Technically, it's Vaisakhi today, but a lot of people are celebrating tomorrow. I'm gonna talk today cos I have the time woopee(!)....
My brother turned around and asked me a pretty innocent question yesterday... 'Why do we celebrate Vaisakhi?' I explained but...I was really shocked....I dunno why, I mean I went on facebook today and more people have written about some punjabi singer's death than vaisakhi...
I talk to my brother about my thoughts and it's 'here we go again'.... What's that about? I'm not trying to force amrit on him nor do I preach and tell him to grow his kes. But a little itihaas surely wont kill him or the rest of the youth who 'yawn' at sikh sakian.
I can't wait til I finish school, I'll finally have the free time on my hands to do some english parchaar in gurughars and school more often. Again it's not about force it's about the fact that but knowledge of who we are gives our youths a sense of identity.
You ask any muslim who Mohammeds first wife was they can tell you it was Khadija, or his daughter was Fatima or he established the city of Medina and they've almost certainly read the Qu'ran once in their lifetime at least. You can ask a hindu who Sita was and they can tell you she was the wife of Raam. If you ask them to recite the Gayatri Mantra and they wouldn't hesitate. But if you ask a sikh who the panj pyare was you'd get silence, get em to tell you the names of all the Guru Ji's and they'd hesitate. if they got the names they wouldn't know the order. Ask them to recite at least the first verse of Sri Jap Ji Sahib and they'd look at you blank....
I may sound a little negative and pessimistic, but sometimes you gotta open your eyes in order to change things. There's no point in walking around with your eyes clothes 'staying positive' and ignoring our problems. That's how things get worse. Which is why I have a lot of respect of Mahaan Sant Jarnail Singh Ji because they woke up a lot of youths and did more for the panth that we could possibly imagine.
It's time the panth woke up and smelt the coffee beans....
4 comments:
But there is a lot to be said for walking around "thinking positive" with our eyes wide open.
Chardi kala is one of the identifying factors of any Khalsa. Often it's very difficult, such as when my family was murdered in Delhi. My own Chardi kala hid from me for a rather long time. Eventually, however, it came back even stronger. Today I am more determined than ever.
We have to keep our spirits high for many reasons, not the least of which so that when the monas and the patits see us, they'll want what we have.
The lack of Sikh education, I think, is appalling. What can we do about it? We can start by teaching within our own families, our siblings (of destiny!), our cousins, our own children, even our parents. Love and enthusiasm are contagious. (Preaching, of course, doesn't work.)
Guru ji has put before us a wonderful banquet, let us eat our fill and invite our loved ones to do the same. One advantage of the Gurbani feast is that it doesn't make us fat!
And never forget that "Vaheguru ji ka khalsa! Vaheguru ji ki fateh!" is much more than a casual greeting. Dig into the meaning; I guarantee it will be a great encouragement.
been a while since my last post... I wish I'd read your comments earlier, maybe it would've post more often haha
Unsolicited advice: post when you have something to say.
And eat your fill of Sikhi; nibbling around the edges just doesn't work.
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