Below is a playlist of 35 Street Parchar videos by Basics of Sikhi. Enjoy.
I've always been puzzled by the fact that Sikhism is the 5th largest religion in the world, and almost everyone I've met before, didn't know about it. I think there is a huge disparity of general public knowledge of Sikhism. This may be because we don't proselytize, but are Sikhs autonomous to a fault? Does it take tragic events like Oak Creek to happen for the general public to gain knowledge about us?
You may have come across a youtube channel called "Basics of Sikhi". The kathavachak (speaker) Jagraj Singh has done something innovative... He talks about Sikhism... to anyone.
When I saw his series on street parchar I was excited. Jagraj Singh talks to London passerbyers and engages them in spiritual conversation. Without pressure, he lets them know what Sikhi is all about.
I think what Jagraj Singh is doing is exactly right. While Sikhs don't preach and proselytize, there is nothing wrong with informing others.
Not only is his bold approach great, I also love what he is saying. As I watch his videos I've found myself agreeing with everything he says. Which, unfortunately isn't always the case when listening to kathavachaks these days. To me, it seems that there are lots of different opinions and interpretations about Sikhi. If Sikhism was a business, our PR department would be a mess. We would have no consistent policies on things. It would be a free-for-all of random opinions. Our customers would get one answer from one employee and a different answer from another employee. This is where I appreciate Jagraj Singh. I think he has broken Sikhi down in interesting, easily digestible pieces. These pieces are coherent, and generally public friendly. In the simplicity of this approach is beauty. As with anything the essence lies in the basics.
Not only that, but the videos are super interesting. I think of myself as being fairly knowledgeable about Sikhi and capable of explaining it to others, and I've learned a lot from these videos. I've learned more about Sikhi, and also about communication.
As Harnek Singh and Rasna Kaur pointed out in their film, if every Sikh were to educate 300 people about Sikhi, then statistically everyone in the entire world would know about this beautiful lifestyle. Maybe some day there will be more of us doing this kind of seva. And maybe we can use Basics of Sikhi as our template.
Waheguru ji ka Khalsa, Waheguru ji ki Fateh