Sikh Youth and Expression: Inquilab and Lahir
On December 2nd and 3rd, Sikh youth will have the opportunity to participate in a special workshop that will allow them to learn the power of expression and how it can be used to create change in their life and communities. Inquilab: Raising our Voices, organized by The Sikh Coalition and Slumgods, will bring together hip-hop artists, Mandeep Sethi and Selena Dhillon, to work with South Asian youth as a way of encouraging their engagement with expression. Through this participation, youth can learn how to effectively use art to inspire positive change within their own communities.
Following the workshop this weekend is Lahir – an event that aims to inspire, educate and awaken the community to rebuild the panth and encourage youth to become activists. The concert will provide a much-needed platform for powerful Sikh artists to express themselves through music, art, film, and poetry. Some more information from the organizers:
In past years, Lahir’s central theme focused on 1984 and Punjab. This year, Lahir 2011 will be “Bringing Sikhi Back”. Ten years post 9/11, it’s time to stand up as individuals and as a community to begin to shape the next ten years. Join us for an evening of spoken work, music, poetry and the arts to reflect and reenergize to ensure a future of chardi kala! This year, all proceeds will go to the Saanjh Sikh Youth Scholarship. We need strong voices in our community and we need diverse voices to help us educate others and ourselves about the historical, political, social, and economic issues that affect our community. Therefore, this event is not just for us, but for our future.
Inquilab will take place on December 2nd and 3rd 2011 at South Asian Youth Action Inc | 5405 Seabury St, Elmhurst, NY.
Lahir will take place on December 3rd 2011 at Rutgers University
We encourage you to learn more about these events, and if you are in the area – please attend and let us know how it goes!
51 Responses to “Sikh Youth and Expression: Inquilab and Lahir”
i am so happy becuse i am sikh.and part of sikh kom
CORRUPTION uncovered and revealed: http://members.beforeitsnews.com/story/1448/936/C…
As a longtime contributor to the Sikh Coalition, it is horrible that my hard-earned money is going to promote rappers. It is the SIKH culture they should celebrating not this other stuff that promotes violence and baggy pants. They can have organize dastaar-bandhees for the YOUTH. Why are they wasting my money? THIS IS NOT WHY I HAVE SENT MY CHECKS!
Sikhi and hip hop are not mutually exclusive. Far from it. And to say hip hop promotes violence is not at all rooted in the reality of hip hop culture, and certainly not a talented artist like Mandeep Sethi, who addresses themes of injustice in India/Punjab, and Sikhi in his music. Hiphop is poetry. This is a great way for young Sikhs growing up in the US who face bullying and harassment and bigotry every day to channel their anger and frustration into something productive RATHER than violence. I think you are greatly misunderstanding these events.
The problem with this type of event is not the event it self rather the outcome it produces. It produces supporters of Sikhism who are willing to give money, show up on Sunday to the Gurudwara and participate in local camps etc. because these people have gained some what of a sense of belonging to a community but he/she will never be the next Shaheed of Sikhism. Rather we are producing generations of people who will have a common belief "God is on Sunday", and threatening the future of Sikhi to be distorted.
I;m disappointed to read your comment. Why would you not support programs that relate to Sikh youth? The more we are encouraged to express ourselves and not keep things built up inside of us, the better we are able to be confident in our identity. Why can't we have expression workshops AND dastaar bandhees?
As an Englandian I do find these constant Sikhi / Hip hop hybrid events in North America very difficult to understand. Things are very different here. The south Asian youth here are every bit as into things like hip hop ragga etc as their cousins in north america but here, to join a 'Sikh' event they have to leave that stuff at the door and open their minds and souls to things like simran, kirtan etc. I mean I myself grew up on old skool reggae but I would never have dreamed of letting absorbing it into my Sikhi. The two just don't mix. Not here anyway. Here, thesikh yoots dem are a bit more politically active and lively. They wouldn't tolerate such an event. 200 amritdhari youths would turn up at the event and forcefully put a stop to it.
Its a hip hop night…..plain and simple. Why do the organisers have to pretend there's a sikhi theme to it ?
It's too bad you don't realize that you do incorporate raggae into your Sikhi. We don't live life in neat little compartments, but rather our lives are like a messy thali after a delicious langar. Depending what you take from being a Sikh, be it values, community, rituals, or a path to consciousness, it's interwoven with the rest of your existence and the footprint you leave on this planet during your time here.
