E-Mail: phulkari@thelangarhall.com
Web Page: http://www.thelangarhall.com
Registered Since: 2007-12-15 10:16:30
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Posts by Phulkari:
- Toronto, Canada from October 10-12, 2008 at the Isabel Bader Theatre.
- Hollywood, California from November 14-16, 2008 at the Writers Guild Theatre.
- Tupperware (i.e. I am not just talkin’ about Rubbermaid … I mean sour cream and whipped butter dabhaa). Over time this Tupperware becomes yellow from all the haldhee in sabjis … but soak it in the sun and most of the stains go away. Slowly over time old ones are replaced as new ones are collected.
- Corningware (do I really need say anything more … I think Chiyo’s explanation resonates perfectly with PSMs).
- Zee TV, Sony TV, and Alpha Etc. Punjabi nateekhs (what’s your mom’s favorite soap opera …).
- Noon Dhani (i.e. the steel container with small steel bowls and spoons for all their spices).
- Dhahee (i.e. homemade yogurt … sorry I personally can’t stand the boxed stuff after growing up on my mom’s delicious freshly made dhahee).
- Outrage at the rising cost of Ataa (i.e. flour that is commonly bought at the Indian store to make roti).
- House-walls that are painted hospital white … look how clean and simple they look. The rooms feel much more lighted with this color.
- Overstuffing Family And Friends With Food … lai if they leave your house without a food-coma, they did not have a good-time.
- Cooking your favorite Panjabi dish when you come home from college. It’s a sign of how much she missed you.
- The ten Gurus’ pictures, particularly those of Guru Nanak Dev Ji and Guru Gobind Singh Ji, are the number one home-decorating items.
Debate Of Body Languages: The Presidential Campaign
October 9th, 2008So this past Saturday, Tina Fey, did a great job impersonating Sarah Palin’s “performance” at the Vice Presidential Debate on SNL. The body language, voice, and choice of words were right on and HILARIOUS!
Yesterday, Robin Abcarian, of the Los Angeles Times, wrote about the debate of body languages between Obama and McCain during this week’s Presidential Debate.
Abcarian wrote:
Obama sat like a jazz musician on his chair, one heel hooked at an angle, while McCain sat as if he might leap up at any moment, or stood impatiently waiting for his turn to speak.
Glass, a body language expert said that McCain was, “… like the Energizer Bunny [who] had some batteries put in. “We have never seen McCain so warm and fuzzy and likable and dynamic.”
This same expert thought that, “… Obama seemed unnatural at times. “Somebody coached him and did not do him a favor,” she said. “When he talks about an issue he’s passionate about, his gestures are fluid and real, but other times, he took his index finger and clasped it to his thumb, and it’s phony, it’s not real.”
However, at the end of the debate, body language experts declared Obama as the winner because “… a debate is won in the first 15 minutes and lost in the last two … Obama closed on a higher note than McCain.”
For our readers, who watched the Presidential Debate, what body language or mannerisms did you notice that would be great for another Saturday Night spoof?
Panjabi Food-Choices In The Diaspora
October 2nd, 2008In an effort to better understand the food habitats of Panjabi immigrants, Canadian researchers conducted a three-year study on the ingredients used in daily Panjabi meals and food choices made by Panjabi families.
Gwen Chapman, study leader and British Columbia University nutrition professor, stated:
“Since cardiovascular diseases and type II diabetes are more prevalent among Indians and they are linked to food habits, we wanted to understand what ingredients went into daily Punjabi or Indian meals.”
An important part of study was also understanding how cultural affiliations play a role in Panjabi immigrant food choices.
Researchers found that “in Punjabi families in British Columbia … separate meals are often prepared to accommodate elders who need traditional roti, daal and subji, and younger family members who prefer to balance Indian and “Canadian” foods.”
