This post was originally published by SikhNet on August 31, 2020 and October 6, 2020 

When’s the last time you told a Saakhi to someone? Well, now’s your chance! This year is a new cyber event: The International Saakhi Competition.

Youth leaders have envisioned the competition as a way to empower not just youth but the entire international community (what a perfect time for this initiative!), so they have formed a YouTube channel, Search for Sikhi, and reached out to every corner of the Panth to participate.

While this initiative is put forward as the first of a yearly competition for all ages and Sangat all over the world, the Sevadars behind it have a more ambitious vision: to become the go to place for Sikh stories online. In the course of the month, they impressively received over 150 submissions and from participants aged 3 years old to 75 years old!

The youth organizers behind this novel initiative say:

“The competition is inspired by the idea that Saakhi telling appears to be a dying art, or at least not a regular part of the average Sikh’s life, and one which currently remains mostly with formally trained preachers (parchaariks). However, we know that Saakhis are a way of staying personally and deeply connected to Sikh history. As such, we hope the competition will be a form of global Sangat and will empower more Sikhs to take ownership of Sikh history. Far beyond the competition, the end outcome, with Guru Sahib’s Kirpa, will be also be a centralized location of hundreds of Saakhis for all to access in perpetuity.”

Bhai Harman Singh from Basics of Sikhi has explained the details of the competition below (click here to read the rules, instructions, and FAQ in English and Punjabi). 1st, 2nd, and 3rd winners in all age categories will receive cash prizes, and all participants will receive e-certificates!

The deadline for submissions has been extended to October 31st in order to accommodate Sangat experiencing delays due to COVID, internet issues, school starts, etc. Submit your own video from September 1st to October 31st to saakhicompetition@gmail.com with your name, age, and location!

Please see tinyurl.com/saakhi for all rules, instructions, cash prize amounts (ranging from $50-$250), and FAQs.

Subscribe to Search for Sikhi and keep updated with new videos, from all over!