IN CONVERSATION WITH ANJUM CHOUDHRY NAYYAR – By Manasi Joseph

Anjum Choudhry Nayyar is the founder of Masalamommas.com, an online magazine for moms and moms-to-be with South Asian roots.Her news stories on breast cancer misconceptions in the South Asian community and multilingual emergency services at EMS have won her several accolades.In an interview with The Weekly Asian Connections, Anjumtalks about her brainchild, her incredible journey as a journalist, and Diwali celebrations.

1. What is Masalamommas.com?
2. com is one of the first online magazines for moms with a South Asian connection. It’s a platform for moms and moms-to-be with South Asian roots looking to find ways to balance cultural expectations and motherhood. We cover everything from apps, books to teach kids a South Asian language to parenting in a mixed marriage or blended family. Sections include, culture, tech, reads, recipes, fashion, education and several columnists covering stepmothering, fertility, nutrition, in-laws, and a celebrity columnist, Sitara Hewitt, who shares her tips on holistic living.
3. What motivated you to launch Masalamommas.com?
4. I found that when I first became a mom, I was having a lot of conversations with in-laws and family about traditions, our roles in celebrating holidays, parenting as a first generation Canadian and also having conversations about how to give my kids an identity that is meaningful and would help them be proud of who they are. I couldn’t find a lot of resources online or in print for that matter that encouraged open conversation on this topic in an honest way with other moms like me weighing in. I started tweeting my questions about culture and parenting over twitter and was amazed to find so many women like me chiming in with their challenges and successes from across the world. I no longer felt alone as a new mom with this new network. So as a journalist who loves to share stories and idea, it really inpsired me to put a platform together that would embrace our culture from the vast South Asian diaspora that we as Canadians come from.
5. Why you chose this name?
6. I chose this name because Masala, means ‘spice’ a mixture, which to me represents the South Asian community today. We’re not just Punjabi, Muslim, Bengali, etc. We are stepmothers, single moms, working moms, stay at home moms, living in mixed marriages, but we also come from a variety of cultural and religious backgrounds. It was important for me to have a diverse South Asian voice on the site to reflect our diverse backgrounds.
7. What is Diwali to you?
8. Diwali to me is a celebration of family, generations and the traditions learned over generations. In my home growing up my mom would put diyas up all over our home and tell us stories about the history and meaning of Diwali. Every celebration was done at home because as immigrants they didn’t have access to temples and community centres the same way we do today. So culture began in the home and I always valued my time being connected during Diwali with Diwaliparties atfriends’ homes as well.
9. What do you like most about Diwali?
10. The opportunity to come together as a family, one big family with cousins or inlaws. Definitely the mathai is the best. Most of our traditional pedas and ladoos, and milk cake is now available at Loblaws and the Real Canadian Superstore so I love that I can get all my shopping done there as a mom on the go! I personally love jalebi and chocolate most. I also love the fact that everyone celebrates Diwali a little bit differently depending on the region you come from or the generational traditions that have been passed along to you.
11. How Masalamommas.com is celebrating Diwali 2015?
12. We have a series of posts on DIYs for diwali, top picks for home décor and meal ideas. We’ll share our favourite ways to put a centre piece together, feature easy to get clay diyas from Loblaws.  Plus we’ll be having a twitter chat with PataksCanada on November 10^th to share other ways to celebrate meals.