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Editor-in-Chief: Prem Kumar Chumber Contact: 510-219-8920 Fax: 916-238-1393 E-mail: [email protected] Editors: Takshila & Kabir Chumber
VOL- 5 ISSUE- 12 &13 September 01-15, 16-30, 2013 www.ambedkartimes.com www.ambedkartimes.org
‘Valley Firsts’ at Display at theHenry Madden Library, Fresno State
Pashaura Singh Dhillon
I attended a wonderful receptionregarding an exhibition of ‘ValleyFirsts’ that was held at theHenry Madden Library at theCalifornia State UniversityFresno (Fresno State) last night.
Honoring all the ‘Firstsand inventions of the Valley region’,the Dean of Library Services FresnoState Peter McDonald, sent an invita-tion to the Sikh American communityfor the reception, which was held inthe Library last evening on FridaySept. 13th at 6pm. It was a true gala
as the Americans call it andthe giant library hall was fullypacked with families andguests that were invited to attend. It was a beautifulshow of diversity in play, amatter of real pride for thevalley population! One of the items in the
exhibition highlighted, is the first SikhAmerican Gurduara in the UnitedStates in Stockton that was builtin1912. Associated with this historicGurduara, you will notice that the
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CALIFORNIA MEASURES FOR AWARENESS ABOUT SIKH AMERICANSSacramento, CA -ACR 25 introducedby AssemblymanWieckowski, waspassed unanimouslyby both the Assem-bly and the Senateof California, andfiled with the Secre-tary of State on Sep-
tember 9, 2013. This measuredesignated November 2013 as Cali-fornia Sikh American Awareness andAppreciation Month. It recognizesand acknowledges the significantcontributions made by Californians of
Sikh heritage to the state, and affordall Californians the opportunity to un-derstand, recognize, and appreciatethe rich history and shared principlesof Sikh Americans. This was muchneeded despite earlier such resolu-tions, namely ACR 97 by Assembly-man Perea for Nov. 2012, and ACR181 by Assemblyman Logue for Nov.2010. In spite of these resolutionsand other efforts, 70% of Americansmisidentify turban-wearers and 48%identify them as Muslims, This hasbeen shown by a recent study con-ducted jointly by Sikh American LegalDefense and Education Fund, and
the Stanford University, Palo Alto.Thus, there is need to continue ef-forts for increasing Sikh awarenessand appreciation. In this connection ,two important steps taken in Califor-nia deserve mention for the informa-tion of Sikhs in other states.
The first is the Senate Bill1540, introduced by Senator Han-cock. It was passed by the twohouses, and was signed by GovernorJerry Brown on September 8, 2012.It says, "State Board (of Education)may consider the adoption of a re-vised curriculum framework and eval-uation criteria for instructional
materials in history-social science."and goes on to say, "The department(of Education) shall conduct worknecessary to revise the curriculumframework and evaluation criteria forinstructional materials in history-so-cial science only after it has com-pleted work related to thedevelopment of curriculum frame-works for the common core academiccontents standards pursuant to Sec-tion 60207."
A revised Framework with ap-propriate references to Sikh culture,faith and history is expected to be
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‘’CHOICES TO LIVE AND DIE FOR”A STORY OF LOVE WITH NO BOUNDARIES
At their core, human beingsare driven by the same desires: love,security, care, and compassion.Whatever their upbringing, culture ortraits, these common values areshared by everyone. The movie
theme focuses on the common-ality of people across cultural di-vides, and focuses on theblossoming romance betweenan Indianimmigrantand anAmer icanw o m a ndown onher luck,and theirs t rugg lesto surviveand providefor theirloved ones.
Culturald i v i d e slend itselfto stormyand tumultuous relationshipslived through accidental encoun-ters and anchored by an unusualromance, the movie team is ableto juggle right balance of stage-craft, story-telling and setting to
give unexpected soring flight to“Choices To Live and Die For.”
Set in the City of San Fran-cisco, the story of, Ajay, a struggling
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Onkar S. Bindra
Punjabi Adbi Sangat literary society of Canada remembered SIRDAR KAPUR SINGH ON HIS 27th DEATH ANNIVERSARY
Surrey (Jagjit Singh Takhar): The Punjabi Adbi San-gat literary society of Canada (Regd.) organized agrand function on August 18 at Newton Public Li-brary to commemorate and celebrate the life andachievements of the great intellectual, thinker,writer, philosopher and National Professor ofSikhism, Sirdar Kapur Singh Ji. The function wasattended by the prominent writers, scholars, per-sonalities, thinkers and family members of SirdarKapur Singh Ji. The function commenced with theappointment of an honorary presiding board thatincluded Society President Jaiteg Singh Anant, Dal-ijit Singh Sandhu, Jagjit Singh Takhar and JoginderSingh Grewal. They were welcomed and presented
with a bouquet of flowers. Two condolence resolu-tions were tabled at the onset of the function.Deep regret and sorrow on the demise of theJathedaar of Takhat Sri Anandpur Sahib, Bhai Tar-lochan Singh Ji and a great scholar and writer Pat-want Singh were condoled. The present dignitariesand audience maintained a silence of one minuteand prayed for the peace of the departed souls.Jaiteg Singh Anant, the president and spirit of thePunjabi Adbi Sangat welcomed everyone present inthe function with the great enthusiasm. He saidthat great persons like Sirdar Kapur Singh are veryrare and once in a century.
