First, I’d like to relate to all of the Sikh youth in the U.S. and Canada about my experience in giving a presentation about India and Sikhism to a group of second graders, secondly, I hope that this may motivate some of the youth out there to step forward and try something similar to what I did educating American youth at an age where they are most influenced and when their values are being formed.
The opportunity for me to do this presentation was made available by a family friend, Mr. Surinderpal S. Kalra, whose son is a member of the second grade at Ender Salk School in Schaumburg Il, He was approached by a teacher in the second grade who wanted the kids to be approached by our culture and religion so they could be exposed to something, different from them. Ultimately she hoped this would help the kids form a value of accepting people for people, and not their outward appearances approached the situation very cautiously because the task of educating second graders about something they were not aware of, and keeping their attention span, would be a difficult task. I prepared a little speech with small sentences and small words to appeal to their level of comprehension. I also used visual effects such as the chalkboard, a map and colorful books to keep their interest in the topic and to keep them focused on what I was saying.
I went on by talking about India and getting their interest by asking them if anyone knew where India was on the map. I told them of the diverse cultures, religions and climates that India was made up of. Then I focused on Punjab and Sikhism always using small sentences. I told them of Guru Nanak and how Sikhism was formed, writing key words on the chalkboard at the same time. I wrote down, “Guru,” “Sikh,” “Punjab”, and some other words and then wrote down what these words meant. I went on to the other Gurus and the objectives of Sikhism and then came to the part they were most curious about the turban. I told them that the turban to a Sikh is a part of his uniform because a Sikh is a “saint soldier” and soldiers have uniforms. Also, must like people wear hats, I told them my turban was like my everyday “hat,” but something that portrayed my religious identity, and meant a lot to me. To my amazement those kids really took in a lot of information, and responded by asking questions! I was up their answering questions for an extra 45 minutes! I never have seen so many curious minds, they asked questions like “does the color of your turban mean anything?” or “do you take off your turban?” I answered their questions as best as possible (although sometimes this was difficult). But the best thing about it was that they were learning things that would stick with them forever, because they were so young. The whole experience was very rewarding for me as I felt fulfilled to provide a positive image for the Sikh community. More people need to be aware of what we are all about. Education is the key to doing this and getting to kids at a young age is even more important. I encourage Sikh youth to take opportunities in making the public more aware of what we are about and remember just a little bit can go a long way!
Article extracted from this publication >> June 15, 1990
