Commercialization In Jathaa

Take From www.AKJ.org
By Bhai Harpreet Singh Jee
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Vaaheguroo jee kaa Khaalsaa! Vaaheguroo jee kee Fateh!!

It used to be that Akhand Keertanee Jathaa was the only Panthic organization that did not seek any monetary returns for:
- traveling to distant places to do parchar
- doing Keertan sevaa
- performing Akand Paaths
- doing langar sevaa
- etc etc

There just was never a monetary return expectation. Singhs and Bibian traveled long distances to attend Samaagams with the only urge to get laha (they never even though of doing parchar..it just happened). No body ever expected another Singh to pay for their travel expenses what to talk about money for performing Keetan or any other sevaa.

Over the years, we (in the Jathaa), have put our guard down against this maya. It started gradually with relaxation in travel expenses. At our recent trip to India, however, I was shocked to realize the extent of the havoc that commercialism has wreaked upon Jathaa. I knew about it before, but it never occurred to me how damaging it has been.

Now, there is monetary expectations around almost every sevaa. If not immediate, the performer expects returns to follow soon afterwards. Name any sevaa and you will find people associated with them seeking to make a living out of it.

The results were quite apparent from the drama that I witnessed behind the Keertan stage. Keertanis fighting for 'prime time' or a convenient time for 'their fans'.

A most dear, senior Keertanee brother in Toronto, had been warning us for years about this disease but we never realized the impact until I saw it this time. Posters with pictures of Keertanis and sevadars all around the city, Keertanis being pulled to competing samaagams by the lure of money....

This has to stop. Let's not continue the mistake of ignoring this disease of commercialism. Let us stand up together NOW against it.

I urge all those organizing samaagams to NOT pay anyone for any sevaa. I also urge all sevadars, all Keertanis to NOT accept any monetary compensation for travel expenses, lost wages...etc. You might have to limit the samaagams you can attend in a year and that is OK.

Please, let's weed commercialism out of our Jathaa now!

Vaaheguroo jee kaa Khaalsaa! Vaaheguroo jee kee Fateh!!

[akj.org]

I agree,

People wonder why puratan keertan sounds so much more chardi Kalaa than modern keertan, this is one of the main reasons, all about the advertising of the jatha and keertanees, all about the best tunes in the keertan, and getting your money for the keertan. Back in the day keertan was done from the heart instead of for the money which is why the energy and love was more present in those keertan

We need to fix this until our jatha gets ruined.

Bhul chuk maaf

Guru Ka Daas
Binodh Singh

Other major problems in Jatha include:
Giving time to Keertanee's who only show up for rainsbhai keertanees (and live close in the area). However, when it comes to other programs, they are nowhere to be seen, even if available. I'd rather listen to the keertan of a child with full prem for Guru Sahib, who has no sense of beat, who shows up to every programs whenever he can then someone who is only at programs to do keertan.

Fully agreed.

Along with commercialization of kirtan, we have also commercialized Guru Ji's baana. We see Gursikhs wearing top-notch clothing and totally "elegant" and perfectly tied paghs. The simplicity in our clothing is also not there anymore.

Umkeo Ji, there is nothing wrong in "perfectly" tied Dastaars....

Have you ever seen any worldly king/queen or prince/princess with a knocked out crown? No. Their crowns are always decorated with precious jewels and are centred on the head. If we tie and decorate our Dastaars with Shastars and if our Dastaars look good, then young chiildren get inspired by seeing beautiful Dastaars.

Daas himself got inspired by his elder brothers, because they had beautiful Keskis and Dumalas. Same as this, one of the young kids who regularly comes to Gurdwara Sahib got inspired by our Dumallas....

It is a cycle of inspiration.

Umkeo jee, trying perfectly tied Dastars is not manmat, in fact I would say it is a Nishanee of being Tyar bar tyar. What's the use of tying Dhilee, unkept dastar that can be knocked off when getting into a Pangaa with someone? All Sikhs should strive towards tying beautiful, tight Dasatars.

