A British Perspective on Lalkaar-CA 2013
Guest blogged by CitizenSoulja, follow him on twitter at @citizensoulja This year I went to the Lalkaar 2013 conference in Davis California. Lalkaar run by the Jakara Movement, a Sikh youth organisation, is now in its 14th year. This was by far the most interesting and inspiring Sikh educational...
Wherefore art thou, Ricky Gill?
Ricky Gill is the son of Sikh parents and is running to represent California’s 9th Congressional District (photo: Ricky Gill campaign website) I have written several times in the past about Ranjit “Ricky” Gill, the Republican Party candidate for Congress in California’s 9th Congressional...
Anti-Muslim Bigotry Strikes Michigan Gurdwara
It’s sobering (and depressing) to hear about another hate attack in the United States fueled by Islamophobia, this one in the form of racist graffiti on a gurdwara under construction in Sterling Heights, Michigan.  SALDEF‘s recent statement about the incident states: …the vandalism...
Turban Warfare or Racist Warfare (courtesy of the NY Post)?
This past Sunday, violence erupted in an ongoing conflict between rival factions at the Gurdwara Baba Makhan Shah Lobana in Richmond Hill, Queens, the heart of New York’s Sikh community. Large kirpans as well as cricket bats and balls were used in the fighting. Dozens of community members and “leaders”...
24 million dollars later, still no cry for Sikh rights in India.
Yes, I am going to indulge in imposing what I believe our priorities are onto those of you reading this. Our priorities should be where the ground touches our feet and not the vast mansions seating established masands who rake in millions and output redundant declarations commemorating our great history...
Fatting It Up at the Langar Hall
Guest blogged by Navdeep Singh Dhillon My wife’s family is Hindu, with varying degrees of connections to the religion. Some of them have statues of deities like Krishna and Ganesh scattered throughout the house, others have entire rooms sectioned off for bhajans and pujas, and then there are those,...
Working for Langar Justice
I love food.  I love to cook.  I love to gather with friends, community, and sangat and share a meal together. Because food it our most primal need and our common bond to the earth and one another, it can ground us as we stretch ourselves to draw in all the interlaced threads—so we can weave a...
A place for our sangat
Last week I attended a diwan of about 50 people on a Thursday night on the east side of Manhattan, in New York City.  The Manhattan Sikh Association (MSA) has been organizing monthly diwans in NYC for years now in apartment buildings and other temporary locations, but recently the group opened up a...
Save The Gurdwara
I’ll admit…when I first saw emails and facebook posts titled “Save The Gurdwara”, I immediately dismissed it, thinking it was yet another mismanaged Gurdwara falling in to bankruptcy or one group trying to overthrow another.  But after I read the website and confirmed some of the details...
Who’s afraid of the Big Bad Sikh?
Two articles over the weekend got me thinking.  I’ll get to them soon enough.  Be patient! The issues aren’t new.  I remember back to the late 1990s, when the community here in the Bay Area was moving to build the new San Jose Gurdwara.  The Evergreen community protested and raised the typical...
My Gurdwara’s Human Rights Committee?
Play along with me here…imagine this Sunday you walk in to your local Gurdwara – remove your shoes, wash your hands, and as you make your way to the main darbar hall, you read the notices on the wall – “Education Committee holding Kirtan Classes Wednesday Night @ 6pm.” ...
The North American Gurdwara: Are We Expecting Too Much?
Phulkari’s post a few weeks back got me thinking about Gurdwaras – their origin and the role they play in Sikh society today.  History tells us that Guru Nanak Patshah created Dharmshalas in Kartarpur where Sikhs would rise early and meet for Keertan, Veechar, reflection, and Guru-ka-Langar. ...
Punjabi/Khalsa Schools: Where Do They Go?
On TLH we have posted on the importance of Punjabi/Khalsa Schools.  I have found that despite many students’ resistance to attend these schools, they plant the seeds for future exploration into Sikhi.  At the age of 12 you may think you are too cool for school on Sundays, but at 19-20 or even...
Surrey Gurdwara goes to court over leadership
We’ve talked a little bit about the Sikh Youth Slate that ran for gurdwara elections — and won — in Surrey, as well as how mainstream Canadian media was framing the event. In that election, youth won the vote with a platform promising a focus on Sikhi, community-based service, and support...
The Power of Toy Planes
Stuck in Punjab? Want to go abroad? Just buy an airplane. Not a real one of course, that would be silly. A toy plane will do. Buy one, donate it to a gurdwara and wait. All your vilaiti dreams will soon come true. If you think I’m pulling your leg, just ask the people at Tihan gurdwara near Jalandhar....
Gurdwara Expansion Stalls
We covered the El Sobrante Gurdwara expansion — and the subsequent PR fallout — a while ago. Earlier this week, the county halted expansion plans pending a further environmental review. Local residents filed a petition for re-review, claiming the “regional service area” proposed...
When every home is a gurdwara, when is it a home?
Is the question facing Sikhs in Oxford, England, as they try to find a central location to pray as a sangat without having to convert private property into religious property. A religious community in Oxford is reeling after the city council ordered members of its congregation to stop worshipping at...
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...
Sikh Students Coming Together
We tend to complain a lot.  Really, we do.   We complain about the lack of activisim by Sikh youth.  We complain about not being able to understand Gurbani or be able to do Kirtan.  We complain about the disconnect between Sikh elders and Sikh youth.  It’s the status quo – to spend...
Dastarbandi/Turban Tying
A few days ago Sikhnet News posted a story about the Dastarbandi/Pagri di Rasam/Turban Tying Ceremony of Harmanas Singh, a 16 year old young man in California. While the story gave only a brief explanation for the ceremony it got me thinking about the significance of the ceremony in the Sikh community...