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This septuagenarian does not watch TV or gossip with friends. He counsels the youth both in India and abroad about AIDS, drugs and prostitution. He is Dr Raghbir Singh Bains from Manak Dheri village in Hoshiarpur district, settled in Surrey in British Columbia, Canada. Every year he visits India for three months. During his stay in Jalandhar, Dr Bains creates awareness about AIDS, drugs and prostitution in schools and colleges.
Counselling can help drug addicts kick the habit, but the success rate is just 10 per cent.
His tools are media, pamphlets, exhibitions and slide shows. Dr Bains claims there are 70,000 AIDS cases in Punjab.
“I visited jails in Canada to rehabilitate prisoners.
I got a good response from Punjabis there,” he says.
He is also a community activist and educator for many organisations to promote cultural understanding and mutual respect among communities in British Columbia.
Dr Bains has produced many publications on drug and alcohol addiction, HIV/AIDS awareness, poverty and world peace.
He has received various national and international awards. He was declared Scholar of the 20th Century by the Punjab Government. In 2005, he was honoured with the Order of British Columbia Award, the highest provincial award in Canada.
Author of the Encyclopedia of Sikhism that covers Sikh religion, history, culture and heritage, Dr Bains migrated to Canada in 1990.
He did his PhD in world culture and world religion from Senior University International, Wyoming, USA, at the age of 60.
“When I was working on the Encyclopedia, I sold everything. I devoted many years to compile it,” he says.
The encyclopedia was released in 2002.
He is also the brain behind the Multimedia Sikh Museum at Khaddor Sahib, near Amritsar.
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By: Vishal Gulati, Tribune News Service
Source: Tribune India (www.tribuneindia.com)