You are right veer ji. I didn't use the right words.

I was referring to dastars which are tied by normal Punjabs, ie. larrs in the back which is not there in Gurmukhi dastars. If we look at Bhai Sahib Randhir Singh Ji, Bhai Sahib Jeevan Singh Ji and so many other Gursikhs, we see that they did not wear dumallas however their dastars were still very simple. You could adorn them with shastars. However the patiala-shahi dastars which are also common in jatha are not practical since they can come off easily.

Another thing with dumallas is that, singhs and singhnis worry more about whether their dumalla is more impressive than other people dumalla more than they worry about just singing gurbani,


And while were on the topic of singing gurbani I have also noticed an unfortunately low amount of people who sing the praises, most people stay quite the whole time but when the simran starts they do that, it is important to sing the shabads and the simran

Bhul chuk maaf

Guru Ka Daas
Binodh Singh

That's a very important point, Baba Binod Singh jeeo. Kirtan Samagam is not a place to be quite. As much as possible, we should engage in singing the praises of our Preetam Pyare Vaheguru jee, through Gurbani. Gursikhs say that while singing Gurbani, we should try to focus on Naam as well. As the matter of fact, the Naam within starts in full force only when we sing Gurbani with Man-Bach-Karam i.e. with tongue, love and mindfully. Gurbani is loaded with Naam. More our Rasna and Mind touch Gurbani, more Naam we get blessed with.

Kulbir Singh

A true sikh should never expect money or rewards for doing their prayers to God. That's like doing business with God, God isn't pleased like that. God only approves real devotion. So called sikhs who do that won't reach God. God can't be fooled.

There's a story about a Singh who got a job for some panthic seva, and was asked to do it for money. Bhai Sahib Randheer Singh told the Singh not to do it, as it would not be right to take money for any Sikhi related job. If he did it as a seva his life would be taken care of and that's what happened. If anyone knows where I can find this story it would be very helpful

But what is with Granthi Singhs they also get their monthly loan? Just being curious about that.... please shed some information on this..

If a Gursikh wants to dedicate all his life to Service of Panth, then Panth too has to take care of the family of such Gursikh. If a person is working as a Sevadaar at Gurdwara Sahib and has no other means of income, then there is nothing wrong in Panth taking care of the householder needs of such Gursikh. Bhai Jeevan Singh jee used to work as Hazoori Ragi before taking up the job of Gurmat Parchaar full time. He used to get paid but since he was not greedy and earnestly did his duty, his Avastha was not affected in a negative way.

Kulbir Singh

hajee!!...very-well agreed!!

K.

Do we not lose all the spiritual profits of seva when we make it our job though? It seems highly dangerous. Gurman singh's post seems to highlight that the best seva is done carelessly, and uncompromisingly. Perhaps we cannot all live up to this ideal, but it remains the ideal.

Quote
sk
Do we not lose all the spiritual profits of seva when we make it our job though? It seems highly dangerous.

Certainly not Bibi Jee. Many Gursikh Sevadars have been paid from the times of first 10 Guru Sahibaan. We also have the magnificent saakhi of Bhai Bahlo Sabh Tao Pehlo to prove this, as well as this many great granthis in our history who were paid. How can we expect someone to commit their lives to seva of Panth and they do not get taken care of financially? Same goes for Raagis, there is nothing wrong with being paid for this as a living. They key is not to be greedy or misuse the position or finances.

Quote
http://www.boss-uk.org/articles/pdf/meaning_of_gurdvara.pdf
Rehat Nama of Bhai Chaupa Singh Jee describes the attributes of a Granthi (the care taker of the Gurdwara). According to him, a Granthi should be humble, free from greed, generous, truthful, compassionate, loving, patient, hospitable, clean, fond of doing service to Guru and Sikhs, strict observer of Sikh code of conduct, alert, observer of fidelity to his/her spouse and should take care of travelers who come to the Gurdwara. According to Bhai Desa Singh Jee, a Sikh who wishes to be a Granthi should not crave for excessive offerings. He/she should use whatever is necessary for living and should distribute the remaining (to the needy).