While reading this article I thought about how these food choices actually play out in immigrant Panjabi homes across North America. I remember the rotis without butter for those who have high cholesterol and the weekend meal of burger and fries for us “American” kids. There were also the interesting “masalaa” pastas, lasagnas, and pizzas that had a “Panjabi” twist (i.e. tons of garam-masalaa). I recall uncles’ refusing to eat “kaa-foos” prepared by their wives, aunties making tofu-sabiji, and mothers’ substituting olive oil for vegetable oil when making tarkas. Many of these food choices were an effort to provide more healthy meals as a “preventive” form of action against heart disease and diabetes; while others were made to satisfy taste-buds.
So I was wondering what interesting food choices have you seen Panjabi families make in the Diaspora both to satisfy taste-buds and become more healthy?
“Spinning Wheel Festival”: A Celebration of Sikh Arts
September 25th, 2008Heads-up friends, the season of the “Spinning Wheel Festival” is about to begin across North America this autumn. Celebrating Sikh films and art, the first stop will be in New York City on Saturday, October 04, 2008 at the Asia Society & Museum (p.s. that’s next Saturday). Buy your tickets NOW! The wonderful Rabbi Shergill will be performing at the opening gala (yes I am really biased here … I heart Rabbi Shergill) and DJ Rekha will be literally “spinning” at the after party.
Films a the NYC festival will range from documentaries on Pahelwani (i.e. Panjabi wrestling) and Kaba
ddi-playing Canadian police officers to issues affecting the Sikh community from 1984 and post-9/11 hate crimes. There will also be short and feature films. For example, one on a young boy’
s struggle to keep his hair while his family fears the obstacles he will encounter and another on “… a young Sikh doctor struggling with the inequities of the American Health System and ultimately his own identity”. The Holy Duels of Hola Mohalla is a film looking at the Khalsa Panth.
The films seem interesting both in content and presentation. The stories are grounded in the realities many of us encounter everyday. You can get a full listing of the films and their synopses here.
In the past, I have attended the “Spinning Wheel Festival” at one of its many North American stops and found it a great space for artists and art-enthusiasts to be exposed to Sikh creativity. I remember there being a panel discussion with the directors and the audience. We don’t have too many of these creative opportunities in our community even though we spend plenty of time and space advertising foreign medical schools in Poland, China, and the Caribbean.
I have found that some films are really hit or miss at these festivals, but it’s expected sense the focus is on cultivating and inspiring creativity; while, building a permanent Sikh film festival for years to come. Cash prizes are awarded to the “bests” in various categories. I have been told that the listing and quality of films varies across the different North American stops.
At the end of the day why not go, especially if it’s close by. I personally think it’s worth a visit as an act of supporting Sikh arts and learning about the various issues affecting our community. Sometimes we get too caught up in our own worlds and don’t realize these issues are taking place or we are in amidst of them and they become normal parts of our lives leaving very little room for reflection or exposure to others’ perceptions. Thus, it’s an 
opportunity to get a fresh/new look at various issues.
Lastly, the arts, from painting and photography to films and music, are our community’s soul! They help us speak in ways we can’t always articulate. So go save your soul and attend a Sikh artistic event! 
Okay, enough of the attempt at convincing … the other North American stops will be:
Are ya’ll thinking of going? What have your experiences been at the various Spinning Wheel Festivals? Does anyone know of other North American stops?
p.p.s. The Toronto and Hollywood poster is really interesting isn’t it … a conversation in of itself!
Stuff Panjabi Sikh Moms Like…
September 18th, 2008So recently I came across a blog about all the “Stuff Korean Moms Like”. A Korean girl, Chiyo, who loves her KM (Korean Mom) decided to create this blog “to share the joy and dread of KM”.
As I went through the list … I kept thinking about our own PSM’s (Panjabi Sikh Moms) … now now don’t think it’s funny to call our mummies’ PMS that actually stands for Panjabi Male Syndrome!
From corningware to marrying people off and stank eye … I found many similarities between KMs and PSMs (although the differences were stark … I don’t even think many PSMs know what redbean is let alone love it. And when it comes to Jesus … let’s just stick with the Gurus and Waheguruji)!
Inspired by Chiyo’s blog on Korean Moms, let’ start our own list of “Stuff Panjabi Sikh Moms’ Like”! I will begin …
Please add to the list ( it’s in no particular order)! What do you think Panjabi Sikh Mom’s really like? I know many of you must have your own favorites!
