[upbeat music] [gentle music] - [Karanveer] Our differences are kind of like, they make us similar in a sense.

The Sikh faith, for example, is rooted in public service, serving others, defending yourself.

And these are all values that we grew up in America with.

It's our duty to stand up for others and ourselves.

[gentle music] Being a turban-wearing sick kid, you're often concerned of how others perceive you.

In sixth, seventh grade, I was going to school one day.

I remember passing a bus and there was an eighth grader on the bus and she just yelled out a racial slur for no reason.

Things like that kind of stuck with me.

Those small incidents like that gave me a reminder that it's my duty to do my part, to make it better for other kids.

So that's why the book came about and doing the work I'm doing now.

In high school, one of the assignments was to write a report on PTSD, a certain community.

I got the idea to write a book on bullying.

I had kids coming up to me in tears, and they were expressing that it wasn't just kids picking on them but it was teachers as well.

So, I realized that the book would be a tool for educators.

Gave my first presentation to an audience of teachers, police officers, school safety officers, psychologists, psychiatrists, and everyone basically that deals with kids on a daily basis.

And they were very cooperative and gave me the opportunity to speak at all the local elementary schools in town.

Since then, I've just been trying to take the initiative to get out and speak to as many kids as possible.

How's everybody doing today?

I didn't hear you the first time.

- [Crowd] Good!

- Who knows what the number one form of bullying is today?

Someone said, what was it?

Cyberbullying, that's correct.

Bullying today takes place through cyberbullying, physical bullying, and verbal bullying.

Oftentimes bullying goes unnoticed, and it can be the most minor forms.

My purpose of the book is to make teachers more aware of the various forms that kids use to target other kids.

I noticed a scary trend in bullying rates, specifically amongst those in my community.

So the goal through this book is highlighting the Sikh community.

Sikh, go through bullying at twice the national average rate because we stand out.

- Are you allowed to show your hair in public, or?

- Good question.

So am I allowed to show my hair in public?

The answer's no.

So whenever I step outta my house, it has to be covered.

And it's because of uni- ...it's like a uniform.

So just like a police officer wouldn't step out of their department without their uniform on, similarly Sikh have to be in their uniform.

- What happens if you like don't wear it?

- What happens if I don't wear it?

God's gonna come down and I'm gonna go to hell.

I'm just kidding, I'm kidding.

I'm kidding, I'm kidding.

I did my master's writing a report on bullying in schools in New Jersey.

I reached out to the kids there and I asked them wherever they went to school and how they felt.

And I used their data to strengthen what I had written in the past in my book.

Passion kind of came from my faith.

Our main kind of tenets of our faith are to earn honest living, to remember God at all times, and serve others.

That's why I chose this path is because it was one way to kind of raise awareness, but then also to make an impact.

[singing in foreign language] The Kirpan, it's a ceremonial sword of varying lengths.

I took the initiative to raise awareness about it because I knew I was gonna get confronted about carrying a weapon into these buildings.

So, I reached out to the state police.

We filmed a short and informative video about the Kirpan, and what law enforcement officials can do when they interact with someone wearing it.

That was not only disseminated across all the law enforcement officers, but also I shared that with my local community.

And that kind of gave them an insight as to folks in uniform are there to actually help you.

I joined the Zoning Board in Voorhees Township towards the end of undergrad.

I'm the youngest on the board.

Being on the Zoning Board gives me an opportunity to see what residents are experiencing on a day to day basis.

It's a good opportunity to see the involvement that the public has when issues are brought up.

It was cool, placing my hand on our scripture and sending that message like, Voorhees' Township is inclusive.

It was an opportunity to put everything I was learning in class into kind of practice.

When I first got into Rutgers, and I was commuting there every day.

I did have the usual concerns that folks have of my faith.

If I would be targeted by bullying and stuff like that.

But overall Rutgers as a whole, the Camden campus is a very welcoming and open community.

- Trying to study, - Oh, cause you have to do the licensing exam.

So that's like the bar exam basically.

- Yeah, basically license or exam.

- [Karanveer] My future career plans are to get involved in government and eventually I wanna run for office and hopefully I can change up the way things are running in society.

I feel like the policies aren't doing the job that they're supposed to.

So, kind of just restructuring and changing the entire setup of those policies is necessary.

Now we're gonna do that turban-tie demonstration on Mr. Maddox.

[crowd cheering] I love community service and activism.

We do have a large growing diverse community in Camden county.

The people here want to see you succeed.

And the folks around you are always there to help.

Even though it may feel like you're not doing much, or it feels mundane, it's necessary because you never know when someone might need your presence.

And that's why I like public service because it gives you an opportunity to be there at the right moment.

[crowd cheering] [gentle music] The more people get involved, the better the outcome.

Everyone often complains about the system and how it's not beneficial for folks, but if you're just sitting on the sidelines, nothing's gonna change.

So, it's important to be involved in it and get active because that's how we're gonna make the change.

But it's not gonna come overnight.

It's like a long run.

It's getting better slowly, but we always have to be proactive and make sure no one goes through it.

So that's kind of why I do it today.

A lot of times, kids in my community don't realize the importance of remembering a purpose.

Do the right work every day.

That's kind of what keeps me going.

[gentle music]