sum of money and ‘suspend’ the additional meal for the poor. Suspended meals today range from a cup of coffee to a meal set.
Who is Hussain? is a non-profit organisation which promotes awareness about the life and legacy of Husayn ibn Ali and works to constructively serve humanity, primarily through blood donations and shelter provisions. An organisation founded in 2012 by a group from London, England, Who is Hussain seeks to "[let] the world know about an inspirational man who lived fourteen-hundred years ago." Primarily through public advertising, including tube posters on the London Underground, billboards in prominent urban areas and leaflet hand-outs, volunteers refer members of the public to the organisation's website. The organisation's stated vision is "to see a world inspired by the unique personality of Husayn: his actions and his compassion for those around him."
Saylani Welfare International Trust is a non-government organization (NGO) focusing primarily on feeding the poor and homeless. It was established in May 1999 and is headquartered at Bahdurabad, Karachi, Pakistan.
A wall of kindness is a charity work phenomenon and a kind of welfare, usually done by attaching cloth hangers from outside of houses; those encourage people to donate miscellaneous useful things such as winter clothing. It was introduced by an anonymous Iranian, and the practice quickly spread throughout the country. The motto of the movement are two sentences that appear on the walls: "Leave what you don't need" and "Take what you do".
Malabar Gold & Diamonds is an Indian jewellery group headquartered in Kozhikode, Kerala. The company was founded by M. P. Ahammed in 1993. As of May 2023, it owns more than 330 showrooms across 11 countries, making it one of the largest chains of jewellery retailer in the world. The company also owns Malabar Watches, a network of luxury watch boutiques operating across India.
Padmanaban Gopalan is an Indian social entrepreneur who works in the area of waste management, hunger, urban sanitation and development. He hails from Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, and is an ambassador of the Swaccha Bharat Abhiyaan.
No Food Waste (NFW) is a movement turned NGO started by Padmanaban Gopalan and his friends Dinesh manickam and Sudhakar Mohan to get rid of the problem of hunger. The team of No Food Waste scouts for marriage halls, institutions and homes that might have excess food. The food is collected and then repackaged and distributed to the people in need. On an average, 600 plates of food were being provided daily as reported in 2017.