Disclaimer: Please keep it clean, respectful, and hate-free … I really should not have to say this, but unfortunately in the virtual world people often display a “holds-no-bar” attitude when commenting on issues like this one.
Sikh Coalition Opens New Office On West Coast
September 12th, 2008In the past, several posts have focused on the work of the Sikh Coalition around community mobilization to fight school bullying and the launch of an educational tool. 
As part of the Sikh Coalition’s on-going work, it has opened a new office in Northern California to provide coast–to-coast civil/human rights advocacy for Sikhs. On September 10th, over 100 attendees, including local community members and politicians, celebrated the Sikh Coalition’s office opening in Fremont, California.
The Coalition’s, Western Regional Director, Neha Singh, said:
“Fremont is nationally the heart of the Sikh community … since we started, we’ve always taken cases from around the country, and a large amount of them were from the Bay Area. We thought it was now time to open an office in an area where a lot of the people requesting our services were.”
Sikh Woman In Malaysia: The Face Of HIV/AIDS Victims
August 27th, 2008Langa(w)riters have posted on AIDS/HIV infection amongst Sikh women here and here. We have discussed issues around support groups and causes of infection. One of the number one risk factors for contracting HIV/AIDS for Punjabi Sikh women is marriage. Many women are infected by their husbands who are intravenous drug addicts and/or clients of prostitutes. Not only are these women’s lives reaped with more havoc at no fault of their own, but there is also an insurmountable amount of stigma these women endure.
This past week, a Sikh woman, Kiranjit Kaur, stood up with tremendous strength and bravery to help combat this stigma. She become the poster-woman for people living with HIV/AIDS in Malaysia. At the age of 35, Kaur has decided to put her face to this disease because “I am here to help the ‘positive’ community and empower them and tell them they are not alone.”
Kiranjit Kaur contracted HIV in 1996 through her husband who was a former drug addict and has since passed away.
After contracting the disease she began working full-time with the Asian Pacific Council on AIDS Services as an advocate for other HIV/AIDS patients.
Sikh Man Recently Killed In Arizona: Occupational “Struggles” Faced By Panjabi Sikh Immigrants
August 21st, 2008From 7-Elevens to liquor and 99 cents stores, many Panjabi Sikh immigrants build a life for themselves as store workers. Working at these locations gives them a start in America, while engaging with its harsh realities. Regardless of educational background or the pind/shari divide, Panjabi Sikh immigrants work long hours into the night seven days of week trying to build a stable economic future for them and their families. On August 04, 2008, Inderjit Singh Jassal at the age of 62, was one of these Panjabi Sikh immigrants, who was murdered at a 7-11 store during his usual 13-hour shift in Phoenix, Arizona. Jassal had moved to the US nearly 20 years ago, while his wife and two adult children remained in India.
SALDEF reports that:
Mr. Jassal was working at a 7-11 store in West Phoenix when a black male, later identified as 27 year-old Jermaine Canada, walked in with his two children, aged 2 and 6. According to the surveillance video, the two individuals had a short conversation, at the end of which Mr. Canada pulled a concealed firearm from his shirt and fatally shot Mr. Jassal.
The most ironic aspect of this case is that no motive as been found. According to surveillance video there was no angry exchange between Jassal and Canada and nothing was stolen by the murderer.
SALDEF believes that this killing was nothing other than “… a heinous crime motivated by hate”.
According to one of Canada’s relatives, he had a history of drug abuse and mental illness. At the time of the killing, he was under supervised release following 2 years in prison for violating his probation, for a prior dug conviction, with a weapons charge.
Currently, Tajinder Singh Jassal, a nephew of Inderjit Singh Jassal and co-worker, is working to get immigration visas for Inderjit’s wife and children. He is considering sending an appeal letter to Arizona Senator John McCain’s Office for assistance with the visas because “The family is suffering right now. They want to see their father’s face.”
