Some Notes and Random Musings

Here are some general musings and broader notes/reflections that were sparked by my participation in the camp:

On Parenting – One thing I found quite interesting was changes in parenting styles.  I don’t remember having had many choices as a child, when my parents were going to put their foot down, and it seems my own parents confirm this.  With the camp, I noticed we had so many parents expressed their desire for their sons to attend, only to begin avoiding our calls as the date approached and telling us our son doesn’t want to go.  Many of the same parents often complained – our son doesn’t listen to us and just watches TV all day.  I was left wondering, how do these children have the choice?  A parent has the ability to parent and limit the child’s television viewing, if they so desire.  A parent is not helpless to say our child doesn’t listen so we must accept the status quo.  Many parents desire to be the ‘friend’ of their child, or be the ‘good guy/gal’ and never say ‘no.’  With so many of my friends young parents, I wonder how they will be setting boundaries.

On Consumerism – Now members of our community are part of the broader society and one would hardly expect larger sociological issues such as consumerism to not affect us.  Still the degrees seem far more now than in my youth.  I remember kids having and even getting beat up and their shoes stolen if they had the latest Jordans.  With 13-year olds having iPhones, 16-year olds getting BMWs for their birthdays (Jodha had a reflection on this some time ago), and wardrobe prices that went far beyond our $15 jeans from Marshalls, I wonder what are we teaching our children?  Ask parents to send their children to a Sikh workshop or even Punjabi/Khalsa school at their Gurdwara and parents will begin about fees being far too high.  What do we actually value and what do we wish to teach our children to value?

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Reflections on Bhujangi 2011

The term ‘bhujang’ has a Sanskritic base and is used to refer to a small snake.  The Mughals and Afghans of the 18th century employed the term as a pejorative to refer to the Sikhs as ‘bhujangs.’  Try as they might, they could never completely ‘eradicate’ from the garden these ‘bhujangs.’  In the eternal optimism that defines the spirit of chardikala, the Singhs and Kaurs of the period appropriated the term and endorsed it to give it a new connotation.  Their young were in fact ‘bhujangs’ that would bite the feet of Mughals, Afghans, and other imperial powers.  Today the term is still widely used by Nihang Sikhs in reference to their offspring.  A young Sikh boy is called a ‘bhujangi’ and a young Sikh girl a ‘bhujangan’.

Reviving and reinterpreting our historic terminology were part of the naming process of this unique camp.

With the Guru’s Grace, from August 1-10, I had the opportunity to be a sevadar for the Jakara Movement’s first annual Bhujangi Youth Academy.  Unlike anything else in our community before, the academy specifically served the needs of at-risk young Punjabi Sikh males.

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Bhujangis in the Forest

The following was blogged by PenduPrincess at our sister blog – Kaurista.com

Stick a bunch of Punjabis in the forest and they won’t know what to do.  Mainly because there’s not a chula in the woods to make cha pakore.  Just kidding.  The truth is that urban culture and modernization has placed layers of materialistic stuff between us and the glory of Mother Nature.  However, this August 1^st – 10^th, the Jakara Movement’s Bhujangi Youth Academy ripped apart these layers and introduced a group of Sikh teen boys to the beauty of the ground we walk on.  And as hoped, by way of nature’s magnificence these boys were introduced to themselves.

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150+ Revolutionaries – Answering a Lalkaar

Before discussing the conference, I wanted to strongly encourage our Sikh youth sangat throughout California to come to Fresno/Kerman this coming weekend for an amazing opportunity.  While most Sikh organizations depend on large contributions by high-fly financiers with their own set of pre-conditions, Sikh youth organizations such as the Jakara Movement and the Sikh Activist Network do not.  The Jakara Movement’s biggest donors are its own members, making small contributions and the sweat and blood of its own members that come every year to sell fireworks.  This is truly grassroots, where the youth give their own labor for causes and projects they love.  Check out the video, follow the facebook event page to sign up, and then click below the fold for my report on Lalkaar 20111.

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