Roots of Love
Told through the stories of six different men ranging in age from fourteen to eighty-six, Roots of Love documents the changing significance of hair and the turban among Sikhs in India. We see younger Sikh men abandoning their hair and turban to follow the current fashion trends, while the older generation struggles to retain the visible symbols of their religious and cultural identity.
“Beautifully conceived and shot…Pleasure to watch… A compassionate portrait of a community in transition…”
— Safina Uberoi, filmmaker and director of My Mother India and A Good Man
Awards: “Best Student Film” – 2011 Society for Visual Anthropology
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More Info: www.TilotamaProductions.com
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Looking for Participants for PSBT TV Documentary on the topic of Hair/Sikh Faith/Punjabi Culture
We are looking for historians, academics and researchers based in or around Punjab to discuss the topic of hair, Sikh Faith and Punjabi Culture. Diverse views and opinions are welcomed. Roots (working title) is a short documentary commissioned by PSBT for Doordarshan TV channel.
To participate please contact director Harjant S. Gill: Harjant@gmail.com, 91-9878318348
Filming will take place in and around Chandigarh next month (July).
Waiting for Spring by Nirupama Dutt
The emergence of a Dalit identity in East Punjab is a recent development, spurred in part by the failure of Sikhism to abandon caste discrimination as it initially averred to do.
For us trees do not bear fruits
For us flowers do not bloom
For us there is no Spring
For us there is no Revolution …
– Lal Singh Dil –
These are lines from the last poem of Lal Singh Dil, hailed as the foremost revolutionary poet of Punjab. He passed away in 2007. The despondent note of the poem is both surprising and telling, for a poet who had once declared that the song and dance in his heart would not die, no matter how dire the circumstance. It took Dil a lifetime to discover this sad yet provocative truth, against the backdrop of the complexities of caste in Punjab. Yet centuries before Dil’s birth, the same frustration with caste was intricately linked to the emergence of the Sikh religion.
Read full article: Waiting for Spring. Punjabi Dalit Poets. Nirupama Dutt. Apr 10
Debate about the right to carry a kirpan
Should religion be an excuse for carrying daggers?
Sikhs should be allowed to carry ceremonial knives in schools and other public places, says Britain’s first Asian judge. But can religion ever justify loopholes in the law, asks philosopher Rebecca Roache.
The idea of children being allowed to carry knives while at school sounds like a red rag to a bull. But that is what Sir Mota Singh QC, Britain’s first Asian judge, who is now retired, says should be allowed. Not any old knife – but the ceremonial dagger known as the Kirpan.
The Kirpan is one of five “articles of faith” which also include Kesh (unshorn hair) and Kara (steel bangle) that are worn by practising Sikhs.
Read full article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8506074.stm
Mightier than the kirpanI find it hard to justify knives being allowed in schools – be they Sikh ceremonial symbols or otherwise
Hardeep Singh Kohli The Guardian, Tuesday 9 February 2010
What do you know about Sikhism? The men wear turbans. It comes from the north-west of India. It has at its heart the five “Ks”, the kesh (long hair), kara (steel bangle worn on the right hand), kaacha (undergarment), kanga (comb) and kirpan (a ceremonial dagger); all baptised Sikhs are expected to wear the five “Ks” daily. Sikhs are regarded as the best dancers in the world. This is all unequivocally true, especially the last part.
But I’d like to concentrate on the fact that Sikhism is the only world religion that requires devotees to carry a dagger. The function of the kirpan arose from necessity. From the end of the 16th century, as the Moghuls swept through Persia into the peace-loving hinterland of the Hindus, converting them to Islam, Sikhs became defenders of freedom, guardians of religious independence, champions of tolerance; and we were willing to lay down our lives for the cause. In that context it is easy to understand why we needed daggers, which were carried with us at all times since the threat of violence was constant.
Read full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2010/feb/09/dagger-dilemma-sikhism-kirpan-schools
Conference: The Hermeneutics of Sikh Music (Raga) and Word (Shabad)
21-23 May, 2010, Hofstra University
Is music a language? Is there meaning in music? Perhaps universal meaning – given the popular platitude that music is the only universal language. Or is the meaning in music mediated by culture to such an extent that one is hard put to speak of universals? If the latter then does that imply a cultural limit to the supposed universal nature of the Gurū Granth Sāhib arguably the musical text par excellence? If the Word needs to be translated across linguistic contexts then does Sikh music also require translation into culture-specific and musical idioms to be efficacious? How to interpret and translate musical meaning? Is it even possible?
