News & Update

When Canada’s men’s field hockey team takes to the field at the Olympic Games on August 6 against Germany, the lifelong dreams of sixteen athletes will be realized.

For defender Jagidsh Gill and his Canadian teammates, the Olympic dream has not come without sacrifice.

Going to the Olympics requires obvious compromises: finances, relationships, education, career advancement, and simple things like time spent with family and friends.

But for Gill, one decision on the Road to Rio meant potentially missing out on the Olympics altogether.

It is a decision that highlights the type of character Gill embodies.

When Gill first started playing hockey back home in India, getting to the Olympic Games was always his goal. But the road there wasn’t always clear.

When an opportunity to move to Canada came in 2006, he had to make the decision of putting his dreams of playing hockey on the world’s biggest stage on hold at the age of 21.

“Sometimes when we have a lot things going on in our lives we have to settle down,” he says. “Olympic dream was my priority for sure, but that time the conditions were getting worse.”

He came to Canada for a better life. But with his family back in India and relying on him for support, the decision to step away from hockey was necessary.

“I was the only one earning at the time, my sisters were studying”

So he took a break from the time that he arrived until 2009, when he was comfortable to begin playing again.

“I played in the National Championship for the Ontario team,” he says. “Then through there I got a chance in the camp in 2009. I came to the camp, they liked me.”

Gill wasn’t yet a permanent resident or citizen, so despite the interest from the National Team, he couldn’t compete for Canada.

He spent 2010 training but not going on tour. He was able to get his citizenship in 2011 and his first tournament was at the Pan American Games in September of 2011.

“Some dreams are not easy to get, there is hard work to get it,” he recalls. “I pushed myself to get those dreams. Dreams always have to be protected.”

Gill’s dreams not only include continuing to play hockey but also providing an opportunity for his family to achieve their own dreams.

Along the way, he was able to sponsor his sisters and bring them over to Canada. And now his family lives in Vancouver and is about to see him become an Olympian in Rio.

“I wasn’t able to speak. Everything was just so numb,” he says of being named to the Olympic team. “That was a really different feeling in my life and I will never forget that.”

When you first look at this picture, do you see a man sitting amongst a selection of worn men and women’s shoes?

Or ..

Do we see a man cleaning his karam and clearing his destiny? Do we see a man wiping his own self clean of ego? Do we see a Sikh of the Guru?

In Sikhi there is a great importance laid on the cleaning of the Sangats shoes. Sangat is where people have come to meet the Guru or learn about the Guru or get together and sing the praises of Guru Sahib. When the sangat take off their shoes, the very dust is considered sacred as it is attached to the shoes of those who realised the wonder of the Guru! For those that walk towards the Guru or walk the path of the Guru (Sikhi) every step is a blessing and in their humility Sikhs will view this Sangat as being blessed and will humble themselves by cleaning their shoes.

They will often take a cloth to wipe off dust. In Panjab and India the leather shoes will also be polished and waxed.

You may also see some Sikhs touching their forehead with the dust or the cloth, again this is to form humility in trying to recognise that one is not even dust compared to the great beings and souls that recognise Guru Sahib and Vaheguru.

All of this will happen while the shoes are stored in safe keeping for the owner to return to after meeting Guru Sahib.

Doing this seva reminds us of the humility needed to walk the path of Sikhi. Guru Sahib teaches that to be the highest (spiritually) we must become the lowest (in terms of ego).

Guru Har Rai had two sons. The older one was called Baba Ram Rai, and he was very smart. The younger one was called Baba HarKrishan, and he was very sweet with a divine light. Both the boys were reading from the teachings, the Adi Granth and they looked so innocent and so devoted.

Someone asked the Guru, “Great Guru, both of your children are very handsome, they’re both very intelligent, and both are very spiritual & humble. How can you possibly decide which one will be the next Guru?” Guru ji came with him to where the two boys were and told him to do a test as the boys were reading from the Adi Granth. “Take a needle to the table where they are reading the Granth Sahib. Try to poke the needle into the wood of that table. If it is read with love everything will become soft and the needle will easily go in.” “yes Sir, Wahe Guru!” And the man replied, “yes Sir, Wahe Guru!”

