
BY A STAFF REPORTER
PACOMA,CA- The Ujjaldidar Singh Memorial Foundation celebrated Sikh Children’s Day here. The day started early as hundreds of participants some as young as two years of age, from all over California and beyond, poured in to the Khalsa Care Foundation Gurdwara here. The hallways of the Gurdwara resonated with beautiful...
PACOMA,CA- The Ujjaldidar Singh Memorial Foundation celebrated Sikh Children’s Day here. The day started early as hundreds of participants some as young as two years of age, from all over California and beyond, poured in to the Khalsa Care Foundation Gurdwara here. The hallways of the Gurdwara resonated with beautiful...
Shabad Kirtan. The day comprised of various competitions in Kirtan, Tabla, Speech, Kavita, Dastarbandi (turban-tying), Gatka, Basketball, Gurbani Memory, Gurbani Reading, and scholarships for college-bound students. In addition, this year, Soccer Shootout was added to the list of competitions. In the Gurbani competition, one by one, the amazing participants stunned the judges as they recited Banis from memory with such confidence and poise. In the Gatka competition, the participants demonstrated difficult, demanding Gatka moves with ease and agility. The Speech, Kavita and Tabla competitions left the judges amazed.
The events ended with the group Kirtan competition.
Kirtan groups were present from many Gurdwaras including, Fremont, Bakersfield, Riverside, Santa Ana, Buena Park, Walnut, Valley Sikh Temple, Baba Farid Academy, Nanak Sadan, and Khalsa Care Foundation, to name a few. The main Gurdwara hall was filled to capacity as the various groups sang unbelievably melodious Shabad Kirtan in Raag accompanied by not just a Vaaja and a Tabla, but also other rare, beautiful instruments such as the Dilruba, Taus and the Sarangi. The Sangat sat mesmerized as, one after another, young, extremely talented Kirtanis took the stage.
At the conclusion,all the participants received a certificate and a soccer ball.The soccer balls were generously donated by Gurmehar Singh and Dashmeet Singh. Children under age 5 also received a trophy for their efforts .
One of the biggest highlights of the day was the distribution of the college scholarships. Every year, the Ujjaldidar Singh Memorial Foundation gives several $500 scholarships to deserving high school seniors. This year, thanks to the generosity of S. Gurjit Singh Sethi and family, seven highly deserving students received scholarships. The recipients were Anudeep Singh, Amrita Priya Kaur, Ekjot Singh, Manmeet Kaur, Sukhmani Kaur, Kirit Kaur, and Manwinder Kaur.
To add to the excitement of the day was chief guest Australia’s Got Talent Star, Sukhjeet Kaur Khalsa. Sukhjeet Kaur easily won over the young and old with her poetry and words of wisdom. All in all, this Sikh Children’s Day marked a high point, The success of the day was due to the hard work of many individuals volunteers and judges, who, worked hard for the event.
The events ended with the group Kirtan competition.
Kirtan groups were present from many Gurdwaras including, Fremont, Bakersfield, Riverside, Santa Ana, Buena Park, Walnut, Valley Sikh Temple, Baba Farid Academy, Nanak Sadan, and Khalsa Care Foundation, to name a few. The main Gurdwara hall was filled to capacity as the various groups sang unbelievably melodious Shabad Kirtan in Raag accompanied by not just a Vaaja and a Tabla, but also other rare, beautiful instruments such as the Dilruba, Taus and the Sarangi. The Sangat sat mesmerized as, one after another, young, extremely talented Kirtanis took the stage.
At the conclusion,all the participants received a certificate and a soccer ball.The soccer balls were generously donated by Gurmehar Singh and Dashmeet Singh. Children under age 5 also received a trophy for their efforts .
One of the biggest highlights of the day was the distribution of the college scholarships. Every year, the Ujjaldidar Singh Memorial Foundation gives several $500 scholarships to deserving high school seniors. This year, thanks to the generosity of S. Gurjit Singh Sethi and family, seven highly deserving students received scholarships. The recipients were Anudeep Singh, Amrita Priya Kaur, Ekjot Singh, Manmeet Kaur, Sukhmani Kaur, Kirit Kaur, and Manwinder Kaur.
To add to the excitement of the day was chief guest Australia’s Got Talent Star, Sukhjeet Kaur Khalsa. Sukhjeet Kaur easily won over the young and old with her poetry and words of wisdom. All in all, this Sikh Children’s Day marked a high point, The success of the day was due to the hard work of many individuals volunteers and judges, who, worked hard for the event.