The Kal Dosanjh founded KidsPlay Foundation, which has become a huge part of the positivity movement in the community especially for young South Asian/Indo-Canadian kids, partnered with like-minded individuals like Raj and Priya Jhajj and organizations for one of their biggest fundraising events for Mental Health, which was held last Friday night in Surrey. Former WWE champion and grappler Jinder Mahal also made an appearance and talked about his accomplishment as the first Desi to win the pro-wrestling world championship as well as his own fight with depression and mental health. And a powerful final account of what mental health and addiction devastation really looks like was delivered by former BC-Liberal and federal Liberal operative Amar “Amby” Randhawa, who gave very honest and heartfelt account of his addiction and mental health breakdown which led to despair and suicide contemplation after he lost everything including his marriage. 

By R. Paul Dhillon – Editor DESIBUZZCanada

SURREY - The Kal Dosanjh founded KidsPlay Foundation, which has become a huge part of the positivity movement in the community especially for young South Asian/Indo-Canadian kids, partnered with like-minded individuals like Raj and Priya Jhajj and organizations for one of their biggest fundraising events for Mental Health, which was held last Friday night in Surrey. 

The Coming Together Gala was hosted by entrepreneur Raj Jhazz and his wife Priya Jhazz at Aria Banquet Hall which brought out a diverse crowd from all walks of life. 

While some of the mover-shakers from the Punjabi community were there but there were a lot of new faces from our community and other diverse communities including the mainstream. 

It was a celebration with the iconic UK Bhangra band Apna Sangeet providing the entertainment albeit very late for which I skipped as I’ve done shows with the band in the 1990s in Vancouver and hung out with them in the UK during my 1992 trip to attend the UK Bhangra Awards and sign Apna Sangeet, Shakti and others for Vancouver shows. 

Former WWE champion and grappler Jinder Mahal also made an appearance and talked about his accomplishment as the first Desi to win the pro-wrestling world championship as well as his own fight with depression and mental health. 

However, the most touching stories about how mental health affects ours and other communities were outlined by KidsPlay head Kiran Toor. She recounted stories of kids and families dealing with mental health and addiction which can have devastating effects on the entire family unit. It was truly gut-wrecking stuff. 

And a powerful final account of what mental health and addiction devastation really looks like was delivered by former BC-Liberal and federal Liberal operative Amar “Amby” Randhawa, who gave very honest and heartfelt account of his addiction and mental health breakdown which led to despair and suicide contemplation after he lost everything including his marriage. 

But against all odds Randhawa triumphed and regained his balance and began his amazing recovery back to sobriety and manageable mental health, learning many life lessons along the way and now helping others find that ray of sunshine from the dark clouds that can destroy the soul. 

I’ve known Amar for a long time and dealt with him as the editor of the various news publications I edited so I know of his downfall well but Thank You Amar for a great comeback story that is truly inspiring and valuable to beating addiction and depression to gain good mental health. 

Overall it was a great night of very good fundraising - in excess of $50,000 - for a very good cause - to beat the 500 pound gorilla of mental health challenges and to help support youth and families for free. Great job by Raj and Priya Jhajj and Kal Dosanjh and Kiran Toor, and their great team to truly do something great for our community!