Roundtable
Gurdwara
The Roundtable Open Forum - Round XVII: Feb 24 - March 2
EDITOR
The Rules of the forum are posted here on the right, and need to be followed strictly by all participants.
The following is this week's (Feb 24 - March 2) topic for discussion, which should focus on the questions posed therein:
GURDWARA
1 Gurdwaras are the oases in the Sikh firmament. They provide sangat and pangat, kirtan, vichaar, a sense of community, ‘sunday' schooling for our children, boarding & lodging for the needy, and so much more. Their extensive network across the globe carries the very life-blood of the Sikh nation.
2 Our expectations are high from these 'ashrams' of Sikhi because they remain the primary institutions of the Faith.
3 We are often critical of our gurdwaras for failing to get into education, PR, community and social issues, etc. in an effective and/or efficient way.
4 New gurdwaras are being built at regular intervals as the community entrenches itself in new homelands. We are also sometimes critical of huge amounts of money being spent on these new and colossal structures while other areas and needs in the community remain neglected or underfunded.
QUESTIONS TO PONDER
- Imagine that a new local gurdwara is being planned in your immediate neighbourhood. What would YOU like to be included in the facilities? In addition to a darbar hall, a langar area, kitchen and washrooms, what should it have?
- Once the new gurdwara is ready and operational, what are the activities you would like it to be involved in, in addition to the usual spiritual service and langar?
- Do you think education, PR, social issues, etc. are within the mandate of a gurdwara?
- Are we correct in faulting gurdwaras in their failure in meeting our needs in these areas, or is it that we, as a community, have failed in building parallel institutions to meet these other needs of the community?
- How can we rectify the current gaps between what is available and what our expectations are?
- Tell us about your ideal gurdwara.
Conversation about this article
1: I.J. Singh (New York, U.S.A.), February 24, 2010, 5:41 AM.
A visit to a gurdwara should minimally provide us: 1) a message to shape a life, 2) a page of glorious and inspiring history, 3) music to touch the soul and soothe the savage in us all, 4) the company of fellow travelers (sangat), and 5) a shared experience to nurture a community.
2: K. Singh (Boston, MA, U.S.A.), February 24, 2010, 8:59 AM.
A gurdwara needs to serve every need of the sangat. It needs to do what I.J. Singh said above and then some. I would like to expand the idea of point #5 above: the sense of community. A gurdwara needs to develop a sense of community and, more importantly, a place for the youth to come and "hang-out." It needs to be a community center where people can come after work, listen to paatth and play ping-pong, basketball, and other such activities. Board games for some may be an option. This will create a sense of togetherness, and show people that the gurdwara can bring people together. Once this is established, everyone will create a support system where they can learn and understand gurbani together. This is important. Currently we have made our gurdwaras a "foreign" place that we go on Sundays and raagis and bhais only speak in Punjabi, which many do not understand. Speaking English is almost taboo in the gurdwara. We need to bring the youth together, only then will Sikhi flourish in the future generations. I have seen many gurdwaras in the U.S. where we have wonderful divan halls, enormous if not massive kitchens and langar halls (almost as long as a football field), but NO space for classrooms to hold the Khalsa Schools. They make mock rooms in a corner of a langar hall where there are 200 other people eating samosas and pakoras and chatting up a storm while a teacher is trying to conduct a class. We need to re-focus our priorities on the youth and make them feel important, only then will they learn and want to take Sikhi seriously. We also need to make gurdwaras support centers where we can hold domestic shelters, support centers fro drug and alcohol abuse. We can have specialists come in. These two issues are rampant in our community and we need to realize it. We need to make the gurdwara a place anyone can come to share their problems. For some reason, we shun away from admitting that these issues need to be addressed. This is the duty of the gurdwara. I just finished re-reading I.J. Singh's book, "Sikhs and Sikhism: A View with a Bias", and he is underlying the same points. We get too caught up with whether we can have pizza for langar or who the next president of the gurdwara will be. We have forgotten what the true essence of the gurdwara really is.
3: Gurmeet Kaur (Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A.), February 24, 2010, 2:20 PM.