Gatka
August 16th, 2008I remember going to Nagar Kirtans and being awed by those doing Gatka (i.e. Sikh martial arts)! Their “performances” were eye-catching with action, discipline, determination, and spirituality. Watching Gatka helped me connect with Sikh history at a time when there were little resources around me to learn about Sikhi. This martial art gave me some insight into the concept of a “saint-solider” – one who exemplifies Miri/Piri (spiritual/temporal power). I got to see how a saint-solider physically fought to defend Sikhi.
Lately, I have heard people ask, “Is Gatka a “performance” or a “martial art”? I think the “performance” part of the question comes from those who think Gatka is being done more to please crowds than spiritually connect with Sikhi. Also, some think Gatka techniques are being compromised in order for it to be more “safe” for crowd performances? I personally think, Gatka is both a performance and a marital art, but that does not mean spirituality or technique has to be compromised. What do others think?
A recent BBC show on Gatka addressed how it is becoming a way for Diasporic youth to connect to their Sikh heritage, while focusing on physical fitness. It also touches on non-Sikhs participating in Gatka. Let us know what you think!
p.s. I have always found it empowering to see Sikh girls participating in Gatka, even though I rarely see women on Gurdwara management committees!
Sikh Woman: First Turbaned Pilot In America
August 14th, 2008The Sikh Research Institute (SikhRI) reported today that Arpinder Kaur, 28, of San Antonio, Texas has become the first turbaned pilot hired by a commercial airline in the United
States. As a Sikhni, she has helped pave the way for both Sikh men and women who wear a dastaar/turban to fulfill their passion for flying. No longer does flying just have to be an extra-curricular activity for these Sikhs, but it can also be an every-day job!
In March 2008, after resolving the issue of wearing her dastaar on-the-job, with the help of the Sikh Coalition, Arpinder Kaur was officially hired by American Airlines Corporation (AMR) as a First Officer. She filed her grievance for accommodation of her religious article of faith based on American Airlines’ allowance of “regulation approved hats”. An agreement was reached that is consistent with state and federal anti-discrimination law. In June 2008 she finished her pilot training program and is now flying Embraer Jets for American Eagle, a regional airline that is part of AMR based out of the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.
When Arpinder Kaur was asked why she chose to do this, she said:
“Two of the reasons I did this were: first, my love of flying and, second, to set a precedent for the community so they know you can be in your Sikh appearance and do anything out there; so that my younger brothers and sisters [the rising generation] will pursue their passions while practicing their Sikh faith.”
Her passion for flying first started when at the age of 15 she got to sit in the cockpit of an airplane when moving from Panjab. Despite having a degree in Information Systems and her mother’s belief that it was too dangerous for a girl to be a pilot, Kaur has chosen to follow her passion; while using it as a means for supporting her family. Kaur said it was the love and support of her husband, Pritpal Singh that pushed her forward on the path toward becoming a pilot. Kulbir Singh Sandhu, captain with AMR mentored her throughout her aviation career. From 2003 to 2005 Kaur was trained by Jesse Sherwood in Kansas. With the help of these individuals and others along with her own perseverance and determination, Kaur and American Airlines have shown that accommodation and not assimilation is the way to harness the strength of diversity in America.
Harinder Singh, executive director of the Sikh Research Institute (SikhRI) in San Antonio, Texas said, “This is a great day for the Sikhs in America. Religious accommodation, not assimilation, is what the founders of this great nation envisioned and we are thrilled American Airlines celebrates the rich religious and cultural diversity of all American populations.”
Here is a short film on Arpinder Kaur and “piloting”:
Sikh Women: Sukhmani Sahib Clubs And Int’l Day Of Peace
August 13th, 2008Is your mom “chapter president” or a “member” of the local Sikh women’s Sukhmani Sahib club? Many Sikh women (generally those with Auntie status) are commendably coming together to form small groups who go to each other’s homes about once a month to do Sukhmani Sahib da paat to help
bring/remember peace. Sometimes there is a specific issue a woman’s family is encountering and at other times it just for general familial peace. Thus, our mothers and aunties get to socialize about their everyday lives and connect spiritually through sangat and paat! One of the many things we could learn from them about practicing Sikhi!
