So Long To Ya, 2010 | The JibJab 2010 Year in Review!

Dr. Prabhjot Singh at TEDxBROOKLYN

Dr. Prabhjot Singh works with national governments and local communities to improve the financing, implementation and delivery of community-based health systems. He is Director of the Program for Health Systems Development and Research and Community Health Worker Advisor to the Millennium Villages Project at Columbia University's Earth Institute.

In 2009 he co-founded Community Lab to support the accessibility of large-scale development efforts to citizens, civil organizations and skilled professionals in other fields. Prabhjot Singh has a Ph.D. in Neural and Genetic Systems from Rockefeller University as part of the Tri-Institutional M.D./Ph.D. Program with Weill Cornell Medical College and was a Post-Doctoral Fellow at Columbia's Earth Institute with Professor Jeffrey Sachs. Prabhjot grew up in Nairobi, Kenya and currently lives in Manhattan, where he enjoys learning about the amazing work that people do to make cities vibrant cultural centers.

Fighting addiction in the South Asian community

An interesting article entitled "Fighting addiction in the South Asian community". Here's a quote to ponder:

It is important to understand the difference between being Sikh and being Punjabi, two words that are not synonymous, Sandhu said.

To be a Sikh is to belong to a faith that generally takes a dim view on drinking to get drunk and other forms of substance abuse.

In Sikh scriptures, mood-altering substances are said to lead to madness, irrational thoughts and a lack of awareness.

But to be Punjabi is to come from a farming tradition that favours the use of alcohol, cannabis and opium to help working-class people work harder and faster by fighting exhaustion and the physical pain of hard manual labour.

There is a kind of pride in drinking in Punjab tradition, Sandhu said, still seen in songs that celebrate hairy-chested boozing with lyrics like, “these boys are not afraid because they don’t measure their drinks.”

Sarpanch Feat Foji - Punjabi Skank

One of the most creative Bhangra videos I've seen in a long time. I bet it cost less than $100 to make and was, very impressively, shot in one continuous take. I'm also guessing "Punjabi Skank" has a different meaning in the UK. :p

Jassi Singh - Dreams

Another up and coming Punjabi rapper from NYC, Jassi Singh.

Support the Sikh Coalition

Remembering Kuldip Singh Sodhi

Kuldip Singh Sodhi

I regret to inform you that Sardar Kuldip Singh Sodhi passed away last Saturday after after a lengthy illness. His Path & Bhog (Final Prayers) will take place on Sunday December 26 at 1:30pm at Old Rexdale Gurdwara located at 47 Baywood Road, Rexdale, Ontario M9V 3Y8. All friends and family are welcome to come and pay their respects.

He was a great Sikh and a proud Canadian. His contributions were many, but here's some notes that his daughter Gurpreet shared this week.

Kuldip was born in Rawalpindi (present day Pakistan) but his family was forced to move to India during the partisan of India and Pakistan in 1947. His two memories of leaving Pakistan were carrying his youngest brother, who was a baby, and his mother begging for her children's lives. His family settled in Ambala Cantonment, (now Haryana) where his nephews, nieces, sister and cousins continue to live. Kuldip left home at 14 years old to learn his trade – heating, ventilation and air conditioning – so he could help his family financially. Helping people continued to be a theme throughout his life.

At 16 years of age Kuldip met his future wife Amarjit. They married 10 years later in 1962 and they were married for over 40 years.

Kuldip moved to Toronto in 1964 just in time for Beatlemania. In the late 1960s he moved his family to Beautiful Bowmanville as he liked to call it. While living in Bowmanville he established and built a successful business in air conditioning and refrigeration. He and his wife Amarjit raised a loving family and Kuldip was very active in town affairs and volunteerism in Bowmanville. For example, for more than 20 years he assisted St. Paul's United Church with their annual Christmas Nativity Scene. To ensure the Nativity Scene was accurate the Church felt the Three Wise men should wear turbans so they called Kuldip to tie them. Every year for three days before Christmas, Kuldip happily tied turbans on the Three Wise men for over 20 years.

Kuldip always saw potential in youth. He also helped many Bowmanville area youth learn a trade by taking young apprentices into the family business. The Sodhi family were well known for opening their home to kids from their neighbourhood and across town as a place to play, eat and just "hang out."

