Sathya Achia: Hi. My name is Sathya Achia. My first name Sathya is pronounced sat-ya. My last name is Achia. My name Sathya means truth and comes from Sanskrit, which is an ancient South Asian Indian language. I was born in a small Canadian town early on a snowy morning. My paternal grandparents were visiting from India and were here for my big arrival.

In our tradition, a baby is named 40 days after they are born in a special name ceremony. My grandmother, who I called Dai, was a strong, compassionate and determined woman. She was the one who chose my name for she believed in the strength and power of a girl. In ancient Indian text, sathya or truth is considered essential, and without it, the universe and reality falls apart or cannot function.