Every Thanksgiving, needy people in New Orleans learn something about the generosity of the local Sikh community.
This year was no exception as members of the Sikh community gave away food from their new temple at 8433 Morrison Road to commemorate the charity of Guru Nanak, founder of the religion.
Only about 40 families in New Orleans belong to the Sikh community, a minority religion of Indian people who broke off from Hinduism more than 500 years ago.
Theirs is a small esoteric community centered in east New Orleans, but each Nov 13 and Thanksgiving Day the enormity of their hearts endears them to nearly 100 New Orleans families to whom they donate food baskets.
According to Amolak Singh, a local Sikh leader, Nov 13 marked the 520th birthday of Nanak the first of 10 gurus or “holy teachers.”
“This is in memory of Guru Nanak because he helped poor people and the homeless,” said Singh, an aerospace engineer at Martin Marietta.
When the Sikhs made charitable contributions, they honor the religion’s martyrs, Singh said. Each June 6, the Sikhs sponsor a blood drive in honor of more than 4,000 Sikhs slain in 1984 during a raid on the Golden Temple of Amritsar in the Punjab region of northern India. Sikhs members will deliver food to about 30 families on Thanksgiving Day. “No family should be without food on Thanksgiving,” Singh said.
Through service organizations such as the St. Philip Social Service Center, the Sikhs find needy families for their generosity. Some of the food is donated by Schwegmann grocery stores, Singh said.
Singh estimated that there are about 600,000 Sikhs in the United States. He said many of them came to the United States 10 to 20 years ago, when the Indian government was more lenient in giving work visas.
“It is very difficult today to leave India,” Singh said. “Those who managed to get here are happy to be in the United States,” he said.
“The local Sikhs feel that we should be thankful to Uncle Sam and the local community,” he said. “They have given us so many opportunities and freedoms which unfortunately our brothers in India are losing day by day. They don’t have any freedom of speech.
The Sikhs do not reject the expression of Hinduism, Islam or any religion, Singh said, but they do spurn oppression of human rights. Their holy book the Shri Guru Granth Sahib contains hymns and ideas from a variety of religions, Singh said.
The freedom they enjoy in the United States inspires the Sikhs to help others, Singh said.
“We realize what a good country this is .. We feel morally obligated to try and share with those who don’t have the same good fortune.”
Singh said that Nanak like the ‘Sikhs of today, rejected all discrimination based on caste economic status religion and sex.
Article extracted from this publication >> December 8, 1989
