Sometimes we have some new students who are just beginning to learn Gurmukhi and are in the Oora Aira class asking us this question. In the west we have been very late in teaching Gurmukhi to our Bachay. We see that most students who come from Punjabi families are still teaching English to their Bachay first and then taking them to Gurmukhi classes later on.
What happens then is the Bachay are not really understanding why learning Gurmukhi is important. For them, they already have learnt how to communicate in a language that they use at almost all waking hours. Even their parents speak to them in English and sometimes even our Bazurgs, if the Bachay actually do speak to them, are learning how to converse in English so that their Bachay don’t have to make any efforts to learn Punjabi.
Even in the cases when the Bachay do understand Punjabi and can speak an understandable amount of Punjabi with the western accent, they still don’t know why they need to read or write Gurmukhi. We have failed our Bachay in this regard.
When we teach the students that without learning the basic Oora Aira you cannot read Gurbani and without reading Gurbani you cannot have Darshan of Guru Sahib’s Saroop, the students are actually interested. When hearing about Dhan Dhan Sri Guru Gobind Singh jee and how his Bani has so much Shakti that it will transform a weakling into the greatest warrior ever, who wouldn’t want to read it to experience this themselves?
We as parents are taking the wrong approach to teaching our Bachay Gurmukhi and Gurmat. We are giving the reasoning that they must do it because it is their culture and that they have to do it. But we should be making them fall in love with Sikhi. We have to take the approach of Gurmat and teach them through Gurbani.
When Bachay are told stories of how Brahmgyani Baba Deep Singh jee fought with their head in their hand and a Khanda in the other, and we tell the Bachay that this is possible only through reading Gurbani and Naam Abhiyaas, then our Bachay will want to read Gurbani.
Guru Sahib Sanu Sumat Bakhshan
Written By: Bhai Preetam Singh
