Nick Noorani Website

Guidy Mamann for Metro
21 December 2008 08:21
Joseph and Alex have been best friends for many years.
Joseph was born here in Canada. His parents are of Christian-Lebanese descent.
Alex was born in India to traditional Sikh parents who immigrated here when he was just a boy.
Their backgrounds are as different as their personalities. Joe is the consummate professional… cool, calm, organized … and is always sporting an infectious smile. Alex on the other hand has a mind that simply races as if it were in Formula One. His ideas and words flow a mile a minute.
Joe and Alex worked together in a computer company that used to look after my law firm’s computer network. When that company folded, they struck it out on their own as partners. I didn’t hesitate in being amongst the first to give them my business. Since launching Jolera in 2001, the guys grew their venture to become the 49th fastest-growing company in Canada.
As if these two didn’t do absolutely everything together, they both became engaged right at about the same time. I felt honoured to be invited, along with my wife, to Alex’s wedding last Saturday night.

Monica and I arrived at the festivities a bit late since we had to await the conclusion of the Jewish Sabbath. Although Joseph was busy with his duties as master of ceremonies he nonetheless made sure to guard our seats at his table. He and his sisters made every effort to find something kosher for my wife and me to eat.
Sitting next to us was a mixed race couple (he’s black, she’s white) who have been married for about 20 years, much like Monica and I. My wife, who is of Hungarian and Polish parents, spent the night chatting with them and sharing funny stories about the challenges of raising daughters into their teenage years.
The band was tremendous. They played some of my favourites; James Brown, Stevie Wonder and the like. When they put their instruments down, an Indian drummer leapt out in front of the stage beating both sides of the traditional drum hanging from his neck. Immediately, men and boys sporting turbans of every colour exploded onto the dance floor with their hands and wrists held high in a twitching rhythmic manner. I quickly jumped in with both Moroccan feet trying to catch the unfamiliar but beautiful beat of their traditional Indian music.
As for Alex and his beautiful bride, Aman, they just looked so much in love.
Of all the speeches given that night, I remember most that of Alex’s mom. She talked about how she and her husband decided to leave their birthplace, India, to come to Canada, not for their own sake but for that of their children. When I was young, I heard this sentiment from my own parents and more recently from many of my clients over the years.
Alex’s mom recounted that young Alex was embarrassed about her wearing a sari in public when she dropped him off at elementary school. He was afraid that his friends would think that they had just “gotten off the boat.” She said that she was proud that, as an adult, he chose a bride who, although modern, was sufficiently steeped in her own culture to wear a sari for her wedding ceremony.
As an immigration lawyer, I have never viewed my role as a pitchman for Canada. If people choose, on their own, to live here I will simply help them make it happen.
But as I looked at the scene around me I couldn’t help but feel so proud of my adopted country and the peace, joy, harmony, tolerance and prosperity that we have cultivated together in this vast and chilly piece of the planet.
While basking in the warmth of this celebration, I recalled how I spent the weekend before — lighting candles at a memorial in Mississauga commemorating the victims of the recent terrorist attacks, a world away in Mumbai, which claimed more than 160 innocent lives.
While some of our world leaders wage wars to achieve peace, and while others draft lofty accords in hopes of achieving amity, at a banquet room last week in the lower level of the Wyndham Garden Hotel, there was no such struggle.
Wedding guests of every major faith, colour, and ethnicity gathered effortlessly on a peaceful, wintery Canadian night to celebrate the union of two young people in love.
I have no doubt that such scenes play themselves out every day all over this country. We hardly even take notice.
Yet, this is why this country is so great and why so many people simply want to live here.
May we Canadians enjoy this effortless peace during this holiday season, now and for always, and may we stand as a source of inspiration for our friends around the world who simply want to live in peace.
Happy holidays to all.
http://www.metronews.ca/toronto/live/article/158171.