It’s been a while since I posted to my blog and there are a number of reasons.
However, let us first return to why I’ve bothered to write anything in the past. My motivation has not been driven on ego although the very nature of a blogs presence sitting on the public web is in itself a public stance of exhibitionalism. Instead, I consider my personal confidence as a way of contributing to making a difference based on my experiences & desire to standup for truth & the themes of my life comments/ commentary. My faith also ingrains me to fight for the defenceless.
Back to the reasons for not writing or updating my web journal. Firstly, apathy & seeing life pass me by. I’ve tried to reduce some of my interests based on general mental fatigue. Over a month ago I finished a 10 month work assignment with a very large technology company. The job title was grand yet I felt there was so much more could help with. Sadly, the organisations focus was inward looking, probably reflective of our economic climate, coupled with elements of management protectionism and a ‘play it safe’ attitude. Like most firms some of the people were dedicated whilst others control orientated. The latter lead to enter deep modes of soul searching and not acting as my true self. My change of behaviour or point of negative inflection occurred in November 2012. It was fifteen minutes of subsersive comments made by another person in what I believed was conducted to dampen my enthusiasm and contain my position. Maybe I read too much into what was said as I should have just carried on. NB I still did my work and achieved project success but my normal style of delivering effective business projects had been tampered with. Instead of being funky, friendly, collaborative and relishing in the joy of others all of this had to be tempered down. My spirit still encouraged me to contribute to best practice through developing a shared knowledge centre and even a 36 page handover document!
Currently, I’m working on an amazing project that will impact the lives of many in the area of blood & organ donation. I also hope it will give me complementary bandwidth to contribute more content online. It’s early days but I’m amazed by the donors from all walks of life and centre staff that work so hard. We should be grateful to all the teams that are involved.
Secondly, shock, driven by recent events. The Sajjan Kumar acquittal & Professor Bhulller death sentence announcements suggest contradictions & inconsistencies. I wonder if my little blog will inspire myself or others to communicate more, especially as the mainstream western press are playing a convenient game of ignorance. In the case of the 1984 pogroms when thousands died its now almost 29 years and strangely no one has been found guilty?
Now I’m making a commitmenht to communicate more and to step out of the shadows & create compelling media that will hope to penetrate the barriers of denial. As I’ve said in the past, ‘if we don’t create media and expose the truth, somebody else will do it for us’…
A heartfelt “sorry”, it would appear, is just about the hardest word in the English lexicon for politicians to unburden themselves of.
This is in reference to David Cameron’s visit to India this week. He has visited the Golden Temple and just outside one of the four entrances is the famous park called Jallianwala Bagh. NB The Indianoil advert is quite inappropriate!
On Sunday 13th April 1919 my Grandfather was one of thousands attending a public meeting. Luckily he survived but thousands didn’t as they were shot at by Brigadier-GeneralReginald E.H. Dyer. The background is that Dyer heard about the meeting of 15,000 to 20,000 people including women, children and the elderly at Jallianwala Bagh, Dyer went with fifty riflemen to a raised bank and ordered them to shoot at the crowd. Dyer continued the firing until the ammunition supply was almost exhausted. The crowd ran for cover but all they could find were deep wells. Their deaths were horrific, egged on by malice in the hearts of those who commanded.
On 13 March 1940, at Caxton Hall in London, Udham Singh, an Indian independence activist from Sunam who had witnessed the events in Amritsar and was himself wounded, shot and killed Michael O’Dwyer, the British Lieutenant-Governor of Punjab at the time of the massacre, who had approved Dyer’s action and was believed to be the main planner. (Dyer himself had died in 1927).
In years to come more would die at new country borders as the British divided up India.
Cameron acknowledgement of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre as a “deeply shameful event” fell short of a formal apology. Later he even justified why an apology would not work?!
Politics is littered with half and full apologies. However, I believe that it is never too late to express regret, portray genuine empathy and seek both truth and reconciliation. For example, in South Africa the Truth and Reconciliation tribunals was based on the Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act, No 34 of 1995 (pdf).
