Hello all, Sat Sri Akal!
If any responses, do not be formal please.
I have been thinking and contemplating, about why we get bothered about the dissolution of our culture and Sikh way of life and traditions?
If you all will not, who will be bothered? Many who post on this site are from abroad, i.e. outside of Indian Punjab. It does not seem there are that many well informed, Sikh youth of India who are passionate about Sikh history or culture.
Now I am painting with broad strokes of the brush. But sometimes the generalizations will have to suffice. Ours is not the history of a Greece, or Persia or other GREAT civilization. Yet, it is a unique, glorious history with many great attributes those civilizations did not not have, nor do they even today.
I was talking to people recently come back from Punjab, who were reflecting (once more!) on the lack of any perceptable movement there to preserve and perpetuate the true "punjabi" culture. Youth out dating, drinking, being modern as humanly possible.
And it got me to wondering? Why do I care and why do I bother? If our Sikhs in India have a majority who only pay lip service to Sikhism, who are often not bothered (or too busy with the challenges of modern life) to speak Punjabi, practice Sikhism, preserve cultural traditions, ceremonies and MODES of behaviour (respect, obedience, hard work, perseverence), then what the hell are the rest of us sweating it for? It seems to me that Sikhism in Punjab will remain only as a foo-foo, ornamental, clothes deep phenomenon. Sure, there will be the few die hards, the few families who remain true to tradition and language and behaviour, but how many? We are not talking here about going to gurudwara once a month or so, or saying rehras here or mool mantra there. We are talking about true belief.
While people on this forum go on and on about philosophy, should another forum be created for real, non abstract, concrete ACTIONS or projects which will enhance the dissemination of knowledge and preservation of Sikh history and culture? And please, we all know Waheguru is not going to come down, wave a magic wand, and cure the current ills. If some of us sit around and rue the passing of what we know is being lost, maybe better if we just got over it and moved on, eh? Otherwise, why not create new ways to battle the loss of pride, knowledge, devotion, loyalty and indeed identity itself?
While this issue is not doubt essentially subjective, make no mistake, we Sikhs are in a state of free fall. If you do not realize that, one is either blind or impervious to reality. By an standard of evaluation, we as a society come up far short. Our leaders are corrupt, ignorant, undereducated, and generally useless to all except themselves and their families. Our Granthis and "priests" are living in the next world, the world of "Nam Japo" and karma. They are seldom useful to provide any support or transfer of knowledge to youth. Our Middle age folks look around, see the reality of the ebbing away, the dissolution of the community by inter marriage, the cutting of hair, the taking up of hindi and english and loss of punjabi --- and they hark to the age old Indian mantra "What can one do?". The youth, well too many of them believe aping the west and being up on pop culture is a lot more important than anything we talk about on this forum.
Soooooo...............what are the solutions? Personally, I think none. I think we are proverbially hosed. Get ready, because its going to get a lot wetter!
BUT, BUT....if you think you want to make a difference, think about some of the following.
Get involved personally. Make a trip to India, to Punjab, and see the places of old. Learn Punjabi. Read the real history. Volunteer to teach classes in Gurudwara. Ask the granthi than when there is Sunday service, why is it that the kids are all outside playing and why there is no interest in the sangat to persue a "Sunday School" of quality, vision and durability. Ask the youngsters, why did your ancestors sacrifice? So you could play football and soccer and then eat some langar?
While sikhs in larger cities have organized programs, I can tell you the vast majority of sikhs in smaller locales do not have the time, resources, energy but MOSTLY the vision to do what it takes to preserve sikhism in the long run. It takes loyalty. It takes respect of one's own identity and the desire to preserve it. AND it takes PRIDE, which most academics and intellectuals will frown upon, because undeniably pride invokes negative attributes of a certain measure of inequality. But without real pride, and yes even some BIAS for own's people and history, we might as well just give it up and join those who do, because the crying over spilled milk can only last so long.
Those of us who have a sense of some of the above problems must try to do more to goad our peers and leaders to follow some path, any path of constructive action. The alternatives are clear, and frankly, in the face of a general apathy among sikhs to do more, not undeserved or that bad either.
