Fortunately, our conversation with God is not meant to be one-way. The scripture gives us general guidance, but not precise rules. Hence, Sikhs have a lot of personal discretion – and hence also great personal responsibility – for learning the core messages of Gurbani. In understanding and then applying the message of Gurbani in our daily lives, it is also expected that questions would arise in our minds.
When people ask me how I’m able to endure the specter of bigotry as a visible Sikh in modern America, the answer now feels simple and honest: perspective.
Twenty years after Balbir Singh Sodhi was killed in the nation's first retaliation hate crime for 9/11, his brother is talking about his legacy, forgiveness and community.
Recently I came across 6 Sanskrit meanings of the word ‘teacher’ which put that lofty word ‘Guru’ in a new light for me because ‘our’ Guru is quite unique. I also remembered a discussion with my Sikhi
mentor, the late S. Joginder Singh Ji, a founding member of the SNSM, Sikh Naujawan Sabha Malaysia, of the prefix ‘gur’ in a few pivotal Sikhcentric words leading towards our ‘Guru’.
Many Sikh artists are influenced deeply by their faith. Baljinder Kaur’s naif representations, Harjinder Singh Sunner’s symbolic works, and Keerat Kaur’s surreal masterpieces all relay key aspects of Sikh life in different ways. The importance of family, nature, and Sikh literature all find their ways into pieces whose beauty capture the heart and mind in an instance.
Jaswant Singh Khalra was "disappeared" by Punjab police months after alerting Ottawa of the widespread killings of Sikhs.
We are saddened by the violence in Afghanistan, and grateful for those who have recently been rescued. In addition, we call on our communities to be vigilant and exercise caution due to the potential for backlash against Sikhs.
I am grateful to Daljit Bajwa (91) and his wife Guddy Bajwa for providing salient features of the biography of his illustrious father, Bal Singh Bajwa, who was my Role Model in school days. I owe my thanks to Prem Singh Kahlon and his wife Darshan Bhatti Kahlon for the supply of material for collating the biography of Prem Kahlon, my Role Model in College days.
As the fear of religious persecution at the hands of the Taliban weighs heavily on the minds of Afghanistan’s last generation of Sikh and Hindu communities, support groups have urged Australia to bring them over as refugees to a life of safety.
We have a delicate job of safeguarding, protecting these fledgling tangibles as well as intangible assets for our future generation. Let us pray and make some concrete efforts to safeguard those.