Current Events
220,000 Canadians Turn Out for Surrey's Vaisakhi Parade
THE PROVINCE
Of the many messages to take away from the Vaisakhi parade in Surrrey (British Columbia, Canada) on Saturday, April 20, 2013, one is that Sikh youth are impressively rooted in their religion and culture.
Hundreds of thousands came out in their best - including many in their Punjabi attires -- to celebrate the Punjab harvest time and the birthday of the Khalsa Order of Sikhism, marking the first Vaisakhi Day in 1699. A great number of those in attendance were of the younger generation.
“I think we’re more involved than the older generation is,” 19-year-old Sharon Kaur Bains said matter of factly as she took a break from the parade to eat some of the delicious and free Punjabi food dispensed along the sidelines.
“Our parents they always taught us to be religious.
“I don’t think we would ever lose touch with this just because our parents have taught us in a good way to practise it properly.”
Harman Kaur Aujla from Delta hopes to have the same influence on her nine-year-old, who she brings with her to the parade every year.
“It’s their choice if they want to [take part] or not,” she said. “But still, we have to teach our religion.”
“We cannot forget our roots, or where we came from.”
The Sikh youth do more than just participate in the festivities, though -- many of them volunteer and help with the overall event planning, as they did for this Saturday, according to Vaisakhi Parade organizer Moninder Singh.
“Watching them get involved is a source of pride,” he said. “I think they’re looking for outlets and they’re starting to find them . . . coming in and taking over the seva in gurdwaras.”
“It gives them an opportunity to actually take action . . . [and it] keeps them inspired throughout the year.”
But Vaisakhi is still celebrated the same for both the young and old -- it’s a message of giving back to the community, fighting against injustices and standing up for anyone’s rights, regardless of caste, creed or religion.
“This is the pinnacle of the Sikh calendar,” said Burnaby resident Indy Singh Panchi as he watched the parade progress along 82nd Avenue.
“It’s such an important day.”
While he loves the ambiance and said the event is a great time to get together with the Sikh-Canadian community and reunite with friends, he mainly comes for religious purposes: “To show solidarity with the Sikh nation,” he said.
By early afternoon, Moninder Singh estimated crowds to have already surpassed the 200,000 of last year -- reaching 220,000 Saturday.
And among them was one esteemed guest: one of the five jathedars from Anandpur, the birthplace of the Khalsa.
“It’s his first time abroad,” Moninder Singh said of Jathedar (loosely translated as “community leader”) Tarlochan Singh’s travels to Surrey.
According to Moninder Singh, the jathedar arrived Saturday morning just in time to celebrate the largest Vaisakhi event outside the subcontinent.
“Somebody coming [all the way from Punjab] to meet this community, I think it’s very much a source of inspiration,” said Moninder Singh. .
“The work that we’re doing here is paying off community wise.”
Edited for sikhchic.com
April 22, 2013
Conversation about this article
1: Sunny Grewal (Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada), April 22, 2013, 4:38 PM.
This year's Vasakhi celebrations in Surrey were spectacular. I think it is great that the Vasakhi parade is used as a tool for educating the community, whether it be the float which dealt with female foeticide or highlighting issues which we continue to face as a minority community in India. However, my main concern is the fact that issues relating to the abuses of human rights during 1984 are still done by angry old men shouting in Punjabi at every other platform. It would have been nice to have had a young English speaker using a more intelligent and balanced manner in order to make our more involved in the welfare of their community.
2: Raj (Canada), April 22, 2013, 11:06 PM.
Blatant wastage of money. It could've been better used had they decided to put an ad in all local papers telling readers basic principles of Sikhi. May be donating an ambulance for hauling patients to hospitals with "donated by Sikhs of Surrey" would've been a better idea. This is all wastage of our resources. It's just a big picnic, nobody listens, speakers yell like it's the pind and dhaadis blow speaker systems thinking singing louder and louder is akin to getting their message across.
3: N Singh (Canada), April 23, 2013, 10:50 AM.
@Raj. I couldn't agree more. I went and it was like a zoo. At one point there were so many people and nowhere to move that I started go get anxiety. Yes, excellent point about the ambulance ...