Growing up in the heart of Queens and the Bronx, these youth are surrounded by hip hop music and culture. It's the music they listen to and the language they speak. If you want to positively influence youth, you need to speak their language. You need to connect with them at their level. You need to arm them with tools to fight back in their surroundings.
Hip hop is not the violence and drugs we see on MTV or in rap videos. At the root of Hip Hop is knowledge. Knowledge of self, knowledge of one's surroundings and knowledge of the oppression taking place around us. This is strikingly similar to the type of knowledge the guru's requested of their panth.
What has 'growing up in the heart of Queens and the Bronx' got to do with anything ? I grew up in London listening to the reggae all around me , to a father (also born in London) who grew up on jamaican ska. But neither of us felt our sikhi was so lacking that we needed to bring our reggae into it. Neither of us felt we couldn't identify with gurbani until we brought the sound of drum 'n bass into it. We also grew up on the poetry of Leonard Cohen and Dylan. But neither of us felt our Guru's words were so lacking and boring that we needed to bring our popular culture of the day poetry into our sikhi. Neither of us felt the Sikhi our gurus had given us made us so short of confidence that we desparately needed to incorporate a bit of tupac in order to express ourselves sikhi wise.
So….given your reasoning, let me ask you this : Why are these 'sikh' youths growing up in Queens so short of confidence that the only way they can identify with sikhi is by bringing hip hp into it when their counterparts in London, who….unlike them, are 3rd and 4th generation London born…..Born in and live in a more multi-cultural city, a more violent city, a more musicaly conscious city, a city where American hip hop and Jamaican ragga are king………yet run to simran and kirtan whenever their sikhi needs nurturing ? i.e why do 3rd and 4th generation London sikh youths manage to love hip hop and yet keep it separately to their sikhi and yet 1st generation new york immigrants can't ?
Why are these 'sikh' youths growing up in Queens so short of confidence that the only way they can identify with sikhi is by bringing hip hp into it when their counterparts in London, who….unlike them, are 3rd and 4th generation London born…yet run to simran and kirtan whenever their sikhi needs nurturing?
You're comparing apples and oranges. These youth aren't using hip-hop as a means to access or understand the Guru. If I am understanding these events correctly, they're more about expressing yourself. Imbibing yourself in the love of the Guru is an integral way to heal oneself. Writing a poem and performing it in front of your sangat is another way these kids are doing it. I don't think they're subbing it for Guru time or trying to nurture their Sikhi through performance.
I'm not comparing apples and oranges, Sanehval. I, unlike you, actually read the point made by 'knowledge is power' and addressed them. He said "It's too bad you don't realize that you do incorporate raggae into your Sikhi". He also said "Growing up in the heart of Queens and the Bronx, these youth are surrounded by hip hop music and culture. It's the music they listen to and the language they speak. If you want to positively influence youth, you need to speak their language. You need to connect with them at their level. You need to arm them with tools to fight back in their surroundings"
Now, Sanehval, that you've ben able to understand the context of the message perhaps you'd like to answer why 3rd and 4th generation London born Sikh youths…..who speak a rough 'n tuff cockney language of the 'streets'….and live in a far more violent and musicially conscious city….can be reached with plain and simple beautiful Sikhi whereas the 1st generation New York Sikhs can't ?
yes that's must be it: young london sikhs are the best sikh youth of them all, do paath every day, and have the best relationship with their guru, while new york sikhs just like to wear baggy pants and rap instead of having a "real" connection to sikhi.
pitting london and new york sikhs against each other in this way is not helpful and so overly simplistic. of course there are significant differences in our communities, based on colonial history, class, and a variety of other factors, but new york (queens, bronx, etc) sikhs are far from a monolith. i used to work with youth in richmond hill… some go to kirtan class every sunday and gurdwara every day. some get As in school, while some are failing. some join gangs. most deal with harassment and bullying in schools.
i think there's too narrow a definition of what is real/authentic sikhi and what is not in this conversation. how one relates to their spirituality and to the guru is a deeply personal thing, and not all sikhs are the same, nor should we be. of course there are some basic things that most of us would probably agree are not the most sikh of practices (i.e. racism and sexism for example), but i hardly think developing writing skills and learning to speak one's truth through poetry and/or hip hop is at odds with the sikh way of life in any way. and in fact, as others have stated, it certainly has the POTENTIAL to bring youth closer to waheguru and deepen their relationship with sikhi. check out the video i posted yesterday and see what you think.
