India v. Pakistan: Beyond the Hype
Guestblog by Fakir I’ve been complaining for several weeks regarding the cricket craze and how educated, conscious south asians should be taking this moment of international spotlight on their ancestral or native countries to highlight their higher expectations for their countries much like what...
People’s Party of Punjab
As we follow news on pro-democracy uprisings across the globe, Panjab has joined this conversation in it’s own way.  On Sunday March 27th 2011, Manpreet Badal announced a brand new political party in preparation for February 2012 elections in Punjab.  Thousands gathered at Khatkar Kalan village,...
Conocimiento 2011 – Knocking Down Myths on Immigration
Guestblogged by Mewa Singh This past week members of the College Sikhs Collaborative and the Jakara Movement – created the first Alternative Spring Break – explored the issue of immigration by visiting so-called ground zero – the Mexi/Cali border.  While the surge of the Tea Party...
Understanding and Celebrating Shaheed Bhagat Singh
Guest blogged by resistsingh March 23rd, 2011 marked the Anniversary of the Martyrdom of Shaheed Bhagat Singh. Bhagat Singh is a legend in many circles, a man who gave his life to secure the freedom of India from Colonial Rule.  Today, many celebrate his bravery and he has become somewhat of an icon....
Soul Food (and Parontha) Junkies
As a continuation of the conversation initiated by Navdeep’s post “Fatting it Up at the Langar Hall,” I want to share this the trailer for Soul Food Junkies, a film-in-progress directed by African American filmmaker and activist Byron Hurt. The parallels to the challenges we face in...
Holi: Color Me What?
This post by our Mehmaan is none other than Harinder Singh.  About Harinder Singh – he works with the Sikh Research Institute and the Panjab Digital Library to address all things Sikhi and Panjabi. http://twitter.com/1force I have taken some time off to be Mr. Mom while my wife is on a work assignment...
Roots of Love: Exploring Hair in the Sikh Community
Conversations about hair are often emotional for Sikhs – and therefore they are conversations which we tend to avoid.  For many Sikhs, it is a constant struggle to explain the historical significance of keeping our hair and/or wearing a turban while other Sikhs will argue that simply keeping your...
Japan in Crisis: What you can do
The aftermath of last Friday’s earthquake and tsunami in Japan is nothing short of horrific. I’m sure most of you have seen footage of the devastation on the news and on YouTube.  My mind is boggled, my heart is aching, and I am all in all extremely overwhelmed by what is happening. While...
Immigration Matters
Immigration is a popular topic on The Langar Hall. Many of us being immigrants ourselves, if not the children of immigrants, the topic often hits home. Still anytime the topic of ‘illegal immigration’ takes place (at least here in the United States), many Sikhs believe that it is the problem...
The Lost Children of Punjab: 1984-2011
Guest blogged by santokh A couple days ago I was reading some news articles on Hondh Chillar and Pataudi. Some of these articles include photographs from the two big events that took place at Hondh Chillar–clean up of the destroyed gurdwara building and Akhand Paath that took place thereafter in...
Sikh Vatavaran Diwas Di Vadhaiyan
If you haven’t heard yet, March 14th, the First of the month of Chet in the Nanakshahi Calendar is being commemorated by Sikhs across six continents as ‘Sikh Vatavaran Diwas,’ or Sikh Environment Day. Following an official statement from the Akal Takht, this week over 250 Gurdwaras, schools,...
A 2011 Sikholarly Success
My apologies for a post that is far overdue.  So Sikholars 2011 came and went.  This year was an even greater success than last year with attendance of over 110+ and a growing number of presenters.  This year’s Sikholars 2011 class – Kamal Arora, Amneet Singh Bali, Sonia Dhami, Amandeep...
Class Tyranny in Wisconsin
By now you’ve probably heard about Wisconsin governor Scott Walker’s attack on working class people and labor unions in Wisconsin.  This week, Walker’s bill, which undermines public sector workers’ right to collectively bargain and slashes their benefits, among other things,...
Soho Road – Five Rivers to Five Boroughs
An exhibition showcasing British Bhangra music and Culture, titled ‘Soho Road to the Punjab’, will be crossing the pond from the UK to New York City on March 18th 2011 at 6pm.  The USA version of the exhibition, Soho Road – Five Rivers to Five Boroughs, will be the world’s first visual...
The What, Why, and Who of Hondh Chillar and Pataudi
Guest blogged by Preserve Architectural Heritage What: discovery of two sites linked to 1984: (1) Hondh Chillar, discovered January 2011. (2) Pataudi, discovered Februrary 2011. Both are in Haryana. Excerpts from Press Releases from Sikhs for Justice reveal that 32 men, women, and children were brutally...
International Women’s Day: Advancing Nanak’s Vision for Gender Equality
Today, March 8th, is the 100th annual International Women’s Day! This year’s theme is “Equal access to education, training and science and technology: Pathway to decent work for women.” The first International Women’s Day was celebrated in 1911 in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland,...
Sikh men gunned down in possible hate crime in Sacramento
The Sacramento Bee is reporting that two elderly Sikh men were shot while going on an afternoon walk in their suburban neighborhood on Friday.  One of the men, 67-year-old Surinder Singh died from the attack on Friday, and 78-year-old Gurmej Atwal is in critical condition, suffering from two gunshot...
SikhLEAD: An Initiative to Increase Community Engagement and Leadership
The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF) has announced the Congressional Internship Program (CIP) as part oftheir new initiative called SikhLEAD. The objective of SikhLEAD is to inspire, train, and support motivated and enterprising young Sikh American leaders as they prepare for a...
Interview with Sikh Knowledge
Last month our friends over at Sepia Mutiny posted an interview with Montreal-based hip hop producer Sikh Knowledge, which I think many TLH readers will find of interest.  Sikh Knowledge aka Kanwar Anit Singh Saini has worked with many favorite Sikh hip hop artists including Humble the Poet, Mandeep...