The earliest memories that London-based Pakistani journalist Saima Mir had of her family were anecdotes her grandmother shared with her. These stories helped her put the pieces of her ancestry together and gave her a fair idea about the family's origin before and after Partition.
Another source which she relied on like most Asians, were black and white family photos tucked away in albums — her parents' wedding day, early photos of their time in England and her childhood. Unfortunately, photographs and memories fade away with time. And she felt this most keenly when her grandmother developed Alzheimer's disease and started losing the memories she treasured so much. That's when Saima felt the urge to preserve the history of Asians, who like her family had migrated to different parts of the world. And thus, www.whosthedaadi.com was founded by Saima and another partner Alex Street, whom she met through social media.
This is a social ancestry website dedicated to South Asians and helps them connect with each other and discover their past. "Indians and Pakistanis have a shared history. My father tells me stories of the Sikh friends he left behind during Partition and never saw again. There are many such stories — families that have lost touch and friends that have parted ways. And this website will help them," says Saima.
Alex,
incidentally, works as a games developer, and it was the challenge of
this project that attracted him to it. "The aim is to create a
completely searchable database of 100,000 names which will go live soon.
We plan to be the world's largest single source of ancestry data for
South Asians. And it will be based on social data provided by our
users," says Alex. A n d t h at 's wh at m a ke s whosthedaadi.com
different from other ancestry websites. It will be especially useful for
those with few records. "It's a struggle to get birth and death records
of parents or grandparents if they were born in India before the 1940s
and 1950s as there was nothing written officially in most cases or
papers were lost. So, the only way to preserve these are through
user-generated information ," Saima adds.
Although, the website was initially aimed at connecting British Asians, it has received tremendous response globally. "About 40% of the total traffic is from the UK, while Pakistan, India and the US deliver another 10% each. The remainder is split across Asia and parts of East Africa in places like Kenya, Singapore, UAE and Saudi Arabia. What's fascinating is the fragmented distribution of South Asians and how relevant this issue is for them" says Alex. With most families connecting via Facebook, Skype and other forms of social networking to speak to relatives abroad, it seemed natural for both Alex and Saima that it should play a huge part in Daadi. The website allows users to create their own family trees, database of birth and death records and family photos which can be shared.
Arfah Farooq, a student from London heard about the website on Twitter where the site received support. "I've always wanted to make my own family tree, and hopefully this website will help me find my lost relatives," she says. As a second generation British-born Bangladeshi, her family was among millions of people with South Asian roots who settled in the UK. Some migrated for work with the East India Company , and after World War II, to work as labourers and factory workers in other countries. Others migrated from East Africa during the 70s and 80s to escape persecution. And then, there are the more recent arrivals of students , bankers, businessmen and restaurateurs who came to London to join their family.
Although, the website was initially aimed at connecting British Asians, it has received tremendous response globally. "About 40% of the total traffic is from the UK, while Pakistan, India and the US deliver another 10% each. The remainder is split across Asia and parts of East Africa in places like Kenya, Singapore, UAE and Saudi Arabia. What's fascinating is the fragmented distribution of South Asians and how relevant this issue is for them" says Alex. With most families connecting via Facebook, Skype and other forms of social networking to speak to relatives abroad, it seemed natural for both Alex and Saima that it should play a huge part in Daadi. The website allows users to create their own family trees, database of birth and death records and family photos which can be shared.
Arfah Farooq, a student from London heard about the website on Twitter where the site received support. "I've always wanted to make my own family tree, and hopefully this website will help me find my lost relatives," she says. As a second generation British-born Bangladeshi, her family was among millions of people with South Asian roots who settled in the UK. Some migrated for work with the East India Company , and after World War II, to work as labourers and factory workers in other countries. Others migrated from East Africa during the 70s and 80s to escape persecution. And then, there are the more recent arrivals of students , bankers, businessmen and restaurateurs who came to London to join their family.
Free photo sharing and family tree building tools - social ancestry for South Asians
whosheDaadi is the brainchild of Saima Mir and Alex Street. Brought together by serendipity and the magic of social media, these two want to change your world.
Saima Mir, Founder
whostheDaadi is the brainchild of Saima Mir, for all press, media, data policy and investment enquiries please contact Saima. In addition to founding whostheDaadi,
Saima Mir is also an award-winning multi-media journalist. She has
worked for the BBC, and currently freelances for a number of
organisations including The Guardian and The Times. Saima is also
involved with the Jinnah Awards & Brit Writers.
Alex Street, Founder
Alex built the whostheDaadi platform, for all technical, investment and webmaster enquiries please contact Alex. As well as being a technical and strategic lead for whostheDaadi,
Alex has also worked as a management consultant and as digital planner
for a games development company. Alex is also a keen climber,
mountaineer and founder of MountainFilms.
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