Akho…

Writing by shinda on Saturday, 16 of September , 2006

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Category: Advice, Procrastinating Thoughts, Sikhi

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You’re Nobody Till Somebody Kills You..

Writing by shinda on Friday, 15 of September , 2006

or in Kimveer’s case, you kill somebody. If you read the news, then you know by now that there was a school shooting in Montreal’s Dawson College 2 days ago. Labeled Canada’s Columbine, the press have already jumped on the fact that Kimveer Gill was a desi and are sparing no affiliation they can make to him or any link they can make to other groups to blame for not only his actions but also his death. First it was the Goth scene and the Goth website that he frequented, and as  Panthic Otpreka wrote, they wasted no time in maligning him with the Sikh Faith. Ironically enough having gone through Kimveer’s user profile on Vampire Freaks he associated himself closer with Satanism, so my question is why has he been labeled a Sikh over a Satanist? The Goth link I can understand, after all its a culture of darkness, with a prominent look on death, but how do you call this guy a Sikh based on his name? Why not link us with Vijay Singh, or Kendal Gill for that case also.

Another interesting twist the media put on his character is that when the Toronto Star produced images from his blog on the front page, they included some of the captions such as the ones that read ‘Anger And Hatred Simmers Within Me’  and upon first reading you’d figure this guy was psychotic right from the start, so why didn’t the website, or his friends report him to the authorities? After seeing the entire gallery its clear that he was just messing around,  with his digital camera, and whatever titles he did have, where done so for jokes or just go with the pic’s. At the same time that’s not to say he wasn’t in some way off of his game, but to make a story from things that aren’t there, you’d expect a tad bit more tact.

I know it’s the media’s responsibility to report the story, but it seems like the story is being written on the basis of theories and speculation created by his website then nothing else. For example, ‘He Loved Guns therefore he was a deranged lunatic.’. So liking guns makes one evil? How many Singh’s do you know that haven’t at one point had an AK-47 as there display pic. Fair enough society needs something to blame this on, a video game, movie or music, but why not blame the one thing that really caused this whole thing….anger. Clearly he was angry. At who? well let the police sort that out, but reading the comments on his blog and from TV interviews, it could have very well been society.

“But not everyone who’s angry goes out and shoots up a school”. Fair enough but you push someone to that point and I’m sure they will.

Anyway’s after reading all that there was about this guy, he was a loner, clearly had some social problems, none the less the fact that his profile and image were front page on the Toronto Star, the fact that he got 200+ comments in his user profile that normally wouldn’t have gotten more then 1 or 2 hits goes to show that you truly are nobody till somebody kills you, or in his case you kill somebody in a rampant rage.

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Category: News

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N-n-n-n-New World Order

Writing by shinda on Wednesday, 13 of September , 2006

I was recently asked to comment/write about the victory of the youth slate as they won the Gurdwara elections for New Westminister Gurdwara, incidently enough I wanted to mention it before but being tight on time, never did get around to it.

Firstly, congratulations to those who won, and those who supported the cause. I don’t know much about the people involved, let alone the situation, but overall it seems like a positive change. At the same time the concept of a youth slate got me thinking more about things in Toronto and how a youth slate would apply here.

From my experience there hasn’t been any real conviction by the youth to get involved in the local Gurdwara politics, at the same time though I havn’t seen much need for it either. Most Gurdwara Sahibs, be it Malton, Dixie, Mississauga, Rexdale or Jot Parkash at one time or another do what they can to support the youth. That’s not to say there hasn’t been frustration at time over the amount of support given, or in what manour, let alone the politics played with who gets support versues who doesnt, but for the most part things seem ok. At the same time most Gurdwara Sahibs in one form or another have/encourage youth involvement, by having youth representatives work with them be it in the form of a commitee membership or simply as liasons.

Be that as it may, I’m still left to wonder what a youth slate in Toronto would look like, who would be a part of it, and how much support it would get, not only from the youth but in general sangat. For example take Dixie, the biggest Guru ghar in North America, and known for its elections. In Toronto right now there are 3,4 major parties that are involved on a political level in some shape or form running to run the big show. At the same time most youth in Toronto are in some way shape or form linked knowingly or unknowingly in some way to the above parties. In most cases its by family association while for others its a particular party that supported or continues to support them in one way or another even if it is just in the means of providing a venue.

Now with that as it is, several questions also come to mind in regards to any said youth slate. Would the youth really rally behind a youth slate at any of the major gurdwara’s? Would a youth slate be able to exist free of elders from one of the major parties not trying to pull the strings? and last but not least, would the youth be inept in understanding the larger demographic nature of the Gurdwara Sahibs, and compete with the elder generation on the same level.

