Thread by @JaskaranSandhu_

Finally got to watch @sunny_hundal's #YoungSikhAndProud.

I appreciated it & recommend others to watch it as well.

There are parts I do not like, but the doc deserves much more nuanced criticism/praise than it has received, IMHO.

This will probably be a long thread...oh well.

Ill start with this - I consider Sunny a friend I got to really know during the @WorldSikhOrg #AskCanadianSikhs stuff we were doing in Canada to challenge the media's coverage of our community.

Sunny was INTEGRAL to that fight & defended our community in a way not many could.

I traveled across Canada with Sunny during that time in 2018 & I got to really like the man.

He cares about the community, fighting foreign interference, etc.

While we dont agree on everything I have immense respect for him. I dont question his loyalty to the Sikh Community.

One incident really stood out for me from that trip.

We went out for dinner after one of our panel events & a couple of Singhs approached Sunny.

They knew Jagraj Singh, and everyone started reminiscing about him - including the past conflicts between the two brothers.

Sunny eventually choked up as he spoke about his relationship with his brother, including his regrets.

It was an emotional moment & it was obvious to all of us that Sunny loved and respected his brother, and felt sad about how he lost so many years over fights with him.

So, that is the lens from which I watched #YoungSikhAndProud.

This is the legacy of Jagraj Singh told from the POV of his brother & family. Sunny accomplishes showing a side of the story rich with human emotion & vulnerability.

Which is, quite honestly, the best way to do it.

But that doesnt come without any issues. So here it goes...

1) I understand why the Anand Karaj piece was important for Sunny to start with, as it defines a point where things go south between him & Jagraj Singh. It makes sense, and I think necessary to the storytelling POV...

...What I think could have been done better was the man he chose to interview to articulate why protesting at the gurdwara was important to them.

The masked man Sunny interviewed did not share the other side of the debate very well at all, which is a lot deeper than presented.

2) I didnt get the police part.

It only makes sense if you include the context of the raids but including that would derail the doc.

So, if that's the case then don't mention the police part at all. It is not essential to this story and distracting without the full context.

3) I think Sunny does a good job of having a diversity of opinion presented in a tight 40 min span - which is a lot harder to pull off than it seems.

He also allows criticism against himself, fairly openly. Which to be honest is commendable for someone as opinioned as Sunny!

4) The best parts of the doc were the Sikh Camp trip, convos with Sukhmani Kaur, and the BoS teens at the end.

There is a larger story being told here, that comes together nicely at the end.

Which is why I appreciate the POV Sunny took in telling this story.

Zooming in on the Sikh Camp: loved how Sunny finally gets it - the eureka moment where Jagraj's journey makes much more sense now to him

+ Sukhmani's line about Sunny treating debates with Jagraj as intellectual exercises was a key moment, you can kind of see his face go "shit"

I enjoyed #YoungSikhAndProud & @sunny_hundal did a good job of sharing Jagraj's journey through the POV of his family - which gives an anchor that everyone can relate to.

Do I agree with everything Sunny says - no lol. But I still got all the time in the world for the guy.

Ill end with this - @everythings_13 is amazing, and I do acutally think a good follow up to #YoungSikhAndProud would be a deep dive into Jagraj's legacy as told through the organization and work it does.

There should be multiple stories on an amazing life and legacy.