Gurdwaras and Religious Tolerance
While reading Bruce La Brack’s ethnography on Sikhs in Northern California my attention was drawn to his writing on Sikh and Muslim relations in the Gurdwara. He wrote,
“Muslims, particularly Punjab-born-Muslims, had regularly joined the Sikhs of California at the annual celebrations of national...
No Nishan Sahib = No Gurdwara
I often take many trips to Fresno to visit my friends and on this day I was visiting one of their work places. A number of people had told me about the new Gurdwara that was nearby and in seeking to pay my respects to our Guru, I went to pay a visit.
While the building was large and beautiful, something...
Raising awareness or a turban commodified?
A few days ago, Kenneth Cole unveiled one of his new ads on a wall of Rockefeller Center in New York City. The model is, surprisingly, a sardar.
Most Sikhs will be (and should be) proud to see a sardar breaking into an industry that traditionally has narrow ideas of beauty, desirability, or glamour…...
Can You Hear the Nightbird Call?
Dedicated to “The man on the bridge in Modinagar and the victims of Air India Flight 182,” Can You Hear the Nightbird Call?, is said to be one of the recommended reads for Sikhs everywhere. While there are numerous historical accounts of the Partition, Operation Bluestar, and the Delhi riots...
You a African? Do you know what’s happenin?
Posted by Jodha in General on 01 28th, 2008 | 23 Comments
The Dead Prez song remains one of my favorites. For the past month or so, the violence and allegations of rigging following Kenya’s election has led the country to a dangerous standstill.
Since we concern ourselves with issues of the diaspora, too often our discussions are centered in the US, Canada,...
SAAN 2008 and Vote or Die
Posted by Jodha in Events on 01 28th, 2008 | 15 Comments
Guest Blogged by Mewa Singh
Partially due to the rave reviews found at Sepia Mutiny, I flew out to Michigan this weekend to attend the annual SAAN (South Asian Action Network) Conference on the Ann Arbor campus. I had a number of different motives, not the least of which, was to make connections with...
Sikhi, Light, and Social Activism
Recently, when I was watching Shaheed Jaswant Singh Khalra’s speech that he gave at a Gurdwara in Toronto in 1995, I found his metaphor of Light and Darkness particularly inspirational for social activist. He said (English translation of Panjabi),
“There is a fable that when the Sun was setting...
Mental Health Today — are we serving our community?
Like many communities bifurcated by both their religious understanding (Sikhi) and their ethnic/racial identities (for many of us, Punjabi), there are unique challenges to providing comprehensive mental health services to immigrant communities. Within the context of California, this is not only compounded...
Farmer suicides continue…
A couple of years ago, in the farmer suicide capital of Punjab (Sangrur-Mansa belt), the first People’s Tribunal on farmers’ suicides took place, organized by the Human Rights Law Network and the Voluntary Health Association of Punjab. Word got out about the tribunal by word of mouth and women traveled...
Consciousness
Posted by JeSuisDot in General on 01 24th, 2008 | 16 Comments
W.E.B. Du Bois’ concept of Double Consciousness is used to describe an individual whose identity is divided into several facets. I recently read a Mexican-American’s short autobiography on his own Quadruple Consciousness and to say I related to it would be an understatement. The writer...
Bruised Body, Mourning Mind, Soaring Spirit
Some readers to this blog may be aware of the great work done by Ensaaf in advocating for human rights. Jaskaran Kaur, Sukhman Dhami, Jasmine Marwaha and the rest of their team deserve the community’s praise for their tireless work advocating for justice in Punjab and beyond. They are among a number...
A Sikh’s Rights
Lately there has been numerous stories affecting Sikhs around the globe, and an interesting number of them concern our innate rights as Sikhs. Sarika Singh, a 14 year-old Sikh girl living in Wales, was excluded from her school for wearing a Kara. Last November a legal fight began for Sarika to be allowed...
Between Martin and Malcolm
Posted by Jodha in General on 01 21st, 2008 | 7 Comments
Today across the country, many Americans, but by no means all, will come together to celebrate the life of Martin Luther King Jr. (true, others will just enjoy the day off). Many Sikhs, undoubtedly, will attend interfaith functions, make promises for more interfaith functions, and never talk to those...
Baby Boys and their BMWs
The news of the tiger attack in the San Francisco Zoo made national headlines. A few days later it was revealed that two of the three people attacked came from a Sikh background. Paul, 19, and Kulbir, 24, Dhaliwal were hospitalized but recovered from the attack, unlike their friend Carlos Sousa Jr....
Lohiri Celebration: Girls and Boys?
Posted by Phulkari in General on 01 17th, 2008 | 54 Comments
Recently I attended a Lohiri Party celebrating the birth of a baby boy. Complete with bhangra, ghidda, food in the garage, a fire in the backyard, peanuts, rarroya, ladies in the family room, and the Babujis in the living room. While there I had a conversation with the new bride in the family about...
Insaaf Zindabad
Although this article is over 3 months old, I still thought it was necessary. While the press has all but forgotten Burma, the struggle still continues. In the aftermath of the devastating brutality unleashed by the junta, I found a new hero.
Surinder Singh Karkar AKA U Pancha (The Punjabi) seemed...
The Spirit of Langar
Posted by Sundari in Sikhi on 01 15th, 2008 | 4 Comments
After attending a recent workshop organized by the Sikh Research Institute on The Guru: Connecting with the Divine Light, I have been pondering much of what was discussed. The focus of the workshop was becoming “Guru centered” and one of the questions that arose in the discussion was related to...
Rocket Roger and Raging ‘Roids in Rural Raikot
* (the asterisk)
This symbol should be assigned to most of the professional baseball’s records over the last two decades. From Barry Bonds to now Roger Clemens, most of the greats of this baseball era have had their images tarnished by allegations of cheating. Whether the baseball owners and...
Has the Anand Karaj Lost its Significance to the Afterparty?
Hey readers…I accidentally deleted the post on Sikh weddings and we are in the process of trying to retrieve it. I may attempt a reconstruction if we cannot, but in the meanwhile – We’d still like to hear your thoughts on the question posed in the title. The question is prompted by...
4 days in New Hampshire
Posted by Camille in Politics on 01 12th, 2008 | 9 Comments
Last week I made the trek from Connecticut to New Hampshire to campaign in the presidential primaries. While I’ve campaigned and door-knocked for a variety of issues in the past, I’ve never really been moved to canvass for a presidential candidate. In my voting life, I haven’t really...
