Jakara Movement

Day 6: The Return

2005-12-27T20:36:00.000-08:00

Coordinating over six flights at two airports, the crew of j.Korps planned to leave at 8:30am to not miss Harinder “Last to Arrive, First to Leave” Kaur’s flight. Unfortunately mispacking and many pictures later, the time was closer to 9:15am, before the minivans would set out on the I-10 one last time.

The final van to leave – the grey van packed in the excess luggage and crammed in eight passengers en route to the Gulfport airport. Followed by the police for a number of miles, the crew worried that the po-po’s would write a different conclusion to their trip. While the grey van drove to drop-off Sukhjiven “The Patient” Kaur at the airport, the blue and red vans would run into troubles with traffic diversions. Frustrations and tensions ran high as departure times loomed. Drivers did their best to make sure that none would be late.

Finally, the I-10 finally opened up and all parties reached their flights on-time. The last batch, the Seven from San Ho, the Eastcoaster, and the Brother/Sister team ate a final lunch at the Golden Corral before being drenched by the rains and returning all rented vehicles. The last members of the j.Korps said their final goodbyes to Louisiana. Although each arrived as individuals, it is the hope that they left with memories as a team – J.Korps Mississippi.

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa! Waheguru Ji Ke Fateh!

Day 5: The Last Stand

2005-12-27T20:29:00.001-08:00

Friday would bring mixed thoughts. Following Harjinder's Ardas, the members of the j.Korps knew that this would be the last day and as they set off for their final trip, they did so without Captain John.

Today they would be led by the New Zealander, Wym. For some of the uninitiated, it was their first trip to the ghetto. For the rest, the ghetto of Gulfport was no different than any other they had seen anywhere else. They found the house and saw the human element. Here was a family living in a trailer on the front yard of their home. Wym and Jarjeet took the lead and spoke to the owner and started the process of removing valuables.

While the crew took the utmost care to be careful with the household items, Ravneet “Butterfingers” Kaur would drop the commemorative JFK plate. As the crew set out to work, it would become apparent that this house was like no other. There was no noticeable waterline nor had the rooms undergone the same damage as had other homes in days before. The roof had been lost, but the rooms seemed intact. While some group members speculated about possible insurance fraud, the group had a task to complete and complete it they would. From removing wood panels, to punching out drywall, to the all-to-important but thankless work of debris removal, the group was noticeably tired but determined and diligent.

The crew worked until lunch when they got an additional treat of a Snickers and M&Ms. By 4pm, they had completed the house. The only problem came when Wym attempted to turn on the water. Mrigender “Unnecessary Roughness” was soaked by the problem in the bathroom.

After dancing to 2pac’s California Love, the crew left Wym to deal with the water issue and headed back to cabins.

While the original plan called for dinner at a restaurant, none could resist Lucy’s hotwings and appetizers started early. The crew said their goodbyes to Lucy, including Harinder “I like sitting on tables” Kaur and headed out one final time for the elusive Chili’s. Finally finding one, four days later, the group decided to wait and play a game of bowling to work up an appetite.

At the bowling alley, Jaspreet “Miffed” and Lilly “I am Hungry” Kaur chomped on some nachos, while the rest put on their bowling shoes. The game became competitive as Jarjeet “Dynamite” Singh struggled early on. From the get-go it seemed that main competitors were Mrigender “Unnecessary Roughness,” Amardeep “Bhatti”, and Sanjeev “Sanju” Singh. After much dancing by the Troll and others, the final score showed a disappointing finish for Dynamite.

“Bhatti” finished first with a high score of 130, while Deep “Prijno” Singh finished second. Only a double-gutter in the third frame prevented a UCLA sweep. Also of note, Ravneet “INRA” Kaur defeated her brother Jasvinder “Thanda” Singh.

At Chili’s, the members of j.Korps actually enjoyed their closing dinner and then headed back to the cabins. The night would not end before valaiti calls and kennel questions. Although many others were planned, the build-up was great, but deliverance weak. And so ended the final night of j.Korps – Mission: Mississippi.

Day 4: Two Houses

2005-12-27T20:28:00.001-08:00

Thursday would bring new changes. It would be the first day that the group would leave 510 Division St., but it would also be Chuck’s last day. The day began with Amardeep Singh leading the group in the daily Ardas. After setting off, the crew got a look at class differences in Biloxi. While the first house was a tongue-in-groove home, the new home had weak foundations. The hurricane's devastation had been complete.

After taking out the carpets and woodpaneling, the team got started on the drywall. Some of the members got to use the chainsaw and remove some tree debris.

Daredevils Mrigender “Unnecessary Roughness” and Deep “Aren’t You Too Old to Be Doing Dumb Things” Singh climbed the beams to kick out the roof. What seemed like a good idea, quickly degenerated into a waste of time and effort.

