Ocean of Pearls’ a Fresh Look at the Sikh Experience By LISA TSERING
indiawest.com August 20, 2009 06:18:00 PM
SAN FRANCISCO — “Ocean of Pearls” is a story of one Sikh’s struggle in America, but it’s so much more. The film is a coming-of-age story, a medical drama, a statement about racism and an unsentimental look at the vast divide between generations.
One thing it’s not? Predictable.
The independent feature film, an assured debut by physician-turned-director Sarab S. Neelam, opens Aug. 21 in San Francisco, and will soon roll out its release to other cities.
Amrit Singh (Omid Abtahi) is a talented young Canadian doctor who receives a once-in-a-lifetime chance to run a multi-million-dollar transplant facility in Detroit. He jumps at the chance, leaving his family, and his girlfriend (Navi Rawat of “Numb3rs”), behind.
Read full review: http://www.indiawest.com/readmore.aspx?id=1404&sid=5
Digital library on Sikhs launched
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, August 20
Pages of rare manuscripts, books, magazines , newspapers and photographs on the Sikhs and Punjab will be available at www.PanjabDigiLib. org on the Internet at Panjab Digital Library launched by the Nanakshahi Trust and the Research Institue ( SikhRi) today.
Since 2003 PDL has been selecting , collecting, preserving digitising texts regardless of script , language, religion , nationality etc.
“ Preservation of heritage, research and education have been victim of apathy in Punjabi. PDL is humble offering to people’ said Harinder singh , executive director SikhRI. Information in rare manuscripts and literature of the region can be accessed with the click of mouse.
A document on being digitised will be accessible long after the original ceases to exis . PDL developed Central digital archive in six years which allows electronic access to browsing data in seconds.
The digital library do away with barriers of conventional library.
PDL has been preserving over 25 lakh folios from 3,400 manuscripts, 2,200 book , 1,990 issues of periodicals ,3153 photographs 248,000 legal documents ‘ , said Gurvinder Asingh PDL’s US coordinator ,
Information on institutions like the SGPC, the DSGMC, Government Museum and Art Gallery , Chandigarh , Chief Khalsa Diwan Punjab Languages Department, Kurukshetra University , critical works of Prof Pritam Singh , Dr Man Singh Nirankari, Dr Kirpal Singh , Dr madanjit Kaur, and Prof Gurtej Singh are accessible at PDL.
It is non- profit , non- governmental set- up, devoted to preserving Punjab archives, said Gurnihal Singh Pirzada a director.
At least 50,000 pages were being added every week to the websit , said Davinder Pal Singh co- founder.
http://www.panjabdigilib.org/webuser/searches/mainpage.jsp If you have used the digital library, do leave some comments about it functions and usability.
Britain’s Sikhs continue to plague Punjab By Rahul Bedi
Around India young women are becoming victims of a crime that is robbing them of their virtues and their wealth.
Every year parents from Britain take their ‘looser sons’ to India and allow them to destroy the lives of innocent girls who crave for a life in Britain – or so they think
Many of these culprits are Sikhs, they have plagued the Punjab, with thousands of girls who have become bride and signed their lives to misery and pain, as they allow themselves to be robbed of the ‘virginity’ become objects that give these bachelors a ‘whore’ on command whilst they are on holiday, with never a thought to these women once they return to Britain.
Full article: http://www.emgonline.co.uk/news.php?news=6764
Of Babas and Deras by Surinder S. Jodhka
India Seminar, January 2008
IN the second week of December 2007 three Sikh organizations met in Chandigarh to deliberate on the challenges confronting the Sikh community and the state of Punjab. They identified three social problems needing immediate attention of the community: drug addiction among youth, degradation of the environment, and discrimination against Dalits in rural areas.
Citing the findings of an NGO, it was reported that between 40 to 60 per cent of all youth in the state were addicted to one or the other drugs. Suicides by farmers and crisis of agriculture were a direct outcome of the rapid degradation of environment due to indiscriminate use of modern technology and chemical fertilizers. Similarly it was acknowledged that in some villages Dalits were being denied entry into gurdwaras and access to the Guru Granth Sahib for religious ceremonies such as anand karaj (marriage rituals) and antim ardas (prayer service for the departed). Given its potential to create a rift among the rural Sikh masses this needed to be stopped. It was underlined that ‘the Sikh Gurus were for a casteless and classless society.’
Read full article: http://www.india-seminar.com/2008/581/581_surinder_jodhka.htm
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
Studying the Sikhs – Hew Mcleod and Likhansar – A poem
After the sad loss of Hew Mcleod, Amarjit Chandan who was a friend of Hew has sent these to share with everyone.
Likhansar: A poem by Amarjit Chandan co-translated by Hew McLeod.
Likhansar. Poem. [Bilingual]. Revsd. Amarjit Chandan. May 2008
On my behest Hew wrote this a couple of years ago and its Punjabi translation done by me was published. studying with sikhs Mcleod 2007
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.
Dilemma for Sikhs who escaped tribal areas
July 19, 2009 Isambard Wilkinson, Foreign Correspondent
HASANABDAL, PAKISTAN // The Sikh community of north-western Pakistan faces an uncertain future after fleeing fighting between security forces and the Taliban.
Sikhs from across the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and the tribal areas have taken refuge over the past three months within the high walls of Hasanabdal’s Gurdwara Panja Sahib, one of the most sacred temples in Sikhism.
Reeva Kor, a mother of three children and one of 3,000 Sikhs who has made the shrine a temporary home, comes from Buner, the district into which militants encroached from neighbouring Swat valley after flouting a peace agreement they had struck with the government.
http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090720/FOREIGN/707199868
Documentary: Hew McLeod: A Kiwi Sikh Historian
The documentary, Hew McLeod: A Kiwi Sikh Historian, tells the story of a New Zealander who has spent a lifetime researching the Sikhs.
The documentary, which is being produced by Asia Downunder, is illustrated with archive footage, photographs and the religious art of the Sikhs and includes interviews with family, academics and New Zealand Sikhs.
SGPC, Cambridge varsity to institute scholarships for Sikh students
Tribune News Service
The Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) plans to institute scholarships in collaboration with the University of Cambridge (UK) for needy and meritorious Sikh students for research studies leading to MPhil and PhD degrees.
SGPC president Jathedar Avtar Singh said the SGPC had received a proposal from the Department of Human Resources, University of Cambridge (UK), in February this year regarding providing opportunities to Indian students from the Sikh community.
Michael O’ Sullivan Joseph, Director, Cambridge Commonwealth Trust, arrived in India a few days back to discuss the modalities for the creation of scholarships.
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20090630/punjab.htm#6
The Trust grants about 860 scholarships to Commonwealth students who are meritorious and fulfill the eligibility for admission to Cambridge varsity.
Kathryn Lum – “A Minority within A Minority: The Ravidassia Sikhs”
Kathryn Lum’s article related to the Vienna shooting – “A Minority within A Minority: The Ravidassia Sikhs” – is now available at the Sikhs in Europe website and can be downloaded at:
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