© The Tribune, May 21 2011
Belonging nowhere and everywhere at the same time encompasses greatness in itself. Not only has it been an opportunity to learn about other cultures, but it has become a great chance to educate people, as I travel more. A quick glance at a coloured person in a predominantly white community renders inquisition. It sparks the curiosity, and tingles the mind. The question “Where are you from?” can’t help but escape the lips of many I have encountered. If not that, “Parle Espaniol?” “Mexican?” “Namaste!” are close second and third places. (more…)
© Punjabi Byte, March-April 2010. Vol. 1, Issue 3
The Nanakshahi Calendar has marked a pivotal role in Sikhism all over the world. Unlike reference to the Bikrami or the Christian Calendar, this Calendar has enabled the steady occurrence of Sikh religious holidays. Gurpurabs no longer shift every year and the wait for Pandit Jantris to calculate Sikh holidays is no more. As of 2003, the Nanakshahi Calendar was implemented through the approval of the Khalsa Panth and SGPC and under the seal of Akal Takth Sahib. Additionally, it has also come under the approval and adoption of the government of Punjab. (more…)
By: Sheeba Singh
© Panjabi Byte, January-February 2010, Vol. 1, Issue 2
“So you are from India?…. Are you Hindu?”
An inquiry most South Asians are faced with by people when living or traveling abroad. As a Sikh, it almost becomes a redundant task to have to run the average person through Sikhism and the religious diversity India embodies. Most of us, who are not Hindu, wind up walking away from such situations shaking our heads in disbelief. The attacks against Sikhs, have only taught the west that ‘turban equals terrorist.’ It is unfortunate we are surprised, as Sikhs, when a ‘foreigner’ knows what Sikhism is. (more…)
© Panjabi Byte, 2009
Human rights give us insight to what we are entitled to, simply by the virtue of being human. They apprise us about our freedoms, given that they are, in fact, our ‘rights,’ we have every reason not to have to fight for them in this day and age. Unfortunately, the September 11, 2001 shocker has confined the world’s view within the bounds of terrorism- causing grief, loss and increased struggle for civilians who wish to live only within the freedoms they know they have, and exercise rights, universally guaranteed. (more…)
© Saturday Extra, The Tribune, September 5, 2009
As Bakhtawar Singh, director and critic, welled up, all he could say was: “If only we all could be a little more like Bhai Taru Singh`85 if only we could practice Sikhism the way he has been instilling in ourselves, the same qualities, things would be different.” (more…)
© Panjabi Beat, December 2008-January 2009. Vol. 1 No. 2
‘Diaper head,’ ‘terrorist,’ ‘taliban,’ ‘towel-head’ are some of the few names which have been in increased use since 9/11 against those believed to be Muslims or members of the Taliban in the United States as well as in Canada. Although not all, some of the victims in such cases are normally not members of any terrorist group but a part of the Sikh faith which emerges from India with no intention of ‘bombing’ anything or place- brining no harm to anyone despite the hate crimes being inflicted on the group itself. Through widespread portrayal of the turbaned man as the terrorist or Muslims as the Taliban, various groups who conform to a similar identity (i.e. especially Sikhs) have been attempting to face such hate crimes and misunderstandings in the name of terrorism since 9/11. This paper will attempt to approach the hate crimes which have been inflicted particularly on the Sikh community since the attack on the World Trade Centre, 2001, through a restorative means to seek for answers in order to deal with the victims of attack in addition to the larger community. (more…)