What the video shows is two people running an organized workshop that the kids seem interested in. What I don't see is a revolutionary act of of awesome amazing progressive activists who will change the world and have a revolution and are awesome and amazing in their ability to create a revolution for the youth, who are the revolution that will create justice because of their amazing awesomeness and love.
Do progressive activists believe that the only way someone can disagree with them or have a critique of a given act is because they are – ignorant, wrong-minded, morally suspect, using a narrow defintition of concept X, seeing people in a monolith, ect, ect?
It sure seems like this is pretty much the basic response of progressive activists.
By the way, Sahneval let me spare you the effort and give you +6 points write now for whatever preaching to the choir response you'll disgorge.
Is there kantay – critiquing the workshop is easy. If you'd like to positively contribute to this conversation, please give us current-day examples of "a revolutionary act of of awesome amazing progressive activists who will change the world and have a revolution and are awesome and amazing in their ability to create a revolution for the youth, who are the revolution that will create justice because of their amazing awesomeness and love."
I'm sure the organizers of these events would be open to seeing how the "revolutionaries" are doing it.
Please give this man 7 points, this response is wonderful.
ISK, let me make your job easier too:
Rabble rabble progressive activists rabble rabble monolith rabble rabble activists motives rabble rabble progressivism rabble rabble enlighten backward rabble rabble sikhi and progressivism? rabble rabble. rabble small rabble about the post itself rabble rabble rabble.
Good job again but you seem really enamored with this style of response…quality warriors mix up their technique.
+3
sorry, not warrior, I forgot that's a label you pin on others, I mean progressive activist.
Is there kantay:
You're still not answering the question. Sitting behind your computer and using a pseudonym to spew sarcasm is taking the easy way out. If you'd like to contribute positively to this conversation, please provide contemporary examples of how this work can go from "progressive" to "revolutionary".
Given your strong opinions, I'm hopeful that you can shed some light on this subject and provide examples of how this work can be done.
"If you'd like to contribute positively to this conversation, please provide contemporary examples of how this work can go from "progressive" to "revolutionary".
Given your strong opinions, I'm hopeful that you can shed some light on this subject and provide examples of how this work can be done."
This is your assumption of the work to be done and you then ask, rather demand, that I provide you examples.
"please provide contemporary examples of how this work can go from "progressive" to "revolutionary". "
To be clear, I see this as the task you are assigning me. I do not agree with your premise, and the original post you replied to should have let you know this.
Its like if I said, I don't think its a good idea to go apple pickig in an orchard in December because its cold, and then you responded, oh yeah well give me examples of how you are going to go apple picking in December. If you don't then you're bad!
By the way, if one grows up in a society as a minority member, the culture and language they are surrounded by will at times be different than their culture of family origin in some ways. Examing how and why to accept that influence is at times helpful.
the person who gave this a thumbs down, what do you object to in this statement?
Harbhajan I’m not trying to be more revolutionary than thou. That’s what progressive activists are for. I’ve contributed what I could regarding addressing what I see as some assumptions which seem to have the status of self evident truth. One being that the best way to see the Sikh community is as an aggrieved and injured community and to endeavor to inculcate this attitude among youth so as to position an entire community against its society…..permanently alienating youth from those avenues of success offered by the mainstream of their society, which the are encouraged to see as uniquely corrupt and unjust at its core and perhaps purposefully so. Evidently this is obvious and in no need of back and forth discussion. So no, I’m not going to provide any power to the people shibboleths.
In other words, you have no examples and are just spewing hate towards positive efforts for the sake of it.
Do you see yourself in the discouraging words that you state above? Where are you located within the critiques that you provide?
You asked that I provide examples of how this work can be done.
My reply is I'm actually not concerned with the work you consider needing to be done. So how can you ask, or rather demand I provide you examples? You can't in any fair way.
Second my words are meant to bring up alternative views for consideration. One of those considerations would be not to ascribe ill motivations to people who do not share the same viewpoint.
Its frightfully easy to do as you have done here, misunderstand someone's view and mis-label their motivation. The result is plainly distasteful.
As to the ideas, I'll put it plainly: a question I find interesting is, to what extent does the Sikh community of activists investigate solutions to social problems from the point of view of invigorating the historical store of cultural, social, and political responses from a Sikh milieu?
Another question I find interesting is to what extent has the Sikh community or some parts of that community find their identity to be a community under siege, discriminated against and oppressed? How does this help or hurt? Is it the only way to see the community? Could other models of defining the community be successful or helpful?
I have no interest in whether a person leads a workshop with their hair cut any way they want. I have no interest in whether one studies hip hop or Shakespeare necessarily.
