Mansoor’s Musings: Time to celebrate Neighbours Day
By Mansoor Ladha on June 17, 2023.
Neighbour Day – June 17 – started in 2014 to recognize the incredible outpouring of support and generosity of neighbours following the 2013 floods. Each year on the third Saturday in June, Calgarians have been celebrating one of the things that makes the city such a great city – a strong and caring communities. On Neighbour Day, it has become customary for Calgarians to invite their neighbours for an afternoon tea or hold a barbecue or a sporing event. Fortunately, I wasn’t a victim of the 2013 floods, but I am grateful for the kindness and generosity of my neighbours who have always been very helpful. In my own small way, as a tribute to my neighbours, I’ll hold a lawn party which started during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 as a recipe to combat isolation and loneliness. Now in its fourth year, the pandemic picnic when neighbours got together with their lawn chairs on a designated driveway to chat, exchange the day’s news, interchange personal information, and discuss politics, with then President Trump obviously providing lots of juicy episodes to talk about. The sessions, which popularly was dubbed the Wine O’clock, became very popular as a therapeutic exercise and recipe to circumvent isolation and boredom during the pandemic. Other residents of our gated complex envied the group, which received several requests to join this outdoor hangout among friends, but membership was restricted to the first 10 people due to space restrictions and health guidelines. This neighbour’s group of retired residents included a former bank executive, a federal civil servant, a journalist, an agriculture expert, a bus driver, an oil company executive and of all the people – a pastor – having between them a wealth of knowledge, experience, and information, totalling several years. They had no shortage of topics; participants would narrate their first experiences whilst living earlier in such places as Ontario, Holland, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan and as far as Africa. They had interesting stories about how their ancestors first came to Canada and the hardships they had encountered when settling in their adopted land. These sittings became educational since they learnt about each other’s culture, ancestry, and heritage. One couple, a third-generation South Asian born in Africa, would describe their lives while living under colonialism and after independence under the African regime and later when they moved to Canada – true stories about brown persons first living in black society and later in a white society. The couple also taught the group several Swahili phrases and in no time, the drinking sessions began with a new salutation – “Afiya” – meaning “to your good health” in Swahili – replacing cheers as a salutation! The gathering became an instantaneous encyclopedia of information on home improvement, plumbing, heating, or other household issues. Two of the members of the group had served for several years on the condo board, providing residents with information on condo bylaws and other rules. Before they realized it, our neighbour’s group became a tightly knit assembly of friends, building loyalty, intimacy, and comradeship between them, supporting each other in happiness and during sadness. When one resident’s father passed away, the group got together and sent flowers, and condolences, participating in the funeral on ZOOM. A list of everyone’s birthdays was prepared, followed by an exchange of birthday cards, and singing of “Happy Birthday” during the Wine O’clock session. Notices have already being served to celebrate Canada Day on July 1 with a barbecue and samosas. On cloudy or rainy days, someone in the group would offer their heated garage for the gathering when participants would order pizza or shawarma. One day, on the recommendation of the South Asian couple, the group ordered shish kabob, butter chicken, rice and naan – an exemplary hands-on and practical approach to practising diversity and multiculturalism. It became a regular eagerly-awaited gathering – a sort of all-season pandemic picnic, distancing themselves and periodically ordering food. When the weather refused to co-operate, their homes were close by. Whether you are in Calgary or anywhere else, it’s time to celebrate Neighbours Day. For most Calgarians, neighbour Day comes once a year but for me, it’s all year round. As a tribute to my good neighbours, I am thankful for their friendship and for being supportive and caring throughout the year. Mansoor Ladha is a Calgary-based writer and author of Memoirs of a Hindi: Fleeing East Africa for the West, Urge to Merge and A Portrait in Pluralism: Aga Khan’s Shia Ismaili Muslims. 12-11
