By: Jasman Padam
Nishkam TV, is a first ever student-run online TV channel that started in June 2019 with the mission of promoting different faiths and cultures to bring everyone together as one Humanity. It is an initiative started from the NESSC (New England Sikh Study Circle), an organization established in 1968 and has grown as a center for all Sikhs living in New England. Nishkam TV is proud to say that all the following work was done by the Youth of the Sangat.
Make America Love Again
Nishkam TV conducted a Virtual filmmaking camp in Summer 2020. Six teams participated in this virtual workshop, four teams were from Florida, one team was from Boston, and one from California. Organizers of the camp started off by introducing the basics of filmmaking to the kids, including but not limited to three-point lighting and various aspects of camera placement & functioning. After learning how the camera works, the kids were taught how to make every shot look presentable. Next the kids learned about how the three types of shots, close ups, medium shots, and wide shots should be taken. Everyone was asked to take pictures using these three methods as well as include three-point lighting in each shot. Lastly, based on where they lived, the children were split into different groups to learn how to write scripts. The final step was to utilize their scripts and make movies.
A total of 6 movies were incepted. One movie has already been completed and released in November 2020, it’s called “Make America Love Again” and others are under production. This movie is made by students from the California Team – Arzoe Kaur, Jugaad Singh, Aasa Kaur, Akaal Singh and Aekemdeep Singh (TA), guided by their Team Advisors Navpreet Kaur and Kiroun Saluja. This movie is centered around bullying. Four kids learn about the Sikh lawyer, Valerie Kaur and her message “Love over Hate”. They witness one of them being bullied and together they find ways to overcome it.
Another movie incepted was “The Vaccine” that depicts the journey of an entire family during current COVID-19 pandemic where the mother of a family, tests positive for COVID and what happened to them. Stay tuned for the release of “The Vaccine” and other movies in line.
One Light One Love
In modern times, the need to understand each other’s backgrounds and beliefs is crucial to having a closely intertwined society. The “One Light One Love” project was also produced by Nishkam TV. It’s main goal was to be able to bring people of various religions together to discuss different philosophical aspects of their religions. Hindu, Sikh, Muslim, Christian, Catholic, and Jewish representatives discussed the different religions with each other. Nishkam TV hosted a show that brought people of different faiths together. Dr. Jaskiran Kaur came on behalf of Sikhism, Sujit Sudhaman on behalf of Hinduism, Rachid Sheikh on behalf of Islam, Rabbi Rachel on behalf of Christianity, Joanne Rosalia on behalf of Catholism, and B’nai Shalom on behalf of the Jewish faith. It gave the opportunity to be able to compare and contrast the different value systems. It was interesting to witness how similar Sikhi is to other religions in so many ways. Gurleen Kaur assisted in the running of the program along with the Nishkam TV Production Team.
These two programs showcase the great diligence and extent of dedication by the Sikh youth. We hope there will be more programs like these where people are able to explore the different aspects of society.