Kuldip is well known and regarded in the Sikh community for helping newcomers acclimatize and settle in Canada, just like he did. He and his wife welcomed newcomers into his house where he let them stay for an undetermined amount of time, taught them about Canada and provided them with Canadian work experience.

He is also remembered for his inspirational fight against human rights abuses against Sikhs in Punjab. He worked closely with all of the political parties educating them about the human rights abuses in Punjab. He also lobbied governments around the world to seek help to end the abuses.

Hans Rosling's 200 Countries, 200 Years, 4 Minutes - The Joy of Stats

Luxury cars' demand on the rise in Punjab

Punjab's farmers are killing themselves over their debt loads while BMW comes to town.

Harjit Harman's Punjab

Quite the song of defiance and chardi kala (infinite optimism) by Harjit Harman.

Story of Stuff

Your Monday morning eye-opener. Its the Story of Stuff.

Bhagwant Mann and RML

Bhagwant Mann in what is basically a paid informercial for RML, Reuters Market Light, a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters India. RML provides individual farmers with customised, localised and personalised weather forecasts, local crop prices, agricultural news and relevant information (i.e. crop advisory) – in the form of SMS messages sent to their mobile phones in their local language. This allows subscribing farmers to plan irrigation, application of fertilizers, and harvest – thus, managing some of their risks, as well as to decide when and where to sell their produce to maximise profit.

National Post: Komagata Maru was just about following the "law"

Perhaps I'm missing something here. It seems that the basis of this article on the Komagata Maru by the National Post's Adrian MacNair is this. Because the Canadian Government didn't actually break its own laws he's "not sure it’s the black mark on Canadian history we’re constantly told it is".

I dumbstruck by the ignorance of this comment. It completely ignores the fact that the laws implemented like the Continuous Journey clause were blatently racist and inherently exclusionary. So I guess as long as I follow my own rules, no matter how bad they are, I'm on side. Wow, makes me scratch my head.

He further says, incorrectly, that "Nobody in the Sikh community was asking for a museum and a monument. They wanted an apology in the House of Commons, which was refused." Mr. Macnair, perhaps you need to talk to more Sikhs. As a member of the Sikh-Canadian community let me be clear. We want a formal apology in the House of Commons from the Canadian Government AND a museum/monument. Neither are tied to dollars. Both are tied to healing a pain point with all Sikh-Canadians and educating all Canadians on our past, warts and all. The beauty of Canada is how far we've come. This isn't abut rubbing our noses in our sordid history, its about acknowledging the reality of what happened and why.

Tranformation by Giani Sukha Singh

Interesting story by Giani Sukha Singh of Malaysia about how he came into Sikhi.

Cheetah Power Surge: NO BULL!

The winner of the Cheetah Power Surge TV Challenge.

Fareed Zakaria Exposes Glenn Beck's Downright Lies About Muslims

Komagata Maru to get memorial and a museum

We never got a proper apology, but it looks like we're getting a museum.

Komagata Maru to get memorial, museum

By Denise Ryan, Vancouver Sun December 13, 2010 Members of Vancouver's Sikh community gathered Sunday at the Ross Street Temple to applaud the announcement of federal funding for two projects commemorating the 1914 Komagata Maru incident in which 376 immigrants from the Punjab were refused entry to Canada.

"This should have happened a long time ago," Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Jason Kenney told the crowd at the temple.

The Khalsa Diwan Society will receive $82,500 to work with the Vancouver park board to design and locate a memorial to the Komagata Maru.

An additional $104,000 will provide seed money to develop a museum dedicated to the incident. The museum will be located in an existing building on the site of the temple.

The Vancouver park board has invited public consultation on the site of the proposed memorial.

Members of the Khalsa Diwan Society worked with the board to apply for funding from the federal Community Historical Recognition program for the monument and were on hand to hear the announcement.

The Khalsa Diwan Society, a community organization formed in 1906 to address the cultural, religious and political needs of Indian immigrants, was directly involved in community response to the Komagata Maru incident 96 years ago.

During the incident, those aboard the ship were denied the right to disembark after the vessel was prevented from docking in Vancouver's harbour.