I am taking the liberty of penning a 'green field' scenario of an ideal gurdwara. Hopefully, it will become aa reality in every Sikh community some day. Centered around an eco-friendly Darbar Sahib where one can connect to the Shabad Guru, and langar facilities to nurture the sangat, the hungry and the homeless, of course, my ideal gurdwara is/ has: 1) Nestled in the woods - with a nature trail to rejuvenate body and mind. 2) An organic orchard and a veggie garden where the Sangat comes together to plant their community harvests, sharing with the neighborhood communities and passing on the love for labor and life to the younger generations. 3) A playground that yields everything from a gatka to a competitive basketball team. 4) A state-of-the-art multi-purpose media facility that serves the needs of class/ conference rooms, a movie theatre, performing arts theatre and a center for interfaith activities. 5) A safe and nurturing residential facility for battered/ abused women, seniors or disabled citizens, and travelers. 6) A visionary management that humbly connects and guides the community to overcome everyday socio-politico-economic challenges.
4: Brijinder Singh (New York City, U.S.A.), February 24, 2010, 3:19 PM.
I like the points that K. Singh made above. I feel that the youth are often alienated by the language barrier. Most cannot comprehend Gurmukhi and some cannot even speak Punjabi. I would like to see an English translation of the program projected on a large screen in the Divan Hall, so that those who cannot understand Punjabi can follow along. Also, there should be a Guru Granth Sahib curriculum taught to students in the Sunday school, preferably by a granthi who speaks fluent English. Students would be given English translations of passages from the Guru Granth, and then they would discuss the meaning of those passages. This would be very similar to the Talking Stick Colloquium started on this website. This would be in addition to classes on Sikh History and The Rehat Maryada. These classes shouldn't be limited to Sunday sessions for children, but rather opened up to all age groups, even adults. They would be offered at night on various days throughout the week, and taught by granthis. I feel that the granthis should really strive to be Sikh scholars and teachers, rather than just religious caretakers.
5: Amardeep (Renton, WA, U.S.A.), February 24, 2010, 10:58 PM.
Many of the gurdwara management committees consist of seniors, many of whom have insufficient English language skills. It should be made mandatory to include females, young professionals (preferably those brought up or educated in the West), so that constructive input is received for each step. I believe all the above demands/ desires can be fulfilled only in that way.
6: Gur Singh (Boston, U.S.A.), February 25, 2010, 1:15 AM.
Without doubt, the most common and important need of sangat to visit a gurdwara is the desire to attain spiritual contentment. Any history of dirty politics and power scuffles inside the walls of our sacred places keeps many people like me away from the gurughar.
7: K. Singh (Boston, MA, U.S.A.), February 25, 2010, 9:39 AM.
Gur Singh ji: I am also in Boston and I am glad to say that the share of dirty politics we have in this area is much smaller than the country overall. I am sad to read that it is the reason you do not go to the gurdwara. The gurdwara still does provide the spiritual uplifting that you have mentioned and I always find a lot of inspiration in the sangat. The worst thing you can do is NOT go to the gurdwara. What we need to do is go to the gurdwara, make our presence and slowly start turning it into the institution we would like it to be. If we do not go, then there will never be any change.
8: Gurbux Singh (Chatsworth, U.S.A.), February 25, 2010, 2:16 PM.
I will go straight to the point: Why are we blamning raagis and bhais for using Punjabi in gurdwaras? Is that not our language? They are not the parents of our children. Wake up, people! Wake up! I have seen the enemy and the enemy is US! It is fashionable to declare that our kids do not speak Punjabi. How many parents can honestly say that they speak to their kids and amongst themselves in Punjabi? You know who you are. I grew up in Rangoon, Burma and have been in this country for 36 years. Both my kids were born and brought up in Springfield, Illinois, U.S.A. It does not get more conservative than that. They are both married and we have beautiful grandkids. I am proud that, like me, my son is also a Singh. We only communicated with them in Punjabi and and it was tough at times but we survived. Seeing them in Sikhi is worth more to my wife and I than all the good life or riches of this country. I an no better than the others and I have many faults too, but we try to live the Sikh way. Guru Fateh!
