Nagar Social Surrey 4

After that we reached the Channel M broadcast studio. On the side we talked to a Singh abut the media and its impact in the community for some time. I was so excited to see the robotic arm for the camera, I thought they were broadcasting the whole thing live, but I later found out that they were taping it for a one hour special, which was showed Sunday night.

From there we could hear Bhai Sukhpreet Singh Jee chant the call for Khalsa Rule. So we rushed to the stage and saw the above.

All the politicians were lined up behind Sukhpreet Singh. Including Dave/David Hayer and Gurmant Grewal. It makes me wonder why Punjabis are so fond of a sellout thug who is too ashamed to use a Punjabi name taken from Shri Guru Grant Sahib. The guy has a gora name and can’t even speak proper English. How can this guy properly represent his multi-ethnic constituents when he can’t even stay true to his culture. I find it hard to believe that Tara(Being a Khalistani Militant) would name his kid against gurmat, then again you never know, weirder things have happened.

CAMERA TIP: When shooting at a subject against the sun, always cover the camera with something to it isn’t exposed to the sunlight or else you get a picture like this...

We then came to the BMX track on 75th Ave and stood on a power transformer for
about 15 minutes and waited for the main float to arrive. As it came into view,
these 7-8 guys with bare heads took out their rumals,covered their heads while
approaching the main float, put some $$$$ into the golak, waited for the float
to pass, took their rumals off and merged into the crowd.

Bhai Parminder Singh Jee will be greatly missed

This was another one of the Gatka Dal floats. There was some controversy (like
every year) between the different Gataka groups. It’s clear that a good number
of the performers have an ego problem. Some kind of politics ends up being
discussed for weeks afterward every year. I remember the good old days when
there were just 4-5 old babbai playing with each other. When one saw those 70+
year Singhs battle it out on Main Street there was something that stayed with
you for many years. Even with some manmutt, the nagar kirtans of the early 90’s
were very inspirational and actually uplifting. Today’s gatka is different,
perhaps the motivation behind the art has changed.

This is the Gatka/Katha flot(the one with Bhai Parminder Singh’s Picture). We
saw Santbir Singh standing on the stage and waited for him to address the sangat.
It’s always inspiring to listen to his
emotionally charged speeches. But this bibi went on and on and finally after
over 15 minutes we moved on...