By VIKRAM SINGH KHALSA

“Chaanve kror Khaalsaa sajegaa , khaalsaa raaj karegaa” “There will be nine hundred sixty million Khalsa, then Khalsa will rule.”

There are the words of Guru Gobind Singh shortly before he left this earth. Ata time when there were just a few thousand Sikhs, the Guru gave a prophecy that, for many, seemed hard if not impossible to believe. The Sikh way of life had never been adopted by large numbers of people outside of Punjab, but in the last twenty years the growth of Sikh Dharma in the US., Great Britain , Canada, Europe, New Zealand , Australia . West Africa, Malaysia, Singapore and other countries is beginning to prove the truth of Guru Sahib’s words.

The tremendous growth of Sikh Dharma outside of India has produced some unexpected results. Until recently, wherever there have been Sikhs, the subculture in which they have lived has been essentially a Punjabi culture transferred from India to another part of the world. But today, as Sikh Dharma becomes a way of life for many people from the West, and as second and third generations of Punjabi Sikhs are being born in the West that cultural background is shifting radically.

These second and third generation Punjabi Sikhs are being affected greatly by these changes. The ethics of the Sikh way of life require them to live according to the timeless values given by our Gurus in cultures where these same virtues of humility, courage, dignity, and respect for women, loyalty and grace are being condemned. In addition , many aspects of the Punjabi culture promote ideas which are not part of Sikh Dharma, especially with regard to caste , always an issue with anybody from India, but totally meaningless in Western culture .

While I have been actively involved with Sikh from Punjab for eighteen years and on four continents, it is only during the last four years that I have begun to notice the radical changes taking place amongst Sikh youth in the West Just as the “American Sikhs” were a product of the tremendous culture al upheavals in the last ‘60’s and early “70’s, the turmoil of the ‘80’ in Indian Sikh life is producing; new generation.

I was first made aware of this when I began travelling to Vancouver in 1983 for kirtan and Parchar As talked more and more to the young Sikhs I began to hear more and more stories ADO Ne on and anger they had with their agents and with the structure of Sikh culture in British Columbia where there are about 50,000 Sikhs).

Many were frustrated at the constant emphasis on politics in re Gurdwaras. Many were angry with the constant emphasis on caste, an issue that should have is appeared at the time of Guru Nanak.

Many wanted to find a way by which they could spend time with members of the opposite sex without compromising their moral beliefs but found a tremendous social pressure against any kind of relationship outside of marriage But one thing they all had in common that he y wanted to know the inner essence of GurSikh, they wanted to know what it really meant to live as a Sikh and how to make it york while living in the West.

‘When I visited England in November of 1986 I came into contact with some young Punjabi Sikhs who had been ostracized by their families after taking Amrit. This was really a surprise to me, but we Westerners who have embraced the Sikh way of life had to learn how to live as Sikhs in the face of tremendous negativity from our parents. (After my mother’s death I found she had totally disinherited. me because I became a Sikh). Sol felt a real bond with these young people. They impressed me so much that I decided to devote as much of my life as I could to their service and inspiration.

My background as former rock star and my wife’s as an actress and model give us a great deal of credibility with young people from any country or culture. It is one thing for someone who is born a Sikh to tell others they should keep to their way of life. But it someone. Who turn their back on all that Western culture has to offer and has then become a Sikh says the. Same thing, it has a very profound effect on today’s Sikh youth they are trying to live as Sikhs in this immoral world of today and they need examples not lectures.

If we wonder why our youth are suffering so much confusion and doubt, we only need to look at the example set by the older generation in every part of the world’.

In working with these beautiful young people I have found that, even though we have cultural, racial, linguistic or political differences, we all agree in certain areas. Perhaps the most important is that we accept Siri Guru Granth Sahib as our Guru and that we are all brothers and sisters, no matter

What else seems to divide us “These young Sikhs are very concerned with their future in whatever country they happen to live While they are all deeply concerned with the tragic happenings n Punjab (they seem to mostly be in favor of Khalistan) they also feel that they want to create a powerful Sikh community in their own country and establish themselves as fully accepted citizens of that country. In the last year I have taught at Sikh Youth camps and seminars in different parts of the world. There is an excellent camp being run in Vancouver in a yearly basis by the young people themselves. Another fine camp, that I had the privilege to teach at, is held in New Zealand every January (which is summertime down there). There are camps in many different places these days and the Panth should be aware of the fine work being done by Captain Kanwar Harbhajan Singh and the [IGS, who have put on Sikh Youth camps for 20 years, in India, U.K., U.S.A. and Canada.

But there is one consideration that must be given to our young people. They are not Indians and cannot be expected to behave as such. For the most part they are feeling very frustrated that they are not given a chance to express themselves and change what they feel is wrong or hypocritical in Sikh life today.

It is my policy, when I meet with these young Sikhs, to always give them a chance to express how. They are feeling and what they want to talk about. Far too often controversial issues are swept under the rug in Punjabi culture this causes frustration and bitterness that may never be resolved. Openness, however, can produce: some surprising revelations. One day a girl said to me, “What do l tell my parents when they tell me I have to marry within our caste?” I replied, “Tell them it is against the teachings of Guru Gobind Singh.” “T already told them that.” “And what did they say?” “They said we are not good enough Sikhs to follow the teachings of Guru Gobind Singh!”

There is a very simple question involved here. As a person who lived through the generation wars of the ‘60’s I can see the potential for the same kind of thing amongst the Sikh youth of today. Whether we like to or not, these young Sikhs in the West are better educated, better informed and more aware of the ways of the world than we are. But do we, as the older generation, want to give these young people a chance to grow, to express themselves as Sikhs but living in Western society, or do we want to adopt the same cynical attitude as the so called Sikh Leadership that has allowed a whole generation of our finest young people to be slaughtered rather than relinquish their power.

The difficult choices we have to make are not only in the area of politics or our public image in the Western world. Time is running out fast for our youth. Education in Kirtan and Gurbani is vital but not enough. We must teach our children how to live as GurSikh in the West. To be a part of the Culture, but not slave to it. To take all that is good and fine in our Punjabi heritage, but to reject that which is based in 5,000 years of Brahminism. To make the most of the fine qualities inherent in the ‘Western cultures in which we live But above all to set an example by living according to the teaching of our Gurus , whose teaching are so appropriate to the awareness and freedom that people demand in the life of today

Article extracted from this publication >> August 12, 1988