Kids @ The Gurdwara

[Bundha]

I think there are degrees of distraction. Kids are kids and when they start to walk there is no stopping them. Mums will grab them and bring them back to sit down, but a few minutes later they are off again. Sometimes it is quite pleasing to see little kids wondering about the darbar sahib it makes one realise what a care free time it is to be a

A crèche or baby room should be a must, but it needs to be a soft, warm room carpeted and maybe a small screen from which the parents can follow the divan also. Maybe it should be a room adjoining the darbar sahib with a large window so the parents can sit near it and follow the divan while the kids let off steam on a climbing frame or playing with toys.

I remember when I was a kid, the Sunday morning divans were a big playtime for us as we met our friends and played in and around the Gurdwara…………happy times. The old Gurdwara in Leeds was an old church and the darbar sahib was really beautiful. It was circular in shape with large sweeping arches going all the way around it. The ceiling was very high, at least 100 feet with a large dome, It wasn’t a cold dark place like most churches but all painted in beige and fancy colours. Once me and my friends – we must have been about 8 yrs old – found an old staircase at the back of the gurdwara and we followed it all the way up. We entered this dark wooden place and found ourselves looking down through some cracks in the woodwork at the sangat, from the dome in the ceiling. Thinking about it now it was very dangerous, if the floor had given way we would have fallen all the way down

[Dukh Sukh]

However Bhai Sahib Bhai Norang Singh Ji, use to tell my parents to let me be, as they also believed, when Maharaaj Ji's children are happy He is happy too.

155997[/snapback]

thats cute!! :TH: :lol:

[ParwinderSingh]

when i was little the only reason i was soo happy to go to the gurudwara was to play hide n seek. we used to get told off alot but we used to play in the langar hall and outside the gurudwara.

bout kids crying during ardas the parents should take em out

but we shudnt be going totally mental at the kids like some ppl do

[Lionchild]

when i was little the only reason i was soo happy to go to the gurudwara was to play hide n seek.  we used to get told off alot but we used to play in the langar hall and outside the gurudwara.

bout kids crying during ardas the parents should take em out

but we shudnt be going totally mental at the kids like some ppl do

156101[/snapback]

yeah, it's better that they play and enjoy themselves in the presence of the guru than in some street or parking lot.

It's ok, as long as they don't play in the main hall.

[Laadli Fauj]

There was rainhsabai keertan at Livingston Gurdwara once, and the bibis were disrupting the keertan. Bhai Manmohan Singh, who was on the laptop, wrote,

"Bibian, Chup da dan baksho ji," and put it up on the screen for everyone to see. It was hilarious. They shoulda saved that document and kept it on the desktop for eaasy access, cuz they gonna need a lot.

[Lionchild]

Bhai Manmohan Singh, who was on the laptop, wrote,

"Bibian, Chup da dan baksho ji," and put it up on the screen for everyone to see.  It was hilarious.  They shoulda saved that document and kept it on the desktop for eaasy access, cuz they gonna need a lot.

156153[/snapback]

lol...

on the subject of distractions... what to do about ppl using cell phones in the gurdwara? I have seen ppl text messaging inside the main hall and during ardas.

[munjoth]

hehe a interesting topic...

i remember this one time i was sitting inside the main hall...it was a sunday so alot of sangat had attended...anyways the kirtan and katha were going on and slowly a racket began to arise..it had risen to such a point that the men side swooshed round to the womens side.... and your not gonna believe..it was worse then the kids ..ive never seen such a site the bibiyaan were talking!!!!

[japmans]

haha this is great

but i think kids need to be kids... i used to go to the gurdwara and we all used to run upstairs and play soccer... it was cool... hoenstly let's face it, there's very few kids who enjoy going to gurughar for what it is.

young young infants/toddlers, that's a different story, ,and it's really hard to make a rule about it...cuz, like, when it's a newborn and stuff, they can't control anything... i dunno..

But eventually, in the long run, enough kids grow up going to gurdwara for the right reasons... you can't force a 5 year old to sit inside for 2 hours, heck you can't get them to sit inside for 10 minutes...it's too hard for them...they do not know what's going on, adn you can't blame them.. and this has nhothing to do with reaching out to kids with english and stuff..it's just that their kids...the words attention span has NO meaning for them.

someonep osted once, that someone told him that if your kids are growing up running around and rowdy, then they're growing up properly.

i like that, i think it's true... that' sjust my opinion, apologies if i've offended

[Guest DKI]

I think it is clear that Punjabi parents do not know how to discipline their children. By disciplining their children does not mean beating them or shouting at them, but to make them understand how to behave in various settings, around certain people and that there is a time and place for things. Having visited and seen a number of different religious places of worship throughout my life, i can tell you that generally speaking young children are always well behaved in Mosques and Greek Othordox Churches. I have no doubts that children who are taken to the Synagogue are also well behaved while they are there.

However, i have seen the total opposite at Gurdwara's i have been to in the UK. It is no surprise to me that so many 'Sikh youth' care little for Sikhism or treat anything Sikh seriously, or even treat life seriously at all.

In my personal experience, the overwhelming number of Punjabis (i wont say Sikhs) i have come across generally lack common sense, lack decency, lack foresight, are unserious, never committed, insecure, spoiled and are usually quite immature for their age.

I dont know how people are being raised in their own homes (i can only guess) but the Gurdwara, being the religious place of worship for Sikhs, should not be treated as a place where people go to meet friends and mess about. If children are not taught to value the seriousness of their Gurdwara and learn how to behave in there from a young age, then it is likely that as they grow up the majority will never treat Gurdwara's as they should be treated or appreciate its real purpose.

Also, it is amazing to me that on one hand a Gurdwara is said to be incomplete without having a langar hall, but on the other hand there are people here who seem to be of the view that children can mess around anywhere on the Gurdwara premises except for inside the Darbar Sahib. Surely, the same standards of conduct should be maintained throughout the entire Gurdwara, not just within the prayer hall.

Perhaps many of you here are quite young yourselves in which case i can only say that these are just my personal views based on observation and experience. I am no expert (obviously) but i do have good reasons to hold the views that i do.

Regards,

[kurtas]

Bhai Manmohan Singh, who was on the laptop, wrote,

"Bibian, Chup da dan baksho ji," and put it up on the screen for everyone to see.  It was hilarious.  They shoulda saved that document and kept it on the desktop for eaasy access, cuz they gonna need a lot.

156153[/snapback]

lol...

on the subject of distractions... what to do about ppl using cell phones in the gurdwara? I have seen ppl text messaging inside the main hall and during ardas.

156157[/snapback]

I think Gurdwara should buy those mobile phone blocking devices and install them in the durbar hall. I am not sure if this is 100% true but I was told of an example where someone was doing Ardas and his mobile phone went off. The plank was using "neendra ni oyndiyan tere bina neendra ni ...." as a ring tone.