A two-month standoff followed, during which the passengers were denied supplies, including food.

The Khalsa Diwan Society formed a "shore committee," spiriting food and necessities aboard to help keep the passengers alive.

Eventually the ship was forced to return to India, where it came under fire from British soldiers.

Approximately 20 passengers were killed.

Jack Uppal, past president of the Khalsa Diwan Society, said the society has been working for at least 15 years to raise awareness and seek redress for the incident. "This is very important to newcomers and members of our community to finally have this injustice redressed."

Uppal still recalls the stories his father told him about smuggling food and water onto the ship in an effort to keep the immigrants alive. "Those people were British subjects, and they didn't even let them off the ship."

Mohinder Gill, also a prominent member of the Vancouver Sikh community, said: "A great injustice was done. Now the government has recognized and apologized for the injustice and offered our community a chance to come together."

dryan@vancouversun.com

Link

Drug addiction blights the Indian state of Punjab

I can't embed the video here (damn you BBC), but please click here to watch this sad news report about what's happening to the youth of Punjab.

There is growing concern in India about the rapid rise in drug addiction cases in Punjab, one of the country's wealthiest states.

The main university in the region has claimed that 70% of young Punjabi men are hooked on drugs or alcohol.

The problem is at its worst along the border with Pakistan where heroin originating from Afghanistan is smuggled into the country.

The BBC's Mark Dummett reports from Amritsar.

Satinder Sartaj - Sai

Sai by Satinder Sartaj is probably one of the most beautiful, mystical and inspirational songs I've heard in years. According to Sartaaj, he "sang this song, before he wrote it down" meaning in just came to him. I posted a live version of this song last year, but he's finally released the studio version with a excellent videos. The best part is that there's subtitles so even if you don't Punjabi, you can still follow along and be moved by this song.

What will you be reading over the holidays?

Here's what a bunch of prominent Canadians (or as Rob and Don call them Pinko Elites) recommend reading this holiday season. List includes David Johnston, Paul Martin, Frank McKenna, Brad Wall, Pamela Wallin, and Chantal Hebert.

(LE FRANÇAIS SUIT L'ANGLAIS) Dear Friends, This is the Public Policy Forum's second annual reading list. We asked a diverse group of Canadian leaders - multi-sectoral, multi-regional and multi-generational - what they planned to read over the coming holiday season. We know that this is a special time of year when many of us try to find some precious time to get caught up on our reading.   I believe you'll agree that this represents a fascinating list with some inspirational choices. This year, with some encouragement, I've even added my selections.   Please enjoy our list and have a wonderful holiday season. I trust you'll get some reading done.  With all best wishes from the Public Policy Forum team, David Mitchell President and CEO His Excellency David Johnston 28th Governor General of Canada A Biography of John Buchan, by Janet Adam Smith New Entrepreneurs: Building a Green Economy for the Future, by Andrew Heintzman Carbon Shift: How the Twin Crises of Oil Depletion and Climate Change Will Define the Future, by Thomas Homer Dixon Chantal Hébert Political Columnist, The Toronto Star La carte et le territoire, by Michel Houellebecq The Sentimentalist, by Johanna Skibsrud Moonlight Mile, by Dennis Lehane Brad Wall Premier of Saskatchewan Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime, by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin Of This Earth: A Mennonite Boyhood in the Boreal Forest, by Rudy Wiebe Find out what others are reading this holiday season!

Call for Papers – Sikholars 2011

The CSU East Bay Ethnic Studies Department, the Jakara Movement, and Sabharwal Chair in Sikh and Punjabi Studies proudly present:

The Second Annual
Sikholars: Sikh Graduate Student Conference
A Community on the Move: Global and Local Sikhs
February 25-27, 2011

The Sikholars: Sikh Graduate Student Conference seeks to bring Sikhs and non-Sikhs working on Sikh-related issues to an annual conference that unites a breadth of graduate expertise. From academia, to health, law, and business entrepreneurship, the conference will bring together a wide array of disciplines and scholarly interests to create an institutionalized channel to present papers on research, and informal circuits or networks for continued discussion. Inviting submission of abstracts, the two-day conference elicits proposals on various aspects of Sikh economic, political, health, cultural, and social life.

