Roundtable
Life in the Diaspora
The Roundtable Open Forum XIX: March 10 - 16
EDITOR
The Rules of the forum are posted here on the right, and need to be followed strictly by all participants.
The following is this week's (March 10 - 16) topic for discussion, which should focus on the questions posed therein:
LIFE IN THE DIASPORA
1 A substantial portion of the world's Sikh population now makes its home scattered in countries around the globe. There are Sikh-Britons, Sikh-Canadians, Sikh-Americans, Sikh-Aussies, Sikh-Kiwis, Sikh-Kenyans, Sikh-Singaporeans, Sikh-Malaysians ... to name but a few. Our readers even hail from lands as far and isolated as Iceland and Finland to Fiji and Borneo.
2 We have come to these lands neither as conquerors nor as indentured labour, but as free citizens, making a free choice powered only by a combination of reasons unique to our people - a sense of adventure, coupled with the ardour of entrepreneurship, yet free of greed and free of the desire to plunder what is not rightfully ours!
3 Sikhs have now graced every corner of the diaspora for well over a century - in some places, for as much as a century-and-a-half! Our self-deprecating jokes even talk of Sikhs being established on the Moon when Neil Armstrong first stepped down on its soil. Variously, you will hear that "Sikhs and potatoes", or "Sikhs and mice" are to be "found everywhere on the globe"!
4 Free of the envy and jealousies, the narrowmindedness and the shortsightedness, that weighs down this nation-building minority in its country of origin, India, at the hands of its majority - which remains bogged down in its medieval backwardnesses - the Sikhs of the free world have flourished wherever they have gone. They serve their new homelands as Prime Ministers and leaders, corporate magnates and dedicated professionals, community activists and committed citizens ... there is no sphere of activity or decision-making, no corridor of power, no enterprise or area of endeavour, where Sikh men and women have not excelled, and have not proven that they are no less than any other who walks on this earth.
5 The hurdles have been many, sometimes even Herculean. But the fruits too have been bountiful ... and fully earned and deserved!
QUESTIONS TO PONDER
- Tell us about where you call home ... and your journey, or that of your parents or ancestors, to your homeland.
- How have you and your family flourished in the new world?
- Has the move been worthwhile?
- Have there ever been any regrets? What are they?
- Are you happier here in your new home, as compared to life back in India, or compared to those you had to leave behind?
- Has life been tough and a struggle? Is it still?
- What do you particularly enjoy, value and cherish in your ‘new' homeland.
Comments and feedback from both immigrants and those born in the diaspora are sought and welcome.
Conversation about this article
1: Jagroop Singh (London, England), March 10, 2010, 1:12 PM.
My family and I (when I was a child) moved to England from East Africa. We have all visited India several times. We love going back to Punjab, but dread the experience of being in India ... it's corruption and intolerance are very difficult to take. We thank Waheguru that He extricated us from that country and brought us to lands where human beings behave like ... well, human beings. Picking up the strain from an earlier article on sikhchic.com, I feel compelled to say: Punjab is wasted on India! Life in England is not a bed of roses ... it isn't anywhere. But it isn't the hell that India has become, in the worst sense of the word.
2: Ram Singh (Alberta, Canada), March 10, 2010, 1:30 PM.
My parents and our extended family lived in the Jhelum area of Punjab until the Partition exploded on the scene and we were all thrown into the quagmire called India. My parents showed incredible foresight and moved heaven and earth until they were able to escape - and I don't use the word lightly - with us all, first to Hong Kong, and then to Malaysia. Through incredible hard work, my parents flourished and were able to send all the kids to England and North America for higher education. Now, we live mostly in the U.S. and Canada, a bit too scattered for our liking, but grateful to be on this beautiful continent. We are all into professions - the children and their children: doctors, accountants, engineers, lawyers, dentists ... and two architects! We go to Amritsar regularly, and from time to time take the young ones to visit the historical gurdwaras in Punjab. But we feel blessed with our lives. My parents - both mercifully still alive and relatively healthy - have had NO regrets. We pray that all Sikhs are able to get out of the miserable country that India has become, and leave the desis to wallow in their own mess.
3: Brijinder Singh (New York City, U.S.A.), March 10, 2010, 2:44 PM.
