New Zealand youth embraces Sikhism, joins army

A 23-year-old white man in New Zealand was attracted to Sikhism and joined the practice. Now, he is with the army in the country.

Meet Louis Singh Khalsa, a baptised Sikh, whose original name was Louis Talbot. He was born in Timaru, a town in Canterbury.  completed his college education at Christ College, Christchurch. His mother is from England and father is from New Zealand.

“In 2015, I met a Sikh boy named Tejinder Singh at a friend's house. I asked him about Sikhism and he told me to visit Gurdwara Jagat Guru Nanak Sahib in Christchurch. When I went there I felt a different kind of calm,” Khalsa said.

He then started visiting the gurdwara every week where he met Sukhpreet Singh, Kamal Singh, Dilraj Singh, Kanwaljit Singh and Rajwinder Singh who inspired him to follow the Sikh way of life.

In June 2018, Khalsa went to Punjab in India and lived with a Sikh family and was baptized at Sri Kesgarh Sahib, Anandpur Sahib.

He started learning Gurmukhi and reciting bani and then he visited Darbar Sahib where he practised Punjabi by reading signboards on the streets. Later, when he returned to New Zealand he learned to play tabla and kirtan.

On July 4, he was the centre of attraction during the passing out parade for 63 new inductees into in the New Zealand army.