The purpose of this conference is to bring these two crucial dimensions of Sikh thought and practice, philosophy and aesthetics, together to initiate an academic dialogue between the Word (language, meaning, interpretation) and its performance in Music and Song (rāg/melody, tāl/metric cycle, laya/tempo, bhāv/expression, instruments etc). The conference aims to grapple with a hermeneutics that can cater for both musical evocation (kīrtan) and philosophical contemplation (kathā) as one phenomenon.
Further information: http://www.hofstra.edu/Academics/Colleges/HCLAS/REL/SIKH/sikh_hermeneutics_may2010.html
Expanding Horizons: Sikh Studies at the Turn of the 21st Century
Saturday, November 14 & Sunday, November 15, 2009
University of California, Santa Barbara
For details, please see: http://www.global.ucsb.edu/punjab/index.html
Faith of choice by Amitabh Srivastava
India Today July 23, 2009
It’s a nondescript temple at Halhalia village in Bihar’s Araria district. It doesn’t have an idol; a mound of earth in one corner of the roofless one-room shrine represents Din Bhadri Devi, the local deity. Its walls are bare, but for priest Amlanand Rishidev, there is a more pressing problem than the upkeep of the temple: there is no one to inherit his priesthood. Halhalia village is home to over 100 families of which 28 have converted to Sikhism.
So have about a hundred families in several adjoining villages of the district, including Parwanpur, Godbelsara, Bakhri and Maudhabalia. Amlanand, however, isn’t bitter about the “gradual obliteration of faith”. His only son Nirdosh Singh and his family have also converted to Sikhism. The men sport straggly beards, wear saafas and have kirpans slung across their shoulders. The women still wear saris and on special occasions they slip into the traditional salwar-kurta. Pidgin Punjabi can be heard everywhere, even though the womenfolk have never visited Punjab.
Tributes to W. Hew McLeod 1932 – 2009
The Tribune Dedicated scholar of Sikhism by Roopinder Singh: http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20090723/edit.htm#7
Obituary by Prof Gurinder Singh Mann, University of California, Santa Barbara: http://www.global.ucsb.edu/punjab/mcleod.html
Reflections of The Sikh Studies Community Compiled by Tony Ballantyne & Jerry Barrier: http://www.sikhchic.com/our_best_friends/w_hew_mcleod_1932_2009_reflections_of_the_sikh_studies_community
Dr Hew McLeod: Bouquets & Brickbats By Gurmukh Singh: http://www.emgonline.co.uk/news.php?news=6762
The Passing of Hew McLeod: http://www.sikhnet.com/news/passing-hew-mcleod
Surjit Hans, The Hindustan Times: Hindustan Times 22 jul 09
W. H. McLeod
Photo courtesy of Amarjit Chandan
It is with great sadness that we learnt that after a long illness Hew McLeod passed away on Monday 20 July. He was one of the most eminent scholars of Sikhism in the world and though for some he was controversial, no one can deny his phenomenal contribution to Sikh and Punjab Studies. May he finally rest in peace.
Baba Nanak Remembered by Shafqat Tanvir Mirza
‘Baba Nanak Remembered’ by Shafqat Tanvir Mirza in The Dawn, April 23, 2009.
Special Sikh Book Signing at Waterstone’s Canary Wharf
The authors of In the Master’s Presence: The Sikhs of Hazoor Sahib will be signing copies and talking about their acclaimed new book on Friday 24th April at Waterstone’s Canary Wharf (Cabot Place East, London E14 4QT) from 12 to 2pm.
Expert swordsman Nidar Singh Nihang and historian Parmjit Singh will be joined by acclaimed photographer Nick Fleming (www.nickfleming.com) who will be sharing his unique experience of living life as a nomadic Sikh warrior in the northern India state of Punjab.
Waterstone’s are offering £10 off the recommended retail price for anybody buying a copy on the day.
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Banda Singh Bahadur – forthcoming seminar and publication
The Sikh Education Council, UK, is commemorating the tri-centenary of the establishment of the first Khalsa Republic by Baba Banda Singh Bahadur. We are organising a series of national UK seminars to coincide with the tenure in which we propose to highlight the achievements of Banda Singh.
We are planning to edit and publish a book in the United Kingdom in May 2010, “Perspectives on Banda Singh ‘The Brave’”. This will comprise a series of essays by leading academics worldwide.
If you are interested in making a contribution please contact:
Palbinder Singh, Project Manager, Baba Banda Singh Bahadur Seminars
Sikh Education Council, UK
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