Thank you for Interfaith Event

Palatine Public Library sponsored an Interfaith event on May 24 at Palatine Sikh Gurdwara. Palatine Gurdwara is managed by the Sikh Religious Society, which hosted the event.

Over 250 non-Sikhs attended. It was the first time a public library hosted such an event, so obviously there was lot of apprehension. But everything worked great. Sikhs were enthusiastic to host and serve snacks and Langar (free fresh vegetarian food). Speakers were pretty good though some took little extra time than allotted, which meant we had to let the question-answer portion go, but if someone has a question, please feel free to contact the library or me.

Other libraries are showing interest to host these events. There was so much to learn from all these talks and interactions, people overall felt comfortable to attend and learn from other religions.

Today, there is so much confusion about religions. People are looking for answers and with open dialogue, we can definitely help find them. Six major religions - Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhism, Islam and of course Sikh - participated, and the message was pretty much same from all speakers, respect others and love God.

As I was one of the originators of this event, I feel personally obliged to thank Palatine Public Library, host Sikh Religious Society, Sikhs who helped, speakers who devoted time to present topic and above all audience members, who came so enthusiastically.

Thank you. Let us repeat it again and again.

Thakar S Basati

Palatine