Interestingly, the Labour party under Gordon Brown issued an apology to Australians back in 2009/10.
Gordon Brown is to offer a formal apology to tens of thousands of British children forcibly sent to Commonwealth countries during the last century, many of whom faced abuse and a regime of unpaid labour rather than the better life they were promised.
On the outlook there appears to be a difference in approach that cannot be attributed to the severity of the deed. There are no degrees of measure to what constitutes enough damage to warrant regret, regardless of the perpetrator. Mr Cameron needs to realise that part of accepting the role of a leader in society or a political party, he is compelled to accept its legacy and heritage.
If I was cynical I would suggest that recent statements are made in the context of trading concessions. Everyone smiles yet behind the mask as there are millions of Dollars at stake for new agreements! Sky News suggested that the UK will ‘just have to join the queue’ as other state heads visit India to secure contracts.
We need to recognise that the UK has a rich connection with India. The word ‘rich’ is stronger than most people realise. For example, through spices, The East India Company, railways, buildings, bridges, hill stations, army connections, maharaja politics, births, land line/border distortions and diamond acquisitions (!) The legacy and record of the British Commonwealth and other colonialists is nothing to be proud of. What has been left behind by many of these powers is a tangled infrastructure that constrains or constricts progression. This is further perpetuated by political stooges and a fear to change for the better. India may be succeeding in answering your call centre queries but can it solve its problems in society given its prehistoric police systems, cast hangups and inequality – the latter also brought out in recent crimes against women.
India needs to be bolder in asking the UK why it has fallen short of a full apology. It deserves more than token poses. Sorry is probably the hardest word because it is an admittance of the British intent to damage and leave alone, i.e: as true revelations are incomplete and hidden.
It is February, you can feel the season is about to change from chilly sunny days to a new drier and hotter climate. The feeling of warm marble on your feet contributes to the calm of the complex you have just entered. In the background you hear melodious music piped through loudspeakers. You may not understand the words but you feel its holiness. In front of you in the centre of a man-made lake or what worshipers call a holy tank is the reflection of a building, a Sikh Temple decorated in gold. As it shimmers it sends out two signals, an emotional wave that forms an awe and a sense of connection. The water is clear and if you look carefully you will notice a variety of fish.
The marble-work and gold decorations was commissioned by the maharaja of Punjab, Ranjit Singh in 1830. The original construction and tank excavation date back to 1577, by the fourth and fifth Gurus of the Sikhs, Guru Ram Das ji and Guru Arjan Ji. A bustling city emerged around the complex that subsequently became known as Amritsar, meaning “Pool of the Nectar of Immortality”. The Sikhs had 10 Gurus. The 10th, Guru Gobind Singh established the holy book made up of scriptures from Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims and other saints as the Guru Granth Sahib. The holy book is located in the temple.
The complex has four entrances and clock towers together with an informative museum. To enter the temple you need to walk around the square marble perimeter to a causeway entrance that stands at 62m high and 6m in width. The bridge and complex are lit at night and dawn, this adds to the atmosphere of the place: serenity, calm, feeling the moment and almost as if time has stood still.
Last night I saw a fascinating article/clipping, it was posted on a social media site and was probably featured in a local newspaper print run. It spoke to me about optimism and reminded me of a comment made by Ravi Singh of Khalsa Aid when I interviewed him after the London riots in 2010. During that summer many had assembled outside Gurdwaras and Sikhs were also seen guarding mosques in an effort to ensure the safety of people and buildings as the threat of mass violence and destruction apparently not driven on frustration drew closer by the hour. I think we all know the real reason for the riots. I suggest it was down to a combination of lack of urban renewal and dysfunctional austerity. We need to ask ourselves:
Has any real progress been made since 2010 to avoid a repeat of public frustration?
Ravi was on a show and we also spoke about the amazing work that Khalsa Aid are doing in Haiti. I suggested that if people come together on a common humanitarian cause, they forget their differences and unite on shared values, for example, solutions and a resultant service. Ravi suggested greater community cohesion could be achieved through outreach programmes, for example, a Gurdwara (Sikh Temple) setting up and sponsoring a neighbouring housing estate football team.
