MrSikhNet Video

During my recent visit to Vancouver, I had the opportunity to be interviewed for the Channel M News and talk a bit about SikhNet and the Youth Online Film Festival. Roma Kaur (Channel M Punjabi News Producer and Kaurs Magazine editor) wanted me to talk in Hindi/Punjabi, so I did my best to squeeze some in. My vocabulary isn’t that extensive so I couldn’t really express myself properly without using english. When I was in boarding school in India (1983-1993) our school was located in Uttar Pradesh (Dehradun/Mussoorie) so most people only spoke hindi. We did learn how to read punjabi….but our teacher wasn’t that great so we hardly learnt much conversational Punjabi. After my visit to Vancouver I felt that I really do want to continue to learn Punjabi and Hindi. There are not really any people here to talk with in Espanola, but I figured I could find a Skype buddy and we could have conversations in Punjabi/Hindi to get practice.

In this video Guruka Singh answers a question about Sikh youth dealing with the issue of dating, love, romance, sex before marriage and relationships.

Here is another awesome video interview with Guruka Singh on the topic of Bana and our identity as a Sikh. Guruka Singh answers a question about the relevance of the identity of a Sikh, especially in relation to this post 9/11 era where many people relate the turban to terrorism.

I couldn’t help but share this with you all. I missed this on the SikhBlogPulse a while back last month but found it while browsing. I never would have imagined someone singing the nursery rhyme "Baa Baa Black Sheep" song in a raag style! Hahaha. Thanks Jagjit Singh’s (Malaysia’s), for sharing this video of Gurmukh Singh.

Here is my video pick of the day of the Online Youth Film Festival by 18 year old Raj Singh. He won second place in the 2006 Online Film festival for his video: Arpinder Kaur: Piloting A Life. This video is quite different from the typical 1984/khalistan video and focuses on the human rights abuses which have occurred in Punjab by the Government. The video was very well produced and backed up with lots of information.

"This documentary is still a work in progress about human rights defender Jaswant Singh Khalra. Upon completion of this documentary, there has been some progress in the murder trial case of Jaswant Singh Khalra. Six low-level officials were convicted for the abduction and murder of Jaswant Singh Khalra. However, the primary architect of this crime, former Director General of Police KPS Gill, has not been held accountable. Despite Special Police Officer Kuldip Singh’s testimony, who witnessed KPS Gill interrogate Jaswant Singh Khalra in illegal detention, the Central Bureau of Investigation refused to investigate or prosecute KPS Gill for his role in Jaswant Singh Khalra’s abduction, torture and murder."

Todays video pick from the SikhNet Youth Online Film Festival.

Brief Video Summary "Guru Nanak - Please Come Back" features a young Sikh boy named Bikram who although a reluctant believer in god has to finally seek his refuge to deal with the frustrations pent up within him owing to the ever increasing human suffering and miseries all around him. A revelation dawns upon him that the age old teachings of Guru Nanak which withstood the test of time are still relevant and perhaps the only solution to all the problems in the world today. Film by Arpan Singh Jolly Smriti Sharma Udit Mendiratta

Here is another one of my video favorites from the SikhNet Youth Online Film Festival. Like many of the good videos…it only took a short period of time to do the recording of the video….and then TONS of hours and lots of late nights editing the video. I’m surprised how well he pulled off this video given the short amount of time. This is Gurujot Singh’s first real video and he did an awesome job! It’s quite funny too :) In this video: "A Sikh gets accosted by an angry man accusing him of being a terrorist/foreigner. In his mind he goes through scenarios of different ways he could react to the person. The first is to get angry, the second is to try to not look like a Sikh and fit in. In the third scenario he becomes neutral and teaches the man about what it means to be a Sikh. This short film is done in a comedic fashion, but it also has a moral: As Sikhs we must compassionately educate others about us to end discrimination instead of getting angry or dejected." I found it interesting seeing the differences between the other video titled "The Identity" which shows a Sikh guy being recognized every where as "Mr Singh". In that video…everyone knows who he is and that he is a Sikh, whereas in this video the guy doesn’t have a clue who Sikhs are….and thinks he is from the middle east.

Well, it was just another friday and it was almost time to head home. After watching the film festival video "Teen Puncture" I thought how funny it was to see so many different credits at the end of this movie. I guess he had a whole crew of people helping. So I thought it would be funny to have a video of just a few seconds of something…and then a long list of outrageous credits.

Gurujot and his brother Meeri Peeri were in the office so I convinced them to help me make a short silly video. I had to meet my wife and kids at a dinner party so we only had about 30 minutes to record, capture and edit. The one thing that I have found with these videos is that once you start with something….you could go on forever trying to edit and improve it. Our time limit prevented too much of that for us. Here is the result. A bit raw… but we had fun with it. Inspired by Nihang Singh…

Ps. Stay tuned on monday for Gurujot Singh’s (Espanola, NM) funny and awesome film debut in the SikhNet Youth Online Film Festival!

There were so many unique and different videos submitted by youth for the 2007 SikhNet Youth Online Film Festival. Another one of my favorites is a video titled "Just 2 Live Another Day", which is a rap music video by 18 year old Sukhdeep Singh Bhogal from Australia. The lyrics and visuals are awesome and have a great message. The video is about remembering the sacrifices of those Sikhs before us and standing tall as a Sikh of the Guru. I can only imagine how much time it took to put together this video and the music. If you have ever done a video/music project you’ll understand how much time it can take to do a good project like this.

Here is another submission for the SikhNet Youth Online Film festival. It’s a simple story about a tire repair man who is trying to make ends meet and get enough money for his daughter to continue going to school. The moral of the story is to trust in God and know that your affairs will be taken care of. I love the Indian TV style drama in it. Those of you who watch Indian TV will know what I mean :)

The SikhNet Youth Online Film Festival has begun! We received about 40 videos from all over the world and every day we will feature a few of them for you all to watch. Here is one of my first picks by a 13 year old named Angad Singh.

One Light celebrates the oneness of all people in the footsteps of Guru Nanak who traveled thousands of miles and reached millions of people in the conflicted world to impart the message of One God, One humanity.

In this film a 13 year old from suburban Atlanta takes on a project to educate his neighbors about himself as a Sikh and to learn about them as well. The mission is to connect with them - drawing on similarities, and inspiring everyone to take a baby step in the direction of making this world a friendlier place by education, connection and inspiration.

This is a continuation of the previous video with Guruka Singh which was on the topic of Blood Family and Spiritual Family.

Guruka Singh answering a question about the difference between blood and spiritual family.