8/15/2013 8:00:41 PM

14 August 2013
Bridgewater, NJ—Sikh Research Institute welcomed 32
participants and over a dozen instructors and facilitators
representing five countries to Sidak 2013. The eleventh year of
the leadership development program was held in San Antonio,
Texas, from 28 July through 10 August. The local sangat offered
invaluable support in organzing meals, activities and
transportation. “It has been a privilege to be a part of an
intense, highly structured learning environment,” said Shamsher
Singh, Sikhi 201 participant from England. “Without a doubt
attending Sidak has been the highlight of my Sikhi education. The
skills I have learned here will accompany me on my journey in
delivering positive change and dialogue within my local
community.”

Sidak participants enrolled in one of three tracks of study that
their morning classroom sessions concentrate on: Sikhi 101 which
focuses on Sikh theology, Sikhi 201 which focuses on Sikh history
and contemporary issues, or Gurmukhi 101 which focuses on
developing vocabulary and grammar skills to engage fully and
personally with the Guru Granth Sahib.

In the afternoons, the participants came together for sessions on
skills, techniques, and organizational tactics in leadership
roles. As a compliment to the rigorous classroom sessions, the
afternoon seminars are intended to provide an opportunity for
participants as a group to share their experiences and
aspirations and to apply some of their coursework in practice.
“As someone who volunteers locally with Jakara, Sidak provides
the reinforcement for me to continue to fight for a more
inclusive, loving and just society,” said Jasdeep Singh, Sikhi
101 participant from California who returned for a second year to
Sidak. “Utilizing history, gurbani and rehat we are provided a
path to carry out these calls to reform society. I would highly
suggest it to all aspiring leaders.”

Sidak is open to ages 17-40 which allows high school, college,
graduate students, and professionals to come together for the two
weeks and share ideas and advice. “I came to Sidak because I am
going to college this fall and I wanted to be ready when I made
that change,” said Avneet Kaur, Sikhi 101 participant from
Massachusetts. “Now I can explain myself and I can talk about
Sikhi with confidence.”

This year Sidakers spent an evening in downtown San Antonio
soaking up the local culture and on 3 August, attendees and
instructors joined the local San Anotnio sangat for a 6K Walk/Run
to commemorate the tragic shootings in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, one
year earlier. Over the weekend of 2-4 August, Mandeep Singh
Sethi, hip hop artist and youth worker, joined the Sidakers and
led workshops on Hip Hop & Identity—encouraging participants to
see language and rhyme as powerful teaching tools and to explore
the cultural and economic connections of hip hop to movements of
revolution and resistance.

Sidak requires a commitment of two weeks, and for many attendees
this fosters an incredible sense of community with Sikhs from
around the world and allows for a highly unique learning
environment due to the intense amount of time spent with each
other in class, during divans, at meals, and in discussions that
often go late into the night. “Sidak has been amazing in that
what I thought would be an intellectual journey turned out to be
an incredible personal and spiritual journey,” said Iqbal Kaur,
Sikhi 201 participant from Vancouver, BC. Surender Pal Singh,
Lead Instructor for Gurmukhi 101, added that: “Sidak is a great
space to come together as a sangat and learn through each
other’s experiences which is further enhanced by the wide
demographic representation from multiple continents.”

IJ Singh, member of SikhRI’s Board of Directors and an
instructor at Sidak, spoke to the rich value of the Sidak
experience: “Though I come nominally to teach at Sidak, I feel
I am as much a student. The opportunity to learn from each other
and to grow from this space where we share and discuss our
experiences and our hopes for the panth around the world makes
Sidak invaluable for leaders and learners year after year. Sikh
Research Institute remains one of the very few institutions
wholly dedicated to the internal development of the Sikh
community."