The Guest Editorial of the Sikh Review of July 2002 has a message of love to the younger generation of the Sikh diaspora in North America. Here, I J Singh has assessed the Sikh diaspora's tie that binds Sikhs to its religious roots in the mother country, and thinks it is the umbilical_cord links, that are influencing the next generation's preparedness to establish a stronger society willing to maintain its unique look in the diaspora of North America. He meant perhaps with the hair and turban in tact. His estimation is on the basis of the activities of the Sikh youth symposium and the summer camps of Sikh boys and girls between the age of 6-22, which is organised by some dedicated Sikhs of North America, like Gajinder Shah Singh (Los Angeles), Kuldeep Singh (Ohio). The Guest Editorial mentioned about the upcoming annual Sikh Youth Symposium organized by the Sikh Youth Federation of USA, which was to be held in the Midwest region of the United States of America in the month of August. My interest in writing this article is to give a picture of the events that ensued in the final round of the said Symposium. It was a wonderful coincidence that I got the opportunity to witness the local center round at the Rochester Hills Gurduara in Michigan, the regional level round at Cleveland in Ohio state, and the final round, held jointly at two Gurduaras of Michigan, the Rochester Hills and the Madison Heights.

Sangat at the two Gurduaras helped in conducting the final round symposium, which was held for three days, starting on Friday the August 9, 2002. A number of volunteers made it a very well organized and a highly successful event. Speech competition for groups I, II and III on Friday, as well as the Kirtan program and the prize distribution function on Sunday were held at the Madison Heights Gurduara Sahib. Competition for groups IV and V was held on Saturday at the Rochester Hills Gurduara Sahib.

A total of about 800 Sikh youth had participated in initial rounds of the symposium across USA and Canada. The youth that participated at the final level had progressed through the central and the regional levels by winning the first place at each. All the participants were highly competent and made outstanding presentations. The Group I participants (6 - 8 year old) had read the book 'The Essence of Sikhism: The Lives and Teachings of the Sikh Gurus: Vol. 4.' by Mrs. T. K. Anand. They included the following aspects in their speeches:

1. How our Gurus gave preference to the true followers of the Sikhi path over their own children in passing on the responsibility of Gurgaddi?
2. The importance of the institution of Langar and how it should be run by contributions from honest earnings. And
3. Contributions of Guru Amardas Ji to Sikhi and the society at large.

Group II youth had read 'Bed Time Stories. Vol. 4, Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji.' by Sardar Santokh Singh. In their speeches, they addressed questions on Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji's life, his stand against rituals, and events related to his sacrifice to save Hinduism from the coercive policies of Aurangzeb.

The Group III youth addressed questions on martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev Ji, of the two younger Sahibzadas of Guru Gobind Singh Ji - Baba Fateh Singh Ji and Baba Zorawar Singh Ji - and of other martyrs such as Bhai Satii Das Ji, Bhai Mati Das Ji and Bhai Dayala Ji. They also touched on the lessons that these sacrifices teach Sikhs as well as non-Sikhs. The book they used for preparing their presentations was 'Stories from Sikh History: Book V - The Sikh Martyrs.' by Sardar Kartar Singh and Sardar Gurdial Singh.

Group IV (11-14 years) used the book 'Sikhism - A Universal Message' by Dr. Gurbaksh Singh for their presentations. They discussed the struggles of Sikh history during the times of Zakria Khan, Mir Mannu and Ahmad Shah Abdali. They also discussed the significance of the unique Sikh identity, its relevance to the recent events including terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, and the current prevalence of large number of Sikhs losing their identity.

