Savraj has spoken at many different venues over the last 15 years. Contact him @sikhswim on twitter if you'd like him to speak somewhere, or email him at savraj [at] alumni.princeton.edu. Here's a video of the work he does, by Colleen McKown, Columbia Journalism School Class of 2013:
May 23, 2013: Unitarian Universalist Congregation, Somerville, NJ
Audience: About 15 members of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Somerville.
Content: The UU's had already re-printed some handouts about Sikhism from a previous event at Bridgewater Gurudwara. Everyone I met seemed quite well-educated and had very nuanced and insightful views about faith -- clearly they all are UU's by choice and were at the event by choice. We did a standard presentation and took questions throughout. Notably, the UU's took me to task when I said that all Sikhs are required to be musicians. "Well, sing something." And so I did a (not so great, in my opinion) on the spot rendition of "Mai Andalay Ki Tek." Special thank to Gray Taylor for coordinating.
Content: The UU's had already re-printed some handouts about Sikhism from a previous event at Bridgewater Gurudwara. Everyone I met seemed quite well-educated and had very nuanced and insightful views about faith -- clearly they all are UU's by choice and were at the event by choice. We did a standard presentation and took questions throughout. Notably, the UU's took me to task when I said that all Sikhs are required to be musicians. "Well, sing something." And so I did a (not so great, in my opinion) on the spot rendition of "Mai Andalay Ki Tek." Special thank to Gray Taylor for coordinating.
May 16, 2013: World Religions class, lawrenceville, nj
Audience: About 10 students at The Lawrenceville School, one of the finest secondary schools in the United States.
Content: The students had already spent a couple days on Sikhism, so I was mostly answering questions. I did present slides but I did so as the Sikh Religious Life Leader at Lawrenceville, not representing any particular Sikh organization.
Comments: It's great to return to my high school and connect with these kids. Attending Lawrenceville is a great privilege and I think they understand that!
Content: The students had already spent a couple days on Sikhism, so I was mostly answering questions. I did present slides but I did so as the Sikh Religious Life Leader at Lawrenceville, not representing any particular Sikh organization.
Comments: It's great to return to my high school and connect with these kids. Attending Lawrenceville is a great privilege and I think they understand that!
April 21, 2013: Judging the Sikh Symposium, Lawrenceville, NJ
I did speak briefly at this event, but my primary goal was to be a speaking competition judge (1 of 3) for the Sikh Symposium 2013. Participants are asked to read a book and present a 5-7 minute speech answering 3 questions. There were four age groups, from 6-8 to 15-17. It worked out quite well and it was my honor to be a judge. There is a recording of the event available at sikhsabha.org.
March 25, 2013: Bright Horizons Daycare, Philadelphia, PA
Audience: Sixteen 4-5 year olds, and two teachers Mr. K and Ms. J. One child is a Sikh and his mom was present.
Content: I was presenting the Sikh Coalition Elementary slide deck. We also watched a bit of a video, had some great dialogue, did patka and turban tying, and rounded it all off with some Bhangra and food. If you can hold the attention of 5-year-olds, you can capture any audience. So much respect for people that work with this age group, and special thanks to Dr. Chawla for making it all happen.
Excerpts from the feedback forms, completed by the teachers:
Mr. K:
Ms. J:
Content: I was presenting the Sikh Coalition Elementary slide deck. We also watched a bit of a video, had some great dialogue, did patka and turban tying, and rounded it all off with some Bhangra and food. If you can hold the attention of 5-year-olds, you can capture any audience. So much respect for people that work with this age group, and special thanks to Dr. Chawla for making it all happen.
Excerpts from the feedback forms, completed by the teachers:
Mr. K:
- "He was a calm and comforting speaker. I really felt connected."
- "My opinion has always been good of Sikhs, but now I know more and can definitely respect them more."
- "The presentation was great."
Ms. J:
- "Was very patient with the questions that the children asked. The presentation was great and age appropriate."
- "The Presentation just made me more aware of who Sikhs are."
- "The Presentation was just right. I wouldn't change anything."
- "Thanks for coming to our school. We learned a lot about our friend Rajinder Chawla and his family's culture and heritage."