Purpose of the Conference:

Due to the massive expression of interest at last year’s conference, we have decided to move towards a more inclusive two-day format to allow for greater networking, sharing of ideas, and presentation of research. Enjoy a weekend with other top young researchers and planned social events.

Sikholars: Sikh Graduate Student Conference invites papers for a conference to be held in the California State University, East Bay from February 25-27, 2011. All are welcome to apply.

The scope of the conference is global; papers may concentrate on particular localities or regions, or they may present cross-regional comparisons and convergences. We encourage submissions from a broad range of disciplines, methodologies, and perspectives. All topics are open – from medicine, to law, to history, sociology, and all Sikh-related topics in-between. From the past to the contemporary, from the global to the specific, all are encouraged to submit.

Proposals for individual papers should be no more than 500 words in length and may be sent by email, with a current CV, to info@sikholars.org or uploaded at the conference website, www.sikholars.org.

Submission Deadline: Please submit abstracts by December 15, 2010

TSA Detains Sikh; Forces Turban Removal

This is just incredible. I've flown threw SFO many times and have never had a problem, but I know that lots of Sikhs have.

TSA Detains Sikh; Forces Turban Removal

December 9, 2010 (Washington, DC) - The Sikh Coalition filed a formal complaint this week with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) on behalf of Mr. Daljeet Singh Mann, a business traveler, who was forced to remove his dastaar (Sikh turban) on two separate occasions within a span of only three days.

Incident One - Surrounded and Detained

On November 6, 2010, after clearing a metal detector without setting off an alarm at San Francisco International Airport, Mr. Mann was surrounded by four TSA officers and told that they needed to "look under" his dastaar in a private room. No explanation was provided.

Although Mr. Mann was prepared to pat down his own dastaar, the TSA officers escorted him to a private room and forced him to remove it. After inspecting his dastaar, TSA officers subjected Mr. Mann to an aggressive full-body pat down and searched through his luggage.

Immediately after suffering this humiliation, Mr. Mann reported the incident to a TSA supervisor and was told that "someone dropped the ball" at TSA.

Incident Two - Detention and Humiliation

Incredibly, only two days later, Mr. Mann was subjected to more degrading treatment by TSA officers at Sacramento International Airport. After clearing a metal detector and having his hands swabbed, Mr. Mann was told that the hand-swab results were positive. When Mr. Mann requested a second test, due to the possibility that the results were wrong, TSA officers refused and told him that he would have to remove his dastaar in a private room.

Upon entering the room, Mr. Mann asked that he be allowed to leave the airport, so that he would not have to suffer the same humiliation that he had experienced only two days earlier. TSA officials told him that he did not have the option to go home without additional screening of his dastaar, and that if he had problems with TSA policy, he should not travel in the future.

Two deputy sheriffs were posted outside the room, and Mr. Mann was forced to place his dastaar in a bin and undergo another aggressive full-body pat down. Mr. Mann missed his flight and was forced to book another one.

While waiting for his flight in the airport waiting area, Mr. Mann was harassed again. One of the deputies posted outside the room while he was searched approached Mr. Mann and began asking intrusive and harassing questions about where he worked. Mr. Mann responded to the deputy but ultimately felt so humiliated by the entire experience that he cancelled his business trip and returned home.

Sikh Coalition Intervenes


The Sikh Coalition worked with Mr. Mann to file a complaint with the TSA and met with Congressional offices to discuss the matter.

Only through community reporting and documentation can we make the case that TSA policy discriminates against Sikhs. We are grateful to Mr. Daljeet Singh Mann for courageously going public with his ordeal.

As always, the Sikh Coalition urges all Sikhs to fearlessly practice their faith. You can report air travel discrimination by clicking here.

Ravinder + Sat Jot's Wedding

I don't know Ravinder or Sat Jot but their wedding looks so beautiful and they look madly in love. Great video. Congratulations!

Narayanan Krishnan: A Companion To The Forgotten.

If you're looking for a little inspiration today, actually a ton of inspiration, watch this video about a simple man changing the world. It will make you question the purpose of our all too short lives.



CNN Hero Narayanan Krishnan gave up a career as a chef to feed the homeless three meals a day in Madurai, India.