Who knows, but there’s my post for the week..

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Category: Events, Politics, Sikhi

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Peeta Dudh Jithiya Yudh

Writing by shinda on Tuesday, 5 of September , 2006

Yes the post is a week overdue, but then again what can you do.

Another Yudh has come and gone and things went pretty well, even though  there were a lot of unexpected’s, but like always you gotta just roll with the punch’s and come back as best as you can.

The whole day started a tad late, 2 hours if you want to be specific but then again, that much should be expected. 24 competitors for the over 16 age bracket and I think 16 for the under 16 group, plus those who participated in only kirpaan and damalaa made this the biggest Yudh competitor wise, with over 40 competitors from across North America and technically the World (Singhs from India participated also).

There was even a good Sangat turn out, considering the fact that rain clouds loomed over head all day, and of course Gatka isn’t all that popular or main stream yet, but given some time there’s definite potential for growth.

As far as the match’s the one thing that you need for them to be entertaining is rivalry. What would the Lakers/Kings, WWF/WCW/NWO, Shamrock/Ortiz, be if it wasn’t for the rivalry between them. Like wise in Yudh over the years there has been a build up of a few different rivalries of sorts that in one way or another make us want to come out and watch, in most cases it has to do with the past finalists, while other times it just has to do with similar fighters colliding.

This years major rivalry had to have been Jarnail Singh (Toronto) vs Sukhjinder Singh (Surrey). Of course there’s no love lost between the two, but there’s different reasons why this was the rivalry of the night. Both were students of Bhai Charanjeet Singh, both are quick and athletic, neither is big on defense, and finally ones from Surrey while the others from Toronto. It was this rivalry and the fact that the two met so late in the tournament in an elimination round match that made it in my eyes the match of the night.

The build up

Main reason the two met so late in the night was due to Sukhjinder facing off against Harpreet Singh (California), who happened to be the reigning champion, in the second round. Pulling out the win Harpreet Singh advanced on, while Sukhjinder was left to fight for survival the rest of the night. To his credit though he was able to fend of all competitors that came his way after that, including Harpreet Singh again, and also other elite, such as Gursheel Singh and I think even Ranjit, but then again it was more then a week ago and my memory isn’t all that good to begin with. Either way he [Sukhjinder Singh] put on a show, and was relentless the rest of the tournament.

Jarnail on the other hand came to win. Finishing second 2004 and not ranking in 2005, Jarnail was clearly out to clear his name. Winning all his match’s up until he came across Harbir Singh (Calgary), a new face to the international Gatka scene. Incidentally enough Harbir Singh had just prior (week earlier) competed in a local Gatka Tournament held in Calgary which he also won, so clearly he was the man to beat, other then the fact most of us had never seen or heard of him until the day of.

Anyway’s having had his first loss, Jarnail was sent to the losers bracket to face off against Sukhjinder who you could tell was not ready to let up. The fight started and both of them squared off. Not having the scores let alone remembering them I would have to guess this was the highest scoring match, with both going almost hit for hit, and if either competitor did manage a block, then it was similarly rewarded on the other side. When the match finished, no one could tell who was the clear victor as may have been in the case in most other match’s. When the judges made there decision it came out that they were both tied, sending the match into extra time. Again both competitors didn’t let up, knowing that one of them would be eliminated while the other got to compete in the finals. When the match did end, it was Jarnail Singhs hand that was raised, as he pulled of a win by a mere 2 points, the difference being the one hit Sukhjinder took on his back. Regardless of the result, you know that this is going to be one rivalry to look forward to next year.

The finals

Throughout the tournament, Harbir Singh demonstrated why defense is the best offense. Any Gatka Ustaad will tell you that you should always look for the block first then the strike, and Harbir Singh demonstrated why this works best, being the first second Yudh champion to go undefeated the entire tournament and taking the championship home to Calgary for the first time and doing his part in keeping it out of Toronto, yet again. Likewise in the jr’s it was Harman Singh, younger brother of Harbir Singh, who put the same defense first philosophy to work, beating out all competitors and winning it all for the Jr’s as he beat out favourites, Karandeep Singh (Surrey) and Manroop Singh (Toronto).

Harjot Kaur vs Gagandeep Singh

Although a rivalry solely on the fact that it was girl vs boy, the match was definitely entertaining in that it did go, not only into over time but also into sudden death, at which point it became repetitive sanjhaa vaars, until Gagan was able to get a strike in, winning the match. Apart from that the look of sheer determination on Gagan’s face, not wanting to loose to a Bibi, but coming soooo close to it made this match just that much more fun to watch.

