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Sikh Community in Scotland: moving from America to Scotland


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Guest guest academic singh

Hi everyone,

I am a singh who was born and raised in America.  I am considering moving to Edinburgh, Scotland.  I wanted to ask the UK Sikhs on this board about what the Sikh community in Scotland is like.

 

1.  Are there a decent amount of Sikhs in Scotland?

 

2.  What is the Sikh community in Scotland like?  (In other words: is it made up mostly of new immigrants, or Sikhs who immigrated long ago?  Are the Sikhs there more from a rural background or an urban background?  Are the Sikhs there generally religious or secular?  Are there a decent number of Gurdwaras?)

 

3.  Are there significant Sikh communities outside of Scotland (in Northern England) that are a reasonable commute from Scotland?

 

4.  How difficult/expensive is it to travel from Scotland to the parts of the UK with large Sikh populations (London, West Midlands)?

 

I am worried about moving to a place where I will feel isolated.  It would be good to know what I can expect in Scotland in terms of the local Sikh community.

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Guest Jagsaw_Singh
58 minutes ago, Guest guest academic singh said:

 

What is the Sikh community in Scotland like?  (In other words: is it made up mostly of new immigrants, or Sikhs who immigrated long ago?  Are the Sikhs there more from a rural background or an urban background?  Are the Sikhs there generally religious or secular?  Are there a decent number of Gurdwaras?)

 

 

My messages here normally take about 6 days before they are approved and posted so by the time you read this everything I tell you might have become redundant because in that time you might have come to Scotland...had a look around...decided you didn't like and gone back home again. However, in answer to your question above:

Most of Scotland's Sikhs live in Glasgow and nearly all of them are of a rural background. Most of them 2nd and 3rd generaion Scots born but a fair few freshies too.However, the exception to that rule is the city of Edinburgh (where you'll be going). Most of Edinburgh's Sikhs are of a Bhatra background (urban Delhi) and are 3rd and 4th generation Scots born.

On a side note....Scotland has excellent Sikh-Muslims relations as the much larger Pakistani population of Glasgow is almost entirely made up of Pakistani Punjabis from Faisalabad district (Lyallpur) so the dialect and culture of the Sikhs and Pakistanis there in Glasgow is extremely closely interwined.

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Maybe you could ask on the Gurdwara fb page. 

https://m.facebook.com/gurunanakgurdwara.edinburgh/?locale2=en_GB

http://edinburghsikhs.com/

http://scottishsikhs.org/gurdwaras-in-scotland/

 

Travel:

http://www.nationalexpress.com/destinations/coach-travel-to-edinburgh.aspx

https://www.virgintrains.co.uk/

https://www.thetrainline.com/m/

 

Glasgow, Newcastle, Leeds, East Midlands, West Midlands, are the nearest North to Scotland that have Sikhs. West Midlands being more than the others listed. Then you've got down South, Slough, Southall, Gravesend. 

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Guest Glasgow Singh

VJKK VJKF,

I am a Singh from Glasgow, born and raised here so can offer a good insight of life in Scotland.

I will do my best to answer your questions to the best of my ability.

1. With 10,000 Sikhs in Scotland  there is a good mixture of Sikhs in although you will find majority of Sikh Sangat are based in Glasgow.

2. In Scotland there are Sikhs from all backgrounds including from India, England, those born and raised in Scotland, Amritdhari etc. We have plenty of chardikala Sikhs up here with strong Sikhi with strong faith in Maharaj. In Glasgow there are 4 Gurdwaras and 1 in Edinburgh and 1 small Gurdwara in Dundee. You will find the Gurdwaras in Glasgow and the one in Edinburgh very friendly and helpful.

3. I wouldn't say there is a significant Sikh communities in North England, although Manchester and has a decent amount of Sikhs.The biggest Sikh communities you will find in England and the U.K. Are London & Birmingham

4. It depends on the method of transport you choose. The cheapest form of transport would be national coaches, although I find you can get decent prices for travelling by plane if you book well in advance. I travel quite often from Scotland to England, but I generally tend to take the car as it offers better flexibility and when travelling with family it can work out a fair bit cheaper.

Just a few words to finish off you have no need to worry. There is plenty of good Sikh sangat here in Scotland who will make you feel very welcome here and help out if needed. Also may I ask, what is your reason for moving to Scotland?

