About Page | 100yearjourney

Behind the Scenes

Storytelling has been fundamental to the lives of the Vigs, and it was this passion that motivated them to launch Mehfil Magazine in 1993 — the first full-colour, South Asian lifestyle magazine in the country.

Since then, this passion has unfolded into many issues of the magazine, namely with the introduction of a "Reflections" section on the back pages of Mehfil, highlighting the pioneer stories in our community. Ultimately, with the approach of the 100th anniversary of the Komagata Maru incident in 2014, Rupa became the catalyst for the 100 Year Journey Project to advance the conversation about the South Asian community towards one of contribution and achievement in Canada. Rupa continues to engage with members of the community, mapping networks and forging new relationships in the pursuit of enriching our collective knowledge. Rupa’s passion for our families and our stories has resulted in her uncovering many linkages and unknown facts about our history in this country.

Rana has over 30 years of business experience, helping launch multiple ventures in private industry. He has been involved in several publicly traded companies since 2010, serving first as an executive at an industry-leading trading company and then of an award-winning automated marketing solutions company that powered loyalty programs across 39 countries for brands like AT&T, Sprint, Telus and Envision Financial. In 2018, Rana became chief executive officer of Lead Ventures Inc., overseeing the acquisition and $5-billion-plus reverse takeover of Curaleaf Holdings Inc., which raised $520-million, making it the largest Canadian cannabis financing in history.

Rana’s forays as a serial entrepreneur have spanned publishing, direct marketing, Today, Rana continues his work in the capital markets as a management consultant and CEO, helping take private companies public in the Canadian public markets. In his free time, he helps Rupa with the 100 Year Journey Project.

Over the years, the Vigs philanthropic initiatives have ranged from chairing the Surrey Memorial Hospital’s first South Fraser fundraising committee, to sparking fundraising initiatives at BC Children’s Hospital and then the Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation. Most recently, the creation of a $100,000 endowment for journalism students at Kwantlen Polytechnic University.

Origins at Mehfil Magazine

Mehfil Magazine was the first full colour South Asian glossy magazine of its kind in Canada. The idea was simply to produce a periodical that would not only showcase the community to its own, but also provide a tool and a bridge to foster better cross-cultural harmony and understanding. The word "Mehfil" means "a gathering". During its run, Mehfil Magazine featured the South Asian community’s leading business men and women, writers, artists, social workers, law enforcement, politicians and students. It also tackled some of the South Asian community’s toughest social and political issues, including the Air India bombing, sexual abuse, arranged marriages, health concerns such as diabetes, the plight of seniors, as well as the cultural challenges of a new generation trying to integrate.