I was mindlessly watching the m
ind-numbing local news of Los Angeles (it’s usually either a shooting or a car chase), and I did a double take. On my TV, there was a group of Sikhs parading on the streets in front of the Staple Center and a shot of Mayor Villaraigosa in a blue turban.[Google image has not been able to help me on this one, but trust.]
“What makes L.A. so special is that we come here from every corner of the Earth to participate in the American dream,” [Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa] said during a prayer service at the Los Angeles Convention Center, part of a celebration for Baisakhi Day, the India-based religion’s annual holiday of renewal and rebirth…Organizers said that as many as 15,000 Sikhs from throughout Southern California attended the daylong event, which included music, free food and a colorful parade through downtown.[link]
Busy weekend. Not only was it Sri Lankan New Year, Bangladeshi Bengali New Year, Thai New Year (with water fights), Easter, the Los Angeles SM Meetup, but it was Baisakhi Day as well.
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L.A.’s Blue Turbaned Mayor |
Baisakhi Day, which historically marks the year’s first harvest, commemorates a principal guru’s directive in 1699 that Sikhs “become protectors of the human spirit.” [link]The Sadh Sangat of Sikh Dharma held its first celebration of Baisakhi in Los Angeles in April, 1970…Since the late 1980s, the Sikh Dharma Baisakhi Celebration has been held at the vast Los Angeles Convention Center, in collaboration with a network of Southern California Gurdwaras…This year’s Baisakhi theme is “We are the Khalsa – A Legacy of Service.”… To highlight that standard, this year Golden Temple Cereals, a socially and environmentally responsible company founded by Yogi Bhajan, will be making a presentation to the Los Angeles Mayor’s office on behalf of the entire Sikh Community of Southern California, and donating a truckload of Peace Cereals to the Los Angeles Food Bank. [link]
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p>Yum, Peace Cereal. And a peaceful post 9/11 message at the parade to go with it…
“In the post-9/11 environment, the turban has gotten a lot of negative associations because of the images we’ve seen,” said Ek Ong Kaar Kaur Khalsa, a spokeswoman for Sikh Dharma International, one of the event’s sponsors… “The Sikh turban, from a values perspective, is synonymous with the core Bill of Rights.” [link]
Whatever your holiday of choice was this weekend, I hope it went well-!
It just gets darker and darker PJF. We have enough problems both internally and externally, life is hard enough balancing the need for constructive engagement and internal criticism with wariness because of a sometimes misunderstanding world and the fear and conservatism this engenders amongst us (especially post 9/11), without this kind of murkiness, my friend. I am sorry to say that I am beginning to feel that you are not sincere. And that makes me sad, because it does not help anyone, least of all the Sikh women that your heart bleeds for. Please say it is not true, Pearl Jam Fan.
Well Sandy kaur the list of sikh women my heart bleeds for includes my 7 year old daughter Angela kaur.
I have only child so alot of people of my background ask me when I will have a son, cause my life would be empty without a son,and I till them that there would be nothing wrong if I don’t have a son.
PJF
I always had the impression that you were rather younger than a guy with a seven year old daughter. You made reference to your musical tastes and being teased about them once, I think.
OK….and? Good for you. But what does this add to things, other than state the obvious, that there is a deeply ingrained preference for boys amongst lots of Punjabi people? Are you suggesting that you need to remind me of this? I know it, I devote my life to addressing this issue in as positive way I can (and also amongst the broader South Asian community)
anyone who buys into the women are afforded more rights in the sikh religion, please contact me – i have the golden gate bridge for sale. while it may be proscribed as such in the granth sahib, in practice nothing could be farther from the truth. my sister works for a domestic abuse center in the bay area. majority of the victims who walk through the doors of her org are sikh women. and most of the times from the educated/upper middle class category, to my surprise. anyone who has been to punjab can tell you about the condition there. i will relate one fact here – punjab has a very high rate of female foetus abortion.
We have asked you questions that did not involve attacks but instead of answering, you post random comments and random links. Obviously, if you can’t respond like an adult, then we will suspect that you are a troll. Had you responded to any of my questions (or Sandy’s or Dhaavak’s), we could have had an intelligent discussion here. Collectively, we have asked you about your relationship with the religion of Sikhism, why you do not get involved with changing backward ideas, why you posted that random link to an article written in 2000, etc, etc.