As International Day of Peace approaches on September 21st, these groups of Sikh women are being asked to come together to recite Sukhmani Sahib da paat. Sukhmani can be defined as counselor of peace or peace of mind with sukh meaning “peace” and mani meaning “mind”, “heart” or “jewel”. The entire paat/poem is known as the “jewel of peace” or “song of peace”. So if your mom belongs to one of these groups or is interested in joining/creating one, please let her know about this day of observance! Now she can do paat to help bring/remember peace in the world along with your well-being!
p.s. It’s always interesting about how many Sikh women are the focal points for spirituality in homes … but that’s another post!
High School Panjabi Classes
August 10th, 2008Langa(w)riters have posted in the past on issues surrounding the preservation of the Panjabi language here, here, and here. Be it anywhere from Panjab to North America, the preservation of the Panjabi language is intimately tied to the preservation of a Panjabi and Sikh heritage. For example, in a recent article on Live Oaks High School offering Panjabi courses, Mohinder Singh Ghag, director of Live Oaks Schools Foundation stated:
“The language is the only reason we have a link to our ancestors.”
Thus, the discussion around solutions has understandably centered around learning Panjabi in homes, gurdwaras, high schools and universities. I personally think having these learning opportunities available at all these different sites is a much-needed step towards maintaining the Panjabi language. I have always found the process of getting Panjabi classes taught in high schools particularly interesting because of how they require engaging the community, the reasons for creating them, and how they are incorporated into the public K-12 educational system.
For example, commendably in Live Oaks, California (located about 10 miles north of Yuba City, California):
Punjabi community members knocked on doors and made announcements in temples to get teenagers to sign a petition expressing interest in a Punjabi language class at Live Oak High School.
About 25 students signed-up.
Sikh Women At The Bristol Gurdwara: “We’re Not Going Anywhere”
August 6th, 2008In a recent post, Camille asked important questions around growing Sikh female leadership/representation, rather than just “managing” it. At the heart of leadership in any organization is decision-making. A critical component of growing Sikh female-leadership/representation is giving access to decision-making spaces that are commonly occupied by Sikh men and incorporating female perspectives into decision-making. Thus, you will see the strongest battles for gender equity in Sikh organizations tend to be fought around decision-making power. A recent example of such a battle was at a Gurdwara in Bristol, U.K. where two factions were fighting over allowing women to take part in Gurdwara elections. Women were demanding the right to vote while also running for committee-member seats. This past Sunday during Gurdwara management-committee elections, both factions broke out into a riot over allowing 79 women to vote past the registration deadline.
According to the Daily Mail:
Six riot vans were dispatched to close the road in Fishponds, Bristol, and one man was arrested and cautioned for a public order offence during the seven-hour stand-off.
Voting finally finished at 4pm and resulted in three women being voted onto the management committee for the first time in the temple’s history.
The trigger for the riot was when one man frustrated by the situation started trouble inside the Gurdwara that spilled out onto the street where “women were blocking his car and trying to push it over while he was still inside clinging to the steering wheel”.
An elderly women at the site reported “… a crowd of mainly women and children stood on one side of the road and men on the other. They were fronting each other up and shouting abuse across the road. The women were screaming ‘we’re not going anywhere’.
Jessica Alba and Batnaa
July 30th, 2008
So it’s wedding season for many Panjabis in the Diaspora and one key product commonly used across South Asian groups is batnaa (the yellow mixture used on a groom/bride a day before the wedding to clear up the complexion). Guess what? Jessica Alba is now on boxes of Batnaa! When I saw this I laughed and got confused … what is going on here? I find it interesting that Alba is on the box … maybe it’s because she “looks” more South Asian than say Hillary Duff? Any other ideas?
Also, American stars are being used to market traditional South Asian products rather than relying on Bollywood stars. Anyone else out there seen something similar in marketing other traditional South Asian products?