My mother moved to America by herself in 1980, and then went back to Punjab to get married in 1984. I don't know how they managed to have a wedding with all the madness that was going on then. My father was in Delhi getting his papers in order to come to America on the day of the pogromss. He managed to get out because a very kind man hid him in the cargo area of a train that was heading back to Punjab. Within a year, my father was able to join my mother in New York, at which point he started studying for his USMLE's and then began practicing medicine shortly thereafter. From renting out a room in someone's basement, to owning a home in an affluent neighborhood, I commend my parents for taking advantage of every opportunity this country has given them. I have visited India a few times with my family, most recently in 2002. We still own a home and have land in Punjab. I enjoy visiting Punjab as it is the land of my ancestors, and the land of the Gurus. I think it is important to maintain a link with that place. I would like to someday show my children where their grandparents came from, and their ancestral lands. Sikhi had to struggle a lot to establish itself in Punjab, so we must not turn our backs on Punjab just yet.
4: I.J. Singh (New York, U.S.A.), March 10, 2010, 4:48 PM.
Interesting topic. One that continues to occupy all immigrants, no matter where they come from. In that we think and feel uniquely but we are in essence not all that unique. One question posed here intrigued me - on how happy one feels. I think happiness depends little on where one lives; it lies in how one lives and what needs and wants define a life. I look back on my 50 years here - a satisfactory life with its share of joys and sorrows and I see that had I lived all these years in India, I doubt very much that I would ever have come to value, love and pursue my interest in Sikhi. It largely developed here in the U.S.A. and has become a defining passion in my life. Then you ask, "Is life a struggle?" Isn't any life that's worth living a struggle as well as a joy? Any less and it might become boringly repetitious. We need, of course, to keep redefining what are the sights, sounds and smells of home.
5: Bicky Singh (Ontario, Canada), March 10, 2010, 8:46 PM.
My family - originally from Kenya, East Africa - migrated to England and finally settled in Canada. Life here has been good in general. My dad had a very good office job and my mom worked for a while in a factory. We had everything anyone could have asked for and more. The move to Canada was the best thing that my parents could have done. We have so many opportunities here that we could not have ever imagined having anywhere else - especially when compared to England. Our initial years here were hard, mind you ... but in the end it was worth it. We were the first Sikhs in a lot of areas and had to go through a lot of growing pains in our new land. Not so much from a language perspective as my parents were well educated in English back in Kenya, but more so from fitting in with the general society. I remember going to school with a joorra and having a tough time with the other kids just because of the way I looked ... as a result, my hair was cut for a short while and the first opportunity that I had, I re-grew my hair in high-school and never looked back. Now that I have my own kids, I can see a general change in attitude and tolerance among mainstream Canadians and can feel assured that my kids won't have to go through the same struggles that we went through. Life in Canada is not without its struggles - but the struggles have shifted to be common amongst all Canadians rather than being focused on a particular community (as what we faced earlier). I'm glad to know that my children will be accepted for who they are rather than what they are in Canadian society. Our parents opened a lot of doors for us in this country and it's now up to us to ensure that the doors remain open for our children.
6: Hardeep Singh (Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A.), March 11, 2010, 12:15 AM.
What about Sikh-Indians? I am not sure if that omission was purposeful or an overlook. I hope some of us are not denying the existence of 25 million Sikhs in India ... or are we mixing and reflecting our personal relationship level with India as the relationship of Sikhs with India. There is no doubt, India has many challeges from social, poltical, economical, judicial perspectives ... but can we ignore them. The association of Sikhs with the land of South Asia is factual and has been since the times of the Guru Sahibaans, who not only guided and enligthened the people with Divine wisdom but also sacrificed for the rights of the people of the land. If nothing else, let's honor and respect the association of the Guru Sahibaans. Let's submit our prayers to Waheguru to tame the devil of hatred and devilry that plagues the land, and keep the Divinity ignited in us. Let's absorb and radiate the message Guru Sahib has given us: acts of Divinity invite Divinity in others (Aap japay awra naam japaway). [Editor: Please re-read the topic under discussion - you will note that it is about "Life in the Diaspora". The Sikh Diaspora consists of lands OUTSIDE India. That is the focus of the discussion. You have jumped to too many conclusions, all of them erroneous ones, unfortunately.] Fateh
7: Kartar Singh Bhalla (New Delhi, India), March 11, 2010, 1:27 AM.
