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Campbell and hot prasad
 Gordon
Campbell, British Columbia’s Premier, recalls his first experience
of handling the rather hot prasad at a gurdwara in Vancouver, but
since then he has not only learnt how to hail ‘Wahe Guruji da
khalsa, wahe Guruji di fateh’ but also greet the Punjabis with an
accented “Lakh, lakh vadhaiyan”.
He visited the Golden Temple in Amritsar, and met everyone with a
“Sat Sri Akal”. When he was the Mayor of Vancouver, Campbell
designated the Main and 49th area of the city as a Punjabi market,
complete with street signs in Punjabi. As the Premier, he proclaimed
the installation of the Guru Granth Sahib in the Legislature and
recognised Sikhism. His government passed a motion in the
legislature recognising the five symbols of the Sikh faith. Apart
from funding the renovation of the Abbotsford Heritage Gurdwara, the
oldest gurdwara, he also officially designated it as a Canadian
Heritage site in April.
Campbell’s Punjabi connection began during his student days at the
university and was strengthened during his tenureship as the Mayor
of Vancouver. Politics apart, Campbell is struck by the generosity
of Punjabis and their ‘never-say-die’ attitude. “They are
everywhere: in business, academics, medicine, education… They were
among the first people to come to British Columbia and even though
they were not welcomed, they stayed on. I often reflect on this and
sense how difficult it must have been. What they encounter today is
nothing in comparison to the isolation they faced then. But they did
not give up. This spirit perhaps comes from their religion and its
all-encompassing nature,” says Campbell. Campbell lost his father
when he was not even 13. Being the eldest, he helped his
mother bring up his siblings. “My mother earned a pittance, $215 per
month. Yet she never let us feel that we were unfortunate,” he
recalls, saying that every moment in his life is “blessed”. Well,
that is one strain that Campbell shared with the Sikhs right from
his childhood. The eternal state of being Blessed.
12 December, 2007
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