Sikhi on Youtube!

Introducing a new YouTube endeavor by a UK SIkh educational charity

There is a real lack of knowledge about the basic teachings of Guruji amongst the youth of Sikh background. Moreover we found that not a lot of such information was readily available in new mediums like YouTube, ie stream to mobile phones etc (especially in comparison to other faiths). Therefore, www.everythings13.org, a Sikh educational charity, decided to be proactive about this.

How?
On the 28th March this year, a new YouTube channel was launched for the global Sikh community. Basics of Sikhi has released more than 40 videos focusing on spreading the wisdom of the Sikh Gurus. The main philosophy of the channel is to simply teach the basics wisdom of Guru in a way that avoids the 5% of things that people like to argue about and focuses on the 95% that unite us. We are using Facebook and social media to encourage people to spread the word and allow people to feel part of the community.

What?
The channel has three playlists focusing on different areas

Basics of Sikhi:
Short talks on specific topics related to Gurus' philosophy and history. For example:

• - What is life? Why Guru? https://youtu.be/k1Tkjpb5O8w
• - Why did Guru Nanak come?
• - What is Sikhism? https://youtu.be/3lUvq8xJHKY
• - Chanting the Vaheguru Gurmantar
• - What is the Khalsa? https://youtu.be/36NbgoIiam4

SIKHI in English:
This playlist has longer videos set in a Gurdwara environment with English Katha as well as Gurbani Kirtan. For example

• - Japji Sahib Katha in English (with kirtan) from programmes held at Park Avenue Gurdwara in Southall. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8F0BB3226CF2D06B
  
• - Mool Mantar Katha.

Questions for Sikhs:
This seeks to answer common questions put to Sikhs, whether in a spirit of enquiry or with malicious intentions.

• - How did Guru Nanak become a Guru? https://youtu.be/x5qI17PZx7Y
• - Was Guru Nanak muslim?
• - Why do Sikhs wear turbans? Why stand out? https://youtu.be/c78XrBvgBtM

Whats next?
We have just finished a pilot version of our new project of a 12 week introduction to Sikhi course called the "Why Guru Course" https://www.facebook.com/pages/WhyGuru-Course. We have very positive feedback and are planning to make this course available incrementally in London and the online as well.

We are now captioning all the videos in English and this allows for automatic translation of captions into other languages. This is around 80% effective when translating to Russian so is definitely a great step.

We are looking to expand the channel into a learning community, similar to the "Khan Academy" but focused on Sikhi skills like history, sikh philosophy, gurmukhi learning, understanding Gurbani and raag kirtan, taal theory. For this reason we have registered as a UK charity and are fully certified by the Charities commission. We have already hired some people to write out course material, help with editing etc but will need to expand in terms of both personnel and expenditure. Our plan is to have a five person team working on designing curriculum, delivering, recording and editing (for YouTube learning) and also teaching directly in Gurudwaras and universities. We estimate this to be at a cost of £200,000 per annum including travel and equipment budgets for each staff member.

How you can help?

• - Please watch the videos and share them with your family and friends on social media. Our main purpose is to share the beautful wisdom of our Gurus with everyone. Join us on facebook and read more about our work on www.everythings13.org
• - If sangat wish to put their Dasvandh towards parchar or get in touch to do seva, then both would be most welcome. We are tax registered so please do discuss via email to make this efficient. Our email address is [email protected]