Focused on their task, the crew amazed the Grassroots staff and had finished the bulk of the task by lunch. On their competitive high, the j.Korps started taunting the rival esteemed Hands-On America. The so-called “Varsity A-Team” of house-destruction seemed a rather weak match. While they had T-shirts, sweatshirts, and Darth Vader-like N-95s, the members of the j.Korps were sure that we could challenge them in a house destroying contest. During the lunch, Gurjit “The Chor” Singh wanted a souvenir from Hands-On. He helped himself to a broken stereo-player and thus shamed his name. At least he could have taken one that worked. Instead he helped himself to a broken one.

After lunch, Chuck was able to secure a “ripe” house. This house at 256 had not been entered since the Hurricane and still had all the homeowners’ belongings, including molding refrigerator contents. The crew set out to work removing the goods of the house. This was the first house that the magnanimity of the hurricane was brought to life. The group understood the human impact as they shuffled through pictures, documents, and mementos. Despite the human tragedy, the Korps members remained focused in their work.

Jarjeet "I can bust through a O-line faster than Ray-Ray" Singh opened the session by rushing through the door. The crew marveled at Chuck’s destructive abilities with the crow bar, the power of the double Hs (Harjinder and Harinder) ability to take down the bathroom wall, and the piñata festivities as Sukhjiven tried to take out the final drywall pieces above the windows. In what could only have been accomplished through a team effort, the house was taken down in record-time and the j.Korps earned the accolades of their hosts.

The crew returned to the Biloxi Sports Complex and watched the feats of Chuck that would have made his Sigma Xi brothers proud. Chuck soon left to cut down some firewood and find the answer to the perennial question “how much wood could a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood?” While Amandeep and Jarjeet would return to the festivities, the rest of the crew would start with their evening Rehraas Paath and Kirtan Sohila.

Following tha Paath, Sanjeev “Is He Done Yet?” Singh would get a riveting lecture about the differences between the armed forces from Jasdeep “I like Aliens” Singh.

Jarjeet, Amandeep, Harjinder, Amardeep, and Mrigender would get the craving for waffles and after appeasing their hunger with disgusting food from their big-toothed calculator-wielding waitress would remember that they were indeed south of the Mason-Dixon Line in the “dirty, dirty.” The other two mini-vans would also go on a bathroom excursion that seemed to lead to annoyance and irritation. After the eventful night, the crew went to sleep and prepared for what would be their last day.

Day 3: Game Day

2005-12-27T20:28:00.000-08:00

Eager to correct the err of their late first day, the crew woke up at 6:30am in anticipating an early morning. Few enjoyed the warm showers; all enjoyed the grits and bacon (except Gurjit). With Aman back up to 90%, the crew did a quick Ardas before they left and thanked Waheguru for the day and the opportunity to serve.

Driving east down I-10, they saw the corporate signs calling for rebuilding “together.” The day started where the last one left off. The boys busied themselves with punching their fists through glass as the women did the real work of cleaning the debris. Before lunch, Deep “the Old” Singh stepped on a nail and was out of commission during the lunch break.

As the rest of the crew enjoyed their sandwiches in the neighborhood church, Deep rejoined the crew for the post-lunch resumption. While the Bruin batch busied themselves with the heating system and a gas leakage, Amar, Sanjeev, Birpal, and Deep tried their hand at linoleum archaeology. Appreciating the smaller things in life, removal of full linoleum squares would often be the cause of great applause.

The women of j.Korps took on the thankless job of clearing the debris, taking apart the bathrooms, and sweeping the rooms for the final product.

Day 3 also saw the entry of Lilly Kaur and Gurjit Singh. Lilly was instrumental in the destruction of the bathroom and Gurjit “I Have Tourette Syndrome” Singh seizured as he destroyed the kitchen cabinets and sink with his handy crowbar.

The crew ended their work by 4pm and headed back to return their tools to the base station at the Biloxi Sports Complex. Still in the competitive spirit, Jaspreet “The GM” Kaur and Ravneet “First Draft Pick” Kaur chose their teams. First to be selected was Jasvinder “I am thanda” Singh, while Gurjit Singh would only be chosen by Ravneet after all trade clauses and waterboys had already been drafted. While Preeti’s team would strike first, Ravneet’s Team Jugni cheered on by their cheerleaders would end up with the W. With powerful kicks, intelligent base coaching, and timely pinch running, Team Jugni was too much to handle and Preeti, along with team members Jasdeep “What’s His Name?” Singh and Jarjeet “I am not MJ” Singh left the diamond noticeably dejected.

