By Balwant Sanghera
India Cultural Centre of Canada’s Gurdwara Nanak Niwas is one of the most popular places of worship not only for weddings but also for visitors of all backgrounds from all over the province. It has been serving our community for more than thirty years. Recent renovations costing more than $500,000 have given this place of worship an impressive and entirely new look. Incidentally, India Cultural Centre of Canada has never borrowed any money to build-upgrade/renovate the Gurdwara. As the congregation has steadily grown over the years, the Gurdwara management tries to keep up with the times. In this regard the Gurdwara has hosted numerous health related workshops and clinics on its premises from time to time. Only recently, the Gurdwara hosted couple of workshops about heart health, cholesterol and blood pressure. Those workshops were held in co-operation with the Heart and Stroke Foundation During the last couple of weeks, as part of these continuing efforts, the Gurdwara hosted two other important heath awareness initiatives.
In a large gathering there is always a good possibility of someone having serious heart problems which may necessitate immediate response before the First Responders arrive at the scene. With this objective in mind, the Gurdwara hosted a workshop on resuscitation related Automatic External Defibrillator (A.E.D) on Wednesday, April 8. The workshop was conducted by a very well qualified instructor, Scott Dineen. Dineen has extensive experience in this area. Close to twenty members of the Gurdwara management and volunteers took part in this extremely useful exercise. A.E.D. is very helpful in starting sudden heart stoppage. In a sense, it makes the difference between life and death. In view of its usefulness and need the Gurdwara has purchased two A.E.D. machines which will be kept on the Gurdwara premises at all times.
There is an old saying that your eyes are the windows to the world and to your soul. Often, we take them for granted. However, like every other part of our body, eyes also deserve due care and attention. With this in mind, the Gurdwara hosted an eye clinic on its premises on Sunday, April 12. This clinic as made possible with the help of Canadian Eyesight Global, Rotary Club of Surrey-Guildford, and the leadership of Anup Singh Jubbal . Jubbal had put together an excellent team of eye specialists and dedicated volunteers. Also, representatives of CNIB participated in this process. 61 persons took advantage of this free service.
The Gurdwara Management is very thankful to all of them. It is also very thankful to Dr. Parmjit Singh Sohal, Neena Sohal, Darshan Mann, Kulwnt Sekhon, all of the eye doctors and other volunteers for making this eye clinic such a great success.
Balwant Sanghera is a retired School Psychologist and Community AActivist. He is a member of the Gurdwara Nanak Niwas Management Team.
