Seva Whilst Self-Isolating

People all over the world are being confined to their homes due to the Coronavirus pandemic, and it’s a challenging time for many. It can be frustrating for our daily routines to be disrupted; we might experience technical issues working from home, boredom can set in while social activity is limited, the stress of educating and entertaining children throughout each day can all compound to the anxiety we may be feeling about the potential effects of this virus.

Thankfully, the Sikh community is full of inspirational sevadars (selfless servants) who put the needs of others before their own and seek to alleviate the burden facing many people today. They are not only providing essential services in a difficult time, but also inspiring many others in the community to do the same. Here, we share a few examples of Sikhs who are offering seva (selfless service) while we are all self-isolating.

Sikh Vision – Children’s Sikhi Activities

Sikh Vision is a collective that offers resources for children about Sikhi. They have created over 100 Vaisakhi activity sheets that can be downloaded for free. These include reading comprehension exercises based on Sakhis (Sikh stories), word searches, dot-to-dot, drawing and colouring exercises, Vaisakhi greeting cards and many more puzzles. There is even an online quiz about the Sikh Gurus. The resources can be downloaded in .PDF format at www.Sikh-Vision.com.

Mandeep Singh – Maths Teacher

Maths teacher and Basics of Sikhi educator Mandeep Singh Narwal is offering assistance to parents who are educating their children at home during the COVID-19 crisis. With schools in the UK assigning children work to carry out at home, Mandeep has kindly reached out to the community via his social media accounts, offering assistance to parents who are struggling.

“While you are home-schooling/remotely/digitally educating your children, if you need assistance with understanding something that has been assigned for your child, or if you need more resources, just give me a shout, especially if your child is in years 6 to 13 for MATHS,” he posted.

Mukhtiar Singh

Another individual offering his professional experience as seva to those in need is barrister Mukhtiar Singh. He is offering free advice to key workers and businesses in his locality of Gravesham and Medway, as a token of gratitude for their important work during this difficult time.

For minimum wage key workers resident or working in the area, he is offering free legal advice on any matter throughout April, and for those who are not on minimum wage: free legal advice on any employment matter related to COVID-19. In addition, he is offering free legal advice on any employment or commercial matter related to COVID-19 to any employer providing services or based in Gravesham or Medway.

Those who are eligible for this assistance are encouraged to email Mukhtiar at: msingh@gclaw.co.uk with a brief summary of your issue and contact details.

SHARE Charity – Children’s Activities

SHARE (Sikh History and Religious Education) is a family-run UK charity which shares education and spiritual practices via books, apps and other projects.

During the Coronavirus pandemic, the family has been providing live, interactive and educational entertainment, including story time and sharing ideas of how families can celebrate Vaisakhi at home, via their Facebook and Instagram pages.

The group is also sharing many resources for free, such as infographics about Sikh teachings, and is even offering free Sikh books as seva to anybody who is interested. You only pay for postage and packaging.

Ajit Akhara – Fitness

Sahibzada Baba Ajit Singh Gatka Akhara usually runs Gatka classes in Southall, West London, on Sundays. However, during this epidemic the martial arts collective has been sharing videos on Instagram to help people at home improve their fitness, while most gyms and sports clubs are closed.

The Akhara, or martial arts club, is sharing videos to explain correct form of exercises such as push-ups and squats, motivational posts, workout routines for adults and children, and much more. They are currently running a 13 day challenge for Vaisakhi, encouraging the community to exercise for at least 13 minutes each day in the lead up to Vaisakhi.

Miss Kaur – Humanities Teacher

Another teacher offering services via social media goes by the name of @MissKaurHumanitiesTeacher on Instagram. As a tutor and teacher by profession, Miss Kaur uses her social media profile to share mindfulness techniques and self-care tips, tailored to children as well as adults. Her Instagram account is also a great resource in its own right for signposting details of educational and spiritual initiatives from across the Sikh community. Among the initiatives she has promoted, she recently shared details of another teacher offering similar seva, primary school teacher @ekjotkaur95.

Kaurs Legal – Online Law Classes

It isn’t just schoolchildren whose education has been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. University students are also finding themselves affected, and many will be missing classes.

Tinessa Kaur from legal outfit Kaurs Legal is offering students online tutoring for A-level Law, Undergraduate Law degrees and the BPTC Bar exams.

“We understand the centralised Bar exams have been deferred until August 2020. If you need help we can offer support, knowledge and tutoring in areas you maybe struggling with,” she said. You can contact Kaurs Legal via their Instagram account for more information.

Kaurs Legal is also promoting “Art for Jaggi”; an initiative to help raise awareness for Jagtar Singh Johal – a British Sikh who has been detained and allegedly tortured in Punjab. Anyone, of any age, can submit any type of artistic work, such as sketches, songs, poetry or paintings, via email to: freesikhprisoners@yahoo.com. The deadline is 3rd May, 2020.

Jaspreet Kaur – Free Homeschooling Resources

Teacher and poet Jaspreet Kaur goes by the handle @behindthenetra on Twitter. She has spent her time compiling free online resources to help parents with home-schooling while schools have been closed.

Via a Google shared drive, Jaspreet has made free resources for Key Stage 2, 3, 4 and 5 available to download and print for free, as well as wellness advice and tips. She is even offering to post these resources for anyone who doesn’t have access to IT or printers.

Baljinder Kaur – Collaborative Art

Illustrator Baljinder Kaur is collaborating with children on Instagram in a very creative and innovative project. Having recently published children’s books on Guru Nanak Dev Ji and Bhai Fauja Singh, she is now inviting children aged 5 to 12, with the help of their parents, to submit their art work to her account @Blahjinder on Instagram.

Baljinder then takes elements of the original art work and adds her own flair to create a collaborative piece of art. As you might expect, Baljinder has been inundated with artwork, so was not taking any more pieces at the time of publishing, but the results are amazing and available to see on her Instagram profile.

Rajwinder Singh – Skipping Sikh

73 year old Rajwinder Singh is keen to make sure that people stay fit and healthy during this pandemic, and is encouraging everyone to take up skipping. He has appeared in mainstream media outlets as “The Skipping Sikh” and has been challenging everybody, young and old, to take up skipping and other agility exercises while they are confined to their homes.

Sikh Colouring – Activities for Children

Sikh Colouring, created by Ranjeet Kaur, offers Sikh-themed colouring books and has been using social media to share creative ideas for parents. One of her initiatives is a daily schedule for when schools are closed. The downloadable schedule helps parents draw up a rough plan for their day while home-schooling, which is unfamiliar territory for many parents. She also has a range of free creative activities available for children, as well as products for sale, via the website www.sikhcolouring.com.