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When our Grandparents came over to Canada, the UK and USA in the 1950s and later it was primarily for a better future. A more comfortable life for their offspring and better worldly opportunities. These reasons and other materialistic hopes and desires were attributes pretty much foreign to the real simple living Gurmukhs who had no desire for the entrapments offered in the West. Our forefathers were primarily simple farming folk who although kesdhari had a limited view on Gursikhi. One cannot blame them therefore for making the journey to better their standard of living and provide a better maternalistic future for their children. Those real Gursikh like Bhai Sahib Bhai Randhir Singh were asked many a time to travel to Canada and other places abroad and one Singh who was there when he was asked told me the answer was always the same ‘ Meh utte jah ke ki karna?’. And quite correct too! What was there for Bhai Sahib in Toronto, London or the ‘Sunny’ Los Angeles? Despite the many misgivings of India, no one can doubt there is a certain magic about the place. That land has been set foot on , not only by our Guru Sahiba and many a Brahm Giani such as Banda Singh Bahadur but also many a Hindu God, Devtia, Rishia and other great souls. Infact, its no coincidence that every major religion of the world started off in the East. Islam, Christianity (Middle East), Buddhism (Far East), Hinduism and Sikhism. That spiritual reverberation is most tangibly felt in Amritsar, Harmander Sahib where even the most non-religious of foreign tourist remark about the special atmosphere of that sacred place. In contrast, I am afraid to say we here in the West live in a soulless , tasteless and spiritually devoid place. There are some good Sikhs here, no doubt but I am of the opinion one can only attain a certain level of Jeevan here which falls way short of the bar. To compensate, new terms are being coined..’bibeki pizza’ ,‘bibeki fries’ with a ‘bibeki soya chicken burger.’ Come on. Please. ï The West has resulted in a dilution of the Sikh faith and no matter how much we kid ourselves we are here for the materialistic trappings. Materialism and Gursikhi and mutually exclusive terms. So take your pick. http://gurmatbibek.com/forum/read.php?3,34998

SGGS Conference 2015 - Sikhi in the 21st Century - a Panel Discussion with young Sikhs Sikh Gurdwara San Jose and Chardi Kalaa Foundation Present Fourth Annual Conference on Sri Guru Granth Sahib Saturday Sep 19th 2015 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FwdzwV8DbAc&time_continue=641&ebc=ANyPxKouLoJZJe4xqd_jdlvKmpvpgq_1nAUqXj0d7JWsMshcgowbkNlM8YrU4P1gxImQYKwrBZ1P