9: Gur Singh (Boston, MA, U.S.A.), February 25, 2010, 3:07 PM.
K. Singh ji, it's not that I do not go to the gurdwara. I do go, but less often than I would like to. However, I am consistently spending more time contemplating The Guru at SriGranth.org to compensate for that loss.
10: I. Singh (Chelmsford, MA, U.S.A.), February 25, 2010, 3:55 PM.
Although always important to get new and fresh ideas of what a gurdwara should be, it is equally important to study what the gurdwaras/ dharamsalas were like in the past. Some elaboration on that is available from Bhai Kahn Singh in Mahan Kosh: "1) Spiritual place of learning and enlightenment; 2) Free Kitchen, creative eradication of inequality; 3) Place of rest for travelers; 4) Place of healing (hospital); 5) Fort to defend against physical attack against the religion." Also, older rehatnamas (Bhai Chaupa Singh's comes to mind) give some elaboration of the activities and responsibilities of gurdwaras and what we know today as granthi/ management (back then they were also known as "dharamsalias"). I feel the better exercise would be to discuss (and eventually act upon) reviving those traditions in the context of modern and local realities. (P.S. Lest we get into an academic and distracting debate, I refer to secondary texts like the rehatnamas to be taken within context, understanding the author's intention. That is, let's take out from those texts what conforms to the universal message of the Guru Granth.)
11: Brijinder Singh (New York City, U.S.A.), February 25, 2010, 4:29 PM.
Gurbux Singh ji, I commend you on raising your children to speak Punjabi, but the reality is that many children do not grow up in households where Punjabi is spoken all the time. Should these kids be deprived of the Guru's message because they cannot speak the language? I think that we should be more inclusive and try to accommodate all members of the sangat.
12: Sandeep Singh Brar (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), February 25, 2010, 7:23 PM.
Some of the things that I look for and think about when visiting a gurdwara which are just as applicable to the building of a new Gurdwara: 1) Does the gurdwara have a library? If so, what kind of books on Sikhi does it have? 2) Does the gurdwara have a shop? What kind of books does it sell? 3) Does the gurdwara have organized classes in Gurmukhi and kirtan, and any gurmat discussion sessions? 4)Does the gurdwara have a day or time when they let the kids or youth perform all the duties in the divan hall? 5) What kind of pictures does the gurdwara have on its walls? Does it ever have any exhibits on aspects of Sikh history? 6) Does the gurdwara use a computer projector to display simultaneous translations of shabads when kirtan is being performed? 7) Do they ever explain the vaak or the day's hukamnama in modern Punjabi and/or English? 8) Do the people running the gurdwara take pride in how it looks - is the landscaping clean and litter free? Is the shoe-area clean, organized and tidy? Are the washrooms clean? Does the main divan hall look classy and majestic as the abode of the Guru or cheesy and tacky with stickers, balloons, streamers, stuffed animals and dollar-store plastic flowers? Would I feel proud or ashamed to bring a visitor there? The bottom line: Is this gurdwara making an effort to impart knowledge or is this just an attempt to create a little slice of Punjab for homesick immigrants?
13: Harbans Lal (Arlington, Texas, U.S.A.), February 25, 2010, 9:17 PM.
I.J. Singh, K. Singh and Gurmeet Kaur effectively described the community needs of today. However, what they were actually describing fits the description of a Sikh community center or a Sikh center. For sure, such centers are needed everywhere for the growth of our community at all ages. A gurdwara, on the other hand, may be a wing of such a community center but is not synonymous with a Sikh Community Center. To define a gurdwara, we need the guidance of our Guru Granth Sahib, which clearly states that the gurdwara has only one purpose, to share langar of Guru Shabad. It is an institution with two essential components: the Guru and the sangat. Translated in today's idiom, they are the Guru Granth and the Sikhs who are seekers, who seek the Guru's Wisdom. The seekers may be from any background of the human race. Seeking of the Guru's wisdom is through gurbani vichaar, simran, kirtan and sharing of Guru's shabad langar which is distributed freely and open to all seekers without any discrimination of gender, race, nationality or ethnicity. Gurbani, the hymns or Bhai Gurdas and Bhai Nand Lal support the institution of gurdwara only of this definition. Others aspects are only details.