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Jaiteg Singh Anant presenting the Sirdar Kapur
Singh Yaadgari Award to Gurdev Singh Baath
Brij Chandok (Producer)
Amrik Chand Lakha (Producer)
www.deshdoaba.comwww.ambedkartimes.com 2V0l-5 Issue-12-13 Setember 01-15,16-30, 2013
Punjabi Adbi Sangat literary society of Canada remembered Sirdar Kapur Singh on his 27th death anniversary in a grand function
Jaiteg Singh Anant appreci-ated the immense contribution of Sir-dar Kapur Singh Ji for the
KhalsaPanth and also said that heshall remain in the sweet memoriesand hearts of people for the time eter-nal. A renowned Sarangi master,Chamkaur Singh Sekhon filled thehearts of the audience by singing thepoem of Sirdar Kapur Singh Ji. Awell-known columnist Kehar SinghDhamrait shed light upon the memo-ries from Sirdar Kapur SInghJi's life.PrinipalMalook Chand Kaler, Retd.Col.Gurdeep Singh, Bikar SinghKhosa, Principal Sarwan Singh Aujla,Daljit Singh Sandhu and GurdishKaurGrewal threw light upon the noble liv-ing and personality and great worksof Sirdar Kapur Singh Ji. Story writerAnmol Kaur and Iqbal Singh Thiara to-gether staged few dialogues from thefamous book "SachiSakhi". The former Lok Sabha member, Harb-hajan Lakha talked about the greatcontribution of Sirdar Kapur Singh Jiin Sikh Philosophy. He appreciatedthat Sirdaar Kapur SIngh Ji was a
gem of person who came to LokSabha and also said that he shall beremembered forever. Editor of Punjab
Gaurdian, Harkirat Singh Kulaar saidthat there was a time when SirdarKapur Singh Ji, during his electioncampaign, refused to deal and acceptthe votes of the people addicted todrugs or alcoholism and unfortunatelytoday the Akali Dal has won the elec-tions with the help of these peoplewhich is highly criticisable in SikhHistory.
In this function, the book“Sikhs in Honk Kong" written by S.Gulbir Singh Batra(Hong Kong) was
released by the prominent writer,Jaiteg Singh Anant. The first copy ofthe book was presented to the former
resident of HongKong Gurdev SinghBaath. Story WriterShingar SinghSandhu read a paperabout the book. Onthis occasion, GurdevSingh Baath was ho-noured by JaitegSingh Anant andDaljit Singh Sandhuon behalf of the Soci-
ety for his great work of translatingand distributing the Sikh history andliterature in other languages such asJapanese, Korean, Chinese, and Viet-namese etc. for free.
He was presented a citation,dastaar, shawl, and a plaque. FormerM.P (India) HarbhajanLakha, SirdarKapur Singh ji's niece Bibi ChintanKaur. Prinipal Malook Chand, An-molKaur, Iqbal Singh Thiara were ho-noured with a bouquet of flowers andbooks. The exhibition of Sirdar Kapur
Singh Ji's books was the centre of at-traction at the function. At the end,Sirdar Kapur Singh Ji'snephew Jogin-
der Singh Grewal thanked all the au-gust gathering of the day. He alsothanked and appreciated Jaiteg SinghAnant and Punjabi Adbi Sangat fortheir great contribution in field of Pun-jabi Literature and Culture.
The function was graced byDr. Baldev Singh Khera, Dr. Gurmin-derSidhu, Charan Singh Virdi, JarnailSingh Sandhu, Narinder 13.4 SinghGulati, Dr. Gurbachan Singh Kalsi,Kewal Singh Dhaliwal, Balwantsingh-Sanghera, Harcharan Singh Punia,Hardeep Singh Baath, Avtar SinghDhillon, Avtar Singh Sandhu, Journal-istHarpreet Singh, Gyan SinghSandhu and four nieces of SirdarKapur Singh Ji, Gurdeep KaurSandhu, Joginder Kaur Dhot, Ra-jwinder Kaur Takhar and SurinderKaur Bhullar. The two and a half hourlong function left an everlasting mem-ory in hearts of the appreciators ofSirdar Kapur Singh Ji and lovers ofPunjabi Maa Boli.
Jaiteg Singh Anant releasing the book of Gulbir Singh
Batra, "Sikhs in Hong Kong" along with Daljit Singh
Sandhu, Jagjit Singh Takhar and Kehar Singh Dhamrait.
Presinding board consisting of Jagjit Singh Takhar, Jaiteg Singh
Anant, Daljit Singh Sandhu, Joginder Singh Grewal. Harkirat
Singh Kulaar shedding light upon life of Sirdar Kapur Singh.Members of Sirdar Kapur singhji's family.
