It's not just a conventional wedding with some Sikh ceremony around it. It's in a category of its own. It is a wedding with 2 brides, 1 groom and 1 master...
As we celebrate the birthday of Guru Gobind Singh I wanted to share a thought that I hope will be of benefit to all: We know who Guru ji is... and yet we don't know him at all...
When I was recently asked to give a presentation at the University of Toronto on Sikh women, I instantly knew I should return that honour by presenting on the realities and challenges of the great Sikh women of our past, present and future.
It is on this foundational principle of Oneness that Guru Nanak offered a new vision, a new Way of political governance. The Guru's new paradigm dismantled and turned upside down the existing stratified socio-political structure of India.
All of this can not be an accident. Divine is indicating towards a very deep purpose. All that is happening, all the suffering is taking us towards the deep purpose.
Yes, we can say hate can't separate us. That we have defeated hate by wearing red, blue and white and showing patriotism, yet we fail to educate about Sikh faith.
You can add decoration to any piece but you can tell any story, so adding decoration lets me make a visual representation of the story really pretty or beautiful but the actual story narrative and the characters can be as ugly as possible.
At its core, I think journalism is important, particularly in democratic societies, because it can act as an accountability mechanism for public figures and processes that affect everyone. In my opinion, one of the reasons GPI’s work is important is because it works to make sure that more people are included in developing that accountability mechanism.
The excruciating pain of all agonies suffered in life subsides with time. Everyday dawns with a ray of hope and life keeps evolving. Poignancy makes the foundation of life strong.
Snatam Kaur, Shanti Kaur, Sat Kirin Kaur and Bibiji were in India and had the blessing of participating in a walk from Anandpur Sahib to Damdama Sahib. Here is an article written by Shanti Kaur about that experience
With various claims to martyrdom, ranging from self-immolation to suicidal terrorism, I wonder sometimes if we ourselves understand what is true martyrdom and who is a true martyr in the Sikhi tradition.
I assure you that, in human history, no institutions, whether they are nations or political parties, schools or hospitals, families or armies, effectively display or ever will perfect the practice of their principles.
Never in my wildest dreams I would have imagined meeting His Holiness the Dalai Lama, one of the most respected men and religious leaders in the world.
“Sikhism is a very wonderful religion,” he says. “It’s about helping the marginalized, the oppressed, the vulnerable, the weak and defending their rights. It’s a religion of brotherhood and supporting each other."
Every year I volunteer at Khalsa Youth Camp, a spiritually based summer camp for children, located in the Jemez Mountains of Northern New Mexico. One year our spirituality was deeply tested.
I seemed like the wrong kind of Jew to be there, sitting among Muslims, Sikhs and Jewish-Voice-for-Peace-niks discussing how to combat Islamophobia as allies to the Muslim community. I wasn’t surprised by anyone’s surprise, but I was saddened.
My life has been a testament to the fact that if you’re just a bit gutsy and brave and tune out preconceived notions of what you should be doing, you can do some incredible things.
All my respect, admiration and affection is for fellow travelers on this path, who, if only just once, reach for the heights in whatever way, small or large, to touch the beauty and majesty of their own soul.
Make me a good Gardne, O God, In the Garden of my Life. Guide me to till and care for it with my love and devotion. I may sow the seeds of kindness, help me to weed out my ill thoughts.
These are the people we want to reach the most. Their base are the people most likely to commit a hate crime against us. Imagine a hateful white youth who is fed up with terrorists and thinks...
It is essentially a story about my father's suicide and how a reconnection with a ghostly pale face from the past takes me on a journey of regeneration and discovery.
The following work was inspired by the dichotomy of emotions seen in a mother's eyes when she gives birth to a daughter, uncertain of whether she should rejoice over her daughter's life and prospects or fear society's inequalities and injustices.
"Black folks have been fighting for police accountability for decades in Toronto [...] and we all need to be standing in solidarity with that work because it only makes a more just society for the rest of us."
