Of Tales Untold

In Chandigarh,Gray’s two documentaries Canadian Soldier Sikhs: A little story in a big war and Lumber Lions are being screened at the Consulate General of Canada in Sector 17 as part of the “Canadian Voices: Celebrating Canadian Creativity” event. While May 9 saw the screening of Canadian Sikh Soldiers,May 13 will see the world premiere of Lumber Lions.

For over 50 years now,Gray has been documenting the stories and history of Sikhs in Canada. “I was determined to find out what happened to those 40 Sikh men. Today,I have information on six of them,” says Gray,who is in Chandigarh for the event. He also found about Sikhs serving in the Canadian Army during World War I,something that has never been recorded with conviction. “The focus was always on the Komagata Maru incident of 1914 where a Japanese ship carrying Sikhs was denied immigration. It was about those who never made it into Canada. My work focuses on the before and after of it,” he says.

A writer,photographer,researcher and curator,whose love of the Arctic has led him to study birds and mammals in Canada’s High Arctic since 1968,Gray says he found writing a book difficult and took to the medium of films. He has also directed and produced the film Searching for the Sikhs of Tod Inlet (2009),and directed Arctic Shadows: the Arctic Journeys of Dr. R. M. Anderson (2010),Beyond the Gardens’ Wall (2010),and Dis-Immigration (2012).

While Lumber Lions traces the involvement of the Sikhs in the lumber industry of British Columbia,Canadian Soldier Sikhs is the story of 10 Sikh men who enlisted in the Canadian Army during World War I. The latter follows them through the enlistment process,training and transport to France by a troop ship. It features the struggles these soldiers faced and the battles they fought,including those during which two of them were killed. The film follows one injured soldier back to Canada on a hospital ship and to Kitchener’s TB hospital. Images of his war grave and the story of how his war medal has survived bring a personal touch to the film. The film ends with the story of the soldiers’ return to civilian life,the tracing of their descendants,and a visit to the European graves of two of the Canadian Sikh soldiers.

It was an emotional experience for Gray. He says the Canadian army made no allowances for their food,religion or appearance while the Britishers did. “They were never even given citizenship and families were denied entry,yet they served Canada. Their motivation to stay and fight is a mystery,” says Gray.

It’s an unknown aspect of Canadian history and he is trying to fill in the blanks. “I have a very positive image of Sikhs. They are open,happy and really good friends,” says Gray,who is yet to stomach the spicy Punjabi food. That said,his films on the community is his effort to connect India and Canada. This being his first visit to India,Gray will also visit the villages of these men in Punjab. “I will be documenting as I go along,for I intend to revisit Canadian Soldier Sikhs and add the new footage,” he says.