Thanks for that NotPC – the dissapointing level of sexism and inequality amongst Sikhs is not being contested here – so you can keep the Golden Gate Bridge 😉
Sonia I’m of a sikh background but I’m not very religous person. If you read my posts most of the time I’m talking about punjabi culture and not sikhism, other then few posts about Khalistan idiots.
Sandy kaur I was 15 years old in 91 when Pearl jam made it big so I’m 30 now. However I have since I’ve aged well I don’t feel like I’m 30. Funny If I said the same thing as Notpc would you have acted the same.
You welcome, Sandy. Ever in the market for a bridge, do call. Aside:since you seem like a person wo doesn’t shy away from an intelligent discussion, don’t you think that you, given the context, should prompt a discussion on the rampant dicrimination against women prevalent in the macho punjabi/sikh culture. honor killings, for gods sake? I beleive that people who may be lulled by the noble teachings of the gurus should be made aware of the real conditions, lest they think all is hunky dory.
I just want to say something else. Not neccessarily to PJF, because I always give people the benefit of the doubt.
Obviously I wish to maintain a certain level of anonymity here but I do have academic and personal experience in the field of social work and activism both in London and in the Midlands. I have also been involved in some of the consultative process between the Home Office and various Asian womens groups at a local level in dealing with issues of abuse and forced marriage.
One of the problems we face across all communities is a hyper-defensiveness from both men and women regarding issues of culture and especially religion. We need to ensure that when criticism is made it is done accurately and forcefully, especially in a social climate in which nerves are frayed and religious groups feel threatened and under attack. We have to do this in the face of active hostility – but we also have to do it with complete integrity to make sure that when we have to address regressive social issues in the guise of religion, or in some way protected by conservative elements, we have to make sure we do it with complete integrity.
That is why some things irk me. We don’t need help from people who agendas that play on entire groups or religions and use these issues as a stick to be reductive and make essentialising attacks. It is damn annoying because our work is hard enough as it is without that.
Notpc talked about the punjab abortion rate of female fetus. It’s sad to say but I know of several couples who have done this in Vancouver, and something must be done this. I hope that the 3 of us, Sandy kaur, Sonia and myself could put aside our disagrements and find a way to solve this problem.
One more thing Sonia, since you were from the bay area, were you at all a San Jose Sharks fan. They are the hottest team in hockey and my pick to win the stanley cup. Go Sharks!!!
notPC
I am sure you are well prepared to lead such a discussion – you seem itching to do so.
Thanks for responding to PearlJamFan’s comments with compassion, dhavaak. I just have a couple of things to add:
I don’t think PJF is a troll – I think he is actually cares about his community, is frustrated with what he sees in Vancouver and this is coming across really badly on these boards. I felt that his writing, communication/discussion skills certianly could use a little brushing up – not a crime – and certainly something that can change. PJF, I think you make a valid point in addressing problems rather than hiding them under the rug. But, you ARE really coming across as being negative – that doesn’t mean that you are necessarily all doom & gloom, but I can see how it is annoying alot of people here. It could be that you just aren’t communicating your ideas in a proactive way. First, address the problems where relevant, and then be willing to suggest possible solutions. Second, if the topic isn’t relevant and you are concerned about a particular issue, consider submitting a news story in the news tab. These boards aren’t for rants, they are for discussion. Third, there’s definitely alot you can do in and for your community, as dhavaak suggested.
Also, I wanted to say that let’s leave the depression diagnoses to professional psychologists and psychiatrists. There are MANY symptoms on the check list that are impossible to verify without any information about PJF. I consider it hurtful to diagnose someone, thereby labelling them, on a public forum such as this, even if you think you are being compassionate/understanding in doing so.
metric ang
I too wish to believe that. As I say, I always like to give people the benefit of the doubt. I was also speaking from concern because I too have gone through phases in which my issues with aspects of community life contribute to negative feelings (and actually see this happen often across the board in my working life too).
You are right Metric Ang, I’m very frustrated at what I see in the Vancouver punjabi community. I know sometimes I go to far. But I just want to get people talking, so we can fix these problems. It just bothers me when see these problems in my community but not in other desi communites.
I see them in other desi communities every day PJF.
If it was just based on this thread, I would not have suspected PJF of being a troll. But when I see that nearly every thread he comments on includes putting down the Punjabi community, I obviously begin to wonder. Anyways, I’m off to the gym so I’ll reply to PJF directly later on.
“It just bothers me when see these problems in my community but not in other desi communites.”
