Kids Corner

Above: detail from photo, courtesy pilou@ttitude. Below, first photo from bottom - by Raminder Pal Singh.

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...And I Wanted a Lazy Saturday

by GURTEJ KAUR CHEEMA

 

It was the first Saturday I had had in some time to laze around. And give it up for a lecture, in the middle of nowhere, somewhere on the outskirts of San Jose, California?

It did not interest me at all.

I am not good with surprises and my dad's excitement as he woke me up was not expected at all.

My mind told me not to give in to his eloquent tricks to get me out of bed but I had no choice when breakfast at Starbucks was mentioned. Slipping into a pair of jeans and my biggest sweatshirt, I thought to myself, "This better be worth it!"

Those words echoed through my mind as I ordered a cinnamon sugar bagel stuffed with copious amounts of strawberry cream cheese at Noah's Bagels (I know, I know: what a better way to kick-start my day?)

The ride there was more of a blur, I grunted at my dad in between swallows to assure him I was paying attention to his vague comments on where we were going and what we were actually going to do there. As we pulled into the parking lot, I downed my whole cup of peppermint hot cocoa and braced myself for what I was to endure for the next three hours.

I had it pretty well summed up by then, I was going to sit in a room full of adults who would discuss Gurbani.

Wonderful!

I was also without the one connection to my outside world, my solace ... also known as a cell phone. One deep breath taken: I hope these people know how to keep a teenager intrigued or else I am for sure doomed.

I never imagined the day would come when I would understand the meaning of the religious practices I engage in, almost robotically.

The seemingly overwhelming amount (obviously seen through my most prominent feature, my rather large and judgmental teenage eyes) of Gurbani my parents required me to recite was just something too big, too complex for my short attention span. I mean this in the nicest way possible, but not knowing what I am reading, not to mention why, seems pointless, and I speak for much of the youth in my community.

My attitude could have been totally different to start with if I wasn't just memorizing what the Gurus said in shabad and writing, but also what they meant as they wrote them.

Who knew that two hours of a Saturday morning could fill me in on what I bow down to every Sunday afternoon since before I could even walk. Like the Bible tells Christians what is right and wrong, it came as a bit of a shock upon realizing the Guru Granth Sahib did the same.

On top of that, it actually made a lot of sense to me. If the understanding of it wasn't enough, the talks were followed by an intense discussion regarding today's society and the choices we make, especially the Sikh youth.

Many things I had once thought about or even just happened to cross my mind, were surprisingly the exact arguments Guru Nanak used to accuse the society in his time, fighting for a change.

My dad encouraged me to join in the conversation, but I thought myself as no match for these wise men with their Gurbani quotes.

I came up with something to say, finally. It may seem like us kids aren't going to understand Gurbani, but let me tell you something. I myself have only come to two of these lectures held only once a month, and I finally have something to relate to, to think about.

This is an opportunity that can turn heads of every person, no matter what their age. Don't believe me?

Next month, you will see that room filled with a bunch of teenagers, not fooling around, but questioning, and analyzing, and they will want to come back, too.

Just like me.

 

April 10, 2008

 

About me:

I'm in Grade Nine and will turn fifteen this month. My family moved to Cupertino, California, the summer of 2007 from Monterey, which I miss dearly. I have a passion for playing field hockey, which I've been playing since I was seven years old. I now play competitively on a club team in San Jose. I participate in multiple volunteering events, ranging from serving langar at the gurdwara on Sundays, to tending to runners in the Annual Big Sur Marathon for the past three years. I read, probably too much for my own good (I tend to refrain from doing my chores and homework just to finish that one last chapter).

Conversation about this article

1: G.K. (San Jose, California, U.S.A.), April 10, 2008, 9:42 PM.

Very well written!

2: Brijinder Kaur Khurana (Delhi, India), April 11, 2008, 1:57 AM.

Very nice thoughts by this young lady. God bless you, Gurtej!

3: I.J. Singh (New York, U.S.A.), April 12, 2008, 5:01 PM.

My first thought was that sometimes "life is full of rude awakenings". This one might have been that, but it soon became one of the good kind. Nicely captured.

4: Satvir Kaur (Boston, U.S.A.), April 14, 2008, 8:44 AM.

A bright and talented mind! Reading is good ... as long as you read good things! Very nicely written!

5: Prabhu Singh Khalsa (Española, New Mexico, U.S.A.), April 16, 2008, 12:13 PM.

Teenage "attitude" always amuses me. It's clear that she is an avid reader because she writes very well. I seriously doubt I could have written so effectively at her age. I'm glad that she is relating to Gurbani, our divine Guru, which is a blessing for the whole world.

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