Punjabi: The “Secret Language”
June 2nd, 2008A couple of weeks ago while driving with my friend Rajpreet, I started speaking Punjabi in the middle of an English conversation. I was caught off-guard by Rajpreet’s response, “… why are we speaking the ‘secret language’ when it’s just us two in the car”? Rajpreet for some reason thought we only spoke Punjabi amongst ourselves around other English speakers when we had something “secret” to say [in the past we also spoke it when there was another Punjabi-dominant speaker with us]. However, for myself, it just happened, after some thought I feel I spoke out of the comfort of knowing that Rajpreet also understood Punjabi … not to say anything “secret”. Rajpreet’s statement made me think about how at department stores and other official places of business, I sometimes spoke a mixture of Punjabi/English to family and friends because we did not want other English speakers to know what we were saying in “translation” … but it was not always the case. Sometimes it was out of comfort, group/ethnic solidarity, or just plain funny. In my eyes, I wasn’t using Punjabi as a “secret language”, but more as a form of code-switching or hybrid language use.
Code-switching is a sociolinguistic phenomenon where bilingual speakers (i.e. Spanish/English and Punjabi/English) use terms from both languages in a sentence or conversation. In the past researchers have argued that code-switching was a sign of language inability. For example, the speaker did not know the terms for bowl or potato in English so used the Spanish or Punjabi terms. However, now sociolinguistic researchers believe it is a marker of group identity, ethnic solidarity, and relationship-building. I remember one person telling me that as part of his research on hybrid language use at a major state-owned park, he found that one park employee spoke “Spanglish” to their largely Latino cliental because she wanted to convey safety, comfort, and other feelings of “home” at this large American “place”. By creating such an environment through language she felt that the Latino cliental was more likely to explore the site and ask questions.
Thus, I ask do you ever speak Punjabi to English-speaking friends and family? If so, when?
Do you code-switch? Why?
Turbans For Non-Sikhs: Just Part Of The School “Uniform”?
May 22nd, 2008Many of us have taken part in discussions on how the turban is being commodified and a target for hatred. Understandably there is a strong religious argument for why a turban shouldn’t become another fashion accessory or replaced with a beanie. This argument is anchored in the Sikh meaning of the turban.
The symbolisms of wearing a turban are many from it being regarded as a symbol of sovereignty, dedication, self-respect, courage and piety but the reason all practicing Sikhs wear the turban is just one - out of love and obedience of the wishes of the founders of their faith.
The turban serves as a mark of commitment to the Sikh Gurus. It distinguishes a Sikh as an instrument of the Guru and decrees accountability for certain spiritual and temporal duties. It is a mark of the Guru and declares that the Sikh wearing a turban is a servant of the Divine Presence.
But what happens to this meaning when the turban is being forced upon non-Sikhs? The Cheema Mandi (near Sangrur), Punjab branch of Akal Academy Buru Sahib is requiring all non-Sikh children to wear a patka or dastaar (i.e. type of turban). Most of these children are practicing Hindus who don’t spiritually identify with Sikhi.
Avneet And Her Bandook
May 15th, 2008As some of us shoot rifles as a recreational activity, while others view them as a defense plan or just admire the way rifles look, it was nice to come across a Punjabian, Avneet Kaur Sidhu, an international rifle shooter, who excels at using them as part of a sport!
According to the The Tribune, she recently “… won a gold medal in the women’s individual 10m Air Rifle event of the Australia Cup Shooting Championship held at Sydney International Shooting Centre (SISC)” in 2006 (yea this news is kinda old, but I thought it was still worth highlighting since it’s a Punjabian Sikhni in sports).
Hailing from Bathinda, Avneet has earned a bearth for the Beijing Olympics, representing Team India! Congratulations! Watch out for the eye and steadiness of this Sheerni!
According to her facebook group (all of you can join now: “Avneet Kaur Sidhu”), Avneet is a 2001 alumnus of Dashmesh Girls College, Badal (Muktsar) with an English Literature degree and currently an Assistant Manager at Air India. You go girl … an affection for books and guns, while promoting the hawayee jhahajaz (i.e. airplane)!
Wishing you the best of luck in Beijing Avneet! It’s wonderful to see a Punjabian excelling in sports and representing us on the world scene!
