Asian World News Motivation!
Bobby Singh Diraag: Happy 50th Birthday!
By Jag Singh
This week marks the 50th birthday of a special remarkable individual who is very close to my heart Sardar Charanjit ‘Bobby’ Singh, from Goodmayes, Redbridge, UK. I would like to take this opportunity to share with you the motivational advice he gave to me almost forty years ago that changed my life.
Due to having spent the majority of my childhood in the 1970s running away from bullies and finding ways to survive, this obviously took its toll on my education. By the time I was thirteen years old I could neither read or write. I struggled with basic Maths and English questions and could barely string a sentence together both written or verbal. My secondary school teachers decided to place me in a class entitled ‘Special Needs Class.’ In our first ever class they taught us basics such as A is for Apple, B is for Ball and so on. I was so embarrassed.
After school that day I ran home and went straight to my elder brother Bobby Singh. I cried and explained to him that I was ashamed and felt like a loser because I couldn’t read or write and had become a special needs student.
Bobby raised his voice to me and said ‘Don’t ever let me hear you say that again! You are no loser!’
He asked me ‘What do you want to achieve in your life?’
I told him that I wanted to read and write like a normal thirteen year old should. I will never forget the great advice that he gave me.
He said ‘If you want to learn to read and write Jag, read whatever you can get your hands on, newspapers, road signs, manuals, and if you can’t pronounce the word ask someone. Keep practising to write until you get it right. If you don’t know what the word you are reading then look it up in a dictionary. If you are struggling, ask me, ask a teacher and just keep asking. You will get there, but you will have to work hard. The school may have labelled you as ‘special needs’ but that is their view, it doesn’t have to be your view. Prove them wrong!’
I did just that. I read anything I could get my eyes on and spent many late nights just writing away at my stories. Eventually, all my hard work paid off. Within a few weeks I escalated to a higher English class and was no longer in the so-called ‘Special Needs’ classes.
I applied the same hard working positive attitude to my other subjects and within a few months I was being awarded certificates at school assemblies due to my excellent test results. Today, as I write this article I can’t stop thinking about the fact that this would not have been possible if I had never followed my brother Bobby Singh’s advice almost forty years ago. I have not only shared the amazing educational advice he gave me with my children, but with hundreds of other children and adults who have told me that they encounter learning difficulties: ‘Keep learning, asking questions and work hard. You will get there. Help is always available, all you have to do is reach out.’
During those gruelling school years in the 1970s, we were the only ethnic family in the whole area, surrounded by a majority White-British population and many of these individuals at the time did not want to accept us in the United Kingdom. As we were young growing Sikh boys with hair bobbles on our heads and had different colour skin than the majority, this meant we were wide open to physical and verbal racist abuse, which we encountered on a daily basis without fail. When we were being chased home by bullies Bobby would always tell me to run home to safety. He would stay behind and make the offenders chase him by gathering their attention and on many occasions he ended up taking the beatings all by himself. He knew I was too young to take the pain, the beatings, so he did it to protect his younger brother. I didn’t want to leave him alone with these predators but he would insist.
‘GO HOME! NOW JAG!’
I would cry all the way home, worried and concerned whether my brother would make it home alive. Eventually, Bobby would arrive home, bruised and injured. His biggest regret was that he couldn’t always be there to protect me. He could always tell when I had been attacked, caught out by the predators by my injuries. He would feel so guilty that he had failed to protect his younger brother. Bobby you did what you could whenever you could to protect me and that’s what really matters. It was impossible for you to be there for me all the time.
The bullies tried to break our confidence and destroy us from within. But we kept our faith in our ‘Waheguru’ (God) and remained unbreakable. Bobby always reminded me that all we had to do was to pass those horrid years and then we would be able to tell our story from the other side. It would be a story of bravery, faith, and the true power of the human spirit. That is exactly why I decided to write my book – Unbreakable – based on the true events that took place during our childhood.
In 2015 when I first stood in front of over three hundred children in an assembly to speak to them about child protection, I froze for a few seconds and remembered Bobby, my brother, speaking to me when he caught me one time crying under my blanket in bed. I was nine years old.
“Why you crying Jag?”
“Bob, nobody should go through what we do? One day I am going to help children who get picked on and bullied at school! Nobody should get bullied!”
“Don’t worry Jag, what we are facing right now will pass and one day you will get your chance to help children.’
As I stood in front of the children in the assembly in 2015 I smiled, England had now become a much more diverse and equal opportunities country. Many Acts had been passed in the British Parliament to ensure equal rights were exercised in our country. Sikh’s in the UK and many other ethnics were all now accepted in schools, workplaces and respected accordingly.
Bobby Singh, my Bro and Veerji, I would like to say thank you for being there for me all them years ago, protecting me, teaching me and loving me. If it wasn’t for you, I really don’t think I would be alive today. Your sacrifices will never be forgotten.
Always going to be there for each other, forever!
Happy 50th Birthday Sardar Charanjit ‘Bobby’ Singh Diraag!
May Waheguru always enlighten your path.
(All the extract’s above have been provided for you from the forthcoming book – Unbreakable – By Jag Singh)
Jag Singh from London/Essex is an inspirational speaker, writer and he is constantly campaigning for Anti-Bullying, Mental Health and many other areas that effect the well-being of our communities. Jag has supported the NSPCC (The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children) by conducting seminars and workshops campaigning and working in child protection. He has also been supported by the Anti-Bullying Alliance, Sikh Channel, Zee TV and many other organisations. Jag is also an expert in Effective Sales/Business and Team Management.
For constant daily motivation you may :
-Follow Jag Singh on Twitter ~ @jagsingh_ican
-Subscribe to our YouTube Channel for Jag’s latest interviews and vlogs ~
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSp51TIcwEM&t=3s
