Bhangra on the Street 7

Nagar Social Surrey 1

You may be wondering why I don't stick to the parchalat term for the Vasakhi Celebration in the streets. I don't call it the Nagar Kirtan because it just isn't.

From what I see year after year the only chunk that can be labeled as a nagar kirtan is the group 15 meters in front of the main float carrying the Swari of Guru Sahib and the 20-25 meters behind it. The true sangat is in the area around the main float from where kirtan can be heard doesn't even amount to 1% of the total people that take part.

So why should it be called a nagar kirtan when the rest of the people don't have anything to do with the true meaning of a nagar kirtan. Bhai Japnaam Singh Jee wrote: "I don’t' like modern day "nagar keertan". More like "nagar gup shup" or "nagar social"." here. He also has interesting commentary from the Abbotsford one last year here.

One great example is:

How would you describe what is going on here? Religious or Cultural/Social or just downright appalling and totally unrelated to Vaisakhi. I think its still generous and kind to call it a nagar social, because for what you are going to see you'll be glad that no one’s calling it Nagar BHANGARA.

I don't think there is anything more sick and boring to listen to than Punjab Radio. Playing the content they play and the ads they run, I don't know with which conscience they can be proud to celebrate the Spirit of the Khalsa. But this guy sounded like a pretty religious person.

This is also a great example of what should be avoided at all costs. There are 364 days for this, I wonder why they chose to do this on a day when all the expenses to the city and RCMP are paid by a gurdwara :S

Nagar Social Surrey 2

This was the main float from where Guru Sahib surveyed the entire 100,000+ crowd

Surprisingly the whole procession was not all pure-manmut; there were actually some people (mostly older women) who were singing with kirtan behind the main float. As this group passed by we could sense a wave of peace come upon us.

Here was another considerably large group that did semi-kirtan.

Nagar Social Surrey 3

For some reason the Khalsa School floats always have the best Kirtan compared to any float, this year was no exception. (Kirtan is Kirtan- but you just can’t beat kirtan done by kids with a pure atma; the kirtan on this float was worth experiencing) This year even with the brand new KSS PA system, the Kirtan level was BAD, you couldn’t hear it from more than a 100 feet. Bhai Satwant Singh fit in the horn type speakers on the roof a couple of years ago, which made for Khalsa School Kirtan being heard a few blocks in each direction. The roof was so well decorated that year too.

The float looks good but could have been better..

Here we have the Canadian Singh Sabha Gurdwara klan. When we first approached their stall we decided that we would stick around and sing along with the kirtan, but then when we were in speaker range we heard: KHANDA KHARRKOOGA!! We couldn’t believe our ears! That hit geet(sung as kirtan) from 1999 was still alive and well. It was crazy. Giani Jagdesh Singh was chanting on the side with a mic while a ragi jatha was on the stage pumping away at the vaja. With each pangati they would come back to Khanda kharkooga! Kharkooga jaroor khanda kharkooga! Someone needs to explain to then what kacchi bani is...

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...