In such sensitive times it is important for the world-wide Sikh community to be aware that the Sikh turban and beard may be confused with media images of Taliban leaders who have a similar appearance.
The very concept of focusing on a few hundred meritorious by Govt and NGOs rather than focusing on improving the weak link primary education in an abysmal failure of the Public education system catering to the majority poor and lower middle class was ill conceived... The solution proposed is as follows:
Sarbpreet Singh does not need any introduction. He has already established his credentials as an author of the critically acclaimed ‘Night of the Restless Spirits’ and ‘The Camel Merchants of Philadelphia’.
My story today runs about a full decade and is largely the trek of one lady, a New Yorker whose religious affiliation I will not reveal. She became curious about Sikhs... And then in a trice she became Amritdhari. Just imagine that. She even changed her name for a landmark Sikh name.
People who try desperately to give up their ego before they are spiritually ready is to condemn them to a life of misery and suffering, because they will have to live duplicitous lives, faking humility etc.. With no hope of really living, or enjoyment or knowing real happiness they will simply endure life.
If we are fortunate, we will awaken and become aware, at some point in our lives, we get to start living our own lives. Uttering words that have taken birth in the depths of our own minds, feelings that come from our own heart, and actions that come from our own conscience.
Over 250 members of the Sikh community from all over the DC and East Coast took part in this event.
Sikhs are as flawed and as human as the rest of us and I don't want to argue that they are better than the rest of us. They aren't. However, the exhortations of their faith and their conditioning leads to a greater proportion of them doing good work than others.
Let there be no misunderstanding. The establishment of the Sikh Chair at Birmingham University is a most welcome next step in the area of Sikh studies in the UK. However, British Sikhs would wish to satisfy themselves regarding community involvement and transparency in the light of community experience of such chairs in Canada and the USA.
Just as followers of Guru Nanak strive to create calming spaces in their homes and partake in activities to protect the environment, many of them believe in keeping the air pure and unpolluted. However, with rising levels of pollution and higher humidity levels, this can prove to be difficult.