So the man saw the younger son, Baba HarKrishan, reading, “Ik Ongkar, SatGurPrasaad, slok Mahula Panjvaa…” Baba HarKrishan read with great devotion and love. As the boy was reading the man came to the wood table and slowly put the needle there. It went in, smoothly, as if the wood was made out of wax! And the Guru said, “HarKrishan my son, please explain to everyone the meaning of what you just read.” Then Guru HarKrishan replied, “Yes father, God is in every heart! Once the heart remembers it’s home it is happy and we are God…”

Baba HarKrishans explanation filled everyone with bliss. People were blown away. Then the older brother Baba Ram Rai took the seat and started reading the same section, “Ik Ongkar, SatGurPrasaad, slok Mahula Panjvaa…” RamRai read very beautifully and sweetly too. As he was reading the man tried to pull the needle out of the wood… “Let me just, uhhh hummm uhh, it wont come out!” But it was stuck, it wouldn’t come out! The wood had gone back to being hard, just like normal.

The Guru said, “Ram Rai my son, please explain to everyone the meaning of what you just read.” And Ram Rai replied, “Yes father, his section was rather eloquently explaining something you may well want to understand. The chatrik bird is famed for it’s particular behavior……” Baba Ram Rai’s explanation was very convincing and everyone was so impressed. Guru ji then asked the boys to read another random section, which they did. Baba HarKrishan started reading, “Ik ­ong kār sat nam karṯa purakẖ nirbẖa­o nirvair akal murat ajuni saibhang gur parshad jap aad sach jugaadh sach hai bhee sach nanak hosee bhee sach”. This time the man tried to take out the needle out of the wood and smoothly, it came out without any effort, he said, “Huhahah, Wahe Guru! Wahe Guru! How did this happen? It is so beautiful! Wahe Guru!”

How did the wood melt? Why did it become soft like wax? Why could the needle only come in or out when Baba HarKrishan read? No one else seemed too sure which of the boys would be the next Guru but a few people now knew. They saw with their own eyes which of the boys had more love. Later it became known that Baba RamRai had spiritual powers. He could read minds, he knew about people’s past lives, he could make correct predictions about when someone would die, he could become weightless & he could make jewels appear out of thin air, he could make himself invisible so one one could see him, and many many other things. Many people were amazed at him and thought he was a great holy man, but they were only looking on the outside, they weren’t looking on the inside.

Baba HarKrishan’s love was his super power. His miracle was inside. When someone is loving it just melts your heart. HarKrishan’s love melted many people’s hearts, it melted everything around, it melted everything he touched, it even melted wood. Baba Harkrishan became the next Guru, when he was 5 years old. He became Guru HarKrishan, the child Guru. Can you imagine a 5 year old boy being a great leader of people? Guru HarKrishan was truly a great leader. And true power is something you never see, it lives inside.

-SikhNet

Today marks the 4th anniversary of the massacre at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek, a city outside of Milwaukee. On August 5, 2012, a man with ties to White supremacist organizations barged into the Sikh house of worship and killed six people in an act of gun and hate violence. In the aftermath, the community pulled together to provide a range of rapid response services that were culturally, linguistically and faith appropriate.

The tragedy reminded Americans that Sikh, Muslim, Arab and South Asian communities continued to be targets of the past 9/11 backlash, even a decade after 9/11, and that White supremacist groups are on the rise. At the national level, Senator Richard Durbin held a hearing on hate violence, and advocates successfully pressed the FBI to begin tracking crimes against Arabs, Hindus and Sikhs (in the past, they had been aggregated under Asian or Muslim categories).

Local community members, led by youth, are marking the anniversary this year with a 6K race/walk and services in Oak Creek. They will also be recognizing the victims of the Orlando massacre earlier this summer.

-Sikhnet

Ending months of speculation, Women’s Big Bash League champions Sydney Thunder have confirmed that they have sealed a deal with India vice-captain Harmanpreet Kaur for the second season of the Australian TwentyT20 tournament.

With this move, Harmanpreet became the first Indian women’s cricketer to be signed by an overseas T20 franchise.

“We are delighted to secure a player of the calibre of Harmanpreet,” Nick Cummins, Sydney Thunder’s general manager was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo. “She was on the top of our target list, and we are very pleased that the BCCI has released her to play in Australia.

“Sydney Thunder prides itself on being an innovator in Australian cricket, so it is a real fillip for the club to have signed the first Indian international to play Big Bash cricket in Australia.”

Speculations had started emerging since Board of Control for Cricket in India chief Anurag Thakur’s announcement in June that the 27-year-old had inked a deal with the Australian franchise.

This also assumes significance as it is the first signing after the BCCI cleared the way for the women’s team to participate in overseas leagues such as the Women’s BBL and the Women’s Super League in England.
Harmanpreet, the India vice-captain, grabbed attention when she scored a 31-ball 46 to help her side beat Australia in a historic chase in the series opener in January.

The all-rounder also stood out among her peers in an otherwise disappointing World T20 campaign for India, where she scored 89 runs and took seven wickets.