The discussion format for this group was initiated last year at the International Symposium in Los Angeles. This year, the format was developed further. The participants had been given a topic to study and analyze. This year's topic was 'Sikhism in a multi-religious, multicultural society'. The Sikh religion was initially born in Hindu and Islamic environment, but has now spread far and wide creating newer boundaries of interaction with other religious groups. The Interfaith Meetings in various states of USA, is a common experience of the Day. Many Christian Churches all around invite religious leaders of various religions, to participate and exchange interfaith viewpoints. In this multi-religious and multicultural society, the Sikhs face several challenges and opportunities in both exercising their faith and in interfacing with other religions and societies. The participants primarily used the book 'The Sikh Way: A Pilgrim’s Progress' by Dr. I. J. Singh. They were also encouraged to research the topic using any additional resources as well as to draw upon their own knowledge and understanding of Sikhi and its issues. During the competition, the participants made opening and closing remarks, in which they emphasized that Sikhi was a unique, independent religion, rather than a reform movement in Hinduism or Islam. They then addressed several questions posed by the moderator. These questions touched on various aspects of Sikhi and its relationship to its religious neighbors.

A very heartening aspect of the speech competition was that a majority of participants gave their speeches in Punjabi. Out of the 38 speeches given by the youth (in the first four groups) 27 were in Punjabi, with no hint in their accent that most of them had been born and brought up in a foreign land thousands of miles away from Punjab.

A picnic was organized at the Kensington Park in Detroit on Friday evening. A number of youth were given lessons in the art of gatka. Many people enjoyed a ferry ride in the lake. A number of games and competitions were specially organized at the park, which was enjoyed by all the youth. A wide variety of outstanding food was available throughout the day.

A banquet was held on Saturday evening to honor the Sikh youth. The guests of honor at the banquet were the youth who had taken part in the symposium, rather than some high-profile political figures. All the 41 regional winners were seated on the head table especially set for the purpose. The participants were ushered in one by one, as they were introduced to the audience, and escorted to their seats by other youth attending the function. The entertainment program at the banquet highlighted some important Sikh traditions, which are generally not given much importance at many functions. These included an outstanding solo tabla performance by Sardar Gurpreet Singh, a young renowned tabla player; a short lecture on Sikh traditions by Sardarni Ramandeep Kaur, a young outstanding attorney from Toronto, a gatka performance by Bhai Surat Singh and group, and a Sikh educational skit by the Sikh youth from various parts of America.

The concluding session of the program, on Sunday, provided another memorable highlight. Youth who had come from all over America and Canada to participate in the symposium presented an unforgettable Kirtan performance. Outstanding performance was seen from participants ranging from young children who could barely fit their fingers on the tabla or the harmonium to the college-going youth. They hardly left any soul untouched by their wonderfully rendered melodious shabads in ragas, presented better than many professional raagis.

The Kirtan program was followed by announcement of the prizes. Winners of awards in various age groups were as follows:

Group I (6-8 years): First: Jasmeet Kaur; Second: Keerat Kaur; Third: Jasleen Kaur.

Group II (9-10 years): First: Japji Singh; Second: Kuldeep Singh; Third: Teghpreet Kaur.

Group III (11-13 years): First: Manjot Kaur; Second: Simerjit Singh; Third: Soni Kaur.

Group IV (14-17 years): First: Jagtaran Singh; Second: Namrata Kaur; Third: Manpreet Kaur.

Group V (18-22 years): First: Manpreet Kaur; Second: Kuldeep Singh; Third: Manmeet Kaur.

Listening to all the speeches and the discussion during the competitions made it amply clear that the Sikh religion, while going through difficult times on several fronts, is ready for any challenge. Even the youngest group of participants, ranging in age from 6 to 8 years, gave highly enthusiastic, eloquent and impressive speeches that touched the heart of everybody in the Sangat. Who else except our Gurus could have imagined that young children born and brought up oceans and centuries away from the site and times of birth of Sikhi would be bearing its torch so eloquently and so competently? That puts the power of dispersal (ujjarr-jao), from the 'Sakhees of Guru Nanak', in a real perspective.

Participation in the Sikh Youth Symposium has been growing steadily since the first symposium was held in 2000 in Buffalo, New York. From Buffalo to Detroit, the participation has grown from approximately 500 youth to 800, 15 centers to 25 and 4 regions to 10. There are already discussions going on to add 4 more centers for the 2003 symposium. With a memorable performance of our youth in Detroit fresh in our minds, we look forward to the next round of symposium functions, with the International event scheduled to be held in Toronto, Canada in August 2003.