The happenings of 1984 in Amritsar, Delhi and other cities of India brought a change among the Sikhs of the Diaspora. The rule of terror in the Punjab left no stone unturned to suppress the Sikhs. Many Sikhs - well-to-do professionals and intellectuals - in New Delhi and other large cities - cowed down to the 20th Century Rulers more tamely than their forebears in the 17th and 18th Century during declining days of the Moghuls. For personal survival some of them presented in 1989 a saropa to HKL Bhagat the arch villain of the Sikh massacre of 1-3 November, 1984.

The Indian Administration also spent millions of dollars on campaigns to discredit the Sikhs of the Diaspora in Canada, USA and Britain. They are even believed to have conspired to blow up a civil airliner near Ireland and put the blame on Sikhs. They successfully split up the Sikhs in these countries so that, instead of helping the Punjab, they kept quarreling or fighting among themselves.

Nevertheless, Sikhs of the Diaspora are progressing in different professions, businesses and industries. Where they are in sufficient numbers they are successful in teaching the next generation Punjabi language in Gurmukhi script. They are keen upon keeping alive their language and religion. They are conscious that their language and culture shall keep them ahead of all people. Indeed, the majority community in India seems jealous of progress of the Punjab state in all fields. Hence, efforts are being made to suppress the Punjabi language and Sikh religion.

Sikhs of the Diaspora are vigorously working towards saving their language and culture. In one generation they will consolidate their organization of Sikh Heritage Centres. Up to 1975 they were looking towards the land of their ancestors in this respect. Since then, they watched that the majority community in the name of democracy was not allowing the minorities in India to progress ahead.

Sikhs have made good progress wherever they made their home. They recognize all other religions as paths to the attainment of God. They never claimed their religion as being the only way. They communicate with all communities comfortably. They train for free movement in the midst of different racial and religious communities. They show this wherever they settle - Australia, New Zealand, Britain, USA, Canada, Kenya, Malaysia and Singapore.

The main language of the Diasporan Sikhs in English. Their scriptures are widely translated in the English Language and they make themselves understood to the majority of people amongst whom they live.

For some time there has been a remarkably talented Sikh who successfully organized a group of multi-racial musicians and singers in Australia. His name is Dya Singh and he is the band leader. he inherited music and singing from his father, who was, from 1946 to 1969, a Sikh missionary in Malaysia. Performing kirtan with music is a must in such work. Born in 1950 Dya Singh grew up in his father’s company. Naturally kirtan was a part of his life at a tender age. Indeed, at five he sang with his father. At twelve he had the experience of producing his own music. When his father returned to Punjab in 1969, Dya Singh sang popular folk songs and ghazals, frequently invited to sing on Radio Malaya.

After school in 1971 he proceeded to England to study accountancy. But Dya Singh’s first love remained Sikh spiritual music, its horizon being widened. He performed at Sikh festivals and other gatherings in England. To fulfil the Sikh way of life, he found his match in the daughter of another Sikh missionary in Kuala Lumpur in 1974. The family grew from 1977 to 1986 with three daughters. Meanwhile, they migrated in 1981 to make their home at Adelaide, Australia.

Through music and song, Dya Singh won the hearts not only of Indians in Adelaide but also other towns of South Australia. His constant efforts in this direction played an important role in the establishment of Rasik Ranjani, association of music lovers, from the Indian sub-continent in 1982, side by side with the formation of the Sikh society of South Australia. Regular performances at Rasik Ranjani programmes, kirtan at the gurdwara, Dya Singh was also at other Indian functions to sing bhajans, Hindi film songs, Punjabi folk songs, qawalies, ghazals and also conducted Sikh weddings.

The real breakthrough for Dya Singh came when he commenced a long fruitful association with Chris Finnen on guitar and Keith Preston on bouzouki. These two Westerners encouraged him to spread his type of music in Australia, opening for him the gate to the wider music world. For this type of music the tabla is essential, for which his brother-in-law Charan Singh joined him in 1992.

Thence he developed a multi-national group to perform in public, Chris Finnen (guitar), Keith Preston (bouzouki) joined him in 1992 followed by Alastair Black (didgeridoo, an Australian native horn). His wife Jessleen Kaur and daughters Jamel, Harsel and Parvyn, joined to provide vocal support, particularly in Kirtan and Punjabi folk songs. When necessary, Dya Singh found a few guest artistes : Nguyen Dang Tao (Vietnamese Zither), Jolanta Separovic (violin), Mark Separovic (Spanish/classical guitar), Dr John White (vibraphone), Warren Acott (didgeridoo), Erine Gruner (violin), Cicillia Kiemnyz (flute).

