A sublime experience- Gurmat Crash Course Prize Ceremony, Toronto
WAHEGURU JI KA KHALSA, WAHEGURU JI KI FATEH!
As I walked into the Darbar Hall on September 10, 2011 it was quite an astonishing site. You can tell the difference when you hear grown folks' voice doing kirtan and kids doing kirtan but as I got closer to the hall I realized a few kids who couldn’t have been more than 9 or 10 years old doing heavenly kirtan together on the stage.
Saturday’s are normally a packed day at Dixie Gurughar but very rarely do you see the hall packed with so many youth and kids sitting alongside their parents. And for once my beautifulsaadh sangat were sitting scattered all over the place with my beautifulSinghni’s sitting with their Singh’s and my lion Singh’s were in the state of equipoise sitting on the potentially “wrong” side of the hall, lol. As I presented myself before the Guru, was blessed with parshad, I was greeted by Amarpreet Singh who directed me to sit with the sangat. As the young kids were performing kirtan I was quick to notice the reaction from the sangat. Normally, when Raagi Jatha’s perform kirtan you see 3 men in matching attire and the sangat with expected reactions.
But this time, you saw a beautifulSinghni in a Salwaar Kameez, a white dastaar and chuni playing the vaaja, along side with a young Singh on the tabla. And the sangat! Oh my god thesangat! With their illustrious faces glooming with joy as they walked into the hall & when they looked at the stage and heard the kids, it was like a look of shock, joy and happiness, astonishment and excitement all in one shot! Well I should warn you, if you have not been to any of the events or camps held by Guru Gobind Singh Study Circle-Canada, that’s exactly what the reaction is when new comer’s see how WE do things! Regardless, I cannot say enough to describe the “mohaal” of the prize ceremony.
Stemming back from July as we had finished the “Gurmat Crash Course-Das Guru
Sahibaan,” all the exams having been marked and now was the time to reward
the big winners who scored the highest on the exams with big shiny trophies
and certificates. The main goal of gurmat crash courses is to engage the
young generation and youth of today into studying the history and jeevan of
our Sikh Guru’s so we can learn and incorporate these things into our lives.
The gurmat crash courses are all multimedia based using various videos,
powerpoint presentations, music, professional lighting and live drama’s to
make the duration of the camp more live, interactive and fun.
The camps also include a dastaar competition, “Who Wants To Be A
Sikh-o-naire” game show and best of all, lots and lots of prizes! The camps
are meant to be fun so it does not feel like a regular school classroom all
while learning about Sikh history in its entirety.
After the kirtan in the main hall, the president of Dixie gurughar had presented the awards and certificates to the big winners of the crash course first with big shiny trophies, a hand shake and a hug. Amarpreet Singh while addressing the saadh sangat, had made it clear that Guru Sahib never put a limit on knowledge nor a highest reward for achieving it. All the youth who had attended the camp were big winners and all deserve big trophies but just like Sri Guru Angad Dev Ji had started “Gym-Khaana’s” to instill a sense of drive in Gur Sikhs, thus was the same deal with the awards.
They were meant
to reward those who had achieved the highest marks on the exams and instill
a sense of drive to learn more, and one day those same ones who had won the
awards would one day be teaching the future crash courses with GGSSC to the
other youth. I remember when I first attended my first crash course with
GGSSC, I passed the exam, gained a lot of knowledge but wanted the big
prize. Someone scored higher than me and won the top prize and I was
disappointed but I came back to next camp and there I was teaching! So I
gathered I couldn’t compete for the iPod but I guess you cant have
everything when your 19. (4 years ago, lol).
After the trophies were all handed out, our time was up in the main hall so
we moved to Hall No. 5 where the certificates were awarded to all the
attendees with their marked exams. All in all the camp went great for 3 days
and it was great to see the sangat back for this special occasion. The final
speeches were made and we met with a lot of parents who commended all the
GGSSC sewadars for their hard work and commitment and it just reminded all
of us that we just have to keep coming back harder and to work better at
each camp so we can improve each and everytime. We want it to be one day
where the youth are teaching the other youth while the old sewadaars with
grey and white in their hair and dari’s, lol, just sit back and help from
behind the scenes. That’s the only way Sikhi parchaar can advance to the
next level and spread to the 7 billion souls on this place we call earth!
So if you’ll please excuse me now I am going to go check the price of the cheapest iPod I can get…since I still don’t have one, or I can just wait for the next crash course, study hard and hope that Amarpreet Singh will just give me one if I am not teaching a section. I think we now need a section for 24 years + as well! LOL.
WAHEGURU JI KA KHALSA ! WAHEGURU JI KI FATEH !!
Harjote Singh