[Stuff] Jathebandhi Fanboys Say

[Guest hi]

watch this video very informative

[Only five]

This is the best video this guy has made.............HAHAHAHAHAHAHAA

[N30S1NGH]

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha..best part where singh jhatkathe tamatar, foot bath on sink (vada bibeki)..lol..lol and then the part where he is doing grinding on kitchen top then singh say rehensbhai yo ..lol .lol..classic man..lol..!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Only five]

Singho read this if you are offended by the video. The Singh clears up why he made the video and what his message is with the video.

Why make this video?

Firstly, because it's funny. The Sikh community takes itself too seriously sometimes. It should take itself seriously. It really should. But, to what extent? The Khalsa Panth is the ultimate brotherhood. Amrit is thicker than blood, yeah? And there are few healthy brotherhoods in this world that survive without humour. Granted, insane Gurmukhs can be beyond that. Unfortunately, we're not all insane Gurmukhs, and things like humour solidify and keep us aware of that brotherhood. Jathebandhis are not our brotherhoods. I can't stress this enough. That being said, I love various Jathebandhis and think that each of them brings something unique and beautiful to the Panth. I do not think the best way to live is without Jathebandhis. But, Jathebandhis aren't our brotherhoods. The Panth is our brotherhood. Nothing is greater than that. Jathebandhis are simply our personal feelings in that brotherhood. If two brothers in a family are PC users, and two Mac users, it doesn't mean that one pair are any more brothers than the other two. They're all still brothers at the end of the day. So yes! Live a little! Laugh! Let's not separate our fun from Sikhi. Let's realize that Sikhi IS our fun, or else we wouldn't be living it.

A lot of people got that, though. A lot of people realized we should be able to laugh and find humour in our own existence. The thing that bothered me about the positive reception was that many people found humour in other representation of other Jathebandhis, but not their own. There were Singhs that said to me "The video was great, but you were a little harsh on the [insert Jathebandhi of Singh here]." Before I go further, let's do a little character analysis.

There were four characters: The Taksali, The Akhand Keertanee, The Nihang, and The Missionary. First thing I'd like to point out is that I could have easily gotten four different people to act out these parts. Indeed, it would have made my job easier. I prefer to be behind the camera, anyway. Getting one person (myself) to represent all four characters was not only convenient, but a conscious choice. Asides from the Missionary because the get up was a tad more theatrical than the others as it was open to more interpretation, I think that if it was the first time anyone had seen me in any of those different variations of baanaa, I would have looked like any one of those Jathebandhis. That's all it was. Same person, different outfit. That's all I had to do to belong to a different group of people. The only thing that differentiated the characters asides from their actions, was their clothing. They were literally all the same person. There are two main ways to live, I've found. You can either live by your definition of yourself, or you can live and let yourself be defined. Fanboys, I think, live by their definitions of themselves. They set their limitations and parameters and act within them.

Now, back to people laughing at others and not themselves. When writing and editing this skit, I consciously tried to group similar action of different Jathebandhis together. That way, if one ever found oneself laughing at the other Jathebandhis but not their own, all they had to do was look at the clips of their own Jatha surrounding the clips they found humourous. They would realize that what they were ridiculing of others, was parallel to exactly what others were ridiculing of them. Some people went to the extent of being offended by the video, and letting me know about it. More power to them. I'm happy that they had the passion to stand up for what they felt was righteous. What bothered me though was that no one ever stood up for a Jathebandhi that wasn't their own. No Taksali felt that I went too far on the AKJ humour, no AKJ felt I gave the Nihangs too hard of a time, so on and so forth. If someone was offended, it's because I went too far on their own Jathebandhi. AND OBVIOUSLY I HAD A SECRET AGENDA AGAINST THEIR JATHA, RIGHT?!?!

I tried to show the overarching ridiculousness by the inclusion of the Missionary character. That character was by and far the most ridiculous, and that wasn't simply for humour's sake (WHAT?! THERE WERE OTHER REASONS?! HOEE NEE SAKDAA! I so fahnee). The attitude of the Missionary character on the "hoee nee sakdaa" lines was stubborn and ridiculous. That was simply a universal truth. The Missionary character was not really a Missionary character at all. Missionaries vary greatly across the spectrum, just like other Jathebandhis, in what they believe and their approach towards Sikhi. The Missionary character should really be labeled the Skeptic. I figured everyone, regardless of their personal beliefs, could see the ridiculousness of that character. What I wanted to show was that while that character was saying the most ridiculousness, the driving force behind it was simply as ridiculous as the other characters. Just because we may agree more so with what the other characters were doing, doesn't mean their intention was any better.

I think the only thing left to cover is what the characters actually did. For the MOST PART, no one was doing anything wrong. It was just the obviously showy approach they were all taking towards what they were doing that made it all humourous.

Keeping sucham like the Taksali character is a great thing. To keep ultimate cleanliness because you're constantly serving humanity, and you're keeping your mind that your body is the house of your soul which is a part of Parmatma, and that you want everything to be absolutely perfect for the King of Kings Sri Guru Granth Sahib Jee Maharaj is a phenomenally wonderful concept. The problem becomes when you're stopping yourself from doing seva because it may make you unclean. The problem becomes when you're more obsessed about getting clean enough to go into darbar, rather than seeing your Guru.

Having an undying love for keertan like the Akhand Keertanee character is a beautiful thing. Gurbani keertan is the most supreme force in this world. The problem is when you become more obsessed with which keertanees are doing the keertan, rather than the Gurbani that is being recited.

