About a month ago I was asked to host/anchor a special show on how a lady was disrespected whilst casually driving her mother about town. The officers should have known better, especially as they have been trained and had over 10 years of service. Maybe they were just being mischievous! This is unacceptable in a country where Sikhs have resided and connected with for over 150 years!
Folks I’m back on BBC Radio 2 at 7:40am GMT on 10th June. Here is a sneak preview of areas I’ll be covering.
Here is a link to the show schedule: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01jqd7w
Its a pity that Alexander McCall Smith the aclaimed author of the Ladies Detective Agency is going to be calling in from Scotland. I would have loved to meet him.
Back to my bit!
NB These are ideas, actual ‘live’ commentary and other questions will vary.
Topic 1 : Did the ‘Big Lunch’ bring people / communities together?
Yes, I believe it did help people explore not only who their neighours are but also share in the diversity of communities & respective approaches to life. Maybe its the weather in the UK that innocently forces us to keep our doors closed as for most of the year we rush in from the bustling wind to our warm living rooms to share our lives with our family, partners and the TV! The world of TV soaps suggests that we all get along down the local pub but reality is that there is detachment and a conservatism that is based on our busy lives and fear of the unknown. We need more events to help. Saying that I remember at school during Xmas, Easter and harvest festival we were always asked to identify any elderly neighbours living on their own. Thats great but why is our society not more orientated towards self-less service.
I know that there was a
Topic 2: What is self-less service?
Sikhs believe in Honest living, sharing wealth and self-less service. The latter helps communities to become stronger in terms of mutual trust and support. I’m not implying that it is a reward as true self-less service suggests nothing in return. Consider in the context of giving a gift, the reward is the feel good factor. However, true self-less service assures no return or reward, just the motion of giving to help others.
The UK is a great example of supporting charities, just look at the Sport Relief achievements this year in terms of fund raising and people getting together.
Topic 3 : With Euro 2012 kicking off with talk of racism, what can teams and authorities do to
There has been a suggestion that if any racisim is exhibited by fans from the host nations, the teams on the pitch should simply walk-off.
I saw this suggestion on Twitter when the BBC Panorama programme aired a few weeks back.
I’m not a die-hard football fan so I asked a few people I know who go to the Indian Gymkana in London that originates back to the 1930s.
They suggested that teams should carry on and ignore the antics of mob-based/extremist fans, suggesting that it is up to the local authorities & police to root out the trouble makers using greater survillance techniques. My fear is for overseas fans. Surely leaders of the host nations should be more public about how they will not tolerate such behaviour and in sharp implications of being caught exhibiting racism. Isn’t football called the beautiful game?
Topic 4 : Coming back to the feel good factor, do you think events like the up and coming Euro 2012 and Olympics ?
I believe that they do help us celebrate the success of the pursuit of excellence in human endevour or even endurance – They are inspiring & we live our dreams through the performances we view. Supporters get together to celebrate life and joy of winning or simply taking part!
Its this celebration that is the key to the feel good factor, i.e: the anticipation or build-up, the emotions during each event, sharing in eatiing and drinking and finally the after party.
The multitude of colours produced by the spectacle of it all shows how if we all work together we can put on a great show.
MOR – Moment of Reflection
Making That Feel Good Factor Last
Are you sad that the buntings that facilitated a sense of joy last weekend are now being taken down ?
The big lunch in streets up and down the country certainly created a sense of community both local and national.
Why do we need a big national event to facilitate this? Surely, loving thy neighbour all year round would help build harmony and unity.
One approach could be to establish outreach projects from churches, temples, Gurdwaras and Mosques. For example, if a place of worship is near a troubled neighbourhood, perhaps the trustees of the place of worship could arrange to sponsor local football coaching sessions.
People from different walks of life could be influenced to meet, converse and understand their common goals of survival and ownership of their locality. Together they could work on projects to help others and themselves, effectively becoming self-less in their service. Maybe this is the key to a sustainable feel good factor.
Thanks for listening in advance!
On 29th March 2012, I was asked to talk at a rally for justice.
The accompanying background to this can be found here.
Specifically there is a need for the removal of death penalty from India’s penal code inherited from its colonial past.
Last night was a night when I needed some sleep. I also should have taken it easy in terms of training. Then to top things off the car alarm went off at 4am!
The day started off by being picked by BBC cars to head to Radio 2′s studio at 6:50am for an appearance on Good Morning Sunday with Aled Jones.
There were lots of interesting questions ranging from the:
1. life of Alan Turing – I suggested he is one of the founders of modern computer science
2. need to ensure churches continue to be funded – I suggested that places of work act a bank of faith & centres to do good with communities
3. Queen’s diamond Jubilee – what does it mean to the UK – I suggested that she offers a grace that helps people connect & her charity/initiatives.
4. need for tolerance in society – I discussed the differences between French and UK multiculturalism
An extract from the show Transcript:
Aled:
With Fabrice Muamba recent collapse and his family suggesting that prayer has helped him. Do you believe that prayer projects something.
Dr Savi:
It is an interesting question and in the past I been on the show talking about the BBC2 documentary. My conclusion is the same, you can’t test God. There is a spiritual level that cannot be defined scientifically. Its not a cause and effect or create an effect to help a cause. The latter is probably true from a level of raising a level of hope, optimisim, elevation of your soul to reach out to God. We can’t test him but we can try and reach out to him.