The Flops

Like in all sports you have your picks who just don’t perform. This year I had Ranjit and Jarnail meeting in the finals, but Ranjit fell short in the quarters, which I guess you can’t really call a flop since the competition has grown really stiff in recent years, with competitors such as Harpreet Singh and Parmjit Singh from Cali, and the new found talent in Calgary in addition to other top picks such as Karam Singh (India) all involved, none the less, I expected Ranjit to last and go further then he did. Then you had the Nihang Singh from Harian Velaa who came out and didn’t really impress, winning I think only two match’s. Gursheel Singh last years runner up, didn’t show the tenacity he did last year, but at the same time Jarnail didn’t show fire last year either, so hopefully Gursheel comes out and puts on a better performance next year.Sohan Singh was another disappointment having beat Manroop Singh a week prior in exhibition by a good margin, loosing to Manroop just wasn’t expected, but then again Manroop won when it counted, so good for him.

The Surprises

Harbir Singh and Harman Singh were clearly underdogs coming in, but then again that had more to do with familiarity, those that knew them expected nothing less. Sukhjinder you could say also surprised me, since I didn’t expect him to compete at the level he did.

Overall things went pretty well, it didn’t rain, the competition was fierce and the day went seemingly well. I still think there needs to be changes made with the Reffing and judging, just because the current system doesn’t seem all that fair. For example the Harjot Kaur vs Gagandeep Singh match. What most felt was her striking first was called as a Sanjhaa, which is definitely a controversial call when  you get into a sudden death scenario.

Maybe have the referee there to watch for fouls only and have 5 judges score the bout as the case is in boxing, and then you take the tally of the scores to find the victor. Or do it UFC style, 3 rounds, where the judges score the rounds individually.

If it is kept the way it is then maybe get a rotating ref where you rotate the inside and outside refs every other fight, randomize things a little. Then again the sport and competition is still in its infant stages compared to many other competitions so I’m sure there will be a lot of changes to come over the years and hopefully even more tournaments that improve on things, so to end one can only wait and see.

Lastly a big thank you goes to all the sponsors especially those from Preet Video, and Digitology (Bhagauti Soora), who spent the entire day donating their services in capturing Yudh. To Harpreet of Media Vision for taking care of all the print material, posters flyers everything, Gabroo Punjab De Bhangra team for helping setup and volunteering to help run and manage the event and everyone else who put some time in to make things work. The pictures and videos should be made available shortly on Yudh.net but for now you can check out pictures Gursheel’s flickr account or his blog.  Also a big up goes to Amarinder Singh from Guelph who kept it going all day with the jokes and the commentating, hopefully he comes out again next year, in addition to all the Singhs from California, Calgary, Surrey, Guelph, India, Ottawa, and where ever else, who came all the way to compete and make Yudh an event worth watching.

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Category: Fight, Gatka, Sikhi

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The Pehova Diet Plan

Writing by shinda on Friday, 1 of September , 2006

Are you having trouble loosing those excess pounds? Find that your lavish life style as a Baba is providing you with way to much to eat? Then try the new Pehova Wale diet, guaranteed to help you shed those pounds in no time.

The Pehova Wale diet was perfected in 2006 by none other then Pehova’s favourite rapist, Baba Mann Sion himself. It entails running, hiding and more running. How the diet works is simple and you can get it to work for you in no time. Simply follow these simple instructions:

1. Grab a crisp white cholaa and say you’re the real heir to the Rara Sahib dynasty, and how you and  Sant Baba Ishar Singh Ji go way back.
2. Memorize Sakhi’s from Sant Jarnail Singh and Sant Ishar Singh tapes then tell them over and over again adding your own twists and turns each time.
3. Start telling people you’re Guru Gobind Singh in disguise but to keep this secret on the down low.
4. Mass produce Amrit and start shipping it out.
5. Put your closest chelay to a Kaam test, and say its your way of testing there loyalty and Sikhi.
6. Get Internet stooges to run circular logic games on message boards and hire the same stooges to act as your PR spin doctors.
7. When Sangat does approach….RUN…

Just repeat the following everywhere you go and you’ll see those excess pounds disappear in no time, and don’t forget to run, because just like the motto goes, “run, run, run, as fast as you can, you can’t catch him he’s from Pehovaa Maaan”.

For more reading:

http://www.panthic.org/news/125/ARTICLE/2713/2006-…

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Category: Fight, Jokes, Protest, Sikhi

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