PATRIOTISM IN USA !
Recently we celebrated 4th of July. Lot of Sikhs participated in parades. I want to congratulate those Sikhs. I wish we were more active in the political scene. Most of us are buried in Indian Politics; especially the politics in Punjab. I know of a person who would wait for Friday and go to the Indian grocery store to read the newspaper published from Canada and distributed in Seattle area that covered Indian politics. And then, he would scratch his forehead and sigh "What is going in Punjab?" Sometime he would talk about Badal ji and sometime Captain Sahib!
Had I been in India I may have been a press reporter or a print shop owner. After some education in Journalism, I started working as a compositor at a letter press print shop. I was determined to start a printing press. I loved writing poetry. In 1989 I landed in the USA. Things were very different here. It was offset printing - a totally different animal. I would not get a job with a newspaper because I did not have much experience in this country. I had to choose what was available.
After 9-11, I thought to start a magazine. I started learning about offset printing. I thought since I like writing poetry and articles; I may not only print mine, but encourage other budding poets too. In January 2006 the first issue was printed. First cake is seldom sweet. Ever since then my life has been full of hurdles. Sikhs play dirty politics. Some were jealous, some would call me to threaten me. One elder Sikh gentleman said to me that it is very easy to fool Sikhs. You do not have to do anything. You just have to talk big. Sikhs will be fooled. You do not need any money. You do not need any experience either. Sikhs will be swayed by your talks. Talk about Khalsa Schools, Colleges, or Gurudwaras. Sadly, it is very true. It is hurting that our religion is filled with dirty politics and competition. Not that I didn't get encouraged, but there were more Sikhs who wanted to see its end. Even my family turned against me. I will never forget the Vaisakhi day. I needed help; yet everyone was turning against me. Had I started it for business, I may have closed it years back. But I did not start to shut it down. As I saw my family helping my competitor; he looked at me, winked and gave me a 'thumbs up' and said "Good Sewa." I started trembling. I went into the Darbar Hall and collapsed.
n jwxw myau n jwxw jwlI ]
n jaanaa maeo n jaanaa jaalee ||
I do not know of the fisherman, and I do not know of the net.
jw duKu lwgY qw quJY smwlI ]1] rhwau ]
jaa dhukh laagai thaa thujhai samaalee ||1|| rehaao ||
But when the pain comes, then I call upon You. ||1||Pause||
A few months later an American who knew my interest nominated me to be an Editor. With nothing to lose I took it. It has been three years since. I enjoy doing it. I usually participate in their conventions and provide them coverage. The newsletter is mailed every month to the members. Recently, I wrote an article on Vaisakhi that mainly covered hate crimes. We have a wonderful workplace but you never know anyone's frustration or lack of knowledge. I received feedback from quite a few American's questioning me why I had printed the article.
I hardly get time to do my magazine. But, whenever I do print it, I feel really proud. I enjoy it a lot. Lot of the contributors are non-Sikhs. We have printed close to 200 poems and articles by non-Sikhs or American community. After it was featured in the Poet's market we have received contributions from people around the country. It is printed both in Punjabi and English. Sometime there are more Punjabi articles and sometime English. I am quite surprised that those who do not know Punjabi have contributed to the magazine. Although the magazine is distributed free in the Seattle area, we charge postage to send by mail.
Let me come to where I started. What does Patriotism means to me? What does religion mean to me? What does my own country mean to me? What are the family values? I see the country divided. There is hatred, jealousy and competition. Hate crimes are on the rise. Sikhs have not been spared either. We have faced more hate crimes than any other community. Yet, how quickly we forget the hate crimes and wear red, blue and white colors and show patriotism. We can wear US Flag turbans, or display US flag in front of our home. I hope it works. I really appreciate it. Yes, we can say hate can't separate us. That we have defeated hate by wearing red, blue and white and showing patriotism, yet we fail to educate about Sikh faith.
It is my opinion that if we can encourage those individuals who are trying to do something for the community, if we can make those individuals outshine, if we can instill the values of Sikhism; then we probably will do more to be recognized. Yogi Habhajan Singh Khalsa instilled the values of Sikhism and changed the world.
Recently, Muslim Association of Puget Sound (MAPS) President Mahmood Khadeer offering his thoughts on the current political landscape, the xenophobia facing the Muslim community and the violent acts of the Islamic State group said: "Every time there is a terror attack, the Muslim community faces the backlash. We have men being punched, shot and stabbed before prayers. We have protesters with guns outside mosques in Texas. We have women in hijabs being ridiculed, we have kids at school being bullied … and we have threats being made to our places of worship, including this one." (Source)
Sounds familiar? We can say the same words for us. And add: that because of ignorance of the people and our failure to educate about Sikh faith, every time there is a terror attack, we will be victims of "Hate Crimes!"
Sri Sri Singh Sahib Sahai.
Sat Nam
Sarab Singh
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About the Author Sarab Singh is the Editor of India-USA "Connecting Communities" a quarterly Punjabi English Magazine published from Kent, WA USA. The magazine is distributed free in the Greater Seattle area. The yearly subscription is $20. The magazine is available through King County Library System, Washington State Library, Whatcom County Library and others. Please request your local library to subscribe to the magazine so that we can reach more community. |