If someone writing on a blog is going to make you stop holding workshops, then please do not let that be so. More power to you.
Bringing up ideas and counter-views for discussion and consideration is not an assault and it should not be taken as such.
By the way, I am interested in the work of helping people to have self esteem and a proactive attitude. I'm also interested in helping people develop artistic skill and investigate the world they live in. I'm also interested in learning from people around you and the cultural practices they participate in. I'm also interested in people joining each other to offer and provide support.
It is a little discouraging that this needs to be written. The reason I think it needs to be written is the idea I was originally talking about. Which is that just because someone does not agree with a certain position does not mean they are wrong to have this position.
Here is what I read you as saying: this workshop – Lahir was inspiring and helpful, and you saw people there as having good motivations and doing their work for the right reasons. You take me as trying to bring that down, and feel unless I provide some ways to have the same kind of conference or have actually worked on such a conference I should not try to discourage others from what they are doing.
What I'm saying to you is your understanding of what I am doing is your own view, and I don't think its an accurate statement. If you want clarification on my point of view, I've tried to write it above, and you can always ask.
"In other words, you have no examples and are just spewing hate towards positive efforts for the sake of it. "
This is a frank mis-labeling.
Blighty Singh — there is a reason in America we have a popular phrase "American Born Confused Desi". These are victims of this confusion. Our own communities ability to not clearly distinguish between Punjabi Culture and Sikh Culture has just been expanded further into this hybrid culture of hip-hop/Sikhi blend. Most challenges faced by our community in America are being challenged in a very naive manner, we see other non-Sikh communities do one thing or another to help their future generations stay focused on religion, education etc.. and we try to copy them rather then investigating and root causing our own community issues and then confronting them, we try to copy these other communities and hope for success. I understand hip-hop in American at one point had its % of hand in changing American social demographics for race relations etc. but today it is a commercialized form of entertainment no different than pop-music.
"Most challenges faced by our community in America are being challenged in a very naive manner, we see other non-Sikh communities do one thing or another to help their future generations stay focused on religion, education etc.. and we try to copy them rather then investigating and root causing our own community issues and then confronting them, we try to copy these other communities and hope for success."
bingo.
A good point, hopefully progressive activists can take some time out from creating the revolution de amor to think about it without dismissing it out of hand.
For example, given hip hop comes from a fairly specific cultural and historical context, it may not be accurate to say there is a like-for-like substitution for hip hop poetry and the poetry in Gurubani. To put it simply, not to denigrate Grand Master Flash, but the context of the creation, formation, and use of hip hop is not simply on its face obviously the same as the creation, formation, and use of Gurubani as developed by Guru Nanak. Is it naive to fail to do that? Does it make someone down with the man to ask for that consideration before appropriating Sikhi for the purpose of making a like-for-like comparison – ie its all just the same thing at base – poetry?
Or if not Grand Master Flash then Africa Bambatta or DJ Cool Herc, or whoever on the ground actually were the animating forces behind the creation and genesis of hip hop
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I've seen fundraising results from events like "Amritvela Week" and "Charity Kirtan Darbar" in Canada and UK. I was impressed to hear that "Tears and Ashes" is having a kirtan darbar as well. I wonder how well those events would transfer over to USA. Jakara/Sikh Coalition/SALDEF/United Sikhs/SikhLens Arts/SikhRI/etc – DO IT please 🙂
I question the role modeling ability of Mandeep Sethi and Selena Dhillon for Sikhi-based hip-hop workshops. Undoubtedly they would be wonderful hip-hop instructors, but would they be as adequate incorporating Sikhi into these workshops? Mandeep Sethi smokes weed like crazy – at SikhLens he was known to have been completely high the entire time. What a great influence for the Sikh youth! And I have, for a long time, noticed that Selena Dhillon's outlook on Sikhi might not be very strong – she wears inappropriate and showy clothing and cuts her hair. Although normally I wouldn't care about her own personal path on Sikhi, I wouldn't want the Kaur youth to idolize her as what a Singhni should strive for. I truly do fear for the Sikh youth's influence by these two people, and hope to see some better Sikh role models leading these otherwise well-intentioned initiatives in the future.
