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Sikhi Spirit Shines at 4th July
Celebrations
 Fremont, CA:
This year’s 4th July parade was celebrated by residents of
Fremont,
Newark and Union City with pomp and pride as usual. This tri-city
area has a significant population of Sikhs. A small civic-minded
Sikh organization named S.E.V.A. (Sikhs Engaged in Volunteer
Activities) has been participating in the 4th July celebrations
under the banner of Sikh Community of Bay Area for the last several
years. Its members prepare a Sikh-American themed float each year
and participate in the parade. They also serve thousands of bottles
of free chilled water alongside the parade route. This year they
served nearly 7500 bottles of water despite the cloudy morning. Each
water bottle was custom branded with a few facts about Sikhism
printed on it. S.E.V.A members set up eight water serving stations
alongside the one-mile long parade route and more than sixty of them
worked tirelessly for five hours on stocking each station, handing
out water bottles to their fellow citizens and cleaning up at the
end. A day before, several members spent long hours working on
designing and decorating the float.
The larger
community and parade organizers appreciate and recognize the spirit
of selfless service exhibited by S.E.V.A. members. Each year the
parade organizers have offered to share the cost of water
distribution with S.E.V.A. but its members have been declining it
politely. Instead, they have been requesting the organizers to allow
them to serve free water next year.
 SEVA members
initially started the project as a bold move to dispel
misconceptions about the Sikh identity but now they participate in
the parade out of sheer joy. Each year they look forward to 4th July
celebrations with enthusiasm. They truly enjoy mingling with their
neighbors and receiving expressions of gratitude and appreciation
from them. They receive hundreds of verbal accolades from fellow
Americans each year.
This year’s best
one came from a
Fremont resident
who approached one of the SEVA members and said, “I can’t believe.
You guys don’t look like typical Americans and you are distributing
so much free water. Over there we have American clubs that are
selling water. Thank you so much for doing this.”
This year’s
Sikh-American themed float had Sikh children singing patriotic songs
with classical keertan instruments. The float received applause and
cheers from the spectators all along the parade route. It also won
People’s Choice award at the end. A total of 85 floats participated
in the parade and over 15,000 people lined up alongside the parade
route to enjoy the festivities.
Another Sikh
attraction at this year’s parade was a contingent of “Gatka” masters
who participated in the parade under the banner of Sikh Saint
Soldiers. SEVA is based in
Fremont. Most of
its members came together after
September 11,
2001.
They operate in civic and inter-faith spheres at grass-roots level.
Their efforts are helping them build strong bridges with the larger
community. They encourage other Sikh organizations and community
activists to participate in 4th July celebrations in their
respective cities. All queries to
gurukesewadar@gmail.com
Courtesy
Sikhnet.com
16
July, 2008
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