Binodh.Singh Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> And while were on the topic of singing gurbani I
> have also noticed an unfortunately low amount of
> people who sing the praises, most people stay
> quite the whole time but when the simran starts
> they do that, it is important to sing the shabads
> and the simran
>
> Bhul chuk maaf

maafi for off topic
just to add point , there are always few gurmukhs in rehansabais who does goes into samadhi while listening to kirtan. but they are very very few. most of us just trying to pretend like them while listening to kirtan. no doubt these days you can see most of youth sitting in rehansabais have there eyes closed. i think another problem is youth is not very much fond of gurbani, thats why its hard for them to sing along. i think its really a big problem in our youth. most of them forgetting amrit roop gurbani and just concentrates on naam simran which wont be last long!!

ਪੋਖਰੁ ਨੀਰੁ ਵਿਰੋਲੀਐ ਮਾਖਨੁ ਨਹੀ ਰੀਸੈ ॥7॥
pokhar neer viroleeai maakhan nehee reesai ||7||
Churning the water in the pond, no butter is produced. ||7||


As bhai kulbir singhji said above we should be singing praises along with kirtanis and other sangat while sittiing in kirtan as much as possible and that is only possible if we are good in reading, writing and speaking Gurmukhi so that we can feel it inside.
kheema karni ji if i said anything wrong.
bhul chuk maaf
obviously guru ji knows better

gurinder singh
vahegurujikakhalsa vahegurujikifateh

Jaskirat Singh Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Do we not lose all the spiritual profits of seva
> when we make it our job though? It seems highly
> dangerous.
>
> Certainly not Bibi Jee. Many Gursikh Sevadars have
> been paid from the times of first 10 Guru
> Sahibaan. We also have the magnificent saakhi of
> Bhai Bahlo Sabh Tao Pehlo to prove this, as well
> as this many great granthis in our history who
> were paid. How can we expect someone to commit
> their lives to seva of Panth and they do not get
> taken care of financially? Same goes for Raagis,
> there is nothing wrong with being paid for this as
> a living. They key is not to be greedy or misuse
> the position or finances.


I guess it's the idea of a contract position for seva which seems strange, although it may be that the poor system in many gurdwaras today makes people like me feel uncomfortable with the idea.

I think the biggest problem is "fannism". Rather than having Love for Vaheguroo, and singing His Praises(Gurbaani), it is often seen that more attention is paid on who is doing Kirtan, which Keertani is coming to the Smagams, etc. People have this general false belief in their mind, that if XYZ Singh does not come to do Keertan, then the Smagams are going to be flop. They, however, do not realize that how much nindiya they are doing by just thinking like that. The Smagams these days have become rock concerts, rather than seeing the Keertanis and the Sangat with that one Nazar, somehow, the Keertani is given more respect/status, but in Guroo Sahib's Darbaar, everyone is equal, hence that is why Degh is distributed to all in equal amounts. I believe the concept of "fannism" needs to be shifted to Guroo Sahib ji only, as He is the One who did Kirpaa on so and so Singh to do Keertan Seva. He takes Seva from all of us, depends on how much He wants us to do. Of course, there should always be mutual respect among GurSikhs of all shapes and sizes, but when it starts becoming something like so and so Keertani is the Saint, and we are all his apostles, this is where the issue rises.

I recall a similar incident. While talking to this one Singh, who happens to live in a foreign land, on the phone on one occasion, about whether he would be showing up at the Toronto Smagams, he declined, his reasoning was that so and so Singh will not be there to do Keertan, as that Singh had booked a ticket and gone somewhere for the time being. I was perplexed Why should the absence of one Singh be a hindrance for you to show up at the Smagams? Isn't the utmost reason we go to Satsangat so we can have Darshan of Akaal Purkh, forever stay blossomed, while enjoying His Charanaa Kamlaa Ki Mauj?