For approximately 3 years I was chair of the Interfaith Youth Trust. Just before I joined them I attended a meeting at the House of Lords where youth based interfaith work was being discussed. Alongside the patrons a Sikh lady spoke about a Scottish interfaith group event she had organised – an outward bound forest activity. Kids from different backgrounds and religions were brought together working on various mini-projects during their trip. At the end of the event the kids were asked to draw on their experiences and design a set of leaflets that communicated common values. The result was that each child was seen to take more interest in their own faith, for example, wanting to know more about its core values. It also developed a sense of unity amongst them. Basically, we’re all the same and are bound by good and belief in God if you choose to.
The article, see below, outlines how two religious groups (Sikh and Christian Baptist) recently united to help the homeless. I’ve seen some of the outstanding work of Sikh Welfare & Awareness Team (SWAT) and their continued commitment to actually ‘talk the talk and walk the walk’. Daily they tend to streets and help those sleeping rough. Some of the sleepers are unemployed, others have complex issues, for example, drug addiction and alcoholism. Yet SWAT rather than the politicians have taken ownership. I remember trying to start a Facebook mob campaign to get people to write on politicians walls, to ask for action. Sadly, the call fell on deaf ears as people seemed to me happy about sharing their lifestyle statuses rather than lifting even a digital finger to help others.
We should not be afraid to take ownership of an issue that is affecting us. We also shouldn’t leave it to politicians who will simply juggle balls & spin themselves out of any guilt. We need to be stronger as a global community to fight for what is right. No one should have to die of starvation when 30-50% of the world’s produce does not reach human stomachs because of poor marketing, packaging, waste and storage. Poor media that focuses on celebrity and sensationalism does not help. For example, Haiti is still suffering but where is it in the news? Today, people like Khalsa Aid are still sending in people to help out in the Orphanages. Thank God that there is people out there who have the desire to aid through self-less service.
When will we wake up and help each other whether you are a humanist or someone of faith?
Creative community leaders together with Church and Temple leaders can help, especially if the funds that drive them come from our votes and pockets !
It has been one of those weekends where my Facebook newsfeed has just lite up with a wide range of views every since Param Singh went on the Take me Out dating show.
Take Me Out is a dating show presented by Paddy McGuinness. Paddy plays matchmaker to 30 single women all of which are hoping to meet the man of their dreams. Different single men have to try and impress the women as they watch/hear from a prospective male. NB The girls are assembled in a horizonal line/panel stood at podiums with a two option light-up code: Red = reject and White = ‘I’m interested’ and I’m impressed with what I’ve seen/heard. If there are any women left with their lights on at the end of the game the men can then choose which one of them to go out on a date with. Confused? I certainly was by Param’s decision to go on.
The rules, a full list can be found here: For example, the show insists that:
Rule 8: ‘You must be single and aged eighteen or over at the time of the application. You will be asked to provide the Producer with valid and current photographic ID and other documentation in order to substantiate your age (i.e. birth certificate, driving licence and/or valid passport). Rule 9. You must have the right to live and work in the UK and hold a valid passport.’
OK, so these rules suggest you must be an adult, rather than an adult with sound mind! Or, maybe the show is just an arena or facilitator of just good old fashioned fun. It is easy to cringe as right at the beginning of the show 30 girls journey to their podiums two-by-two, holding hands and dancing along a long runaway. Its quite simply a parade of silliness!
On a serious note, I’ve met Param a number of times. He is a genuine guy with a heart of gold and a unique sense of style. His brothers are great too, having developed a set of publications that are inspirational & deeply thoughtful from a spiritual perspective.
Essentially the Param’s result was what is known in the game as a ‘blackout’ - a strange sense of double meaning, i.e: leaving wth no acceptance for a date. Was Param motives to go on the show in search of a good time and the ultimate prize holiday in Fernandos or was it self-promotion? One thing is for sure, he was quick witted and gave as good as he got. During a Q&A in the early stages of selection (some girls had left their lights on), one girl suggested that she didn’t need a handbag when going out as she could store items in Param’s turban. Param responded with, there is more space up here! Again, another double meaning, i.e: There is more brains up here than you my dear!