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If any responses, do not be formal please.
I have been thinking and contemplating, about why we get bothered about the dissolution of our culture and Sikh way of life and traditions?
If you all will not, who will be bothered? Many who post on this site are from abroad, i.e. outside of Indian Punjab. It does not seem there are that many well informed, Sikh youth of India who are passionate about Sikh history or culture.
Now I am painting with broad strokes of the brush. But sometimes the generalizations will have to suffice. Ours is not the history of a Greece, or Persia or other GREAT civilization. Yet, it is a unique, glorious history with many great attributes those civilizations did not not have, nor do they even today.
I was talking to people recently come back from Punjab, who were reflecting (once more!) on the lack of any perceptable movement there to preserve and perpetuate the true "punjabi" culture. Youth out dating, drinking, being modern as humanly possible.
And it got me to wondering? Why do I care and why do I bother? If our Sikhs in India have a majority who only pay lip service to Sikhism, who are often not bothered (or too busy with the challenges of modern life) to speak Punjabi, practice Sikhism, preserve cultural traditions, ceremonies and MODES of behaviour (respect, obedience, hard work, perseverence), then what the hell are the rest of us sweating it for? It seems to me that Sikhism in Punjab will remain only as a foo-foo, ornamental, clothes deep phenomenon. Sure, there will be the few die hards, the few families who remain true to tradition and language and behaviour, but how many? We are not talking here about going to gurudwara once a month or so, or saying rehras here or mool mantra there. We are talking about true belief.
While people on this forum go on and on about philosophy, should another forum be created for real, non abstract, concrete ACTIONS or projects which will enhance the dissemination of knowledge and preservation of Sikh history and culture? And please, we all know Waheguru is not going to come down, wave a magic wand, and cure the current ills. If some of us sit around and rue the passing of what we know is being lost, maybe better if we just got over it and moved on, eh? Otherwise, why not create new ways to battle the loss of pride, knowledge, devotion, loyalty and indeed identity itself?
While this issue is not doubt essentially subjective, make no mistake, we Sikhs are in a state of free fall. If you do not realize that, one is either blind or impervious to reality. By an standard of evaluation, we as a society come up far short. Our leaders are corrupt, ignorant, undereducated, and generally useless to all except themselves and their families. Our Granthis and "priests" are living in the next world, the world of "Nam Japo" and karma. They are seldom useful to provide any support or transfer of knowledge to youth. Our Middle age folks look around, see the reality of the ebbing away, the dissolution of the community by inter marriage, the cutting of hair, the taking up of hindi and english and loss of punjabi --- and they hark to the age old Indian mantra "What can one do?". The youth, well too many of them believe aping the west and being up on pop culture is a lot more important than anything we talk about on this forum.
Soooooo...............what are the solutions? Personally, I think none. I think we are proverbially hosed. Get ready, because its going to get a lot wetter!
BUT, BUT....if you think you want to make a difference, think about some of the following.
Get involved personally. Make a trip to India, to Punjab, and see the places of old. Learn Punjabi. Read the real history. Volunteer to teach classes in Gurudwara. Ask the granthi than when there is Sunday service, why is it that the kids are all outside playing and why there is no interest in the sangat to persue a "Sunday School" of quality, vision and durability. Ask the youngsters, why did your ancestors sacrifice? So you could play football and soccer and then eat some langar?
While sikhs in larger cities have organized programs, I can tell you the vast majority of sikhs in smaller locales do not have the time, resources, energy but MOSTLY the vision to do what it takes to preserve sikhism in the long run. It takes loyalty. It takes respect of one's own identity and the desire to preserve it. AND it takes PRIDE, which most academics and intellectuals will frown upon, because undeniably pride invokes negative attributes of a certain measure of inequality. But without real pride, and yes even some BIAS for own's people and history, we might as well just give it up and join those who do, because the crying over spilled milk can only last so long.
Those of us who have a sense of some of the above problems must try to do more to goad our peers and leaders to follow some path, any path of constructive action. The alternatives are clear, and frankly, in the face of a general apathy among sikhs to do more, not undeserved or that bad either.
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More...