Lalli moved to USA in 1991 because his parents feared for his safety. Dabbling in several things to make ends meet, he finally got a job with IBM in North Carolina, and remembers the executive who hired him, look at his turban and ask, “Will you be reporting to work in the same costume?” Lalli has come a long way since then and is a successful business entrepreneur in Atlanta today. He was also the sole representative from Georgia, invited to attend the 400th anniversary of Guru Granth Sahib at the White House-a first at Capitol Hill.

Manohar Singh came to the USA in 1971 because there weren’t too many jobs for Civil engineers in India at that time. He couldn’t find one here either. “People would look at my turban during interviews and say “Why are you wearing that hat all the time? They would look at my skin color and wonder if I was pretending to be an engineer.” Manohar Singh distributed phone directories, hung clothes on hangers to make ends meet till he found a proper job after 6-7 months. Today he heads a very successful company he co-founded in Atlanta. He says it was tough to find good employees because people were hesitant to work with a brown skinned Indian. His sons shake their heads in disbelief when they hear his stories of deprivation and struggle because by the time they grew up the world was handed to them on a platter.

The Sikhs have come a long way since the past 100 years. Today they are excelling in all walks of life. There are constant efforts at building bridges with other communities and mainstream America, and yet in the wake of September 11 they have realized that a lot still needs to be done. The confusion over the turban of Osama Bin Laden and that of the Sikh turban has resulted in a backlash of violence and hatred. The Sikhs in Georgia are as concerned as their counterparts in other states. “I realized how important it was to keep educating mainstream America,” says Lalli. “I took it as my personal crusade and responsibility to work towards that and became chairman of a special committee that met with the politicians, and did fund raising for ex-Governor Roy Barnes.”

The Sikh American Society of Georgia was formed soon after to create awareness of Sikhs among Americans, as well south Asian communities. The inaugural dinner hosted eminent American and Sikh personalities like Lt. Governor Mark Taylor, prominent attorney, public speaker and writer T. Sher Singh from Canada, along with the Health minister in the current Canadian government and former premier of British Columbia Ujjal Singh Dosanjh.

Dosanjh said to me that in India religion fades into the background but abroad it becomes more accentuated because there is nothing else to anchor you. Dosanjh saw Sikhs dealing with a lot in Canada- from issues of wearing turbans in the police and the army, carrying kirpans (swords) without creating fear, racism and other socio-economic and political issues. Fortunately a lot has changed for the better in Canada in the past two decades said Dosanjh. “I think that is also because we have a history of a hundred years of significant presence and people no longer feel they are an immigrant community. They believe they have as much of a right as any body else to call Canada their home.” Dosanjh also felt that many more Sikhs are part of Canadian politics because the political system is much more akin structurally to the Indian system. “The US system requires a lot of money and contact upfront. Forget about the Sikhs, Indian Americans don’t have that kind of money.”

Still, Sikhs have pumped a lot of it into the coffers of the politicians and now the time has come to go beyond the photo sessions with officials and be happy with just that. The hard work has paid off to some extent. Today the White House has endorsed the community and invites them for major issues and events to the Capitol Hill.

Dr Inderpal Singh, a physician in Atlanta says a lot still needs to be done. Dr Singh who came here at 14 and saw his own share of discrimination, says many patients left his practice after September 11. The ignorance of main stream America about who the Sikhs were, made Dr. Singh realize how important it was to do outreach programs to educate America. As a result he and his wife Varinder, also a physician, have been a part of several health fairs where they treat people from all backgrounds free. There is a lot of infighting, ego hassles within the community, says Dr Singh and also a struggle with whether the gurudwaras should remain religious centers and teach the younger generation the old fashioned way about their heritage, or should they change their approach? Should they be allowed to become hubs of political activities or retained as a place of harmony where people worship together, eat together and mingle in harmony?

“I think if we don’t change with the times we are in fear of losing our future generations,” warns Dr Singh. He adds that they are doing things differently through SAGSA, and accomplishing a lot outside of the gurudwaras. “The gurudwaras need to get out of the huge number of things they are involved in. Through SASGA we have come up with programs, making people within the community aware of our needs especially those of the younger generation. We joined hands with IACA and organized a health fair at the festival of India in August. Through SASGA we can also discuss key issues without adding a religious connotation to everything.” Dr Singh is also hopeful that members of the younger Sikh generation will step forward and work with the elders to raise awareness of the Sikh community in Georgia. Varinder is also doing her bit by mentoring young women to become strong assertive individuals and reach their potential as valuable members not just of the Sikh community but the community at large. She says she is happy to see a lot of women doing just that, but a lot more needs to be done.

Dr Harinderjit Singh Akali, a well-known eye specialist from Augusta, says that his gurudwara has a woman President, which is a rarity but for a family of 50 Sikhs in Augusta they have two gurudwaras because of ego hassles. Dr Singh’s son was refused entry to an Atlanta nightclub and nephew heckled when he went to a restaurant with some friends a few of whom were American, to the point where the police had to be called post 9/11. Singh says it made him realize how important it is for the community to unite to deal with such situations and that as a united whole they can create a greater impact.

With the birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak running through November and December, SASGA is hosting a wonderful event on the 5th of December from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Impact conference center, at the Global Mall to celebrate the event. They have invited three eminent speakers, T Sher Singh from Canada, Justice Mota Singh from UK who holds the distinction of being the first Asian to become a judge there, and Valerie Kaur who hold a graduate degree in International Relations and Religious studies from Stanford University.

I hope every one who understands the humiliation that comes with rejection and discrimination, who believes in Guru Nanak’s message of learning through debates and discussions and universal brotherhood, will attend.

No matter what our skin color or ethnic and religious background, we are all bound by common concerns. Ignorance and fear of the unknown are great deterrents in creating a peaceful world, especially for future generations. If not to ourselves, we owe it to them.
For more information and for rsvp please contact
Gurpal S. Gill (770)321-7846, R. S. Johar (404)847-9832, Surinder S. Lalli (770)614-9461, Dr. Inderpal Singh (770)819-5415, U. S. Wassan (678)542-2480