Ten years wow!

[Harkiran Kaur]

I realize I've been away for quite some time, and a LOT has happened since I've been here last. I wasn't sure where to post this because there isn't really a general chat area. Some of you know I was married in 2015 to a Singh from Kashmir, and we took amrit together at the historical Gurdwara in Srinagar. Well this year is our Tenth anniversary I am happy to say! We spend most of the year in Canada but several months a year in India as well since I am now retired from the Navy.

Currently, I am a member of the Gurmat Committee at our local gurdwara and I also started a Crisis Intervention initiative for newcomers here. You may all be aware of the heartbreaking case of Gursimran Kaur who lost her life on an unimaginable way at Walmart. It made world news, that was here in my city. In fact, four of us from the Gurdwara were at the Mother's home, less than 24 hours after she found her daughter. We went there to offer support on behalf of Maritime Sikh Society. My husband was all over the news worldwide (if you look up any of the news videos, Balbir Singh is my husband and current secretary of Maritime Sikh Society) This Friday coming I have been blessed to bring together speakers from five disciplines (civil and law, health, mental health, human rights and financial) to speak to attendees on areas where newcomers have found themselves in situations that have led to Crisis Situaitons. (It is believed that two deaths we had last year of young girls was possible suicides linked to pregnancies and not knowing where to turn or what options they had) Other issues, debt burdens, trouble with the law (ranging from stupid traffic infractions to domestic abuse and even attempted murder), health issues where they didn't have insurance etc. Hopefully we can make a difference through prevention and stop heartbreaking incidents before they happen. Fingers crossed. Although it's at Gurdwara Sahib, we opened the event to all immigrants from all communities here.

What else....I advocated for, and was successful in bringing about change whereby females will now be included in seva as part of the panj pyaras henceforth at our Gurdwara. I wrote an article on the same and plan to submit it to Sikh Review and other publishers in the near future.

So I have been quite busy. I can no longer work due to an injury I sustained in the military. My neck is pretty banged up. Every disc is either smashed or herniated or torn. That's why I retired early. But it gives me a chance to write and to do these initiatives that mean a lot to me.

Hope everyone has been well. Not sure how many of you are around that still remember me...

 

[Warriorlight]

I realize I've been away for quite some time, and a LOT has happened since I've been here last. I wasn't sure where to post this because there isn't really a general chat area. Some of you know I was married in 2015 to a Singh from Kashmir, and we took amrit together at the historical Gurdwara in Srinagar. Well this year is our Tenth anniversary I am happy to say! We spend most of the year in Canada but several months a year in India as well since I am now retired from the Navy.

Currently, I am a member of the Gurmat Committee at our local gurdwara and I also started a Crisis Intervention initiative for newcomers here. You may all be aware of the heartbreaking case of Gursimran Kaur who lost her life on an unimaginable way at Walmart. It made world news, that was here in my city. In fact, four of us from the Gurdwara were at the Mother's home, less than 24 hours after she found her daughter. We went there to offer support on behalf of Maritime Sikh Society. My husband was all over the news worldwide (if you look up any of the news videos, Balbir Singh is my husband and current secretary of Maritime Sikh Society) This Friday coming I have been blessed to bring together speakers from five disciplines (civil and law, health, mental health, human rights and financial) to speak to attendees on areas where newcomers have found themselves in situations that have led to Crisis Situaitons. (It is believed that two deaths we had last year of young girls was possible suicides linked to pregnancies and not knowing where to turn or what options they had) Other issues, debt burdens, trouble with the law (ranging from stupid traffic infractions to domestic abuse and even attempted murder), health issues where they didn't have insurance etc. Hopefully we can make a difference through prevention and stop heartbreaking incidents before they happen. Fingers crossed. Although it's at Gurdwara Sahib, we opened the event to all immigrants from all communities here.

What else....I advocated for, and was successful in bringing about change whereby females will now be included in seva as part of the panj pyaras henceforth at our Gurdwara. I wrote an article on the same and plan to submit it to Sikh Review and other publishers in the near future.

So I have been quite busy. I can no longer work due to an injury I sustained in the military. My neck is pretty banged up. Every disc is either smashed or herniated or torn. That's why I retired early. But it gives me a chance to write and to do these initiatives that mean a lot to me.

Hope everyone has been well. Not sure how many of you are around that still remember me...

Good work above. I like the part about women doing seva as members of the Panj Pyaras, really great. Women need to advocate for their rights, wherever they need to be advocated for. One thing you could look into is domestic violence, particularly towards women- this is common, many women are too scared to come forward due to shame and delusions around culture. I know many cases in which not only husbands, but also brothers, boyfriends, mothers and sisters have physcially abused/ beaten up women and girls.

Also addressing sexual abuse/ harrassment would help, which is another thing people tend to fear coming forward about, especially of children. There needs to be more education for children on how to speak up if they are victims if they ever need to and on stranger danger etc.

Hope things go well and God Bless.