Interview with Gurpreet Singh

Congratulations on being selected the youth of the month. please tell us something about yourself, your schooling, your interests and your hobbies?

Currently, I’m in Toronto, Canada studying Engineering, but I was born in Barbados and brought up in Guyana. Some of my hobbies include listening to Gurbani, checking out Sikh websites and forums, and working out.

Who is your role model?

The biggest personal inspirations in my life came from Bhai Sahib Bhai Randhir Singh Ji and Bhai Parminder Singh Ji. Bhai Sahib Bhai Randhir Singh Ji's life was filled with many obstacles and hardships, and through them all he kept his faith for Sikhi alive by putting all his faith into Guruji. Bhai Parminder Singh Ji's parchaars on Sikhi were filled with many of the answers I needed and he always spoke from a Youth’s perspective which helped me understand and love Sikhi even
more.

There are many problems Sikh youth face in the West, however which would you recognize as the most important ones that we need to address immediately?

Many of the problems that face our youth today come from their desire to blend in with the general society. They often go to different extremes in order to do this and end up blindly falling into a world of drugs, drinking and other bad influences. All of that can have a very negative impact on their Sikhi (both physically and mentally) because they are completely led away from the ideals of Gurbani and are being pulled in a direction from where they may not be able to get back in touch with their Sikhi.

You spend little bit of your time online, what are your concerns on growing number of sikh youths spending lots of time using IM services instead on Outdoor activities? Do you think internet help youths?

From my own perspective and experience, the Internet and many of the Sikhi related websites have helped me to grow as a Sikh and learn about this great religion. The Internet can help Sikh youths mainly because most of the Sikh websites were created by youths. When a youth is hearing, reading or seeing the amount of love another youth has for sikhi it inspires them to learn more about it themselves. The online Sikh sangat was also very influential on me as many of them are also youths speaking out about Sikh issues to other youths. However, I think that there should be an online governing body of these websites because there are also many websites on the Internet that give out false information and false images of Sikhs. But, as far as IM services taking up our time instead of outdoor activities, youths should understand that being fit physically helps to discipline your mind as well, which can help lead you more towards a Sikh lifestyle.

We heard that you took Amrit few weeks ago, Can you tell others how that changed your lifestyle?

Before taking Amrit on December the 18th 2004, I was lost and confused and I was living a totally wrong lifestyle but since then life has been awesome and Guruji has blessed me with so much. I feel as though I have the strength to do anything and conquer everything that comes my way. It’s as if you wake up everyday knowing Guruji is always beside you.

What do you think about Gurdwara sahib managements around the world? Do you think that they are doing all the best they can do for the Sikh community and for the youth?

Gurdwara Sahib Committees often forget the true reason of gurdwaras and seva and get too wrapped up in political issues, such as money and their upcoming committee elections. I believe that they’re falling short of our society’s and youth’s expectations of them. The Sikh Community on the whole should stand up against these type of people and not have the typical ‘let it be’ mentality. However in order to do the best that they possibly can, they should give more thought to youth programs, education, Sikhi parchaar and humble seva for our society. In my opinion, what’s the use of building massive gurdwaras if no one from the next generation will carry on the legacy of Sikhi.

What do you think are some of the issues we should be concerned with when dealing with the youth?

Many of the youths growing up in the West are lacking a major Sikh influence in their lives either because their parents haven’t pressed the importance of Sikhi or because they are just more impressed with drugs, drinking and partying. Many youths believe they need to blend in rather than have a separate identity and they often turn in a different direction. Youths get turned off of Sikhi when it is given negative media and when there is no one in the Gurdwaras that cares more about Sikhi rather than about Committee politics. They are told to listen to kirtan and paath, but never told the true meanings behind what they are hearing. To address this problem the older generations need to live up to the expectations of our Guru’s teachings and help the younger generations gain a sense of respect for the religion, and realize how beautiful it is and hopefully become inspired by Gurbani.
 

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer the above questions,
and we hope you can continue to carry the torch of Sikhi and inspire others alike.