California’s First South Asian Federal Judge
Vijay “Jay” Chand Gandhi was sworn in as California’s first South Asian federal judge on April 14th. He is only the second Indian American federal judge in the country. Gandhi will be a magistrate judge for the U.S. District Court in California’s Central District. This...
Where Is My Sangat?
Posted by Mehmaan (Guest) in Sikhi on 04 28th, 2010 | 2 Comments
Guest blogged by Jind Kaur
For my inaugural [guest] post on The Langar Hall, I wanted to discuss something that is often on my mind when I think about our faith and how to practice it: the concept of sangat (the congregation). The Guru Sahibaan often impressed upon us how we should not isolate ourselves...
A Vaisakhi Call to Action: Standing up for Immigrant Rights
Guest blogged by Brooklynwala
While many of us were celebrating 311 years of the Khalsa at Sikh Day Parades and Nagar Kirtans this weekend, thousands of immigrants and their allies gathered in Phoenix, Arizona on Sunday to protest what is being called the most anti-immigrant legislation in the United...
It’s A Wonderful Afterlife
Posted by Jodha in Entertainment on 04 26th, 2010 | 6 Comments
Gurinder Chadha of Bend It Like Beckham fame returns with a new film, titled “It’s A Wonderful Afterlife.” The movie centers on the trials and tribulations of Rupy, a slightly overweight 20-something year old and her zealous Punjabi mother, who will stop at nothing to see her daughter happily...
“Punjabiye Zubane”
I have noticed these past couple of weeks that discussions about the value of Punjabi have become more prevalent. The issue of maintaining our “ma boli” is constantly on our minds and manifests in our everyday lives. However, with the onset of many Vaisakhi melas, Nagar Kirtans, and of...
Sharing The Guru’s Gift
A few weeks back, we attended our first Sikh Parade of the season.
Like every year, we love making the trip downtown to join our sangat and spend a beautiful spring day outside celebrating Vaisakhi. Amongst the sea of kesri dastaars and chunnis, there was keertan, gatka, and jakaaray filling the...
A Tale of 3 Nagar Kirtans and Other Weekend Wrap-Ups
Posted by Jodha in News on 04 19th, 2010 | 4 Comments
As many of us reflect upon the birth of the Khalsa this Vaisakhi, throughout North America (and beyond) our communities come together in celebration. Covered here is a round-up of Vaisakhi celebrations with various media links. If your city is covered here, provide us some context/anecdotes about...
Sikh Youth Scholarship
Posted by Sundari in Education on 04 15th, 2010 | 4 Comments
The Sikh Youth Scholarship is a scholarship program created by youth and provided to youth. The Scholarship is open to aspiring Gursikh students residing in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut or Pennsylvania. Students must be high school seniors who plan to attend a four-year college/university and...
Sikhi and Transformative Justice
Guest blogged by Brooklynwala
A few days ago, a friend sent me this powerful open letter she wrote in order to spark critical thinking and dialogue on the pitfalls of calling the police and relying on the criminal (in)justice system to deal with issues in our neighborhoods and communities. We live...
It Takes A Sangat
A few years back, I went to my first Charni Lagna ceremony. Charni Lagna – literally, “at the feet of the Guru” is the traditional name of the event where a Sikh formally begins reading from the Guru Granth Sahib.
Like most Sikh ceremonies, it is actually quite simple. After...
Young Sikh Girl Hopes to Audition for Glee
By now, everyone should have heard of Glee – a musical comedy-drama television series focusing on a high-school glee club. A glee club is a musical group which traditionally specializes in the singing of short songs. Before writing this blog post, i didn’t quite know how big this phenomenon...
Vaisakhi-A National Holiday
Sikhs will be celebrating Vaisakhi world wide next week on April 14th. Sikhs in Malayasia are requesting that Vaisakhi be made a national holiday.
Tan Sri Darshan Singh, the President of Malaysia National Sikhs Movement president, said, “The Sikhs who arrived earlier in this country served in...
PunjabiKosh App Released
Posted by Sundari in Media on 04 8th, 2010 | 11 Comments
The Ravi Foundation recently released PunjabiKosh – the first full-featured, mobile Punjabi-English and English-Punjabi Dictionary. Designed for iPhones and iPods, this Punjabi dictionary is the first of its kind created for this platform. The app is currently priced at $6.99.
The app provides...
Fauja Singh Turns 99
A true Sikh hero, Fauja Singh, turned 99 last Thursday.
Turbaned Tornado, Fauja Singh turns 99 on Thursday. Here’s wishing this Punjabi icon who manages running marathons at an age not many reach, many happy returns of the day. Besides other gifts that he’d be receiving on his birthday on April...
Film on Farmer Suicides Released in Punjab
Harvest of Grief, a new documentary directed by Anwar Jamal recently premiered in Punjab. The film aims to tackle the rising number of farmer suicides in Punjab.
Harvest of Grief is a 60 minute documentary of farmers’s suicides in the dry district of Sangrur. Suicides are due to indebtedness arising...
A Sad Chapter
As many Sikhs throughout the world are gearing up to celebrate Vaisakhi, we continuously get disheartening news as well. In Toronto there was a shameful incident this weekend.
From the Toronto Star:
A former judge, now a prominent Brampton lawyer, is in hospital with serious stab wounds when a mob...
The Power Of Graphics: Information On War Costs
Posted by Phulkari in World News on 04 2nd, 2010 | 2 Comments
Wow. The use of graphics to display information about war costs is very powerful. Look at a few graphics below published on The Guardian’s blog about the cost and size of armed forces world-wide.
War Chests: Who has the biggest military budget per year?
