GURDEEPSING

well written!!! this was an e-mail i got from one of my friends, she read a joke someone posted about Sikhs and her reply is listed below... It's just something you should read. I think we're all a little fed up with the jokes against Sikhs. ------------------------------------------------------------ Subject SIKH JOKE AND MY RESPONSE Please look below for my response to this joke Gurbachan Singh is appearing for his University final examination which consists of Y/N type questions. He takes his seat in the examination hall, stares at the question paper for five minutes, and then in a fit of inspiration takes his wallet out, removes a coin and starts tossing the coin and marking the answer sheet - Y for Heads and N for Tails. Within half an hour he is all done whereas the rest of the class is sweating it out. During the last few minutes, he is seen desperately throwing the coin, sweating and sweating. The invigilator, alarmed, approaches him and asks what is going on. "Oh, I finished the exam in half and hour". "But ...", he says, "I am rechecking my answers and am not able to tally them with what I wrote." Content Publishers : Gaurav Kumar Verma, G.K.Verma@eSqueeky.com Kiran Pandey, Kiran.Pandey@eSqueeky.com To everyone that had a part in sending/creating the joke with the Sikh man as the main character: First of all I am 22 year old female attending UC Berkeley in California, U.S. I am in my third year and planning to attend law school. My parents are Sikh, and are well educated from the US and Punjab. The reason I give the above information about myself is bec ause I want to, hopefully, provide an image that is contrary to the one provided in the joke about the Sikh man. However I do understand these are "just jokes" but I feel, as many of my American and Sikh friend feel, there is more to these jokes than just a mere laugh. I am completely offended by anyone using the name Gurbachan SINGH, in order to create and provide a laugh, especially when it is non-Sikhs who are and providing these jokes. My religion, my Sikh parents, family and friends have given me enough knowledge and dignity to NEVER use someone's ethnicity, religion, caste, creed, and anything else that makes an individual who and what they as a avenue to offend them, or bring a negative image upon that person and what he or she stands for. I can suppose that the people who created or forwarded this joke to me have not received the same upbringing as myself, for that I have pity. Sikh history shows the bravery and intelligence of the Sikhs, and world history has accepted Sikhs as a community which stands for Humanity, and freedom of all, and that has been proven many times as 65,000 Hindu women were saved by Sikhs during the Muslim rule in India. Sikhs were the majority that fought for India's Independence and still up to this day are ready to fight for the freedom of all people. Sikh history is so dense that it would be impossible for me to remind you all of it in this email. Sikh Americans have excelled in every field, from fiber optics to politics, they have touched and added to all fields of life. The first Asian American to sit in the American Congress was a Sikh, one of the first people to get a phd in fiber optics was a Sikh. But much of these accomplishments are never recognized as accomplishments of Sikhs but instead of Indians. And as far as the kindness of Sikhs, the latest generosity of the Sikhs that comes to mind is the during the aftermath of the Gujarat earthquake, in which the Sikhs were the largest non-Gujarati community to provide financial aid for victims. However, I do know, that certain individuals, ignorant individuals, who have are not well read, will create whatever image of something they have no understanding of as it best fits them. You make fun of what you fear; I have yet to see one individual, weather Hindu or Muslim, come up to any Sikh and make a Sardar joke, or any other, in his face, and the late Rajneesh Proves my point. He says, that "Hindus think you are so funny by making fun of Sardar, but when you see one you piss in your pants and cant even look him in the eye" (or something like that). All Muslims in India were weak Hindus that converted to Islam, and all Hindus in India exist today because of the bravery of the Sikhs and if it was not for the bravery of the Sikh all Hindus too would be circumcised and reading from the Quran and eating cows every night. This is what some people think about the Hindus. However, Sikhs have never spoken these words. We are taught to see all humanity as one. No Sikh, that I know of, has ever made fun of any Muslim or Hindu, and will never, the Sikh religion teaches us better than that. Intelligence is not proven through efforts to degrade another human being and the community to which he or she belongs, but is proven through the willingness to learn and understand his or her ideologies. I hope that day does not come when Sikhs make fun of Hindus praying to ShivLing..for all those that don't know... Shivling= Shiva's <admin-profanity filter activated> (its that round rock thing with the lines going across it horizontally and usually some is pouring milk over it). I hope that does not come when Sikhs make fun of the cowardly history of the Hindus and Muslims of India. I hope that day does not come when Sikhs say "how weak is that Hindu, he couldn't even save his wife from being raped by the Muslim, instead he joined him." I have heard people make fun of Hindus, the hindu religion and refer to the Hindus as as "HBO" which is also a major cable channel, but for for a mere laugh it is understood as "HINDU BODY ODOR." YES THESE ARE ALL STUPID, AND THERE ARE MANY MORE, BUT THEY ARE FUNNY TO SOME AND TO OTHERS OFFENSIVE. THAT IS WHY, AS A SIKH, I AM TAUGHT TO NEVER BE PART OF ANYTHING THAT MAY BRING OFFENSE TO ANOTHER HUMAN BEING. I HOPE THAT IT IS JUST NOT THE SIKH RELIGION THAT IS ABLE TO ENGRAVE SUCH DIGNITY AND RESPECT IN A HUMANS LIFE, BUT HINDUISM AND ISLAM AS WELL. I WROTE THIS EMAIL PASSIONATELY IN RESPONSE TO A FORWARDED MAIL THAT OFFENDED ME DEEPLY. I APOLOGIZE FOR ALL THE GRAMMAR ERRORS. peace ------------------------------------------------------------ vaheguru jee ka khalsa vaheguru jee kee fateh