I am pained to read Sardar Jagroop Singh ji's and Sardar Ram Singh ji's comments on India. Sardar Jagroop Singh ji (London, England) says: 'Life in England is not a bed of roses ... it isn't anywhere. But it isn't the hell that India has become, in the worst sense of the word.' Sardar Ram Singh ji (Alberta, Canada) says: 'We pray that all Sikhs are able to get out of the miserable country that India has become, and leave the desis to wallow in their own mess.' Though life in India may not be as comfortable as in U.K., Canada, or USA, India is not hell as some Sikhs settled abroad think. India is our motherland. [Editor: ... which kills our people by the thousands and then refuses to dole out justice!] If a mother is not rich, she is not called bad. If mother is not beautiful, she is not called ugly. [Editor: However, if she is evil and murderous, she needs to be dealt with prompltly and firmly.] We love our mother. I would like to draw attention to the views of Sardar Brijinder Singh (New York City, U.S.A.) who says: 'We still own a home and have land in Punjab. I enjoy visiting Punjab as it is the land of my ancestors, and the land of the Gurus. I think it is important to maintain a link with that place.' I would request all Sikhs settled abroad to emulate Sardar Brijinder Singh ji (New York City, U.S.A.) and continue to show respect and love for the land of our Gurus where nearly 25 million Sikhs live honourably and occupy high positions in business, industry, public life and government. 'Unko mubarak hon unche mahal apne, hum ko hain piyari hamari galiyan'. [Editor: Our homeland is Punjab - not India - not the land which insults us everyday by branding us Hindus, ignores and trivializes our history, our culture, our traditions, our role in freeing and defending it, etc., etc. We need to get past the stage of denial and bounce back to become Sardars and Sardarnis, not giddhars! And your claim to live in 'galiyaan' doesn't hold any water ... on the one hand, you brag about the prosperity and wealth of the new India, on the other - when it becomes convenient - you turn into beggars. Remember, you are Sikhs! Please stop playing the victim card and become masters of your destiny, for heaven's sake!]
8: I.J. Singh (New York, U.S.A.), March 11, 2010, 11:47 AM.
Emigres move for a variety of reasons. Some because of religious persecution, some for economic and educational possibilities - call them opportunities for socio-economic progress. Many move for political reasons. And, of course, there are many more reasons than are possible to catalogue here. Look at the history of U.S.A. All these reasons and more exist. Many retained a sense of loyalty to the parent country (of birth) even during the revolutionary war and a soft corner for that country in their hearts; others absolutely did not. Each has reasons that are equally valid. The primary question to discuss here is, now that we are outside Punjab and India, how do we define ourselves. Have we found a new "home" or is our move just a physical transfer to a place where we look at ourselves merely as guests that are passing through. Come to think of it even the earliest Punjabis, who likely came from the Caucuses in Asia Minor, somewhat as conquerors, were coming to a diaspora but now eons later are the natives. Come to think of it, we often look at the Biharis who come to Punjab for work as "alien" and "usurpers" of the riches of Punjab. I look at us here in the U.S.A. sometimes as the Biharis of Punjab. The question is how do we all create a home in new territory - a home that claims our loyalty as nothing else does.
9: Karan Kaur (Delhi, India), March 11, 2010, 1:33 PM.
Kartar Singh Bhalla: in case you were not aware that in Delhi today Sajjan Kumar was granted unlimited bail for his role in the Nov 1984 pogroms and the life of Jarnail Singh the journalist was threatened as he appeared at the court room ... Is this the India that you are so proud of and owe allegiance too? Is this the reason we should think positively about India? Is this your Mother India? I have heard these same comments made by other pro-India desis and not only are they delusional but also disrespectful because they assume that we are all stupid and lacking critical thinking skills!
10: Gurmeet Kaur (Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A.), March 11, 2010, 2:36 PM.
Home is where the heart is, they say. Right now, Atlanta, Georgia, is home. I am the third generation of displaced Sikhs in my family ... so I don't know what else to call home but Punjab. My grandparents were born in NWFP (currently, on the Pak-Afghan border) and Western Punjab. They came as refugees to northern India post 1947 partition. My parents moved to central India in search of a livelihood and I to USA as a result of the 1984 persecutions. I came to U.S.A. on a student visa and slowly other siblings followed. It was a painful move in the beginning, the struggles were many, both financially and emotinally, but I have zero regrets. I couldn't call India home after 1984 and felt like a homeless person until I got my American citizenship. I am thankful for that. After the struggle of the first 10 years or so, things have settled down. My relatives back home - they are far wealthier, compared to my standards - often question my decision. It's kind of sad that people in India measure success only in terms of wealth. I tell them I am rich. This move made me connect to Sikhi, the Punjabi language and my purpose in life. I do long to visit Punjab and try to go every few years. I do visit central India since my parents and other relatives still live there but it's not home. I want to run away as soon as I get there! I do want to go back and live in Punjab ultimately or at least visit for longer durations and work in the field of education there, when my parental responsibilities diminish here. I love the U.S.A., for it lets me be myself, because ironical though it may sound, but spirituality has a place here. Values like honesty, integrity and freedom are cherished not only in the text books but in real life.