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Guest academic singh
5 hours ago, simran345 said:

Maybe you could ask on the Gurdwara fb page. 

https://m.facebook.com/gurunanakgurdwara.edinburgh/?locale2=en_GB

http://edinburghsikhs.com/

http://scottishsikhs.org/gurdwaras-in-scotland/

 

Travel:

http://www.nationalexpress.com/destinations/coach-travel-to-edinburgh.aspx

https://www.virgintrains.co.uk/

https://www.thetrainline.com/m/

 

Glasgow, Newcastle, Leeds, East Midlands, West Midlands, are the nearest North to Scotland that have Sikhs. West Midlands being more than the others listed. Then you've got down South, Slough, Southall, Gravesend. 

 

 

Thanks for the input.

 

Does anyone else have any thoughts?

 

More generally: will I feel like I am part of the UK Sikh community while living in Edinburgh?  Or will I feel disconnected?

I don't know how much Sikh communities in different parts of the UK interact with each other, how much people travel within the UK in general, how the nature/culture of the Sikh community varies by region, etc.

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Guest Jagsaw_Singh
On 10/05/2017 at 7:47 PM, Guest guest academic singh said:

Hi everyone,

I am a singh who was born and raised in America.  I am considering moving to Edinburgh, Scotland.  I wanted to ask the UK Sikhs on this board about what the Sikh community in Scotland is like.

 

1.  Are there a decent amount of Sikhs in Scotland?

 

2.  What is the Sikh community in Scotland like?  (In other words: is it made up mostly of new immigrants, or Sikhs who immigrated long ago?  Are the Sikhs there more from a rural background or an urban background?  Are the Sikhs there generally religious or secular?  Are there a decent number of Gurdwaras?)

 

 

 

I'm sorry 'guest guest academic singh' as it must be frustrating for you to imagine that nobody has bothered to answer your questions. I just want you you to know that I did a few days ago but one of the Mods here obviously has something very seriously against either Scotland or perhaps American academics because he or she doesn't want your questions answered here. Perhaps one of the other Mods here could dig it up and post it here for you  ?

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Guest Waheguru1984

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh 

Hope you are well Bhai Sahib jee.

I know that Edinburgh Sangat have a youth divan every friday from 7 till 10pm 

Sangrand monthly simran jaap is once a month ususally around the 14th

Also Edinburgh Sangat does Seva ever Wednesday feeding the homeless "Guru Nanak Free Kitchen"

Hope this help :waheguru:

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Guest Gupt

There is roughly 10,000 Sikhs in Scotland, which is a good amount. Like someone said before me there is one gurdwara in Edinburgh and 4 Gurdwaras in Glasgow. I can assure you that you won't feel isolated if you attend gurdwara regularly. We are a friendly bunch. There are many Sikhs with different backgrounds some are from England, India, Canada and Pakistan. There are regular Kirtan programs in Edinburgh Gurdwara and Glasgow, were some youth do kirtan , everyone is welcomed to do kirtan and if you do, I suggest you join, it will help you to join the community and make friends etc. 

Hope this helps 

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WJKK WJKF ji

Sikhs in Glasgow and Scotland are  very good in General , and very helpful. It will be entirely up to you how much you will interact with others. If you will intermingle with them then you will find everybody helpful. could you advise the reason moving to Edinburgh and not Glasgow. If you are in Glasgow you can call us at Central Gurdwara for any help or at Guru Nanak Gurdwara Edinburgh, and discuss.

surjit singh Chowdhary

 

 

 

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Guest Jagsaw_singh

I'll be honest with you 'guest guest academic singh', I don't have a lot of confidence in your 'academic' abilities. You keep asking what kind of sangat you'll find in Edinburgh....whether they're from urban or rural backgrounds....will you fit in etc.....but like a very non-academic person you keep failing to spot how I told you everything you wanted to know in the very first reply on this thread.

Now, twice, on two separate messages, you have asked if you will fit in with them...i.e the same culture and dialect etc.

The answer to that depends on your own family background. If, like most Sikhs, you are from a rural Punjab background the answer is an emphatic 'no'. Your culture, dialect, foods etc will be exactly the same as the Glasgow sangat but completely different to the Edinburgh sangat. I told you that Edinburgh (the place you'll be living in) is the one anomaly.

As a person going overseas as an academic can I please ask you to start showing some academic qualities and read things before continously asking the same things over and again ?

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