The Villager

So whenever we felt a tad homesick, especially during festivals such as Diwali, the Hindu New Year, we'd go to Gerrard Street, eat a lot of sweet goodies and buy sparklers for the kids (as it's traditionally done in India) to connect with those memories.

But soon, South Asians don't have to venture downtown.

A businessman has decided to tear down his building and plans to build a huge 250,000-square-feet, three-storey shopping mall geared toward the growing South Asian community in Toronto.

"When built, it will be North America's largest South Asian mall," said David Lam, owner of Tai Foong International Ltd.

Lam, who has been in Canada for 25 years, said the area where his current company is, at McNicoll Avenue and Markham Road in Scarborough, will soon be demolished to accommodate the new mall named The Sitara, or The star.

The new mall will house 500 retail shops, a huge banquet and convention centre, a two-storey atrium for pop concerts, several patios and a 1,000-car park facility. "It's like Gerrard Street but in a larger, more bigger fashion," he said.

The work will start in December and it will be at least two years until it will be fully operational.

Figures from Immigration Canada reveal that South Asians form a larger portion of immigration then even the Chinese. Emigration from India accounts for 12 per cent of all immigrants to Canada.

And while the mall is being built, Gerrard will still reign as the place for everything South Asian. Its popularity can be gauged from the fact that at the recent South Asian festival, almost 100,000 visitors couldn't get enough of Bollywood music, butter chicken and Bhangra dances.