The group is a reflection of the Australian multi-cultural society. They produce music and lyrics of a universal spiritual mystical nature. The group certainly gained a nation-wide popularity and spread their wings overseas, being invited to participate in the Singapore Arts Festival in June 1994. They gave six public concerts in different places, and special performances at four Sikh institutions. Visiting Malaya they performed in Seremban, Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh, Butterworth and Penang public concerts and kirtan at Sikh institutions. In May 1995 they were again invited by the Sikh community of Singapore and performed at several Gurdwaras.

Within Australia, Dya Singh group performed in 1993 at Melbourne International Arts Festival, National Folk Festival at Canberra 1993, Queensland Folk Festival 1992/93, SA State Folk Festival Goolwa 1992/93. The Earthquake Concert 1993 in Adelaide, Australia Day in January 1992 organized by Sydney Arts Festival and Carnival, “Australia Sikh Rhythem for Soul” in March 1993 and Nov 1993. The Group received the “Best Instrumentalists” award of the South Australia Music Industry.

All the time Dya Singh Group performed mainly on music for the human soul, with universal themes, reflecting Sikh philosophy. It is a new wave in kirtan sometimes with a shade of pop folk song in Bhangra style. The multi-racial orchestra presents a pot-pourri of ghazals, sufi quwalis, mystical meditative dissertation for cross-cultural rapport to carry with them varied audiences of all ages.

In the Gurdwaras, Dya Singh Group renders Indian classical ragas in mellifluous words and music for mixed congregations. Dya singh renders in English the hymns they sing, for those who lack knowledge of Punjabi. Through technology of sound they fuse the different cultures free of pretensions to intellectuals or technical depths of music and rhythm. They produce cassettes and compact discs to share in the business of entertainment.

In the midst of thousands of audience Dya Singh’s family maintains distinct Sikh appearance. Their actions are in consonance with the Sikh way of life. Their non-Sikh companions, though shaven, when in Gurdwara follow the Sikh etiquette, covering their heads and baring their feet. They partake in the langar at the gurudwara functions. Many non-Sikhs also attend Gurdwara functions where the group performs in Australia. Thus they are spreading the Sikh ideas among non-Sikhs in the language of music.

In Singapore, all large public halls are air-conditioned and smoking is forbidden. In Australia audiences are politely requested not to smoke while attending performances by the group. Guru Nanak’s message is spreading Down-under and beyond. It does not require special robes as so many pretenders go around calling themselves “sants”. The group is able to answer any questions posed by the audience.

The Diasporan Sikhs in all countries must create such groups to move about freely among non-Sikhs to develop close relations. That is what Guru Nanak desired. The Gurudwaras of the Diasporan Sikhs should be manned by similar bi-lingual missionaries able to communicate in Punjabi and English. They should not be a pretentious lot with robes, but should be well versed in Gurbani kirtan, and be able to render hymns in English. This should not be difficult now as translations are available. They should render selected hymns each time, and distribute copies to the congregation.

The Diasporan Sikhs in different professions - accountancy, architecture, business, dentistry, education, engineering, law, medicine, veterinary - should make special efforts to learn about Sikhism. They should make efforts to attend their own professional conferences, as visible Sikhs, and be able to answer simple questions on Sikhism, when asked by colleagues of their professions. Of course, they have to behave as proper Sikhs and be the Community’s ambassadors.

The Sikh missionaries, as described above, should participate in multi-faith conferences in their vicinity. This happened in Chicago in the 1993 Parliament of World’s Religions. Any follow up of that should not be missed. This should be aimed at, from now, so that by 1999 - the Centenary of Khalsa we are fully prepared. In short all of us should be freely moving among other communities - as proper Sikhs.

Now that good English translations are freely available of Gurubani, efforts should be made to render some of our hymns into English lyrics. They can be sung in that language. For all we know, somewhere this is already being done. Computer technology is known to be used for Gurubani. This should be widely used by the Diasporan Sikhs. By 1999, they should be free in their respective countries.

The world is wide, they need not look to Punjab for guidance. The historical Gurudwaras and the Five Takhts should be looked upon as places of pilgrimage for periodical visits. That is in fact how they are being used at present. We get nothing from them apart from Darshan. Just as we have done for the Gurudwaras in Pakistan, so also we should do for the Gurudwaras in India. So long as we are free to visit for Darshan we should be content.

Source : The Sikh Review September 1995

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