Imagine if today that XYZ Singh was to pass away, does it mean now that all those that 'looked up' to him, would stop showing up at the Smagams? Has all hopes of all life simply vanished since the passing away of that one Singh? Has Rehit become meaningless now because out of the Hukam of Akaal Purkh, that Singh(who happened to be 'superstar' in people's eyes) had to leave and move on to the next world?


To whom have we given the Sees to? Guroo Sahib, or that famous XYZ Singh? This, you decide as an individual.

ਭੱਲਾਂ ਚੁੱਕਾਂ ਦੀ ਖ਼ਿਮਾਂ ਬਖ਼ਸ਼ਣੀ!

ਵਾਹਿਗੁਰੂ!

ਵਾਹਿਗੁਰੂਜੀਕਾਖ਼ਾਲਸਾ॥ਵਾਹਿਗੁਰੂਜੀਕੀਫ਼ਤਿਹ॥

Very nice comparison of the Smagams with "Rock concerts", (unfortunately).

I think this problem that you stated, Bhai JaspreetSingh Ji, is within the youth. There is a big Smagam coming up and two naujawan Singhs already asked me which Kirtani is coming to that Smagam. The next question was is Bhai xxxx Singh Ji coming aswell? If there is no "famous Kirtani coming, fer nahi jaanaa... where on the other hand pumping up Kirtanis etc... is with almost all age groups today....

How can this stop?

Daas had already suggested on the other phorum aswell but there some Singhs jerhe kuchh ziaadaa siaaney si and said ki this matter should not be putten on one person, but I disagree.

My opinion was to speak with all jathedars ofthe AKJ branches(India, USA, Canada, UK, Italy ,Germany, France, Sweden, Holland) so that they impliment the rule ki no fannism in the Jatha(in our country), anymore. And no extra monetry rewards for doing Kirtan. Only this way it is going to get better. And Daas has done Sangat of three or four of the Jathders mentioned above, and they would never deny upholding these puratan asools of Panth. And daas is sure that the other Jathedars are also uche suche Singh, who would take up this seva.


Bhul chuk maaf karna piaareo...

wanted to write something but content was a bit disturbing in nature. Hence, would just like to make a point.

People who do not keep amrit wela should never be doing(or even be allowed) Keertan seva in the first place. How can someone who doesn't wake up for Naam at Amritwela do parchar of Naam(keertan seva in Darbar) to others?

Chota veer

Chatirik Veer Ji, I am not the man of Amrit Wela but I know a Shabad or two on Harmonium; would you please allow me to do Kirtan of those Shabads, if you are the stage secretary? And what will you do, if I request you again and again?

I think Piyasi Chatrik Ji is totally correct. Doing Kirtan at home is something totally different, but in Sangat, on the stage it is a kind of doing Parchar and giving the Sangat an of gurbani updesh.

How can a Niguraa sing the Shabad, Peevoh Paahul Khandey Dhaar, or nirmal rasnaa amrit peeo...???

Or a Pakhandi like myseld who has no Jeevan or Amrit vela: Gursatgur kaa jo Sikh Akhaae so bhal ke utth har naam dhiaavai?


Please Bhai MB Singh Ji, give the answer to this Ji. Not offending you at all. We're Gur Bhais and learning from each other through these kind of debates in a loveable and harmless manner.

Please forgive any mistakes.

Veer Damandeep Singh Ji, the topic like that who should do Kirtan, was discussed on this forum some time ago.

Personally, I feel no problem with any Kirtania singh /singhni on earth. Of course, some of them touch our hearts, many of them do not. What can I do to correct it? I must take it, as my problem.

It is GURU SAHIB Himself, who gives Kirtan Rass. There is no fault in our surroundings. It must be inside me. When Guru Sahib wishes so, it takes a moment, to uplift our state of mind. My concern is looking towards my GURU.

Let them do, what Guru Sahib wants them to do.