These problems (sexism, regressive thinking) exist in other communities as well – we’ve learned about the Pakistani community in the U.K., and various other communities. The reasons for these are multi-dimensional. You can help by opening up the communication. What are the causes of the problem(s)? What are the solutions? And more importantly, how are you going to communicate your ideas and solutions?
I know that you are fixated on the issues and they bother you, and that’s probably why you comment on them in this and many other postings – because you feel you have some firsthand knowledge and background to be able to assert yourself. However, you’ve got to start thinking about some of the suggestions I outlined in the last paragraph. I see you’ve already taken a step in the right direction. I’m sure some of the others here who share the same faith and culture can offer some guidance and suggestion.
ps.
PJF
I wanted to add that the problems you have talked about are rampant in many communities. You are just exposed to the problems more because you’re right THERE in the middle of a huge punjabi populaition. That doesn’t mean it’s not an issue – but just be assured that the issues you speak of also exist in other South Asian communities – I can vouch for that, having lived across Canada, and visiting the U.S. as well.
One of the main problems is people who come from India to live in places like England, Canada and United States is number of people like them. If the number is small the chance it people will get exposed into culture of the new country. However if they have large number of people of there backgrounds they are more likely to keep there vaule system of there homeland which does not fit into western ways of thinking. In the punjabi community this is more of problem in Canada and England then it is in the United States.
Before I moved to Vancouver 4 years ago, I spent the 1st 26 years of my life in area with about 25 indian familes[most punjabi] in area of close to 100,000 people. So I did not have much punjabi culture in my life before I moved to Vancouver.
I just think multiculturism does not work any more. It’s not healthy for country to have many people of different ways of thinking to live together. Newcomers must accept that they no living in there homeland and there way of doing thinks well work here.
A perfect example is of muslims in europe and compare them to muslims in the united states.
Metric ang when I was talking about problems in other desi communities, I was talking about only other indians and not other south asian like pakistan, sri lanka or bangadelash.
For example of you never seen gurjati gangs, parsee gangs or kerela gangs or south indian gangs.
Sandy – Now, now, no need to be sarcastic. The second class treatment of women in the sikh culture is an urgent social matter, which needs to to be addressed by people such as you and I. And if anybody is qualified to lead this discussion, it is you. After all you have the academic and field experience in social matters.
Notpc it’s punjabi culture and not sikh culture.
PealJamFan – Within the Punjabi [not including Muslim Punjabis] culture, discrimination against women is definitely more extreme amongst Sikhs.
notPC
On the coal face of working for battered women we often come across those who use these issues as opportunities to smear and denigrate entire religions and religious groups.
For example, with the current tensions over Islam, we face on a daily basis, the insidious blow back of Hindu fascist organisations in London who use the malaise of domestic violence and other social crimes against Pakistani girls and women in order to attack Muslims as a whole.
They have a sly and varied agenda, and they make life more difficult for us and our efforts. I have very little respect for these people, because they really have no love or concern for the women we seek to help, and like hyenas, seek to turn tragedies into their personal communalist assault. As a woman who works on the coal face, on the front line, and sees how Islam is actually a source of comfort for many of the women who seek our help, and work actively to liberate Pakistani and Bengali women from oppressive circumstances, I will always listen to the reformist voices of Muslim women themselves, but will respectfully allow those from outside that community, whose motivations I doubt, to extemporise at length to their hearts content, and will concentrate myself on helping vulnerable women, Muslim, Sikh and Hindu to escape their personal circumstances.
You will understand that I will not engage in discussion with people and over matters that are extraneous to the frontline work I do on these issues. And I also feel confident that you will respect this too, as the gentleman and respectful individual that I am sure you are. You will also understand why chomping at the bit outsiders with essentialising theorems are not people whom I myself personally choose to engage with on these matters. You will appreciate the dynamics of it and will also understand why I do not want to get bogged down in this discussion. I am sure of it, because you are an untelligent man.
I trust that you will not be aggressive in your response if you take this post in an unfortunate way or erroneously take it as a personal slight against yourself. That would be most unsympathetic and sad – I would not wish you to misunderstand, it would upset me so much if you did.
regards
A typo:
.
Should read:
And I sense that you are, notPC, a very sensitive and high specimen of manhood.
