Columnists

At a Crossroads:
Granthis & Gurdwaras

I.J. SINGH, GURMIT SINGH & RAVINDER SINGH

A recent essay by one of the authors of this article (IJS) described how a granthi at a gurdwara was caught in a vortex – a psychologically downward spiral of loneliness, depression, alcohol abuse and hopelessness – so severe that he committed suicide.

Not surprisingly, the piece attracted a good deal of attention within the community and a fair number of comments, many of which were quite thoughtful. Obviously there is much more to be said on the matter.

In this collaborative attempt amongst the three of us, we will draw upon the comments of many readers of the earlier essay to formulate our opinions. They will remain unnamed since our interpretations integrate their views in ways that may not be easily ascribed to any one person.

Sikhs have been in North America for over a century. Our first gurdwara dates from 1906. Now, there are over 200 gurdwaras on the continent, most of them founded in the past 40-45 years.

The issues surrounding gurdwara granthis - their recruitment, selection, and appointment, as well as on-the-job working conditions - are rife with matters of both management and human concern.

The challenge is to find a solution so that the community gets its money’s worth and the granthis find fulfillment and satisfaction in their employment.

Unquestionably, a granthi’s job (if we can be clear on what it should be) is very different from other jobs that we engage in to put food on the table, and that only adds to the challenge. But that, too, is a necessity that can’t be swept aside.

True, we have not formally surveyed gurdwaras in the diaspora about their practices and expectations regarding a granthi. But based on our own experience and anecdotal evidence, we believe that a minuscule minority, if at all, has in place a written, legally sound and enforceable contract between the granthi and the gurdwara.

We are aware of a gurdwara in Columbus (Ohio, U.S.A.), for example, where a contract is currently being negotiated, and of another one which has a written contract and job description specifying expectations of employee and employer, conditions of employment, issues of remuneration, vacation, and related issues between the granthi and gurdwara management.

These are standard provisions for any kind of employment anywhere.

Before we run too far with this, keep in mind that granthis are not clergy (priests) and have no inherent ecclesiastical authority. But we seem to be creating a class that approximates priesthood, for which there is no provision in Sikhi. We need to ensure that granthis do not morph into a new breed of brahmins despite clear Sikh teaching that admits no middleman between God or Guru and the Sikh.

With that said, the logical question is: do we need granthis in the first place?

Ideally a gurdwara, which serves as a training ground for a Sikh, should be self-managed by volunteers from the sangat. This is how individual Sikhs connect to the fundamentals of their faith as well as hone their skills of collaboration with each other for a bigger cause. That is how true kinship and communities develop.

But we must also recognize that granthis are an organizational necessity in today’s world. How, then, to define their role?

Are granthis mere employees, a class of people who function as caretakers of gurdwaras and the Guru Granth? Or are they, in fact, as we would like to see them - as a curator or scholar of the Guru Granth and a teacher of the Sikh worldview, playing a larger role than one who serves at the whims of the gurdwara management committee, and remains at their beck and call.

Let’s examine briefly the current relational dynamic between granthi, sangat and management committee.

Granthis in most North American gurdwaras are overwhelmingly Punjab-based, that is, they come directly from Punjab. Many, but not all, are reasonably well schooled in the Guru Granth and related Sikh literature, and adept in mythological lore as well – with varying degrees of competence in Punjabi and Gurumukhi, and, on occasion, a few other languages and traditions.

Such qualifications and skills are probably sufficient to serve the newly arriving immigrant community of Punjabi origin. And indeed granthis fulfill an emotional and cultural need for large segments of the sangat.

But being largely Punjab-based, granthis also bring cultural baggage that does not always resonate with sections of the sangat. We have surging populations of young Sikh men and women either born or largely reared outside Punjab and the subcontinent. Their primary culture is less Punjabi or Indian and more American/ Canadian/ British/ Australian – or any of a variety of additional possibilities.

The mélange of languages that the youth command may have widely varying levels of Punjabi intermixed with the local argot where they live. Significant and overwhelming parts of their lives are spent outside the Punjabi cultural ambit. Interfaith issues impact them on a daily basis, at work or at play.

This reality tells us that we need granthis who are equally adept in Western societies - their values, the Judeo-Christian traditions, as well as the language and culture of the countries in which we have created our presence.

We need to evolve a new professional approach to the matter that is sorely lacking at this time. Management committees, on the other hand, bring their own cultural – and feudal - baggage rooted in Indian norms. This is best reflected in current hiring practices and the master-servant model that prevails once a granthi is hired. When management committees appoint a granthi, chances are that there is no job description. If there is one, it might describe the role of a person who is a scholar, at least on Sikhi and somewhat knowledgeable about the faiths of our neighbors.

The first requirement is often partially met, the second almost never.

The reality is that granthis are reduced to survival wages and their role can at best be described as gofers at the mercy of management committees - hardly ever as mentors and scholars in their (chosen?) profession of granthis.

What exactly, then, should the elements of a social and employment contract with the granthi be - given the constraints under which gurdwaras operate and the marginally adequate background that many granthis bring?