Living an awesomely mastana jeevan like a Nihang Singh because you've sold your life to Guru Sahib is absolutely amazing. The problem is when you become more concerned with learning the longest jakara possible, instead learning the most amount of bani.

Being constantly aware of external attacks on Sikhi and having enough faith in your Guru that you're willing to question everything in the world like the Missionary is extremely admirable. The problem is when you lose the faith in your Guru, and place the faith in your own mind.

These actions are really the ultimate manifestation of love. The acts themselves are not righteous. They driving forces behind them make them what they are. If that wasn't true, this wouldn't be a comedy video.

I have been blessed over the years with a wide variety of sangat. I also have the privilege of living in BC, where Jathebandhi lines are so blurred that they barely exist. That's the only reason I felt comfortable with my intent in making this video. If I felt that any part of this video was malicious or irresponsible, I probably wouldn't have been able to bring myself to post it. That's another thing I quickly wanted to touch on. After I made this video (but not as a result of), there was a sudden rise in Sikh-related humour on Facebook with the creation of the pages "Sikh Memes," "Singh Memes," and "Khalsa Memes." I was PUMPED about this. I thought it was going to be a further promotion of this "let us laugh at ourselves" mentality. But what I saw was horrible and hurtful. People weren't making fun of themselves, but others. And when there is a sense of "other" how can there be One God? I was very turned off after seeing the kind of garbage people were posting on those pages. It was filled with carelessness and malicious attacks. Humour isn't to harm, it's to project and promote positivity. I really hope that in the future, there will be a greater attention paid to intent when we discuss Sikh humour.

What you're really seeing in this video asides from my critique of fanboys, is a critique of myself. The ultimate fanboy. I'm the guy that washes his feet in the sink when there's nowhere else to do it! I'm the guy that memorizes the long jakaray! I'm the guy that considers his own belief system superior to everyone else's! And if you don't believe that, you DEFINITELY better believe that I'm the guy that runs home to listen to Dulla Jee on the broadcast!

So here I stand in front of you. Begging you to see past the seeming facetiousness and look at the actual intent. If you enjoyed the video before, please enjoy it responsibly now. That's right. I just turned this into Sikh alcohol.

Wow. That took a while to write. I hope that it doesn't all go in vain.

Peace and love.

[Singh559]

HAHAHAHAH That was hilarious and spot on comedic touch mixed with truth.

Loved it Going to subscribe and watch his other videos now.

[Singh559]

That's the only reason I felt comfortable with my intent in making this video. If I felt that any part of this video was malicious or irresponsible, I probably wouldn't have been able to bring myself to post it. That's another thing I quickly wanted to touch on. After I made this video (but not as a result of), there was a sudden rise in Sikh-related humour on Facebook with the creation of the pages "Sikh Memes," "Singh Memes," and "Khalsa Memes." I was PUMPED about this. I thought it was going to be a further promotion of this "let us laugh at ourselves" mentality. But what I saw was horrible and hurtful. People weren't making fun of themselves, but others. And when there is a sense of "other" how can there be One God? I was very turned off after seeing the kind of garbage people were posting on those pages. It was filled with carelessness and malicious attacks. Humour isn't to harm, it's to project and promote positivity. I really hope that in the future, there will be a greater attention paid to intent when we discuss Sikh humour.

Important part of his essay.

[AkaliNihung]

lollllllllllllll awesome man awesome

[simran345]

Lol , that was funny. I thought i was bad with my hands washing lol, this guy got stuck in the sink haha haha.

[VanHelsingh]

What a great feel for comedy this Singh has. Absolutely brilliant. Although some of the references went over my head I do get the gist of the video. Very funny. What a talented guy. I especially liked the 'Rehnsabhai' segment. :biggrin2:

[SikhSpectrum]

Seeing a video on youtube about different jathabandis on the net, I think it was a good joke at some parts with the whole missionary thing, But I think there some points which cant be taken as a joke, regardless of what role ur playing.

There are things in the Rehitmaryada, which were made a joke.

Prime example of Akaal Akaal.

Page: 176 Chapter 2, Vol. I, Sarbloh Granth

ਲੋਕ ਸੁਖੀ ਪਰਲੋਕ ਖਲਾਸ ਅਕਾਲ ਅਕਾਲ ਅਕਾਲ ਕਰੇਗੇ ॥

Those who recite, Akaal ! Akaal ! Akaal ! (The Timeless Lord), in this world will experience happiness and in the next will be liberated.

Its a hukam of Guru shiab to say it, today we have lost it, but we should encourage not make it a source of comedy.

Panj Isnana- is also listed in many rehitnamas of Nihang Singhs and Damdami taksal from Guru shaibs time.

"Cheetah bhajae (peshaab karan te) Panj Ishnan karey."

" Jad Guru Hazoor javey panj ishnaan karke javey adab sahit namaskaar karey. Juraab pa ke na javey." - Buddal Dal - Damdami Taksal.

The orginal Jaikayra is also made a joke, this Bole So Nihal is made by the Sriomani Committe in the 19 centry, the Traditional Dal Khalsa Panth (Budda and Tarna Dal) used it from guru sahibs time, I think by presnting something like this will even non sikhs a chance to laught, thats our aim ?

And the point about Jhatka, its done openly by Nihang singhs, as according to Puratan Rehit, I dont understand what we gain, are there less jokes on Sikhs already ??

I personaly believe we should engoaurage the traditional rehit, and join jathabandis, jokes are easy having a good laught or making something on some terms and conditions which has no point. lets educate our brothers, not make mockery. Akaaal

Source: http://www.facebook.com/sridasam/posts/245164245601010