Lalli moved to USA in
1991 because his parents feared for his safety. Dabbling in
several things to make ends meet, he finally got a job with
IBM in North Carolina, and remembers the executive who hired
him, look at his turban and ask, “Will you be reporting to
work in the same costume?” Lalli has come a long way since
then and is a successful business entrepreneur in Atlanta
today. He was also the sole representative from Georgia,
invited to attend the 400th anniversary of Guru Granth Sahib
at the White House-a first at Capitol Hill.
Manohar Singh came to the USA in 1971 because there weren’t
too many jobs for Civil engineers in India at that time. He
couldn’t find one here either. “People would look at my
turban during interviews and say “Why are you wearing that
hat all the time? They would look at my skin color and wonder
if I was pretending to be an engineer.” Manohar Singh
distributed phone directories, hung clothes on hangers to make
ends meet till he found a proper job after 6-7 months. Today
he heads a very successful company he co-founded in Atlanta.
He says it was tough to find good employees because people
were hesitant to work with a brown skinned Indian. His sons
shake their heads in disbelief when they hear his stories of
deprivation and struggle because by the time they grew up the
world was handed to them on a platter.
The Sikhs have come a long way since the past 100 years. Today
they are excelling in all walks of life. There are constant
efforts at building bridges with other communities and
mainstream America, and yet in the wake of September 11 they
have realized that a lot still needs to be done. The confusion
over the turban of Osama Bin Laden and that of the Sikh turban
has resulted in a backlash of violence and hatred. The Sikhs
in Georgia are as concerned as their counterparts in other
states. “I realized how important it was to keep educating
mainstream America,” says Lalli. “I took it as my personal
crusade and responsibility to work towards that and became
chairman of a special committee that met with the politicians,
and did fund raising for ex-Governor Roy Barnes.”
The Sikh American Society of Georgia was formed soon after to
create awareness of Sikhs among Americans, as well south Asian
communities. The inaugural dinner hosted eminent American and
Sikh personalities like Lt. Governor Mark Taylor, prominent
attorney, public speaker and writer T. Sher Singh from Canada,
along with the Health minister in the current Canadian
government and former premier of British Columbia Ujjal Singh
Dosanjh.
Dosanjh said to me that in India religion fades into the
background but abroad it becomes more accentuated because
there is nothing else to anchor you. Dosanjh saw Sikhs dealing
with a lot in Canada- from issues of wearing turbans in the
police and the army, carrying kirpans (swords) without
creating fear, racism and other socio-economic and political
issues. Fortunately a lot has changed for the better in Canada
in the past two decades said Dosanjh. “I think that is also
because we have a history of a hundred years of significant
presence and people no longer feel they are an immigrant
community. They believe they have as much of a right as any
body else to call Canada their home.” Dosanjh also felt that
many more Sikhs are part of Canadian politics because the
political system is much more akin structurally to the Indian
system. “The US system requires a lot of money and contact
upfront. Forget about the Sikhs, Indian Americans don’t have
that kind of money.”
Still, Sikhs have pumped a lot of it into the coffers of the
politicians and now the time has come to go beyond the photo
sessions with officials and be happy with just that. The hard
work has paid off to some extent. Today the White House has
endorsed the community and invites them for major issues and
events to the Capitol Hill.
Dr Inderpal Singh, a physician in Atlanta says a lot still
needs to be done. Dr Singh who came here at 14 and saw his own
share of discrimination, says many patients left his practice
after September 11. The ignorance of main stream America about
who the Sikhs were, made Dr. Singh realize how important it
was to do outreach programs to educate America. As a result he
and his wife Varinder, also a physician, have been a part of
several health fairs where they treat people from all
backgrounds free. There is a lot of infighting, ego hassles
within the community, says Dr Singh and also a struggle with
whether the gurudwaras should remain religious centers and
teach the younger generation the old fashioned way about their
heritage, or should they change their approach? Should they be
allowed to become hubs of political activities or retained as
a place of harmony where people worship together, eat together
and mingle in harmony?
“I think if we don’t change with the times we are in fear
of losing our future generations,” warns Dr Singh. He adds
that they are doing things differently through SAGSA, and
accomplishing a lot outside of the gurudwaras. “The
gurudwaras need to get out of the huge number of things they
are involved in. Through SASGA we have come up with programs,
making people within the community aware of our needs
especially those of the younger generation. We joined hands
with IACA and organized a health fair at the festival of India
in August. Through SASGA we can also discuss key issues
without adding a religious connotation to everything.” Dr
Singh is also hopeful that members of the younger Sikh
generation will step forward and work with the elders to raise
awareness of the Sikh community in Georgia. Varinder is also
doing her bit by mentoring young women to become strong
assertive individuals and reach their potential as valuable
members not just of the Sikh community but the community at
large. She says she is happy to see a lot of women doing just
that, but a lot more needs to be done.
Dr Harinderjit Singh Akali, a well-known eye specialist from
Augusta, says that his gurudwara has a woman President, which
is a rarity but for a family of 50 Sikhs in Augusta they have
two gurudwaras because of ego hassles. Dr Singh’s son was
refused entry to an Atlanta nightclub and nephew heckled when
he went to a restaurant with some friends a few of whom were
American, to the point where the police had to be called post
9/11. Singh says it made him realize how important it is for
the community to unite to deal with such situations and that
as a united whole they can create a greater impact.
With the birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak running
through November and December, SASGA is hosting a wonderful
event on the 5th of December from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Impact
conference center, at the Global Mall to celebrate the event.
They have invited three eminent speakers, T Sher Singh from
Canada, Justice Mota Singh from UK who holds the distinction
of being the first Asian to become a judge there, and Valerie
Kaur who hold a graduate degree in International Relations and
Religious studies from Stanford University.
I hope every one who understands the humiliation that comes
with rejection and discrimination, who believes in Guru
Nanak’s message of learning through debates and discussions
and universal brotherhood, will attend.
No matter what our skin color or ethnic and religious
background, we are all bound by common concerns. Ignorance and
fear of the unknown are great deterrents in creating a
peaceful world, especially for future generations. If not to
ourselves, we owe it to them.
For more information and for rsvp please contact
Gurpal S. Gill (770)321-7846, R. S. Johar (404)847-9832,
Surinder S. Lalli (770)614-9461, Dr. Inderpal Singh
(770)819-5415, U. S. Wassan (678)542-2480 |