When my husband was at NYU, there was a gang called the Malayalee Hit Squad. I just want you to know that things happen outside of Vancouver and you need to stop basing all of your points of view on where you live. Obviously, you have the most understanding of the situation there, but you cannot speak for the entire Punjabi community. Obviously, there were (and probably still are) non-Punjabi, Indian gangs, just as there are battered women who are Hindu, Christian, Muslim, etc.
Every community has its flaws – stop whining and start fixing!
I completely agree. It also has to do with profession. Those who entered the corporate world obviously had to create relationships with people outside of their community. They would not be able to grow in their job if they didn’t. So these people learn about other cultures and therefore also learn to assimilate (in a healthy way). However, assimilation is much harder for those who chose professions where they had no interaction with other communities. They still believe India is the same as when they left it decades ago and that’s the culture they impose on their children. There’s no arguing that.
However, we are the next generation and this blog is all about South Asians (for the most part) who are trying to balance two cultures. I’m sure that your daughter will be raised to know that she is an equal and has all the rights that a man does. I hope that you’ll teach her the good aspects of Sikhism and Punjabi culture (like bhangra!!), instead of focusing on the negative.
We face opposition from many different fronts – the patriarchal conservatives of all the religious groups we deal with, often to the extent of receiving death threats from anonymous sources, we are actively engaged in criticising entrenched attitudes effectively and accurately when needed, and to add to the mix, communalists with their own agendas also seek to sectarianise the issues we face everyday. One thing we have learnt is that you have to believe in Asian sisterhood to function in this world, without prejudice, and with so many hurdles in our way, so much opposition, atavism, silence, conservatism and denial, we must also resist being used as tools of battery against vulnerable groups and engaging in rhetoric that is counter-productive to our only concern – the safety of those women who need our help.
I should of course add and make clear that the mischievousness of communalists adds to the defensive barriers constructed by individuals and communities and in practise contributes to the atmospherics of denial and silence and often translate into part of the panoply of methods available to brow beat women inside families or relationships facing abuse by either (a) genuinely or (b) cynically making their escape (both mental and physical) more difficult. Hyenas is absolutely the correct description of such men (and it is always men)
I agree with Metric Ang. There is no need to pathologize the fellow and label him clinically depressed. Sheesh! Yes it was out of place in a celebretory thread. But PJF strikes me as a guy who cares about his fellow Punjabis. If he does turn out to be a troll I’ll eat my words 🙂
Other gangs?
The references to Edison and Jersey city imply that these are Gujju gangs b/c that area is so heavily Gujarati. The Midwood and Jackson heights gangs are Pakistani, although I don’t know if they are Punjabi Pakistani. And now that I’ve told you about the “Malayalee Hit Squad” you know why I always speak to Vinod and Anna with only the utmost respeck.
PJF – of course, living in Vancouver, the only desi gangs you see are Punjabi, Vancouver is heavily Punjabi. Travel to areas with more mixed populations and you’ll see different gangs.
i second it. in my case, i will bite words though :).
from ennis #81, maybe it is time we all took a look at what is happening in terms of gang culture. these things should be nipped in the bud before they become violent—the same article ennis quotes mentions that the new gangs are not yet hard criminal. we all (punjabi/non punjabi) have enough other troubles to get mired in one more.
happy belated baiskahi all!
y–o–u… h-a-v-e … a … h-h-h-u…
-choke-
my life is over.
-raises back of hand to forehead –
from this day…
-voice sinking to a trembling whisper-
from this day, …
-drops to a knee-
no color shall adorn the form of this shell of a man
-puts palm of other hand flat on ground –
no more shall the birds go tweet tweet in this world
-sinks so that the breast is pressed agaisnt the mezzanine with a faint smell of pinesol-
and the pucker of a three week old grease pit shall forever adorn this brow
-sob-
O Sonia! this baisakhi holds promise no more.
-lies crushed-
I am really excited that the Mayor participated in this. The LA Sikhs have been doing a lot of really awesome things over the past few years, and it’s nice to see positive, celebratory, consciousness-raising community events. Not so sure how I feel about the Yogi Bhajan cereal, but that has more to do with Yogi Bhajan than with cereal.
Ok, I have more than a few things to say about these comments about “backwards Sikh/Punjabi culture.” First and foremost these are two different cultures. Are most Sikhs also Punjabi? Yes. Are most Punjabis Sikh? Not necessarily. These are two different communities with two different cultural norms that sometimes reinforce or contrast one another. One is cultural, and the other is religious. So please don’t conflate the two. It is unsurprising that we do not see people practicing full gender equality in Sikh communities and in Punjabi communities. Please, open your eyes and take a look around you – women of ALL colors and ALL religions do not live lives of equality under the current patriarchy. Some violence towards women is more overt, and some is more insidious. Painting one group more “backwards” than another is a narrow and shallow analysis of the complexities of issues around gender, violence, and power dynamics in a broader context.