The august gathering present at the function.
‘Valley Firsts’ at DisplayGhadar Party is specifically mentioned; the Ghadar Party that flewthe first flag of Indian Independenceat the Yugantar Ashram, San Fran-cisco in 1913, when others weretalking only of ‘Home Rule in India’at that time. It is most likely thatmore about it will be added after theopening. Current description associ-ated with the Stockton Gurduarapicture is as follows:
“Opposition to British rule intheir homeland brought many Sikhsinto the Valley during the late nine-teenth and early 20th centuries.They secured work in the railroad,lumber and agricultural industries,
and soon established themselves inthe Stockton area. It was here, in1912, that two farmer-leaders (BabaJawala Singh and Baba WaskahaSingh) built the first Sikh templeanywhere in the United States. Thishouse of worship attracts southAsians from all over the world, andprovided the cradle for the Ghadar(Revolution) Party, which advocatedIndian independence decades beforeit was achieved. Its historical signif-icance is such that South GrantStreet, on which the temple sits,was renamed Sikh Temple Street in2013. (Includes photo from its opening)”.
CALIFORNIA MEASURES FOR AWARENESScompleted by mid 2014 The second is ACR 20, which was
introduced jointly by Assemblymen Logue (R) and Perea (D), andpassed unanimously by California's Assembly and Senate in Maythis year. This measure recognizes the need for inclusion of Sikhismin world religions, Eastern religions, Asian, and South Asian coursesat all postsecondary educational institutions of California, and advisesthe concerned academic governing bodies, deans, and departmentchairs to include Sikhism in their institution’s world religions, Easternreligions, Asian, and South Asian courses. Each institution of highereducation(College or university)itself decides the courses offered andtheir contents. They have academic freedom. However, with a fol-low-up, hopefully, more and more universities and community col-leges will include Sikhism in their relevant courses. This writer is verythankful to all who provided him the needed support during theprocess leading to the passage of the above measures.([email protected])
“Choices To Live and Die For”Indianimmigrant student meets with adown on her luck street walker that cul-minates into a monumental life journey foreveryone involved. Amy, young mother ofan 8-year-old daughter named Andy,struggles to make a living by becoming astreet walker. She is manipulated by a vi-cious and abusive pimp and Ajay to res-cue that paves the way for friendship thatslowly turns into love. Ajay starts lovingnot just Amy but also helping her daughter.
The movie centers on Ajay andAmy, and their cultural integration, recon-ciling differences, and evolving family re-lations and emotions. It showcases theirsacrifices to protect and support eachother. “Choices To Live and Die For” de-picts life’s vicissitudes,twists & turns un-certainties and eventual compromises thatmust be made to sustain living in society.It depictsthe resilience of unconditionallove, self-sacrifice, forgiveness and givespeople the strength to rise above one’sself in protecting loved ones.
Cinematography and sets arebeautifully done. Viewers are engaged sothat there is never a dull moment. The ac-tors do a great job showing the emotionsthat bring two people from completely dif-ferent walks of lives together. The directorGarvey Bed wal packs powerful emotionalperformances and the editing is riveting.
Producers Brij Chandok and AmrikChand Lakha pooled their innovative ideas
and resources to produce Choices as amainstream film that would find interestand acceptance not only with Indian andAmerican audiences, but across a widespectrum of immigrants from a variety ofdemographics and all age groups.Thismain stream feature film, “Choices To Liveand Die For” was shot /filmed in San Fran-cisco & Mumbai, with Hollywood & Bol-lywood cast.
After watching the movie, you areassured to make the right choices in your life. The movie is now available fordownload or to buy DVD:
www.sevenseasfilms.com
www.makeachoice.net
Movie Reviews:
“Movie was really good, and Elizabethwas exceptional.”- Jayesh Parekh, Singa-pore, SONY Entertainment TelevisionFounder. “Wow! It was good…..NO, ITWAS VERY GOOD.”- Narender Jain, NewDelhi, IIT Delhi Alumni
“It was a beautiful love story andan important message to young girls.”-Donna Smyth, USA Movie Buff.
Cast:Elizabeth O'Brick (Amy),Frank Maharaj (Ajay), Ivy Gullickson,Ashton Blaise Whitty, Michael Platt, PaulSappal, Christina Wood, Kanak Khanna,Nitin Jagdesh, Rekha Sahay, Nayasha,Garvey Bedwal
Director: Garvey Bedwal
Producers: Brij Chandok &
Amrik Chand Lakha
www.deshdoaba.comwww.ambedkartimes.com 3V0l-5 Issue-12-13 Setember 01-15,16-30, 2013
India Market’s new location “India Market Sweets & Spices”opining ceremony pictures, (Sunday September 15, 2013)
Congratulations! Congratulations!! Congratulations!!!
Pictures by Prem K. Chumber (Ambedkar Times & Desh Doaba)
www.deshdoaba.comwww.ambedkartimes.com 4V0l-5 Issue-12-13 Setember 01-15,16-30, 2013
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