Dr. Satwinder Kaur Bains, director and founder of the South Asian Studies Institute (SASI), bid goodbye as she retired in August. In an interview with The Cascade, Bains reflected on her experiences at SASI, her hopes for SASI, and what comes next.
“I feel good. And of course, I feel very emotional as well. It’s been my job for 24 years. I’ve been doing this work and it’s hard to let go of something you’ve created, but it’s not in a bad way.”
Despite feeling emotional, she expressed confidence in SASI’s future, and emphasized that she’s leaving it in capable hands.Â
“It’s a very positive feeling that I have amazing staff that work here and really good people I interact with … It’s with real comfort that I leave SASI.”
Under Bains’ direction, SASI completed multiple projects such as the Komagata Maru Exhibit and built meaningful relationships with the community. The Institute grew to be an important stakeholder in communities across B.C., and developing these relationships has been one of SASI’s biggest achievements so far.Â
“[Community has] been long building and embedded in our work. Whenever we make a partnership, we always make sure there’s four or five times that we connect with this person in different ways, not just [during] this one act of the work that we need to do. I think SASI will continue with the good grace of the folks that are here and the [ones] that will come in the future as well.”
Bains further explained why these connections are so crucial to all aspects of SASI.
“When you start building a house you start with one brick at a time. Every connection is a brick that’s allowed us to build this building and this [is] not just the physical building, but the actual heart and soul of SASI.”                                                                            Â
Bains emphasized the importance of keeping track of what SASI has been doing over the years.Â
“I think my biggest success is that we’ve been able to put [our work] down on paper and record them for the future generations.”
For her, meeting new people and exchanging real-life stories was the most gratifying part of her role, as it allowed her to discover a space where her background and lived experiences were not just acknowledged, but genuinely valued.
“To find a place where I feel like I can talk about things without having to explain them, it’s a beautiful thought. It’s a beautiful experience. I’ve been very fortunate to have had this opportunity.”
The constant exchange of stories has also shaped her understanding of the South Asian diaspora and the extended community across B.C.
“There’s more [similarity] in all of us than there is difference, and finding that continued thread of our relationships, I think that’s been a big [lesson] for me; to keep unraveling that ball of thread to say there’s more and there’s more and there’s more.”
Bains values being an agent of change with a forward thinking approach.Â
“While culture and tradition and society gives you the roots of where you are, you can also create new branches, and so for us the evolution of how we understand culture and society to say we are agents of change [is] to keep ourselves open to whatever change is coming our way.”
As Bains passes the torch to Dr. Jatinder Mann, she shares her hopes for SASI under new leadership as well as how she hopes her own tenure will be remembered:
“Hopefully the goodwill and community interactions we’ve created will continue … I want [people] to remember us as an active ingredient at UFV, not a passive, quiet institute but as a very active agent of change.”
Retirement, for Bains, means that there will be more time to relax and enjoy being with her family, but it does not mean she will no longer be working. She may be stepping down as the director of SASI, but she still has a lot on the go.Â
“I still chair two organizations in B.C., so that work will continue. I have a farm, children, [and] a grandchild. I’m gonna enjoy the fruits of our labour … [but] pause is good. [It] gives you new energy, new vigor, [and] new ideas … But I know I do want to continue to be engaged [with] SASI and enjoy the work that they do.”