However, as I mentioned at the start of this post, my personal Facebook timeline saw a mix of emotion. Some people were clearly alarmed and some took it in their stride as a bit of old fashioned jolliness. Unfortunately, my view is that there is already too much jolliness with Sikhs being mocked in Bollywood. At a couple of interesting media outlet’s :Nihal’s show on BBC Network Asia (whatever that means) and the excellent Langar hall (http://thelangarhall.com/general/the-trials-and-tribulations-of-dating-while-sikh/), the debate continues. I also saw an excellent Tweet from Naujawani.com on 8th Jan:
‘It might lack subtlety, but makes up for it with a powerful message: wearing a turban/dastaar comes with responsibility http://bit.ly/U09jN4‘.
Referring to the excellent film by Satwant Singh, an award winner at last years Sikhnet Film festival and also shown during the Mr Singh International event last month! Was that a contradiction?
The issues range from fashion to appropriateness. Yes, it is good to be fashion conscious, if you like that sort of thing (I do and I try! Some may remember my leather trousers and that was pre-Terminator days!). However, does loving fashion show a strange sense of being vain or just wanting to look and feel good. Who are we dressing for anyway? Ourselves, or to attract others. We all know that a large element is the latter as we’re all human. The show raised deeper questions on what women truly desire. The truth is that Sikhs need to behave in public in a respectful way, it is what our crowns are presenting in once sense, i.e: A royalty, heritage and empowered to help others. I believe it is in our psyche.
I’ve been fortunate to have appeared on some main stream TV and recently it has been more of what I call through an ethnic channel. It is not easy. Scripting and control are essential to ensure content of substance that is memorable. On a dating or commercial show you are at the mercy of the editors and producers. They want contention, talk-active and mischievous content. We need to consider if we as Sikhs should rise to their bait.?
The problem is that Sikhs are not part of the mainstream. Newsnight tends to ‘wheels out’ its favourites. TV Researchers use people they can trust and I always cite Jon Snow of Channel 4 news. At a conference on media (including social), he said he had been advised to blog and that you have to look at who the editors are, their background et al. i.e: paraphrasing: We may have brown faces in the front reading the news but the controllers are from a particular part of the community. You can also say that about today’s Tory party with lots of their friends from Eton!
In addition, we see no new presenters emerging. It is the same old bumbling English men/women presenting documentaries, walks & programmes. We need more presenters that reflect society around us. Sikhs have been in the western world since the early 1900s and are hopefully here to stay. Get used to it people!
Today, in a step to create media we’ve lost cite of needing to be part of the media. Unfortunate mistaken identity episodes involving Sikhs is partly down to a lack of education about who we are and the need for many of stories about our self-less nature. I’ll never forget back in 2010, during the Golden Temple Exhibition at the University of London School of Oriental and Asian Studies (SOAS). During a City Sikhs special viewing with I believe Param present together with Gurka Singh from the US, a young lady suggested during a Q&A segment, paraphrasing, ‘Surely cases of mistaken identity would be less if Sikhs were seen to be the humanitarians that they are’. She was right on the mark with that comment. Khalsa Aid and other charities never seem to get a big mention. Therefore, we all have a part to play to make sure their work is seen and heard. This alone would be a strong message to every community about who we are.
Let us return to the main theme of this post. Should a Sikh consider going on this type of dating time show. Firstly, if it is for awareness, then there are definitely better ways of achieving that. If it was for good old fun, is that the same reason why the rest of the participants were there?
Watch below and decide for yourself but I think you may conclude that in hindsight it probably sounded like good idea at the time but it has morphed into strange avenues, i.e: . It has raised a dark debate in terms of looking at ourselves, seeing how people view each other from a first impression perspective and a clue to consider how we are developing as an integrated society rather than sleepwalking into one that is assimilated. If the latter happens then this would mean we have lost ourselves!
