Newsletter & Secretary's Message

Waheguruji ka Khalsa, Waheguruji ki Fateh.

Happy New Year to everybody. May Waheguru bless us with a happy and healthy 2005, keep us in Chardi Kala and enjoined with Gurbani and Naam. A key aspect of Sikhism involves sitting in the company of Saadh Sangat and singing Waheguru’s praises as well as sharing his messages through Kirtan and Vichar. I do hope we all have made this one of our New Year’s resolutions.

I would like to thank the Sangat and the Nominating Committee for nominating me to be the secretary for 2005. I would also like to thank the outgoing executive committee led by Sardar K.P.S. Ahluwalia (Somi) for the excellent job that they have done during the past year. I do hope that they all maintain their level of involvement as we will be counting on their support and guidance.

We have a very good and able committee that we have put together for this year. However, I look at the Executive committee as being facilitators and for us to function well, we will need the support and help of every member of the Sangat.

We are blessed to have a very fine Gurdwara that has been serving the Tri-Sate area for twenty years now. It is time for us to now start thinking of the next twenty years and where we want our Gurdwara to be. Just like any aging structure we also need to maintain what we have before thinking of any future plans. It is imperative for us to act now and I am convinced that we have a very generous and caring community, which realizes the importance of our Gurdwara in our lives.

I have no doubt in my mind that the Sangat will do whatever it takes for in the form of Seva and Maya, which are both needed for the running of the Gurdwara. You will hear me remind you often to get involved in the Gurdwara as we are all responsible for its upkeep. This includes suggestions and ideas that will make our Gurdwara better.

In the days to come we will let you know more specifics on things we need to do. We will try and identify immediate needs, short term needs and long term needs as this will help us in planning for the future. We will also start a drive to collect membership dues from the Sangat so that we can budget and prioritize any projects we want to undertake. This year we will institute a system of giving receipts for any contributions made to the TSSCS. Please contact Sardar Rabinder Singh Datta (Treasurer) for the same.

The langar schedule is up for 2005 and it is very encouraging to see that most of the spots have been filled already. Please put your names down for langar seva in the remaining available spots. I would like to remind the Sangat that we only have fifty two Sundays in a year and that we should try and share the langar responsibilities with other members of the Sangat if they so desire. Please do talk to our Langar-in-Charge about any questions or concerns.

Our Sunday school appears to be growing thanks to the efforts of our excellent teachers including Gyaniji . I would encourage more parents to bring their children to the Sunday school, which teaches kids Gumukhi, gurbani and Sikh history. I am sure that most of you have seen the school children participate in the Kirtan Sammellan, Symposium and other Gurpurab functions. It is the responsibility of every parent in our community to offer their children the opportunity of attending the Sunday school and as this will have far reaching affects on their lives. The sooner we get the children to attend Sunday School, the firmer is their foundation.

We also to need to make every effort to keep our youth and kids in Sikhi. I look forward to hearing form the youth about things we can do in the Gurdwara towards this cause and we will make every effort to accommodate their requests.

The Sahej Paath is going on very well in the Gurdwara and also by the Sangat members whose names are listed on the notice board. Doing Paath in unison with Gyaniji helps us improve our pronunciations and understanding of Gurbani. I will request everyone to keep updating the list with the number of pages read as it encourages people who are falling behind to devote more time to this.

The Katha class is held on two Saturday evenings every month. Gyaniji does a very fine job explaining and discussing Gurbani in simple terms. It would be nice to see more people come for this as I can personally say that it is time well spent.

We will be putting out newsletters regularly and the idea is to use it to keep you informed about events, plans and important dates. We will also try and keep the website current with information and I would encourage everyone to spread the word about our website.

I look at the Sangat of our Gurdwara as being one big family and I do urge everyone to do their bit in making it a great year for the Tri-State Sikh Cultural Society.

Bhul Chukh Maaf, Gur Fateh
Manjeet Singh Ahluwalia