The crew returned to their cabins and after showers and dinner by Lucy, the j.Korps came together for an evening of Rehraas Sahib and Kirtan Sohila paaths. The crew was joined by two goray who enjoyed the “interesting prayers.” Following the paath, the crew played a game of Mafia under Jarjeet’s supervision. While Mafia members Sukhjiven and Deep were able to assassinate all the townspeople, the game soon fell apart as the male members began crying that the game is “gay.” However, the nighttime activities were not to end as the crew migrated to the boys’ cabin. Games of “Complete the Sentence” and “Telephone” would occupy the rest of the time. The festivities soon broke down after shadiness during the 10 Fingers game, but by that time it was time to go to bed and get ready for the next day.

Day 2: Work

2005-12-27T20:26:00.000-08:00

Tuesday morning the group woke up at 7:30am and delayed the start of their hosts’ work day. While Deep waited in anticipation for the morning to finally arrive, the rest of the group slumbered out of their sleeping bags and into the morning light. Most skipped their morning showers and instead chose to head straight for the morning grits, eggs, and sausage.

Finally leaving the grounds at 8:45am, the crew led by Grassroots Volunteer Network leaders Demetrius “Demo” and John headed towards the Biloxi Sports Complex where they met Dori the Dog and her four puppies.

Picking up their shovels, crowbars, flatheads, and hammers, the crew set out for their first house at 510 Division St. Demo gave the j.Korps a quick tutorial in house destruction and then let the crew get down to business. With many of the men quick to pounce on the tongue-and-groove walling, the women busied themselves with the removal of debris and drywall destruction. The Vietnamese owner of the house inspected the work and it seemed to meet his approval.

While fifteen rushed into their work (including a 60% Amandeep “the Sick” Singh), members Gurjit “I have work” Singh and Lilly “No Boots” Kaur took pictures and went on a Walmart run for goggles. As they returned late for lunch, there was fear that the two would be assaulted, but the anger soon subsided as Chuck took the team on a beautiful tour of a destroyed bridge.

The team got to see firsthand the destruction havocked on the coast. Parking structures had literally been thrown over streets and casinos and houses lay in tatters. The group only worked a half-day on their first Tuesday as Chuck thought it would be a great idea to give the crew a tour of the destruction. Members Jarjeet Singh and Gurjit Singh had other plans and asked for the rest of the day off. The team returned to their cabins. Some mingled with the 200 Indiana Hoosiers that were sharing the facilities, while most korps members retired early. Lilly finally received her luggage at 10pm, after many phone calls and much frustration.

j.Korps Crew

2005-12-26T00:15:00.000-08:00

Amandeep Singh	Amardeep Singh	Birpal Kaur
Mrigender Singh	Gurjit Singh	Harinder Kaur
Jasdeep Singh	Jasvinder Singh	Jarjeet Singh
Jaspreet Kaur	Ravneet Kaur	Sanjeev Singh
Vikrum Singh	N/A Deep Singh	Harjinder Kaur
Sukhjiven Kaur	Lilly Kaur

Day 1 - Traveling

2005-12-25T22:55:00.000-08:00

The days of all seventeen sevadars started much the same. From sleepy-eyed waiting lines to check in baggage, to peanut and Sprite sustenance, to lost baggage, the travelers of j.Korps all finally arrived in New Orleans. With Sukhjiven Kaur the Patient welcoming all that arrived, the crew busied themselves by playing cards. Finally eleven hours after Sukhjiven Kaur the Patient first arrived, the Californians grew restless for something to eat. Waiting for the rental of the three minivans, the crew set out on our first quest – food! Circling the city of Kenner a number of times for the elusive Chili’s, the team finally found an Olive Garden. After the huge feast that no one enjoyed, they set out to the mission site – Biloxi, Mississippi where they were greeted by Chuck at 1am. Treking through the mud, they laid to rest for the first day tomorrow morning. Goodnite.

Introducing the Crew of J.Korps:

Amandeep Singh the Sick
Amardeep Singh the Questioner
Birpal Kaur the anti-3 Meat Ravioli
Deep Singh the Old
Gurjit Singh the One with Bad Music
Harinder Kaur the Last to Arrive and First to Leave
Harjinder Kaur the Small Sweatshirt
Jarjeet Singh the Angry and Hungry
Jasdeep Singh the Marine
Jaspreet Kaur the Starved
Jasvinder Singh the Other Fetcher (of Fallen Luggage)
Lilly Kaur the no-Luggage
Mrigender Singh the Retriever (of Fallen Luggage)
Ravneet Kaur the Soccer Mom
Sanjeev Singh the Late (almost missed the morning flight)
Sukhjiven Kaur the Patient
Vikrum Singh the Ipod DJ