By Zile Singh
“A man succeeds only in two ways, one by reading, and the other by association with seniors and smarter people.” – If you want to be active and happy, why not join the Sunset Indo-Canadian Seniors’ Society, housed at 6810, Main Street, Vancouver. You will meet and interact with seniors of different tastes and ages, including a centenarian. They are physicallyas active and mentally as sharp as any youth in his twentieth and thirties. What else canone expect when seniors aged 80, 90 and hundred recite a page -length of poetry by memory and can talk on Gurbani extempore without taking help of a written script. Some are adept in describing religious and political matters.Others excel in cracking civilized jokes and meaningful stories relatedto life.
In July 1977, Mrs. Hemi Dhanoa, a social worker, got the Indian seniors group registered under the name of “ Hindi-Punjabi Senior Men’s Group’. In June 2001, the Group was renamed as “ The Sunset Indo-Canadian Seniors Society, Vancouver, BC”. Today, it can claim to be a secular, sensible, smarter, and senior seekers’ society. It proudly bears a tag of non-religious, non-political, non-regional, and non-profit making. Though it is a registered society with the BC government, it iscapable of running its day-to-day affairs without any government grant. It is truly a harbinger of social harmony based on diversity. Anyone can join it who has attained the age of 65. Any topic under the sun, without hurting anybody’s personal sentiments is the area of discussion every Thursday from 12.00 noon to 2.30 p.m. On special occasions, ladies also take part in society’s celebration. Because, special occasions are incomplete without the participation of better halves. Its membership comprises of people from different walks of life. They include farmers, teachers, preachers, businessmen, civil servants, ex-servicemen, lawyers, bankers doctors and even a retired diplomat. The members of its Executive Committee are elected unanimously after every two-year. Its General Body meeting was held on June 22, 2023. The income and expenditure statementswere passed en masse.
It has proved to be a useful platform for politicians of different hues at city, provincial and federal levels. In the recent past, Mr. Michael Lee, Member Legislative Assembly of BC United Front addressed the Seniors hitting the health, housing, and education policies of the ruling New Democratic Party. Some time back, Mr. George Chow, ex-Minister of the NDP visited the Society. He spoke about his party’s policies.
Prominent visitors from Punjab and other parts of India alsohave visited the Society. Last week’s address by Mr. Jaswant Zafar, a retired Chief Engineer from Punjab Electricity Board and a writer of high esteem needs to be highlighted as a befitting analysis of the present situation of Sikhs settled abroad. He, without mincing words said that the Sikhs in Punjab are not in need of any outside propaganda. The Sikhs in India are capable of looking after their interests at their own without any outside help. He pinpointed the lacunae of the Sikh diaspora as far as Sikhi tenets are concerned. Today, the rituals and superstitions are eroding the basic values taught by Guru Nanak. His book, “Bhagat Hamare Guru” exhorts the sectarian Sikhs to a large extent. To him, the hymns of Bhagats of lower castes are no less authentic and important than the hymns of other Gurus of higher caste in Sri Guru Granth Sahib. In fact, the hymn “Suraon sopahchaniye jo lade deenke het ………….” is of Bhagat Kabir and not of Guru Gobind Singh. Zaffar elaborated some other hymns of Bhagat Sain, Baba Farid and Ravidass. For more information about the Society please click www.indocanadianseniorssocietyvancouver.ca
