Canada India Education Society (CIES) is a registered Canadian charity that runs programs both in Canada and in India.
Here on Humanitix, you'll mostly see events about its international literacy project, The Dhahan Prize. The Prize awards $45,000 yearly to the best in new Punjabi fiction. As of 2024, it also awards $6,000 CAD towards the transliteration of the current years' winning books into Gurmukhi or Shahmukhi.
The Dhahan Prize is the richest literary prize among South Asia’s indigenous languages. It receives submissions from authors around the world, including Canada, India, Pakistan, the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia.
The Dhahan Youth Award recognizes 8 Canadian students in British Columbia yearly for their short story writing in Punjabi, which they translate into English. Their works are published in an anthology called Lofty Heights. It is translated into French. An additional two Indigenous youth write stories that Punjabi language students translate into Punjabi. This is a way to build alliances among cultures, and further emphasize a commitment to Truth and Reconciliation as a community organization.
Important: event tickets are not tax deductible and do not receive a tax receipt!