_ The community The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, February 4,1998 - A5 within Behind the temple doors is another world — a turbaned priest sits before the holy book, leading believers in Punjabi hymns Vans 4 i. . By SALWA FARAH THE SETTING is not famil- jar — ihe language is for- ‘eign, There are no hard wooden pews lining the room, nor is there a cross _ symbolizing the suffering of Christ. But the sense of reverence iieeds no translation, Men and women bow their head in worship to the holy book at the head of the temple. The book is lifted above ground on a platform, and lies on a golden taffeta doth. — To followers of the Sikh teligion, their holy book is like a living person — to them it is the eleventh Gua Granth Sahib, the last in the succession of Gurus. The Gum is the spiritual teacher — there are ten others in the Sikh religion, The Sikh temple is knowa as the Gurdwara, the door to the Gum’s house, When the women and men approach the shrine, they bow their heads, drop money in the metal box at the base of the shrine, and some circle the Guru Granth Sahib. “Somebody that we respect and revere we cir- cle,” explains Swaran Singh Cheema, the priest, through Kamal Gill who js acting as my translator — all the prayers are conducied in Punjabi. “The 10th Guru gave the succession to the holy book — it is the Guru we can sce all the time. The hymns are living; it doesn’t die. That’s why we treat it like a living Guru,” explains Cheema. Cheema has been at the temple for a couple of years now, and has helped bring the Sikh community to the temple — especially the elders who come to listen to prayers in the momings, Many in Terrace may re- member those elders silting outside the library at picnic tables during betier weather. IT remove my shoes and ‘cover may hair in a scarf — it is a sign of respect and humbleness, for [ am in the presence of the Guru Granth Sahib. The women and men sit on the floor on opposite sides of the carpeted floor — that ensures complete focus. The priest is reciting hymns from the holy book. On this particular day he is reminding people to remem- ber God in all they do, in marriage and in work. “In doing honest work take God’s name and share with the less fortunate,’’ translates Gill. Cheema stresses the im- portance of doing good deeds in this lifetime, “This world is like a gar- den and God is the gardener that planted flowers of every colour — we must be the beautiful flower that give a nice scent so we can attract God, so that God the gar- dener can look at us,’? Cheema tells the group of people gathered at the temple. Gill tells me that when she goes up and bows to the Guru Granth Sahib, the sec- tion the priest is reading from always relates to cur- rent events in her life. “The prayer is always pertinent to what I am expe- riencing,’’ she says. She wonders how much of that lays in her faith and how much is coincidence. Many followers of the Sikh religion are born into the faith, but a person can also be baplized a Sikh as well, and has the chaice of SHANGARA KANDOLA plays the harmonium for hymn singers in the Sikh temple. Sunday prayers tradi- tionally end with hymns, followed by a remembrance of the martyred Gurus, following a defined code of dress and conduct, A Sikh man is easily iden- tified anywhere in the world by his trademark long beard and turban. This con- spicuous appearance helps prevent a person from sin- ning, suggests Cheema., Over the hum of the prayers ] can hear the clatter from the temple’s kitchen.- You got to Nave faith By CRIS LEYKAUF A PROMINENT businessman, Mo Takhar has an unusual fesponse when asked for the rea- sons behind his success, Faith. Takhar poinis to a framed pic- ture above his desk in his office at Terrace Pre-cut, It's a small religious drawing, surrounded by Punjabi text. “My luck is right there,’’ he says. ‘He’s a strong believer of the Sikh religion, and it’s that faith he says Which bas helped his businesses expand. Both he and his wife, Darshan Kaur, are deeply religious. “Our bible is a living person . forus,’’ he says. ‘In their home they’ve set aside a special room for prayers. Both Mo and Darshan spend an hour and half in prayer every morning and an hour every evening. It’s a form of meditation, he says. _ And, it’s served him well throughout his life, Mo Takhar moved to Canada in 1959, first settling in Victoria. Before coming to B.C. he al- ready knew how to speak English, That was a big ad- vantage, he says. Takhar was 19-years-old and had been in Canada a year when he married his wife. The couple and their young daughter soon moved to Prince Rupert, where Mo worked at the local sawmill for six years. It was while he was living in Prince Rupert that Mo started up Takhar Trucking, a logging truck company. It’s still active today with three trucks. In 1969 Takhar and his family, which had grown to include a Today there will be pakoras (tasty morsels of breaded vegelables) and chai (spiced tea) after the ceremony. Near the end of the prayers, the priest randomly opens the book and reads the Wak —~ it is like the thought of the day, The prayers end after nearly two hours, followed by hymns, Singers are ac: companied by the tablas (drums) and harmonium (a type of upright accordion). This part of the ceremony is called the Kirtan, A final remembrance of the Gumus is also recited by the whole congregation. Before leaving, an elderly man gives a handful of ewcetened doughy bread called prashad to the whole congregation in blessing. Despite my inexperience with the Sikh religion, J find the atmosphere in the temple informal; everyone knows one another and there's a sense of kinship. The Punjabi community in Terrace is strong and vibrant with religion that is infused with Indian culture and identity. Religions of India Mi Hinduism is the oldest and most predominant religion in India, Hinduism emerged around 1500-1200 BC. M4 Hindus believe in many gods and goddesses. Hindus also believe in reincarnation — their goal is to break the cycle of birth and re-birth. Mi Hindus also established the caste system — a system in which people are divided into individ- ual social and:economic classes. The