This is Mandeep Sethi. Who smoked weed like crazy? And who would like to address this issue at SikhLens? It was known to be high the entire time? I was there with my father and mother completely SOBER presenting my documentary SIKLIGAR, about the original weapons makers of the sikhs who now live in complete poverty. Instead of racing concerns about whether or not i am using marijuana ,take a look at your own contributions to the panth. You fearing for the Sikh youth does nothing. Do something. Haha, Sikhlens!!!! Shoutout the organizes Tina Anand, Saanand, and My dad, and mom for coming out, and jus reign, baagi, and hoodini, for having a great sober time.
wasn't this an ALL SOUTH ASIAN YOUTH workshop? some of you live inside walls, just like our gurudwaras are walled.
Dear Concerned & Tejinder: I understand that at the onset, hiphop and Sikhi may appear contradictory, but these events were not a celebration of baggy pants and violence. It was actually the contrary – they were about love and acceptance – core values of Sikhi.
I had the privilege of attending Lahir and hearing the youth from Inquilab recite the poetry that they'd written in the workshops. It was incredibly powerful to see the youth bravely stand in front of a large crowd and recite their poetry, which reflected their feelings and struggles AS SIKHS.
They brought attention to their experiences in the post-911 era of being targeted as terrorists, they educated us on the violence that has been inflicted on them BECAUSE they are Sikhs.
These events provide Sikh youth with a tool to articulate and express themselves. Period. Poetry and writing go back to our indigenous roots; Gurbani was written in poetry; imagine if our youth are empowered with this tool! Imagine if they continue to learn public speaking – in an era where no one in the US even knows who Sikhs are, these youth will be the leaders who will educate the world on our existence and history.
I left Lahir on Saturday feeling inspired by these youth who are on the front lines of violence and abuse, who are bravely finding their voices in order to not be silenced any longer. How can we condemn such a liberation?
PS – a simple conversation with Mandeep Sethi will illustrate the depth of his love and commitment to youth. He started an organization in India called "tiny drops", where they work with youth in India's slums to teach them positive expression through breakdancing. These types of programs keep youth out of danger and trouble.
Selena Dhillon has been working with young Sikh girls for a number of years, to help them gain confidence in themselves. While she may not keep kes, I'd love for my daughters to work with her. Her music and style is filled with love – why shouldn't they be leading the youth work? In my humble opinion, it's better than a lot of my kids' experiences at the gurdwaras (we go daily), where they are told off by rude (in full Sikhi saroop) sevadaars and where committee members do not take them seriously because "they're only kids".
Our Sikh leaders cannot merely be leaders because they are in full bana or Sikhi saroop – they also need to uphold the values of love and respect, which both performers are exemplary in.
I don’t understand how reggae or any other form of music is being INCORPORATED into their sikhi? Music of all of forms is an art so since when is this art form not an appropriate way for EXPRESSION? This is the sole reason art even exists. When the gurus were being oppressed they turned to an art form, poetry, to express themselves and that is Gurbani. It’s extremely easy to sit behind a computer and tell everyone what’s wrong with the world and provide your “opinions” about how to fix them. It’s much more difficult to go outside and actually do something about it. The previous generation of Sikhs primarily sit back and allow people and government to take advantage of them. FINALLY, Sikhs are stepping up and fighting back and becoming activists. Those Sikhs happen to be the youth. So rather than condemning and attacking them for trying to make a difference shouldn’t you be encouraging?
Everyone is on their own path of Sikhi and thats part of the beauty of gurbani. Its open to interpretation and each person takes their own time to find what many deem to be the “right” path. If you have such a problem with these activists running the workshops then step forward and do something about it other than writing messages on a blog. Its a shame it has to come to this.
I really feel you are in error that previous generations of Sikhs were so enfeebled that they struggled to employ artistic means of expression.
Its also a tremendous stretch to say that activism among Sikhs is a new phenomenon.
When there is such limited grasp of the antecedents of current practices, it is worthwhile to question whether we run the risk of losing the option of other cultural practices under the presumption that to rap is somehow to create a vibrant means of expression that is unfamiliar or inaccessible to Sikhs in other ways.
Within Sikh practice and within the body of knowledge of Sikhs is a significant store-house of wisdom. Most of that wisdom is not being created for the "first time" in 2011.
"When the gurus were being oppressed they turned to an art form, poetry, to express themselves and that is Gurbani."
It seems to me this view is a logical conclusion of the idea that Sikhi is best understood as a movement of social change.
I see a lot of negative comments and unfortunately for those of you in the UK – the english mentality pertains to this day. The english did an AMAZING job of making sure that any form of art is wiped out from the Sikh Panth completely.
