Dr. Satish Bhatnagar, Ph.D. article revisits the April, 2011 Vaisakhi/Indian Food Festival hosted by the Gurdwara Baba Deep Singh in downtown Las Vegas.

Vaisakhi/Baisakhi is one of the very few festivals that are celebrated in every state of India. Also, it is recognized outside India – in Sri Lanka, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Singapore, and Vietnam. There being a large number of Sikhs, Hindus and Buddhists in Muslim countries of Malaysia and Indonesia, Vaisakhi or Wesak is included as a national festival. Since Lahore, now in Pakistani Punjab, was the capital of the first Sikh Empire (1801-1841), the Punjabi Muslims have been partaking in Vaisakhi festivities ever since. 

The associated reasons for holding Vaisakhi are myriad – from the start of a new Hindu year to unique astrological configuration to Buddhist folklores. However, the 10^th Sikh Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708) has given unparalleled significance to Vaisakhi by creating Khalsa, (means pure) the saint Sikh soldiers on the Vaisakhi day of April 13, 1699. It is chronicled that 20,000 Hindu followers of the Sikh gurus bravely volunteered to be baptized as Khalsa on that historic day. Subsequently, the Sikh chivalry in battlefields also got tied with some Vaisakhi days. The festivals of Dewali and Vaisakhi are equally significant in Sikh ethos and history.

Yesterday, a retired mathematics professor and I were driving back to Las Vegas after attending a 1.5-day mathematics meeting in Cedar City, Utah.  During a three-hour drive, we talked about many topics. Yes, we did not listen to any car radio show! His wife is an elected Episcopal Bishop of Nevada, and was recently appointed as a member of the presidential commission on religions – formed by President Obama. The point is that this person knows a lot about the organized religions. When he asked me to tell a Sikh joke, I told him that the Sikh jokes are isomorphic to the Polish jokes, Irish jokes, and Italian jokes in the US. Whenever a group outsmarts an old-guard society, then it is subjected to ethnic jokes. I have never been amused with such jokes.

April is unofficially designated as Jewish Holocaust month in the world. I told my fellow traveler that the Sikhs, by and large, celebrate Vaisakhi as a commemoration of their survival and victories over Sikh holocaust in the middle of the 18^th century (1739 -1761). The then Sikh population of approximately 100,000 was reduced to barely 60,000 by the year 1761 – nearly 40 % of the Sikhs were systematically butchered. The Jewish holocaust (1940-45) of six million Jews transformed the Jews into a strong Israeli nation which has survived for 60 years while being surrounded by their sworn enemies in Muslim nations. 

For the Sikhs, the lightning victories of Banda Bahadur (1670 -1716), especially after the assassination of Guru Gobind Singh, had shocked and shaken the Muslim rulers of Punjab and Delhi. Once Banda Bahadur was captured and tortured to death, the Sikhs were publicly declared and marked for kill and capture – irrespective of age and gender. The sites of Qutalganj and Shaheedganj in Lahore, and Sheeshganj and Rakabganj in Delhi are living testimony to the Muslim plan of total eradication of the Sikhs. But, like the Jews, the Sikhs have come out stronger and victorious. Today, the worldwide Sikh population is nearly 30 million – a super strong community!

While driving on I-15 South, I pointed him out to the downtown site of this year’s Vaisakhi Mela (means fair) in Las Vegas. On reaching home and after a quick shower, I joined my family, already at the Mela, in the large amphitheater of the Clark County office complex. The red stone structures glowing in the setting sun had added robust dimensions to the most colorful dresses that the male and female dancers were wearing. The entertainers and revelers had come from out of state, UK, and Canada. Despite a high-tech music ensemble, the live beats from a drum reverberated the atmosphere. Historically, the beats of the drums provide the martial music to the Sikh in battlefields. 

Well, such were my thoughts, as I was soaking in the festivities while meandering in the stalls of foods and games, and mingling with friends and strangers. Despite the unusually cold temperature in April, the public enthusiasm was very high. The retiring mayor, Oscar Goodman, and his wife, Carolyn Goodman, who is aspiring to succeed her husband as the mayor of Las Vegas, were greeted and introduced on the stage. The state and federal elected members, who could not come, had sent their Vaisakhi greetings and messages. This year’s Vaisakhi souvenir is impressive. The parades, processions and open celebration of festivals serve to reinforce and project social and political unity of a community. 

Satish C. Bhatnagar
April 10, 2011/April 13, 2026