Basically, everyone has ish. To pretend that the Punjabi community is intrinsically more ridiculous is like the pot calling the kettle dirty bottom. Further, it just plays into stereotypes about Punjabis. And to top it off, the Sikh community gets ENOUGH crap just for existing. It would be great if people devoted their energy towards living lives devoted to increasing equality on all levels for all people, and if they matched this with working diligently to improving the lives of people within our communities. I think it’s important to recognize that no community is perfect or ideal, and it’s also important to recognize the drastic issues and concerns facing our folks (e.g. domestic violence, high rates of son-preference in family planning). But for Pete’s sake, stop complaining and being all cynical, and do something about it.
ha .. ha .. ha .. very funny =)
wait a minute…guru nnak quote about the equality the woman has in the faith –
From woman man is born, within woman, man is conceived, to a woman he is engaged and married. Woman becomes his friend, through woman, the future generations exist. When his woman dies, he seeks another woman; to woman he is bound. So why call her bad? From her, kings are born. From a woman, woman is born, Without woman there would be no one at all. (Guru Granth Sahib, 473) it is not the faith that rpomotes sexism, but society. and if you don’t like it, don’t add to it by more hatred, that gets us nowhere. work to change the ideas.
and i too go thru similar problems, becaus ei cannot bear children, but it’s not the faith’s fault, it’s society. just because you sikhs who don’t give women equal place does not mean the faith is bad. it’s those people’s thinking, and society. in soceity, we are made to think we need to bear chidlren, or need to bear males, and it’s not so. we are willed as we are willed. but alas, we must also work with it, and not sit and hate ourselves and our culture for it, because it’s not the faith’s fault, it’s people’s thinking, and believe you me, those archaic views are shared by many cultures. so you must do somthing positive about it.
ok…that was my 2 cents. and i will always be greatful to and for my sikh family. i’ve had better treatment from them than i have from others. i know this isn’t always the case for all, but bad happens everywhere. and we must deal with it.
let us remmeber the last stanza of desiderata…
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.
and in that same veign, as much as people are horrid, there is still much good to be had amongst it. strive to see this and work to get rid of the bad. we make our own trouble, our own horridness. and we can rid oursleves of it as well.
wjkk, whjkf…..
glad you said it…
PearlJamFan has been called a “troll,” his negativity has been attributed to depression and his initial post–which shows the obvious difference between where the two sides of this argument live–has been entirely dismissed. But why?
PearlJamFan’s life experience isn’t like yours and frankly, where most of you live doesn’t compare to where he is and therefore, shouting “Happy Baisakhi!” just doesn’t work. He’s not an academic nor a social activist, just someone who wants people to pay attention to a very depressed and rapidly degenerating situation in the community. But as far as I can tell, the overwhelming response he’s received has been to ‘shut up,’ or ‘lighten up’…
… Which is unfortunate because he was pointing out a very disturbing aspect of the B.C. Baisakhi and all of you ignored that. Likewise, a few days ago, Abhi posted about the gangs & violence in B.C. and some of the more vocal voices here didn’t choose to participate in that discussion. So, my guess is PearlJamFan keeps bringing this stuff up because he believes people don’t care about it and he wants that to change.
Ultimately, I don’t know if PearlJamFan is the best guy to speak for what’s going on in B.C., he’s only lived there four years. However, his sentiments are shared by many people in B.C. and the Northwest and therefore, regardless of academic and field credentials, I don’t think anyone here is in a position to dismiss what he’s saying. Similarly, it’s ridiculous to chide him for saying things out of context as many posts on SM go off track and people have no complaint. In the end, if you don’t like what he has to say, just ignore it because it’s a bit silly to spend so many posts telling a guy to shut up without ever really addressing his point.
I have only lived in the vancouver area for 4 years but I lived my who life in the province of British Columbia in the area of Castlegar and Nelson, Britsh Columbia.