In appointing granthis, the main provisions that deserve our close scrutiny are:

1   A written agreement formally accepted by both employer and employee.
2   Educational qualifications and professional experience as well as language skills of the ountry where posted, etc.
3   Duration of employment
4   Probationary period.
5   Remuneration – weekly, monthly, yearly or some other time span.
6   Periodic adjustments as per changes in the Consumer Price Index.
7   Payments and deductions for Income Tax or other payroll taxes, as per local laws.
8   Number of hours: fixed/ flexible/ daily / weekly services as prescribed or feasible (when they may or may not exceed 40 hours).
9   Entitlements on death of employee, or severance package at termination of employment.
10 Eligibility for return airfare to country of origin.
11 Annual recreation leave, including weekly off periods.
12 Policy on paid vacation and sick leave.
13 Education of children under 18 years of age (high school graduation?).
14 Boarding & Lodging – residential accommodation, including utilities.
15 Medical and dental expenses.
16 Additional income from akhand paatth and ardaas duties, functions and specially sponsored programs held within or outside of the gurdwara premises.
17 A sabbatical every seventh year. (Not uncommon for scholars in academia)

These issues are largely self-evident. Most of us are familiar with how the world of independent contractors and employer-employee relationships works. And, of course, laws and conventions exist in every nation and even in the smallest levels of communities to guide us. That’s where the controlling legal authority would rest.

A major caveat is that neither of us three is a lawyer. But the time for lawyers will come later. Now is the time to try and define what exactly we think our community needs and what exactly is available out there. First we should construct a framework that the lawyers will then parse.

At a minimum, such an agreement establishes equality in the eyes of the law and will help educate management committees to shed some of their cultural mindset. It also ensures that an equitable contract will meet the basic needs of a granthi.

Before we examine possible solutions it would be important to understand the extent and the substance of the problems in the diaspora. A recommended first step in this direction would be to gather granthi data. This could be done by surveying the over 200 gurdwaras that exist just within North America today. The survey could gather data around numbers, qualifications, skills, current roles, and employment agreements. Requirements from a granthi's perspective could also be gathered.

A well-defined employment agreement would then be the next logical step in establishing a clear and equal relationship in the nexus of the management, sangat and granthi.

The other requirement – a granthi as a scholar who is equally versed in the mores of the West – is a long-term issue that would require more sustained planning.

In other words, the question is, how do we go about balancing the granthi’s worldly material needs and desired spiritual role with our needs as a community and as individual Sikhs in finding our way in and around the teachings, traditions and history of Sikhi.

There are a couple of steps that we can pursue and they must run in tandem.

An obvious suggestion would be to develop an academy to train granthis with an expanded curriculum for our needs of today and tomorrow. But that will take time and resources. Yet, the process should start yesterday.

In the meantime while we await the new breed of granthis, we have no choice but to continue with the granthis that we have but supplement them with part-time associate granthis who can span the cultural and linguistic divide comfortably.

Where are we going to find such people? We think this is not so easy but it is definitely not impossible.

Our community has many Sikhs who migrated 30 to 40 years ago. Their numbers then were negligible and gurdwaras were sparse. Faced with the challenge of having to explain their faith they self-learned the fundamentals of Sikhi and how to interact with non-Sikhs in the wider world.

Hiring this group of people or requesting them to come in and work as associate granthis would be a step in the right direction. Some of them are retired. This will increase their availability and give them a new lease on life. It will solidify the community. (With tongue in cheek, we would recommend the three authors of this essay although they are not all retired yet.)

Gurdwaras need to develop functioning libraries and useful literature. In much of North America, continuing education courses in language arts and other skills are freely available.

Granthi contracts should require a granthi to take a certain number of courses and help in the building of a functioning library. Also, a part of the granthi’s job is scholarly writing that a granthi must do to remain a curator of the Guru Granth that he is. And develop the skills to be able to participate in interfaith forums, etc. as a representative of the Sikh viewpoint.

Encourage and help granthis to form an association where they can communicate and socialize. Granthis need to develop a life outside the four walls of the gurdwara. We need to acknowledge that a granthi is not a gofer and we can’t pay or treat him as if he is. A granthi is the way for us to better connect with Sikhi. The existing unreal, almost toxic relationship between granthis and gurdwaras has to change – the sooner the better.

We recognize that in this essay we have used a broad brush to paint a large canvas. We request that our widespread communities take it seriously and add caveats, conditions and requirements as needed to formulate professional, serviceable and useful policies.

The relational dynamics between the granthi, management and sangat needs to be clearly understood and augmented. Without a strong tripod of these three, any gurdwara will at best remain wobbly and dysfunctional.

We reiterate: the first step forward is to survey the existing gurdwara granthis across North America to amass reliable data on the granthi- gurdwara- sangat nexus – on existing numbers, qualifications, duties, expectations, and remuneration along with other administrative policies and guidelines, etc.

The Sikh Research Institute (SRI) would be ideally placed to collate such information because of their ongoing programs and activities aimed at internal development of the Sikh community, and also because they have an embryonic initiative in place that focuses on education and development of granthis in the diaspora. (Disclosure: Two of us, IJS and RS, are closely affiliated with the activities of the SRI.)

And then it would be the time to bring out a coherent and well-defined employment agreement that would provide us some minimal standards in qualifications and expectations.

For starters, please explore the “Granthi Training Initiative” of the Sikh Research Institute.

The authors: I.J. Singh is based in New York, U.S.A.; Gurmit Singh in Australia; and Ravinder Singh in Ohio, U.S.A. 

June 28, 2012

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