Great also to see such wonderful team spirit between players and supporters.
Aled :
The June 23rd marks the annversary of Alan Turing. He was highly influential in the development of computer science, providing & played a significant role in the creation of the modern computer.Turing is widely considered to be the father of computer science and artificial intelligence.Do you think her should be honoured?
Dr Savi:
Apparently, he was also an incredible runner & he helped to shorten WW2 by devising a number of techniques for breaking German Codes. Thats called being multi-talented.
He was so ahead of his time that some of his theories, including liquid logic gates. This theory is aalso being adapted into something called a “wet computer”, using self-creating “cells” and other techniques to mimic certain properties of neurons.
Moment of Reflection:
This week the Queen gave her Diamond Jubilee speech in the Houses of Parliament.
What an incredible milestone. She’s the second monarch to have achieved this.
Interestingly, she’s engaged with 12 prime ministers and travelled all around the world.
I recently saw an article that cited John Bercow praising the Queen for presiding over an increase in diversity in public life during her reign, describing her as a “kaleidoscope Queen of a kaleidoscope country in a kaleidoscope Commonwealth”.
How fun is that statement, especially in a world where so many spend so much wasted time to hate each other.
Instead we see consistency from the queen. Its her grace that is an enabler to geninuely connect with people and help unite them through common initiatives.
I’ll be running the sports relief 10K in a couple of hours time and in a way I’ll be connecting with people.
We’ll be united to help others in need and maybe that is what life is all about.
We also spoke about the work of Sports Relief, another form of connecting with people for a common good. Here are some of the pictures from the day.
The 10K run started at 10:15am and it was nice to meet sporting heros like Steve Cram and enjoy the unseasonally warm March day.
Later I thought about how the hearts of people are good as over £52M was raised by the UK – amazing, especially in this time of austerity.
When we think of those children that spend their days at rubbish dumps in so many parts of the world, we need to unite to stop this!
Everyone deserves a fair and free society. Together we can make poverty history by connecting and believing we can do it together.
Its been a while since I posted to my blog. Part of the reason is that there is so much going on in the world and I tend to be Tweeting more (@DrSavi). A guess apathy is another reason. All these reasons are not really justified as I believe to blog is to share ones view point, suggest debate and seek verification of ideals. Tweeting is good but it could be supported by greater depth of discussion through an attached link.
As I said, there is so much happening in the world. My last posting was in February and at the time we all saw the pace of change sweeping North Africa. Since that post date Libya and Syria are centre stage in the demand for change and greater freedom.
I was recently fortunate to be a guest on Radio 2′s Aled Jones Good Morning Sunday. In my moment of reflection, I pointed out,
‘As we sit in our armchairs watching from a distance I wonder if we ever thought about why it takes so long to demand change.’
The full transcript is shown below, together with a link to the audio:
We’re all watching the news and almost hourly developments of people close to Europe & further afield struggling to free themselves from their current rulers and injustices. Everyday it seems that more lives are lost or put at risk in the hope for an outcome that will result in a new and fairer way forward for a country.
As we sit in our armchairs watching from a distance I wonder if we ever thought about why it takes so long to demand change.
Maybe its because often people with power want to hang on to it. Or, could it be that the public have adopted an apathetic approach to life as their survival depends upon it. People can also be unknowingly conditioned to accept the status quo.
In mid April 1699 the 10th Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh established the Sikh identity called the Khalsa. Its establishment continues to assure defending the defenceless, honest living and equality. Guru Gobind Singh lost his father, mother and children in the struggle for freedom.
The Sikhs succeeded in creating fighting for freedom. In some countries and societies the challenge continues.
I should also point out that at the time Sikhs not only fought for the freedom, liberty and justice, they were defending the defenceless. India today enjoys an environment of religions living side-by-side, however, communal violence and manipulation by extreme groups such as the RSS continues and in many cases on a covert basis.
The question posed in this article is really one of what drives change? Is it a case that oppression by a selective few can only last for so long until just before a camels back is broken. Or, does a sense of revolution come when all else has failed. Maybe achieving change is harder in the 21st century as there is a need for:
As both Syria heats up and the Libyan situation is developing into a turf war (both sadly with the loss of lives), when will the desire for change be concluded. Will it be a positive outcome for all? Maybe it is up to the leaders to view that forced and violent suppression will further condem them (leaders) and they have an opportunity to demonstrate that they care for a positive outcome.
In terms of my statement about apathy, maybe I really meant to say that sometimes we are too accepting of regimes. A case in point being Libya and the appeasement by the West over the years, including the sale or weapons. The latter is clearly from a country management to country management perspective. However, inside a country acceptance is ‘safe’ as it secures milk to babies and infrastructure continuity. Maybe its only a revolution that really achieves change and there is no half-way house.
We continue to live in a world where there is inequality or as George Orwell implied in Animal House, ‘All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others’. We marvel (including media frenzy) at the spectacle of regal ceremony but on the next corner accept that poverty is inherent in our global reach.
True change comes from within with a passion to exercise and drive it through but the conditions must be right for it to be lasting and worth it.
