It is the end of the year and when you take a little time to think about it there was a lot of great developments, events and inspirations worth sharing in 2015. Here are some notable things that have happened in the world of Sikhs:
U.S.:
-The Executive Director of SALDEF Jasjit Singh was nominated by Obama to be on a presidential advisory council. Turbans have made a more official presence at the White House.
-Of coarse this comes after a new tradition of serving langar at capital hill which was started by Jasjit and SALDEF and continued in 2015.
-Several prominent figures in the Sikh community, including Inni Kaur (new CEO of SikhRI), Simran Jeet Singh, Major Kalsi attended a sermon at the Pentagon. Valarie Kaur gave a powerful talk and kirtan was played... at the Pentagon!
-Sir Ben Kingsley respectfully plays a Sikh man in the Hollywood film 'Learning to Drive'. In and interview with Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show he speaks about and praises Sikhs.
Canada:
-Very big developments in Canada happened recently this year! With the election of new Prime Minister and new heart throb Justin Trudeau came the assent of several Sikhs into national public service.
-Remarkably several turbaned Sikhs are now serving in the new governments parliament.
-More than that Sikhs are now directly serving the PM on his cabinet.
-Most famous among all these advancements is the selection of a Sikh into one of the most powerful and important positions in a government. Harjit Singh Sajjan has been celebrated as the new Minister of Defense. Needless to say a turbaned Sikh only a few steps removed in the chain of command of Canada is HUGE.
International:
-London resident and member Jagmeet Singh of the Basics of Sikhi team very notably interrupted the morning talk show he was a on to speak out about the media blackout on the tumultuous situation in the Punjab including the killing of two Sikhs during a peaceful protest.
-Harman Singh who is attending college in New Zealand didn't hesitate to remove his turban to aid an injured child on the road. The incident went viral winning hearts around the world. So touched were the local news channel they helped arrange for his house to be decorated with new furniture.
-A Sikh Australian taxi drive, Tejinder Singh, was insulted in a racist manner. He decided to use that as motivation to educate the local public about Sikh values by starting a langar service out of the back of his vehicle in his free time.
-UK based Khalsa Aid extended itself heroically to serve langar refugees in a most dangerous part of the world right now: Syria... in ISIS territory. The danger didn't stop the volunteers from proudly wearing turbans.
-Pakistani based Muslim man, Shahid Shabbir earns great respect by the Sikh community by documenting and exposing Sikh treasures and heritage in the country.
Here is more interesting articles that were exceptionally popular this year:
-Resisting the Razor by Kaurlife
-Mixed Marriage in our Gurdwaras
-Mixed marriages and Anand Karaj
-Mai Bhago: The story you know vs the story you'll hear
-Three Tips to Improve Gurbani Pronunciation
and last but most certainly not least Bhai Sukha Singh from the UK shares amazing True Story - Power of a Hukamnama
There were certainly more amazing things that happened. There is a lot of bests you could say.
Please share what you thought was the best of 2015!