caste. sys- tem still exists today, though Ghandi supposed- the caste system. M Islam came to north India in the carly 700s, i Followers of Islam are called Muslims, and they believe in one God and Mohammad is the name of their prophet. @ In 1490 the Sikh religion was founded by Curt Nanak. The Sikh religion takes elements from both Islam and Hinduism, Wi Sikhs believe in only one God. About 80 per ly abolished it. cent of Sikhs live in the Punjab. HM Buddhism developed in India in the sixth jg Other minor religions in India include Chris- century B.C. tianity, Jains, and Judaism. Bi Buddhists believe in reincamation, but not in eek an | Family bonds unite the Punjabi community here LANGUAGE, food and religion binds the Sikh community together Terrace That’s dent Parmar ty here. Parmar arrived in Terrace in and has seen the East community grow in number and gombayii Indian strength. While Hinduism is the most predominant religion in what long-time resi- Nirmal says about the East Indian communi- ; in 1969 Jamshed dpur : Reliability and depend- . ability are two words he uses . to describe the big ¢ thing is people G like to help each other before going io outside help,”” he said about = the s binding strength in the community, cal cuttg How many cul- tural communities have their own India, most of the people in Terrace are Sikh, an offshoot of Hinduism. Most Sikhs come from the Punjab state in northwest son, Telocated to Terrace. The trucking business was going well, and in 1985 Takhar spun another business out of it — Terrace Pre-Cut, a lumber WANT A LIFT — Mo Takhar is a hands-on business owner, and that Includes getting behind the wheel of a fork lift at his Terrace Pre-cut lumber business. Since coming ta Terrace in 1969, Tak- har has risen to prominence in the community, and was the first East Indian elected to city council. directory? Terrace’s Punjabi community does — another indication of the strength of the ties between its members. company. Today it employs 14 people. The business was a challenge to establish, Takhar admits, but he says quite a bit had to do with luck and faith. - “God wanted me in business 50 he helped me.” Takhar also became more in- volved in local politics. On the urging of the Punjabi community he ran successfully for city coun- cil in 1983. ‘The = Punjabi = community wanted one of its own on cily council in order to gain recogni- tion in the larger community of ‘Terrace, he explained. There are about 130 Punjabi families in Terrace. Takhar won four elections, un- til he resigned his city council seat in 1993. ". He’s proud of his record in of- fice, but says there were two projects he would have liked to accomplish, One is constructing a second overpass off of Keith Ave, and the other is building a rental unit for senfors next to Terraceview, Racism, against his religion or skin colour, has fever been an issue for Takhar. He says people in Terrace are generally accept- ing of the Punjabi community. Takhar points to the success of the Punjabi language program, now at Clarence Michiel and Skeena Jr, Secondary, He's happy the school district is help- ing the Punjabi community keep the culture alive for the children. As for the letters written to the Terrace Standard against the Janguage program, he dismisses them, saying there’s always a small percentage of people who will complain about what they claim are advantages being given to other cultures. But the Punjabi community doesn’t seck just to promote its own causes. Quite often what is good for Punjabi families is ben- eficial to the whole community, Takhar points to the large dona- tion Punjabi families made towards the Terrice Public Li- brary expansion, “'We want to be part of the community,’ he says. ‘'We live here. We're not going any- where.” Takhar’s real estale invest- ments prove that, on a more per- scnal level, He and his brother-in-law jeintly own the Cedar Place and Woodlands apartment buildings, and the smaller Summit Square building. Two years ago Takhar bought the mall in which Fields is lo- cated, and renamed it the Gobind mall, after onc of the gums in the Sikh religion. And Takhar has also been in- volved in numerous housing subdivisions in Terrace. Though he’s passed the age for early retirement, Takhar doesn’t have any plans to slow down yet. He still drives a forklift, and would like to expand both the lumber mill and his trucking company, *T still fecl like a young fel- low,”" Perhaps that too, comes with falth. India. The majority of East Indians in Terrace come from just three districts in the Punjab. c ; . , Coch Parmar believes many people might gadke Mangalore ie identify themselves with the religion, but for others, Sikhism is a cultural identity. “The word Sikh means disciple — we are all followers in different ways,” he explained. In the early seventies, Parmar was heavily involved in establishiag the Sikh temple. “My personal feeling is religion is not the most important thing in life,” he says, adding that the Sikh temple is much more than a place of worship. Just like small animals such as birds, stay in flocks for strength of numbers, so does the East Indian community, says Parmar. The Punjabi community in Terrace first took root in the early seventies, when people came here in search of work. Eventually they sponsored the rest of their families to join them. “It’s a cultural thing to always look after your elders - every member is a very important piece of the puzzle.” “It’s sort of a stigma if you don’t lock after the elders,” added Parmar. The address and telephone directory has been published for at least 15 years by the Sikh temple. Written in both Punjabi and English, the book is put together by a number of Punjabi youth. The free directory is updated every year and includes nearly 140 families. When flipping through the directory, you'll notice that the name “Singh” is altached to the end of many of the names. The name Singh means lion, says Parmar, referring to the noble and majes- tic qualities of the animal. Every baptized Sikh man must have the word Singh in his name. For women, the word that comes in the middle of their name is Kaur. Nirmal Parmar