11: Sandeep Singh Brar (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), March 11, 2010, 3:38 PM.
It's been quite a journey, a journey of three generations, but our family has finally found its true home. We are proud to be Canadian, it is by far the best country in the world with the most open-minded and accommodating people. I've lived here almost 40 years now and I don't ever want to live anywhere else. The patrons of our family's journey are my dear grandparents, my Nanaji who is now 96 and my Naniji at age 90 are both very content knowing they made the right decision in life as they see that every day in the lives of their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren who constantly thank them. I've lived most of my life with my mother's side of the family who left Punjab and decided to make the big move to Kenya following Partition. My Nanaji convinced my father to also move to Kenya from Punjab after he married my mother and that's where I was born. We lived on a beautiful sugarcane farm in the Rift Valley and I have fond memories of those days and the Kenyan Sikh community of that time. Life was good and the Sikh community was vibrant and alive. I still remember the excitement of social get-togethers at Kibos as all the Sikh farmers and their families in the surrounding areas would gather. We loved to go to Kisumu to attend the gurdwara and all the ladies would be dressed in their best as everyone went to the local theatre to watch the latest movies from back home and in the evenings watch the hippos coming out of the water to feed at sunset at Hippo Point. It was a tropical paradise indeed, but one that became a nightmare over time. Following independence from Britain, all the white farmers and officials left and over time the Africans developed resentment against the Sikhs and other Indians who, through their hard work, had built up successful businesses and farms. Over time Kenya became a very unsafe place. My Dad used to sleep with a loaded gun beside the bed, a pistol under his pillow and we had iron bars on our windows and armed guards. Who were the prisoners but us? When my grandfather retired in 1967, he went back to Punjab, planning to set up a home there and bring the family back, but he was so disgusted by the corruption and lack of ethics that he found all around him in India that he made another big decision and decided to migrate to Canada instead. By 1972, my parents could see the writing on the wall back in Kenya and so made the painful decision to send me to Canada to live with my maternal grandparents while they stayed behind on the farm in Kenya. At that time in Toronto there were few Sikh families and I was the only bronze kid in school. My mother and younger brother, since born in Kenya, eventually joined me and my grandparents in 1977 when my father tragically died in Kenya in a car accident. I've grown up here in Canada and now have two children born here. My wife was born in England after her family left Punjab in the 1960s and she also grew up here in Canada after they moved here in the early 1970s. I love Canada. I've had a chance to live in the United States for a few years and was quite disappointed and happy to come back home. I think maintaining a connection with the Punjab (in both India and Pakistan) is imperative. I visited Punjab for the first time as an adult in 1994 and it was a life-changing and profound experience for me. Now I understand why the Jews make such an effort to maintain their connection with Israel, sending their kids to visit and live there for some time. I have not been back to Punjab in 16 years now, but hope to take my kids there within the next few years to walk in the footsteps of our Gurus and visit my father's village of Lande (on the road between Baga Purana and Smalsar) and I want to explore the capital of Punjab and the center of the Sikh Empire - Lahore. I will always have a love and appreciation for the Land of the Five Rivers as found in modern day India and Pakistan and it will always be dear to my heart. Even though I was born in Kenya, I've never considered myself a Kenyan, that country has too many painful memories for me with the death of my father as well as a younger sister who died of some tropical disease. I only have a longing to visit Kenya one more time with my son, to show him our farm and to go to Kisumu on the shores of Lake Victoria, the source of the Nile River - the place where I was born and the place where my father's cremated ashes were scattered. I need to say goodbye to my father and goodbye to Africa, I need that sense of closure and it's something that I think about often. In terms of identity, the country I identify most with is Canada. I can't stand being called an Indian or the term Indo-Canadian. I'm not Indo- anything. I'm a Sikh and I'm a Canadian and very honoured to be both.
12: Kartar Singh Bhalla (New Delhi, India), March 12, 2010, 1:15 AM.
I.J. Singh ji's sentence, "I look at us here in the U.S.A. sometimes as the Biharis of Punjab", has struck me as very meaningful. It reveals more than what appears on the surface.