Freedom of food and the Golden Temple

A beautiful short film about the free kitchen at the Darbar Sahib in Amritsar, Punjab.


freedom of food and the golden temple from jason taylor on Vimeo.

BYU Bhangra?

The most non-Punjabis I've ever seen doing bhangra.

Punjabi Hockey is back and it starts this weekend!

Its official! CBC Sports has announced today that they are bringing back the very popular Hockey Night in Canada PUNJABI EDITION. The broadcast will air every Saturday covering the doubleheader games.

We are very excited about this announcement and thank the CBC for listening to the Punjabi community across Canada and reinstating the broadcast. I would like to thank all of the individuals, fans, local Gurdwaras, and community organizations for their tremendous show of support for the broadcast.

A very special thanks to NDP Mps Peter Julian and Charlie Angus who listened to the concerns and raised the issue at the government level.

Also, a great deal of appreciation goes out to CIBC for stepping up as a sponsor for the upcoming season of HNIC Punjabi Edition.

So tune in this Saturday for the doubleheader in Punjabi on Rogers Channel 385 and Shaw Channel 328. If you are a Bell subscriber, please contact Bell to request the Punjabi hockey channel.
Below is a message from CBC:

Dear Friends,

We have some great news! We're happy to let you know that CBC's Hockey Night in Canada in Punjabi will return this Saturday, December 4! We are pleased to welcome CIBC as our sponsor in this initiative, helping us to continue to celebrate two of Canada’s strengths, our cultural diversity and our shared passion for Hockey. Double-headers will be available for the rest of the season on CBCSports.ca, and to Rogers Cable subscribers on channel 385 and Shaw Cable subscribers on channel 328.
You can visit us at CBCSports.ca/hockey. See you on Saturday!

Sincerely,
CBC's Hockey Night in Canada

Children's Book: My First Fruit

With few exceptions (Lions Mane for one), there's a complete dearth of high-quality books for Sikh-Canadian children. That's why I was happy to stumble on the new website GianDukaan.com. Off of it, I just bought a copy of the book, My First Fruits by Rupinder Jatana, online for the little ones in my family. I'll report back on it when I receive it in the mail and test it out with the youngings.

A children’s board book printed and bound in the US of high quality art board. Designed for children under three years of age to learn to read and speak punjabi along side their parents. Targeted for children born in the west, this book emulates the visual appeal of english books in it’s content and design. Fruit names are written in gurmukhi letters with the pronunciation guide, tested on non-punjabi speakers, written below in english letters, as well as the international phonetic alphabet. Ideal for anyone who wants to learn punjabi.

Pooja Akal di, parcha shabad da te deedar Khalsa da!

Pooja Akal di, parcha shabad da te deedar Khalsa da.

This is a common saying amongst Sikhs. Here's what it translates to (from allaboutsikhs.com):

Worshipping the Eternal God (Puja Akal Ki)

The Guru advises us to worship only the one almighty God and not to worship forces of the universe or mythical beings. It is the Creator, and not the creation, that is important.

How do Sikhs worship God? By thinking of Him and by believing in the brotherhood of mankind. For Sikhs, God does not reside in the seventh or fourteenth sky, or any other place far from the earth. God lives in the hearts of humans. There is no place without Him. He expresses Himself through His creation. In other words, worship of God is accomplished by meditating on Him, His virtues and His grace.

Understanding Gurbani (Paricha Shabad Ka)

Sikhs are required to regularly read and understand the gurbani written within the Guru Granth Sahib. gurbani teaches God's virtues and how they can be revealed to us.

The daily recitation of hymns reminds us repeatedly of the pitfalls of egotism, anger, lust, attachment, and greed. The hymns encourage readers to develop good character by constantly reminding that these virtues bring peace.

Sikhs accept the word of the Guru as their guide. They regard the Guru Granth Sahib as their living Guru because from gurbani, they obtain the spiritual guidance they need.

Appreciating the Sikh Reht (Didar Khalsa Ka)

Sikhs do not worship pictures or idols of God or the Gurus. Nor do they honor any living individual as their Guru. They respect the decision of the corporate body of the Singhs and Kaurs, the Khalsa, since the tenth Guru bestowed the authority of Guruship on this body.