In Melbourne, three events were held at the Gurdwara Sahib Blackburn, “Inspiring Guru in You & Your Family”, “Sikhi &Modernity”, and “Guru Granth-Guru Panth”. There was also an event at the Whitehorse City Council, “The Guru: Connecting with the Divine Light”. “[These sessions] were very educational, informative and thought-provoking,” said Gurcharan Kaur. “I will definitely be reminding myself daily now to be more open and proactive.”

Ranjit Kaur, one of the organizers for the Australia portion of the tour, said that she was impressed that participants were introduced to new ways of thinking of Sikh concepts and encouraged to apply the principles of miri-piri to their daily lives, whether they were initiated Sikhs or not. “It was heartening to many that the qualifications to be a Sikh were self-verified and did not need a seal of approval from an external body,” she said.

On 12 November, the tour moved to Sydney. There, Harinder Singh connected the celebration of Divali to the goals and ideas that Sikh communities everywhere could mobilize and work toward achieving in the presentation “Which Candle to Light?” at Glenwood Gurdwara. “Inspiring Gurmat” was presented at the Revesby Gurdwara, and “Sikhi and Modernity” and “Reviving Gurduara” brought in crowds at the Migrant Resource Centre.Gurpreet Singh commented on “Reviving Gurduara” after attending: “This program gave me insight into the current system and the issues affecting our gurduaras, and how a gurduara should represent women’s issues,youth and the other sangat needs.”

The last three days of the tour, SikhRI hopped over to the New Zealand cities of Wellington and Auckland. At Gurdwara Sahib Wellington Harinder Singh addressed the topic “Growing up in the West with Sikh Identity”.The next day he reprised “Sikhi & Modernity” at Sangeet in Auckland. “I feel free now as I have been reminded that I can have my own relationship with Vaheguru and it can grow in a way I feel comfortable,” said Ajayveer Singh. “I now feel I can voice my thoughts instead of being shut down and forced into believing only one version of Sikhi.” The tour closed with the popular SikhRI presentation,“Guru Granth-Guru Panth” at Gurdwara Sri Guru Tegh Bahadar Sahib in Auckland.

Verpal Singh, Chair of the Sikh Centre and coordinator for the Auckland portion of the tour, commented afterward that the proficient integrations of Gurbani in the presentations enabled Harinder Singh to effortlessly connect the principles of Sikhi to Sikh’s everyday lives in 2012. “Sikh Research Institute is doing crucial work today,” he said. “That of transitioning Sikhi from Punjab-centric to a universal idiom without in any way compromising Guru's sidhant.”

Contact Person: Varinder Kaur | info@SikhRI.org | +1.210.757.4555