13: I.J. Singh (New York, U.S.A.), March 12, 2010, 9:04 AM.
Kartar Singh Bhalla ji, I deliberately kepy my comment brief but please don't read into it what is not intended. I understand that all cultures look askance at the new arrivals into it - for a while. All minorities have had to take time and make efforts to claim an equal place at the table - women, Irish, Italians, Poles, Germans and Japanese in the United States come to mind. The new arrivals today are Asians and Latinos, though they are not really that new. Hence the spotlight now is on us. Much as Punjabis sometimes resent the newly arriving Biharis, the established communities here are not always quite at ease with the new immigrants. But the direction of cultural movement here is historically progressive - not as fast as we would like, nor as linear, but assuredly positive. And that is a major difference between what I see here and the ground realities in India. In my 50 years here (a drop in the historical bucket), I have seen mind-boggling progress in this society; I wish I could make a similar statement of hope about some other cultures. My conmments do not mean that in some things I value or love them any less, even though I am disappointed in them. And my love is not blind.
14: Brijinder Singh (New York City, U.S.A.), March 13, 2010, 11:48 AM.
It is indeed hard to love a country that allowed the murder of so many innocent Sikhs, and without a single prosecution. The fact that Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler have been freely living their lives for the past 25 years is disappointing. It is also very telling of how much the Indian government values Sikh lives. Whatever progress our people have made in India has been manifested because of our own determination. Every step has been a fight and we must continue to fight until justice has been served on behalf of those innocent victims, and on behalf of the panth. I understand that those of us who are still residing in India have an affinity for it because it is, after all, part of your identity. However, as someone born and raised outside of "Hindustan", I do not have, nor do I have the obligation to feel, such affinity for that country. As with many Sikhs in the diaspora, my loyalties to India begin and end with Punjab. I am a Sikh-American, of Punjabi descent.
15: Nirmal Singh Nilvi (Texas. U.S.A.), March 13, 2010, 4:43 PM.
First, let me share the pain and anguish of those fellow Sikhs who suffered in India and continue to feel the cause of their lingering pain. Sikh doctrine and our sense of fraternity dictates that we share the pain as well as our bounties with each other. Let us pray that with Waheguru's grace, they will soon find closure. My growing up in India was a pleasant and satisfying experience. I was lucky to obtain the education of my choice, had a promising brief career and came to U.S.A. to improve prospects in life through advanced education. But ended up staying here due to developments (the Indian government decided to nationalize) in my industry. This afforded me the pause to weigh options and decide. I came up with basic criteria to justify my stay in U.S.A. Not to be funny, it included life sustaining necessities of food (cheapest and best quality), water and air (same), employment/ earning opportunities (most promising here), freedom of religion (most liberal here) and breadth of general amenities and cleanliness. May be it's my outlook, I just dug into the challenges of life and never looked back or dwell on comparative analysis. I developed a mental attitude of calling the U.S. home and spent my energy in creating a home and family. Out of selfishness to expand relationship connections, we sponsored as many relatives as we legally could and bring them over without their prompting. I have not forgotten my Indian roots and obligation towards ancestral lineage. I have not undergone any missing India emotional pangs. It has been a satisfying life with its usual ups and down, good and bad. I consider myself fortunate to choose and achieve most ambitions with His grace. If I would have decided to live in India, I do not believe I would have regretted it either because of my attitude. I learned it from Guru Nanak's self-imposed arduous journeys and a mind set which provides full effort and focus. His message in the Japji, particularly the concept of connection between the human mind and forces of the Universe, proved inspiring and practical. To nurture emotional cultural and spiritual needs, I undertook my obligation to help establish our (Sikh) faith and Punjabi culture to the extent possible. One more comment: in case of an emotional person, adjustment in a foreign land can be very challenging. For a reason/ logic- based individual, the U.S. and Canada perhaps provide the best systems ever created by the human mind anywhere and I will not hesitate to recommend them to anybody at any time.
16: P. Kaur (Canada), March 13, 2010, 8:36 PM.
How can you love a country that elevates its murderers? Kamal Nath has been chosen to come to Canada to speak to the Canada-India Business Council 2010 and K.P.S. Gill has been elected by the Interfaith International, an NGO with consultative status with the Economics and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSO), to represent India at the 13th Session of Human Rights Council in Geneva this month. Not only are these men living freely in India, now they are being given international recognition!