Mawaa Thandiyaa Chawaa
May 11th, 2008On this Mother’s Day let’s celebrate by listening to Punjabi music’s tributes to our mothers!
To start off, I would like to share a BEAUTIFUL song by Gurdas Mann, “Mawaa Thandiyaa Chawaa”.
There is also the song, “Maa”, sung by Malkit Singh with the beautiful line “maa daa rishtaa sab toau sachaa … maa hai rab da roop” [a mother’s relationship is the most truthful …. A mother is the beauty of God].
Please share your favorite “Maa” song and I hope you can dedicate it to her too!
“This Is The Life Of A Little Girl Who Will Soon Enough Be A Woman One Day Or Another …”
May 2nd, 2008
We know the Britney Spears and Miley Rays of Hollywood tremendously influence the lives of our pre-teen and adolescent girls. The voices we keep hearing on television are those of white, multi-generational American, and suburban teens.
Their experiences are being boxed and represented as THE experience of adolescent girls in America. Rarely on television does the media interview pre-teen and teen girls of color from immigrant backgrounds living in urban/rural areas about their perceptions of life and the future – unless the story is on teen pathology from pregnancy to drugs and violence.
Therefore, I was pleased to see the trailer of a documentary, “Going on 13”, that is about pre-teen girls from minority, immigrant, and urban backgrounds discussing how they negotiate the whirlwind of changes and choices, from body image to relationships, just as girls in the suburbs.
The only distinction is how their social, economic, and cultural contexts add a different layer to the experience that is not a form of “mal-adaptation”, but another way of living. The film-makers’ goal was “… to show the reality of preteen girls and urban minorities, which isn’t often portrayed in the mainstream media” and “… wasn’t just focused on the pathology of urban youth”.
Punjabi Fathers And Discipline
April 24th, 2008Recently, I read a 1997 research article in the Journal of Marriage and Family on “Fathering And Acculturation: Immigrant Indian Families With Young Children”, which stated that:
“Older fathers spent less time playing with their child … more educated fathers engaged more in disciplining than other fathers, and that more father-child play occurred when there were fewer children in the home and when the target child was the only child …”.
I was excited to read a study that focused on fathers as parents and not just mothers, particularly in the “Indian” context. Generally when it comes to “Indian” parenting, the focus is on the mothers because they are traditionally viewed as primarily responsible for their children’s day-to-day emotional and social well-being. Fathers in the parenthood are often given little notice, as their duties are usually associted wtih providing financial security.
However, we know parenting is far more complex and nuanced. Gender roles in a family are never quite so separate and distinct. Even though many of our fathers were not involved in our daily predicaments, kept a distance, and focused on making money, they still influenced our emotional and social upbringing through discipline, protection, and/or silence.
Knock Knock At The Door: Ladoos or Missionaries?
April 19th, 2008As I was exiting the parking lot of a major grocery store in a heavily concentrated Punjabi area the other day, I saw in my rear-view mirror a woman wearing a salwar-kaamez and holding a Bible with two Indian boys dressed in their “Sunday best” and carrying leather book bags, while they approached a man with a friendly smile. How surprised was I to see a Jehovah’s Witness woman wearing Punjabi clothing while she and these two boys proselytized in this Punjabi-concentrated area.
A few weeks prior, a friend of mine who lives in this same area, shared with me the story of how her family was confused to find a Punjabi couple at their front door delivering the message of God as Jehovah’s Witnesses. She told me that after hearing the door bell she ran to the door and peeped out the window and saw a man wearing a coat-pant and a woman wearing a salwar-kameez. Instantly, she knew they were Jehovah’s Witnesses because of the Bible they were holding and the other paraphernalia in their hands. My friend hollered to her dad that there was an Auntie and Uncle ringing the door-bell, but they looked like Jehovah’s Witnesses so she wasn’t going to answer the door. However, her dad responded rightfully so, “ekaan thaa teekh nahi laghdhaa … ladoo na dhaan ai hon” (that doesn’t look right they might be here to give ladoos).