14: A. Kaur (London, United Kingdom), February 26, 2010, 8:31 AM.
I would love to see a GuruGhar situated in a peaceful, environmentally friendly location, somewhere green, which will help the sangat to feel at one with Mother Earth and the Guru. Where they are removed from the hustle and bustle and can focus on the Guru. Where langar ingredients are grown onsite and left-overs are composted back into the earth. I'd love to see my Guru's ghar a place that gave back to the community through service: health projects; seva projects; women's clubs; sports clubs; nurseries and opportunities for young and old to develop, and where all are treated equally. Also, I'd like to see a GuruGhar where we can educate our sangat in Sikhi, shastar vidya, Sikh history, gurmat sangeet, Gurmukhi and santhya, as well as providing a careers service so that our sangat are encouraged to be the best they can. Our sangat will come to a GuruGhar that meets their needs and recognizes their concerns - the gurdwara must support its sangat so that they can feel pride in their faith, and learn from their Guru's teachings. Shabad is the strength of the sangat, and that is the message that the GuruGhar is meant to teach. I understand the comment above about Guru and sangat, but we are also told in the Guru Granth that the message of truth is taught through love. And love is being able to understand your loved ones, and provide for all their needs. The gurdwara is the institution that represents our faith to the rest of the community, so we must give a good impression of our Guru.
15: Chintan Singh (San Jose, California, U.S.A.), February 26, 2010, 5:25 PM.
The comments made by Dr. I.J. Singh, Gurmeet Kaur, K. Singh and Sandeep Singh present the features of an ideal gurdwara. I would love to see a gurdwara like the one they collectively describe, in my lifetime. However, in my humble opinion, what are we, the "educated community", doing to help in the day-to-day running of the current gurdwaras in our local communities. I will openly admit that I show up at my local gurdwara on some Wednesday evenings and occasionally on Sundays and expect everything to be in order and running efficiently. My point here is that let's not forget the time and energy put in behind the scenes by the committee members/ sevadars who run the langar halls, oversee construction of the gurdwaras, do the book-kepping, pay salaries, manage the raagi tours and stage programs and everything else that needs to be done to run a gurdwara in its present state. If we believe that our present day committee members are not running the gurdwaras properly and that's what is causing our youth to stay out of them, then let's first start participating in our gurdwaras, offer our help, and then claim authority to influence the decision-making and change. Whether we agree or not, gurdwaras are the central place for our spiritual, cultural, religio-educational and social needs. We have not been able to create parallel community centers and schools for our community and given how spread out and scattered our community is in North America, we may not ever be able to so. Gurdwaras will remain the central place for the majority of our community. Therefore i'ts important for us to not lose them, specially in expensive litigations and court cases due to committee in-fighting. However, we are not going to get control and decision-making authority from the get go. We first have to participate in humility and gain the trust and respect of the current committee members and decision-makers, and then only can we ask for the required changes. In our San Jose gurdwara, we have had the same problems like any other gurdwara in North America due to control over funds and building construction. However, a small minority of educated members have remained on the committee for over ten years now. Due to these few individuals, the gurdwara has kept on running without any litigation and, furthermore, despite having zero facilities and very little support from the management committee for a school, the San Jose Khalsa school proudly boasts over 500 students in attendance and has been functioning for ten years now. There are more than 80 teachers and sevadars volunteering their time to run the Sunday school. My conclusion is that if we want change, then we must first work with the current system and then offer our help and ideas to change it.
16: Jagpal Singh Tiwana (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada), February 27, 2010, 5:13 PM.
