By Zile Singh
“Jo Bole so Nirbhai. GuruRavidass Maharaj ki Jai.”
All Gurus teach us to be fearless. Because, to be fearless is human and to live in fear is inhuman. Shri Guru Ravidass Sabha, 7271 Gilley Avenue, Burnaby, founded in 1982, celebrated 39thyear of her existence with great pomp and show on August 1. To start with it was a community’s cultural platform rather than a religious place. Later it started serving the religious needs of Ravidassia community in Greater Vancouver area.
His Excellency Mr. Manish, Consul General of Indiawas the Chief Guest to grace the occasion. He was accompanied by Consul Mr. Manish Grover and Vice-Consul Mr. Rajinder Singh. In addition, Mr. Sukh Dhaliwal, Member Parliament, Mr. Shav Dhaliwal,Councillor, Burnaby City Council and Mrs. Baljeet Narang, Trustee School Board, Burnaby were other esteemed guests. Mr. Raj Chouhan, Speaker of the BC Legislative Assembly could not attend due to a last-minute engagement.
Mr. Rick Toora, President of the Sabha and his team was in full attendance. Mr. Surinder Sandhu, General Secretary of the Sabha managed the stagesmoothly. Representatives of Chetna Association of Canada, Ambedkar International Social Reforms Organisation (AISRO) and Ballanwala Trust were also present.
Speaking on the occasion, Consul General appreciated the efforts of the pioneers of the community who thought of this idea as early as 1982 when their social and economic conditions were not as good as these are today. He dwelt on the teachings of Guru Ravidass for the underprivileged class in particular and for the general masses in general. He said that the utopia of Begampura of Ravidass is still relevant and is a guiding principle for the betterment of the diverse cultures and communities of India. He acknowledged the cooperation of the Ravidassia community in furthering the good ties between India and Canada and its working with the Consulate on issues of the Diaspora.He offered Consulate’s assistance in Consular matters and in furthering the interests of the community otherwise. Mr. Sukh Dhaliwal also expressed his gratitude to the community’s seniors, some of whom are in heavenly abode and the rest who are watching the Sabha serving the community. He briefed the Management about the federal grant to cultural and religious places. Mr. Shav Dhaliwal also praised the hard work of the founding members to have built the Gurughar, despite odd situation and circumstances when the financial and transport situation were not so good. Their first priority was to establish themselves in those hard times in a foreign land with meager earnings. Mrs. Baljeet Narang also dittoed the views expressed by the honourable speakers, including the importance of education. All the speakers praised the work of the Sabha’s office bearers in arranging this function. All of them extended their guidance and support for the welfare of the community.
Mr. Rick Toora, President of the Sabha thanked all the speakers and expressed his concern regretfully about the politics being played in the smooth functioning of the Sabha. He specifically hinted about the court cases the former Management Committees and even the present Committee have been facing. All the esteemed guests were honoured by offering ‘Saropas”.
Thanks to the Management Committee that Ambassador (Retd.) Mr. Zile Singh and Principal (Retd.) Mr. Malook Chand Kaler also got a chance to express their view on this auspicious occasion, even though they were not on the speakers’ list. Mr. Zile Singh felt proud of Sabha’s successes. He stressed the need to introspect its shortcomings over the years and rectify the lacunae faced by it at present. He mentioned about an Opera he saw in London titled “Life Begins at Forty.” as the Sabha is entering its 40th year. He pointed out the absence of those trailblazers in the function who founded the Sabha in 1982 and served it with their sweat. Taking refuge under “Jo bole so nirbhai (fearless). Guru RavidassMaharaj ki jai.” he, without any fear said that taking the Sabha to a court by some members of the community is like a Cheer Haran of Draupadi, a worship worthy character in the Hindu epic Mahabharata. It is the duty of all the stakeholders in the Sabha to sort out differences out of court thus saving the hard -earned money and precious time in unnecessary litigation. The fact is, more or less, the fault lies on both sides. Human nature is like a pendulum which swings from one end to the other.
He read out his poem:
Draupadi ka na cheer haran ho; Na Sabha meinbulaeeja.
Court mein case jayena; KoiAiseevidharachaeeja.
Sabkoaapnakam mile aur puriduty nibhaeeja.
Aadhikaron ki baatkam ho, Niswarthsewabartaeeja.
Na ho bhednai aur purane ka, Eksamtalsejbichhaeeja.
Expressing his views Principal Malook Chand Kaler stressed the need for a change in the thinking of the community. Anything that does not change with the passage of time, starts stinking. According to him it does not take a long for a person to change. If determined, it can happen in seconds. Even otherwise, there is a biological change in every human being after ten years. He said that education is the key to mental change. He said that everyone needs to be self-confident. He, with pain, mentioned that when he founded Dalit poet Gurdass Ram Aalam Sabha and released his Punjabi novel “TalashJari Hai”, there were hardly any person for whom he wrote his novel. Instead, the British Columbia’s Labour Minister, Harry Bains; Member of Parliament Sukh Dhaliwal and other prominent writers and media personalities were present at Seniors’ Centre Scott Road, Surrey.
Engineer Dharam Pal Kajal briefed the audience about the City Permit for the new building of Guru Ravidass Gurdwara.
Zile Singh is a well respected Columnist, Writer and a Vipassana Meditater. He has a Post-Graduate Diploma in Human Rights. He can be reached at [email protected]
