Indo American News

Tag: Harjit Singh Galhotra

  • Campaign to Raise Funds for Guru Nanak Documentary

    Campaign to Raise Funds for Guru Nanak Documentary

    The supporters of the Guru Nanak Documentary at the fundraiser on May 10.

    BY JAWAHAR MALHOTRA

    HOUSTON: In commemoration of the 550th Birthday Anniversary of Guru Nanak, the National Sikh Campaign has launched a nationwide effort to raise funds for the production of a documentary about the founder of Sikhism, his life and his philosophy of equality and tolerance for all people. The documentary will be aired on over 200 public television stations across the country.

    The campaign is being led by Dr. Rajwant Singh a practicing dentist from Maryland, outside of Washington, DC, who is a co-founder of NSC and is its Secretary. He is also the Secretary of the Guru Gobind Singh Foundation in Rockville, Maryland and founder of EcoSikh which deals with climate change and environmental causes as well as being active in a number of other organizations.

    Singh was in town last month to participate in the Houston fundraising efforts at all the Sikh gurdwaras in the area. “There is a dire need to create awareness about Guru Nanak and his message in America and in the world,” Singh told the audience. “According to our polls and survey in 2014, 0 percent of Americans know about Guru Nanak and a vast majority of the people in world has no clue

    Dr. Rajwant Singh, Harjit Singh Galhotra and Mangat Singh of Hotel Preet at the fundraiser.

    about his life and important contribution he made 500 years ago. We are hoping to change that with this community supported effort.”

    According to Harjit Singh Galhotra, Secretary of the Sikh National Center in Houston who is active in the local efforts, over $100,000 was collected, with $42,000 of that coming from the SNC, of which Dr. Hardam Singh Azad gave the highest amount of $25,000.

    The Houston fundraiser was held on Friday, May 10 at Hotel Preet off 290 West and featured representatives of eight area-wide gurdwaras. The event was emceed by radio personality and dance and fashion show choreographer Jasmeeta Singh and featured the King of comedy, Tarlok Singh Chug who flew in from Calgary, Canada and has been part of the fundraising efforts in Queens and Long Island, New York City. Other fundraisers have been held Cerritos outside of Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento, Fort Lauderdale and Dallas. According to Singh, they NSC has raised $500,000 already.

    The documentary is being produced by the father-son team of Gerald and Adam Krell of Auter Productions of Washington, DC. It will be released for broadcast on 200 PBS stations in November 2019, coinciding with Guru Nanak’s birthday celebrated on November12.

    For more information or to donate, contact Dr. Rajwant Singh at rajwant@aol.com or at 202-460-0630 or visit www.sikhcampaign.nationbuilder.com/guru_nanak

  • A Community’s Devotion Slowly Comes to Focus, One Phase at a Time

    A Community’s Devotion Slowly Comes to Focus, One Phase at a Time

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    By Jawahar Malhotra

    HOUSTON:  Visible from the Sam Houston Tollroad, right across from the Sam Houston Racepark, the site of the Sikh National Center has slowly taken shape over the past 15 years, as donated funds have been collected. In the past two years, the steel structure of the main gurdwara has risen from the ground and the exterior walls have taken shape.

    Now, according to the latest pictures taken by a drone, the exterior cladding of the building is almost complete and the white façade outlines the silhouette of the 38,000 sf, two-story building that will serve as a beacon to Sikhs in the greater Houston area. The façade work will be completed in another month and the cast stone, marble tile inlays and window glazing is expected to be done by mid-summer, as well as an expansion of the parking lot.

    When completed, the gurdwara will have a prayer hall for 900 people, a large commercial kitchen, langar hall, offices, a meeting room for 50 people, a 2-bedroom apartment for the resident priest and 2 hotel rooms for visiting guests and VIPs.

    SNC 1in

    “So far, we have built everything with donations from the sangat (congregation),” said Harjit Singh Galhotra who has been heavily involved with the building committee. “We haven’t taken out any loans and need to raise another $4 to 5 million to complete the entire project.” The committee also consists of Hardam Singh Azad, Gurcharan Singh and Manohar Singh Mann and is headed by Gurmeet Singh Saini and Bhupinder Singh.

    Although the building is shelled in and the exterior work is complete, the interior fit out still remains to be started; including electrical and air conditioning work, waiting on more funds to be collected. A square metal lid covers the place where the main dome will sit and the landscape work will be completed in the last phase.

    The gurdwara is located on the Sikh National Center’s 20-acre site north of Beltway 8 between Gessner and Fairbanks-North Houston. It is to form the nucleus of an ambitious master-planned center that would include a boarding school, auditorium, museum, library, pavilion and residence for priests. The site already has a covered basketball pavilion and two other structures that function as the make-shift gurdwara and Sunday school. Large community events have been held over the years, like a Sports Day, anniversary functions of the Gurus and the annual Baisakhi mela in April to help in raising awareness of the project and raise funds.