If you attend the event which post of you did not – you would have experienced amazing poetic expression of the struggles of Sikhs in high school and what it felt like being a turbaned Sikh.
you would have experienced amazing violin and tabla by young gursikhs.
you would have experienced death to bollywood song at the end.
you would have experienced a college youth live dhadhi rendition similar to those on immortal shaheedi guys from UK.
you would have experienced so much more BUT BUT all you see is Selena Dhillions cut hair and Mandeep Sethi's habits?
and ps: Kirtan is amazing in raag its beyond beautiful gurbani is nothing but divine BUT today it has become a mere sing a long on popular bollywood tunes which is directly a result of a loss of artistic appreciation within our community. Wake up my people out of 20 artists not all 20 will be gursikhs or even sikhs – when you go to gurdwara why dont you kick everyone you feel that is not Sikh out of there?
We are all learning – Kid's, Youth, Adults and some you haters alike.
Well put Singh!!!
No. Not well put at all. The + points one finds on the langar hall these days is more indicative of the bollywood portrayal of the stupidity of Sikhs than the reality. The reality, despite what 'singh; just said about englandian sikhs is this : Lets take David Hinds as an example. He grew up in and amongst the the heart if the UK's Sikh community in the Handsworth district of Birmingham, and later became the lead singer of the legendary reggae band 'Steel Pulse'. In all their albums and singles they gave thanks and salutations, on their record covers, to Mr and Mrs Singh etc…….partly because the success of reggae in the early 1970's outside the small Jamaica island was the uk perspective ( it is worth remembering that the 2 most famous and universally criticaly aclaimed reggae acts from the 70's were both from the heart of the sikh communities : Misty in roots (southall) and Steel Pulser (handsorth, birmingham). With universal success, they spent alot of time in New York. In New York david Hinds suffered first hand experience of the difficulty of black folk hailing a taxi cab in new york. He took it to the federal court. This Birmingham fella won a landmark case in us history. He changed the playing field forever. And herein lies the difference. The American system (the canadian system…as per cand in general….is irrelevent)) is based on social change…i.e…..when an individual has a complaint of racial discrimination he / she has to first file that complaint with the EEOC, who sit on it for 3/4 of a year before saying one has the right to spend a quarter of a million on a court law suit. In England, because us sikhs have the right to free, quick, discrimination claims…and us sikhs have a very priveiedged position in equality law (i.e….only sikhs, jews and gypsies have the ultimate protection) we tend to articulate our position more than others. Thus…..even though we grow up on reggae….Leonard Cohen…etc….we keep it all separate from our sikhi…for sikhi is far more important than all that social / culture stuff. So there we are…..We come to the crux of the matter regarding the difference between englandian sikhs and north american sikhs re; articulating their sikhi. I mentioned a few sentences ago how north american discrimination law is about discrimination and how the individual (unless he has unlimited financial recources) ain;t gonna be able to enforce his rights. Well…..we need to remember how our each individual personalities is shaped by the rights that we have…and how we each individualy interpret those rights. But its all different……which is why most of the + and – marks on this blog don't mean jack. I'll give you an example ; most of us englandian and canadian sikhs would probably communicate with a singaporean sikh with a feeling of superiroity, money wise…partly because we drive around in a nice car whilst they wait at the bust stop. But what is the reality ? The reality is that the canadian sikh drives around with the type of car that isn't even condidered road worthy in europe. The average eneglandian sikh drives around in his bmw but he never gives a thought of how the Singapoream sikh doesn 't drive because to put a car on the road there would cost the equivalent to a quater of a million dollars per year. So……Have we gone back in time ? Are we back in hipppy pot smoking times ? Is Leoanards's meaningfull poems the way to get through to our youths ? Should Bob Dylans's move to the electric guitar be the inspiration for a sikhi workshop ? Duran Duran or Spanadau ballet ?…..Should we have a sikhi workshop to decide ?
Popular culture v truth. Thats what this cryptic message is about, my friends. I geew up listened to 2 tone ska thinking this was the soundtrack of my life as a sikh. If there was a blog such as this back then they would have sung my praises.How silly would they look now given that the fashion, at the moment is to rap ? So how silly is this workshop in question gonna look when the fashion of the day is back to spiritual potery from our gurus?
The moral of this story ? The moral of this message? Just like wet look permed hair…………Your children will look back with embarassment how you tried ti incporporate the popular culture of the day into sikhi.
Tip ? Start another thread. This time call it number '2'. This way you can give legitimacy to your stupidity.
I just missed the said event. I hope I'd be able to join next time. Will lahir happen again in the near future? I'll anticipate that.
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