Our gurdwara has some of the essentials pointed out by some friends here. 1) Less politics: There has never been an election for any office. The Executive is always elected unanimously. Heated arguments sometimes, but no physical fights or ever need outside intervention. 2) Equality: Our society's motto is "maanas ki jaat sabhe eko pehchanbo". All turbaned and non-turbaned are equally treated. Non-turbaned can also serve on the executive. 3) Gender equality: Women can serve on all positions. They often recite ardass, sing kirtan, read from the Guru Granth at akhand paatths. Three times we had a woman as our President. This year, all elected members of the executive are women, so were they in 1992-3 as well. 4) Library: We have an excellent library collection. All major authors from Macauliffe, Cunningham, McLeod, Ganda Singh, H.R. Gupta, Khushwant Singh, Sangat Singh to Gurinder Mann, Pashaura Singh, I.J. Singh, etc are represented. All kinds 0f books from 'Darpan Sikh Rahit Maryada' (Gulshan), 'Mundhawani' (Gurdit Singh), 'Hukamnaame' (Ganda Singh) to 'Train to Pakistan' (Khishwant Singh ), 'Garland around My Neck' (Patwant Singh), 'Nerrion Takkya Itehaas (Tarlochan Singh), 'In The Line Of Duty' (Gen. Harbkhash Singh), 'When A Tree Shook Delhi' (Harinder Singh Phoolka), are in the collection. Our Reference collection has three translations of Guru Granth Sahib, Teeka by Sahib Singh, The Encyclopedia of Sikhism, McLeod's Historical Dictionary, and others. 5) Children's classes: We have hired a professional musician, Pandit Vujay Vyaas, to teach the harmonium, tabla and shabad kirtan to our children. On every Vaisakhi and Guru Nanak's gurpurab, chidren are allotted a full day to hold the gurdwara service. They sing hymns, make speeches and do langar seva and other gurdwara activities. 6) Bilingual Speakers: Our speakers mostly speak in both Punjabi and English. There is an emphasis that we stick more to Punjabi, but our new young President, Sardarni Kanwal Kaur Sidhu, raised in India and Canada, is more fluent in English. She starts speaking in Punjabi, but subconsciously switches to English. This immensely suits both the old and the young. Also, it is an indication that the new generation is English-speaking. 7) Publications: The society has published "The Maritime Sikh Society, Origin and Growth" which contains not only the history of Sikh settlement in Eastern Canada, leading up to the building of a gurdwara in Halifax in 1978, but also information on Sikh immigrants coming from Punjab/ India or elsewhere in the diaspora with names of their villages, parents and children. Sardarni Satpal Kaur Sodhi, a senior member of the society, has produced two wonderful books on 'Japji Sahib' and 'Sikh Ardaas' based on a series of lectures she delivered to the gurdwara sangat every Sunday. The third on 'Baraah Maah' is in production. We also publish a directory of the addresses and phone numbers of all members and update it every year. 8) Visitors: We always introduce new visitors to the sangat. At the conclusion of ceremonies, a visitor is requested to stand up and a brief introduction is given with a hearty welcome. It is very much appreciated by the new-comers and guests. Dignitaries of the stature of Sant Singh Sekhon, Gurdial Singh Dhillon, Justice Ajit Singh Bains, Gurbakhsh Singh Malhi (MP), Bhai Harbans Lal, Charanpal Singh and others have been honoured with a siropa. 9) Volunteers: We have no professional granthi or bhai ji. All work including singing of shabads and taking of vaak is done by volunteers. 10) Nutritious Langar: We provide canola oil to cook daal-sabzi, and butter only for karah-parshad. We are seriously thinking of using plastic gloves when handling food items. 11) Chairs: We keep chairs for the seniors and the disabled in the main divan hall as well in the langar hall. A first aid kit is available to meet emergency situations. 12) E-mail Notification: We keep the community informed on all local and international Sikh issues through a regular e-mail service. sikhchic.com is one of our important sources for this. 13) Politically Non-aligned: We are politically non-aligned. We only have a couple posters of Sikh Gurus in the main hall, no other politically motivated poster is allowed. We are also planning to add a hall at the back where guests or raagis [invited on Gurpurbs] can stay more comfortably. There, children's classes could be held and it can also be used as a langar hall on gurpurabs. Jagpal Singh Tiwana [Past-President, Maritime Sikh Society, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada]