Kids Corner

People

A Cut Above

by ASHIMA SEHAJPAL

 

 

All the club and pub hoppers, the nerds and gadget addicts, the bookworms and living encyclopedias, the efficient, proficient and well-paid managers and those too who belong to the disoriented Wake-up-Sid league, welcome to the party of youngsters of a different league.

The toast is not because of their unusual success in academics or profession or debut in the state cricket team, break in some TV soap or just anything that falls in the usual brackets. They redefined ‘success' by introducing changes in the lives of people by doing literal groundwork.

Don't assume that social work is limited to some NGO-run school for the underprivileged or collecting funds. I told you, it is a different league and I mean it. See the difference ...

Gurbir Singh Brar

In the past eight months, Gurbir Singh Brar has achieved all that he aimed for.

Ever since his college days in Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College in Ludhiana, Punjab;  ever since he began his software business in the U.S.; and ever since he brought his business back to India and set up his base in Chandigarh, Gurbir has reached out to thousands of people through his unregistered NGO (which means, no funds from external bodies), Sawalakh Foundation.

The foundation has its base in Mastuana Sahib in Sangrur district. The organisation has a two point agenda, "To stop Nihangs being treated as outcast, bringing them into the mainstream and by helping the underprivileged children learn the Art of Gatka."

Once the goal was set, the process to accomplish it began.

"I, with a team of Nihangs, have visited all the 17 districts of Punjab, which include several villages. Nihangs performed their Gatka art, interacted with the locals and stayed at every village for two days. The activity gave people a chance to understand the lifestyle of Nihangs and change their opinion about them."

Besides taking a cavalcade of Nihangs around Punjab, Gurbir has also held several exhibitions of photographs of Nihangs and their Gatka art. The number of photographs clicked in the eight-month period is an astounding 8000.

Work for the cause doesn't end here. The Sawalakh Foundation also has the onus of imparting elementary education to Nihangs. As Gurbir says, "Basic education is important for anybody today, mere religious knowledge won't help in dealing with the everyday problems."

Coming to the second cause, his foundation has encouraged hundreds of destitute people to take to Gatka art. "Majority of the youth in Punjab are falling into the drug trap. Gatka art gives them an aim in life. They get a sense of importance when people appreciate their skills. Also, Gatka art helps them keep physically fit."

He now plans to make a documentary film and compiling a coffee table book, both being the effective medium to reach out to people on the life Nihangs.

Moonstar Kaur Doad

Moonstar Kaur Doad too is planning a documentary after having clicked hundreds of pictures of people living in the cancer belt of Bathinda.

Hailing from the city, she returned after studying ecology in England. With expertise in relationship between human beings and the environment, she decided to study the harmful effect of insecticides and pesticides on crops and then on human beings.

"Though a lot of studies have been conducted on the subject, nothing much has been done so far." For her research, she has already spent six months in Talwandi Sabo and two villages in the most affected area.

"Next on the cards are four villages in the Bathinda district, including Mahinagar and Saikhpura, the worst hit villages."

Conclusions won't be drawn after mere observation, as she plans for an objective view. "I want to make it public what people of the area want and their problems by making them fill questionnaires and encouraging them speak their mind."

What initiated her into it, was not the known facts that pesticides are being used unmindful of their consequences but "that nobody has an idea of the exact quantity. In the past three decades, the increase in the use of pesticides for any given crop has been 13-fold."

Aayesha Kaur Sandhu

Aayesha Kaur Sandhu from Chandigarh is studying psychology in Chennai. It's there she realized the real essence of women power, which she explains as: "There are a massive three hundred thousand women self-help groups ("SHWG") in Andhra Pradesh, one hundred thousand in Tamil Nadu and a mere 6,000 in Punjab. The reason: women don't have a say here in our state."

The figures were enough to inspire her to try to bring the model to Punjab.

"I, along with the team members, visited a few villages and educated women about the SHWG. But, before bringing the model here, it was important to know what women can take up as employment as in the South, the culture is different," she says.

So, crafts of Punjab like Phulkari will get impetus here. She is also measuring the success rate of the SHWGs in Punjab. "The results have been very positive." She cites an example, "A woman in a village, who is a member of a SHWG, has been able to buy a cow and is supplying milk to nearby villages."

In the next six months, she plans to take SHWGs to at least a dozen more villages."

 

[Courtesy: The Tribune]

December 21, 2009

Conversation about this article

1: Gurinder Singh Johal (Amritsar, Punjab), December 21, 2009, 8:42 PM.

It is real seva, which is an essential part of Sikhism. No doubt Nihangs are not well accepted by the mainstream community, but they do attract the attention of tourists. I work as a guide in Amritsar and I took so many tourists to a village called Chaba where the Nihangs have a base. After seeing their lifestyle, the visitors were amazed and fascinated. If we organize the Nihangs, they can be a major attraction in Punjab. It gives a peek into how Sikhs lived in the the 18th century, during the period of the Two Holocausts. The Hola Mohalla at Anandpur Sahib too should be promoted as a tourist destination ... it is the great annual fair where all the Nihangs gather, hold mock battles, tent pegging, horse racing, etc.

2: Harman Singh (Philadelphia, U.S.A.), December 24, 2009, 7:39 PM.

This is the kind of grassroot work that is sorely needed in Punjab to give the youth a purpose and help them escape the clutches of drugs, alcoholism and violence. Kudos to these young men and women who have taken it upon themselves to be the catalysts for positive change. With our youth invested in our homeland, renaissance is at hand!

3: Opinder Kaur (Chandigarh, Punjab), January 14, 2011, 11:31 PM.

I appreciate the effort done by my home town girl, Moonstar Kaur, to educate people about the bad effects of pesticides. I am also shortly starting a project to educate youth and their parents to keep away from drugs. It has taken a heavy toll of the Bhatinda area. I am an antique collector of things Punjabi. My aim is to inspire the young generation of their rich past. If possible, I would like to get in touch with Moonstar Kaur.

4: Opinder Kaur (Chandigarh, Punjab), January 14, 2011, 11:38 PM.

It's a good gesture by Aayesha Kaur to make women of Punjab self sufficient by doing Phulkari and Baagh embroidery. I too want that all schools should have Phulkari embroidery as a subject. Today's youth is not to be blamed - we are at fault for not providing them the platform.

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