By Balwant Sanghera
At least two or three times a week , various school/college /university students as well as other groups visit India Cultural Centre of Canada Gurdwara Nanak Niwas (8600, #5 Road in Richmond) for a guided tour of the Gurdwara and learn about Sikhism and the Indo-Canadian community. It is a great honour for us at the Gurdwara to accommodate them and share with the visitors the principles of the fifth most popular religion in the world. In this context, this place of worship has been creating awareness about Sikhism and the Indo-Canadian community for several years.It helps the young minds broaden their horizons. Such exposure to different faiths and cultures is bound to create more awareness in them and help them become more well- rounded, broad-minded and productive members of Canadian society.
Usually, the visitors are very impressed with the basic principles of Sikhism, the message of universal brotherhood, human rights and equality as preached by our Gurus starting with Guru Nanak Dev ji.These students and adults are very keen to learn not only about Sikhism but also about the contribution of our community to the growth and development of Canada.
On Thursday, July 12, it was an honour for me to welcome a group of 20 young girls from Girl Guides Canada and their adult supervisors to the Gurdwara. Girl Guides are encouraged to take the lead, jump into awesome activities and explore what matters to them. It encourages them to learn to lead the way, seek new challenges and find their voice. As part of the Girl Guides Canada program these girls ranging from ages 5 to 17 also learn to discover as to how they can make a difference in the world, and make friends.These Girl Guides,coming from various cities, towns and villages throughout B.C., were participating in a week long camp called ‘Colours of Canada’ in Richmond.
I was told that the purpose of the camp is to explore different cultures in the Metro Vancouver area. Visiting Gurdwara Nanak Niwas to learn about Sikhism and the Indo-Canadian culture was part of their program. These young girls and their supervisors were very thankful to the Gurdwara Management Committee for the warm welcome and hospitality. One of their supervisors remarked before leaving that this visithad left a solid impression on all of them, not just of diversity, but also of acceptance and our Canadian multiculturalism and the Sikh faith.
Two days later, on July 14, a group of 30 plusSanskrit scholars visited the Gurdwara. They had just finished attendingthe World Sanskrit Conference at University of British Columbia from July 9 to 13. These scholars came from a number of countries around the globe. It was an honour for this writer to facilitate this visit. The participants were very impressed with the warm welcome and learning about Sikhism and the Indo-Canadian community inCanada. It was a pleasure to meet these scholars including Dr. Mislav Jezic, Professor of Indology and Philosophy from the University of Zagreb, Croatia. Dr. Jezic exchanged business cards with me and expressed a desire to stay in touch. He was very impressed with what he saw and heard. Before leaving for other places of worship this multicultural and multinational group of scholars enjoyedlight refreshments at the Gurdwara. All of them were very thankful for a very warm welcome. Such visits, by adults and youth from different communities and locations are a great way to promote intercultural and interreligious harmony and inclusiveness.India Cultural Centre of Canada Gurdwara Nanak Niwas on Richmond’s Highway to Heaven is pleased to be a part of this process.
Balwant Sanghera is a retired School Psychologist and Community Activist. He is a member of the India Cultural Centre of Canada Gurdwara Nanak Niwas Management Committee.