And if I have any reason for suffering from depression its has nothing to do with the punjabi issues. It would be cause I’m a Chicago Cubs fans. They haven’t won the World Series in 98 years, but this is gonna be the year.
let it be known that i simply said happy baisakhi for simple reasons, not to be snarky or anything. how do you know that other havn’t had equally as rough lives. not to play down any one’s person’s life, but everyone has their story, and it’s how they choose to use it. – to help others, or to just just try to beat the bat.
well, golly, why not help us all work to stop these things, and change those apsects instead of ading to the compliants of what we’re doing wrong?! we need inspiration too sometimes.
point being, if you wnat soemthing cnaged, don’t sit and complain, help others to find a way to improve soemthing, because you’re not improving anything.
Same here. In quality, the cereal is second only to Ezekiel.
I’m glad Taz found a pic of Villaraigosa in a pagri. Made my night 😉
dogday
You misrepresent what people like Sonia and Sandy Kaur have been saying, I think. Seeing as they are both community activists themselves, I would say that their opinions hold a certain weight. If you did read what they said carefully, you wouldnt have made this statement:
Because this is exactly what they have been addressing.
This thread has taken an interesting course while I’ve been away, it seems…..
Just to re-iterate what Pattie Kaur, Sonia, Sandy Kaur and Camille have been saying (and indeed what PJF himself later mentioned), there is a difference between the Sikh religion and Punjabi culture. The two are not synonymous or interchangeable. Not all Sikhs are Punjabi (although most are) and by no means are all Punjabis Sikhs (huge numbers are not). There is therefore no such thing as “Sikh culture”.
Sikhism does indeed emphasise the fundamental equality between men and women along with female rights (not just in the scriptures of the Guru Granth Sahib but also in the overall religious framework implemented and encouraged by the Sikh Gurus), even though unfortunately this hasn’t always implemented by numerous Sikhs during the 300 years since Guru Gobind Singh passed away, due to the prevailing social/regional/cultural environment and of course basic human failings.
But again, this is an attitude prevalent within South Asians of all backgrounds and is not something unique or specific to the Sikh community. It happens because they’re South Asian, and due to some of the negative cultural influences and mores of the subcontinent, not because they’re Sikhs or Punjabis.
Anyway, let me take this opportunity to wish everyone a Happy Vaisakhi. Waheguruji Ka Khalsa, Waheguruji Ki Fateh.
Hmm .. then you should try reading a little more carefully. It’s actually PJF who has been avoiding every question we have raised by throwing more negativity in, in each of his comments. We’re trying to help him by getting him to do something in his community, by providing examples of how we have changed things. However, he has chosen to ignore everything helpful we have said and instead just focus on the negative. Our point was never to tell him to shut up or lighten up, but more so to get up and do something. We all realize the problems and none of us are saying that they’re not there – but we, for some crazy reason, think it’s better to try to fix them than constantly wallow in them. PJF keeps lamenting over how he wants us to have the same rights as Sikh men – well he needs to get out there and do things for Sikh women then. If we can stand up for ourselves and have no problem believing that we are equal to any Sikh man, he should not have to spend all his time “worrying” for us and our future. Your buddy needs to be more active in the real world rather than in the internet world, where he finds negative aspects of the Punjabi community (from 5 years ago) based on me telling him where I gew up.
Wow, a sense of humor finally comes out from behind all that negativity!!
I’ve been following this discussion and one or more individuals have been using multiple aliases to make their arguments. It is okay to use an alias or multiple aliases on our website but not multiple aliases pretending to be different people on the SAME THREAD. You know who you are and I will ask you to refrain from this in the future or I will step in. We will add this to our comment policy. Thank you.
My 1st post in this topic was about the Khalistan groups trying to turn biasakhi into a event to promote there own agenda. I wished some time could have been spent on that topic.
Just got this in an e-mail and thought I’d share – some amazing pictures from Vaisakhi celebrations in Southall
well put, jai. and sonia, thanks sharing for those pics!
Sandy, For some reason you have drawn this conclusion that I am an intelligent man. Whatever gave you that idea? I kid, i kid. If anything, I consider myself a NotPC man – aka, Not politically correct. I believe that is what is needed desperately in our [Sikhi, of which I too am an adherent]faith. Instead of wasting ink, talking about what the Hindus are doing to shame everyone else, which quite frankly is a pattern of all religions. [It is not as if us Sikhs are the nicest people walking this planet.] Why don’t we cleanse our faith of the ills, which seem to be growing by leaps and bounds. p.s. I am really amazed that you being a Sikh woman are not interested in discussing the suffering faced by your and my sisters day in and day out.