Chardi Kala in Oak Creek

August 5, 2013 : It’s hard to believe that one year has passed since the horrible shooting by a white supremacist at the Oak Creek Gurdwara in Wisconsin which resulted in the death of six Sikh-Americans and the wounding of four others.

I felt it important to attend the gurdwara diwan held on Sunday, August 4, 2013, by the sangat of Wisconsin. It was my first visit to this gurdwara.

After nine hours of driving I did not know what to expect. I thought the atmosphere would by somber and sad. Instead, what I witnessed was a vibrant Sikh sangat which was celebrating rather than mourning the lives of those brave souls who lost their lives that fateful day on August 5, 2012.

The sangat at the gurdwara was in the true spirit of chardi kala. I found the atmosphere to be spiritually uplifting. Words cannot describe the experience, but I took a series of photographs to convey my feelings of my journey to the gurdwara – ranging from my initial anxiety when I first saw the gurdwara sign on the side of the road – that famous one that they kept on showing on CNN -- to when I entered the diwan hall of the gurdwara.

I hope that these photographs give the viewer some sense of my experience at the Oak Creek gurdwara, while also serving as a worthy tribute to the wonderful sangat of Oak Creek.

Please CLICK here to view the Slide Show.

The author is the curator of SikhMuseum.com and the creator of the world’s first Sikh website, Sikhs.org.