Puran Singh’s Century-old Advice To Sikhs
The digitization of books has created a whole new way for Sikhs to access their history. I’ve stumbled onto a lot of historical Sikh literature that I had never heard of. For example, through Google’s Book Search function, I discovered a tourist guide to Punjab from the 1880’s (here’s...
UPS: What If Your Name Really Was Terro R Ist?
Posted by Maple Leaf Sikh in Activism, California, Human Rights, News, USA on 12 25th, 2008 | 3 Comments
Two steps forward and one step back. Just when you think we’ve made some progress in terms of creating awareness about who we are as Sikhs, you hear of incidents like this. Here’s the story on NBC’s KGET.
Church Bankruptcies – Are Gurdwaras Next?
During this holiday season of hard times, not even houses of God have been spared. Some lenders believe more churches than ever have fallen behind on loans or defaulted this year. Some churches, and at least one company that specialized in church lending, have filed for bankruptcy. Church giving is down...
The Dreaded Phone Call
The phone rings and its the call you dread as an uncle or older cousin. A desperate parent is on the other end asking for your help. Your teenage nephew/cousin wants to cut his hair. Can you please talk some sense into him.
This happened to me last week with my cousin and, I have to admit, I was woefully...
Toronto Sikh Retreat: The Spiritual Pick-Me-Up
For those of you that have never attended a retreat before, its not like the Sikh camps you went to as a kid. Its not Sikhi boot-camp, but a chance for you to explore you own spirituality and really examine how you’re incorporating Sikhi into your life.
The Toronto Sikh Retreat has been held in...
SGPC’s Moral Turpitude
The last time I was in Punjab, I visited a gurdwara with a cousin of mine who was a one-time employee of the SGPC. Upon receiving and tasting the karah parshad, I asked him why it was so coarse and dry compared what I was used to. He responded that it was now common practice for SGPC-controlled gurdwaras...
Recession Hits Sikh-Canadians
Posted by Maple Leaf Sikh in General on 12 1st, 2008 | 64 Comments
There’s a profile in today’s Toronto Star (and a video online) of the classical Punjabi Sikh family in Canada. Dad came to Canada as young man and goes back to get married. Mom and Dad both have college degrees from India but have limited ability to speak English in a business setting. Living...
Moderates, Fundamentalists, and Now Orthodox Sikhs
Posted by Maple Leaf Sikh in General on 11 24th, 2008 | 116 Comments
Gotta love Kim Bolan. For years, the Sikh-Canadian community’s favourite journalist has gotten tremendous mileage from the monikers “moderate” and “fundamentalists” that she has used to describe the BC’s Sikh population. Now, in her reporting of the Guru Nanak Sikh...
Saving Baba Atal
My Nana Ji (maternal grandfather) often says: “Ja savair da bhulia, shaam noo ghar muriavye, ta oh nu bhulia nehee keheeda”. That if one is lost in the morning, but finds his way home by evening, he’s no longer lost. Hopefully that’s the case with Sikhs and their preservation of history and architecture.
Over...
Business Booming For Meat and Doda Shops
I know that we Punjabis love importing our culture and traditions to the countries we now call home, but this is getting ridiculous.
Brampton city councillor Vicky Dhillon is on a crusade to stop stores in his area from selling two kinds of decorative poppy flowers, which he said contain addictive opium.
Dhillon...
Good Community Politics + Turbans = Bad Ethnic Politics?
Posted by Maple Leaf Sikh in General on 11 19th, 2008 | 21 Comments
It’s a dark and story night in northern Alberta city of Edmonton. Preparing for a national election that is still months away, the Conservative Party’s riding association in Edmonton-Sherwood is having its nomination meeting. Its not expected to be eventful, as everyone expected local municipal...
Preserving What History We Have Left
Posted by Maple Leaf Sikh in General on 11 17th, 2008 | 8 Comments
“The first step in liquidating a people is to erase its memory. Destroy its books, its culture, its history. Then have somebody write new books, manufacture a new culture, invent a new history. Before long that nation will begin to forget what it is and what it was… The struggle of man against...
Langar Hall Kaneda
As a young kid, the langar hall was my favourite space in our local Gurdwara. Located in the basement of the building, it was a home away from home. My parents helped build the Gurdwara in the 1970s and I spent many weekends helping with the preparation of Sunday morning langar. I occasionally helped...
