Saturday, June 21, 2008

Wrong juxtaposition?

Two weeks ago, Gursharan and i met after a gap of 2 years at San Jose Downtown.
Two years if somebody would have said that, it would have been a dream. But this is not what this post is about.

While we were walking on the streets, turning at every corner (we were looking for an Indian restaurant but that is also not important), two things happened that may be very small but tell something great.

At a redlight, while waiting for the light to turn green, there was another sardarji waiting. And by the time we had crossed the street, gurshi had struck a conversation with him. By the end of next block, we knew his name, work, when did he came to US, where does he lives , his life and thousands of other details. And at the next block, Gurshi and that sardarji had exchanged numbers and then we parted ways.

After 10 mins later, we were walking on a sidewalk and from opposite side a group of 5 desi ppl were coming. 3 in front, 2 in back and one of the persons walking at back was a sardarji. As we passed the front group nothing happened and as we were passing the back row, a greeting was exchanged between gurshi and that sardarji.

I was really impressed. Damn impressed! We had met hundreds of desis while walking and in past but we have never bothered to give any attention to them. But the sikh community has such an amazing bonding, the camaraderie is so good that no matter even if two people merely see each other, a greeting is exchanged and that is the least bit to expect.
Hats off! I love it.

I wanted to write about it earlier but it slipped my mind. But why today? This brings me to the title of this post.

I have just watched the movie Amu directed by Shonali Bose starring Konkona Sen sharma and Yashpal sharma. and it is about 84 riots focussing mainly in Delhi. A good but painful movie to watch. Story wise it was like a history lesson for a fool like me. (who doesnt knows a bit on what goes on in India and claims to be an Indian ). Cinema wise it was also good, the movie ends with a tv anchor reporting Godhra riots and a train running on a railway track which lies in between a village - Saying that life goes on and nothing has changed even after so many years.

Is it possible that the riots may have resulted in the camaraderie that Sikhs enjoy. Something that we can just look and envy but it takes real pain and effort to build. Or is it just wrong juxtaposition?

1 comment:

Gursharan Singh said...

Amu is indeed a nice movie. And this topic is painful and somewhat hard to discuss.

There could be more than one answers, depending on how one thinks, to the bond you observed.

One could be the small numbers of Sikhs (in general, not in the US). It s like that small extended family thats spreading across the globe. When two members of the family meet, they enjoy the moment.

Second could be the appearance of the Sikhs. It is but natural for you to feel comfortable in the company of people who are practicing the same way of life as you, who believe in similar principles and who understand why you are what you are better than anyone else around you.

Third is that when you are away from your home, a sight of something thats home-like makes you joyous. It is in general true. Think of the moment when you first saw Roohafza/Indian biscuits in the indian store here, to take a simple example (you may argue that it didnt make you happy, but think general). So when a desi sees a desi, and another desi, and another desi, he/she gets satisfied by what he/she was looking for. But when a Sikh sees another desi, there is defnitely a satisfaction, but seeing an absolutely similar entity, there is just a bit more. Please mind that this is not a religious/racist comment. I am just telling you something very plainly human.

I am not too sure if 84 brings this camaraderie, but yes, painful souls tend to come together, and that could be the case for many, at large when it comes to something significant in the life of Sikhs.
Just meeting on the road is the least of these things :). Reasons above justify the road phenomenon much better.

Hope that whets your appetite :).