Roundtable
The Roundtable Open Forum - Round Nine: Dec 30 - Jan 5
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 (Dec 30, 2009 - Jan 5, 2010) topic for discussion, which should focus on the questions posed therein:
SIKH WOMEN ACHIEVERS
THE FACTS
1 We have just closed nominations for the Chic Sikh of the Year 2009 - (the winner will be announced on Friday, January 1, 2010 on sikhchic.com).
2 41 names - persons, institutions, groups - have been nominated. Each one is highly deserving of the honour.
3 Of the 41, 24 are men. Only THREE are women.
4 However, there is no dearth of women who have done extraordinary things within or on behalf of the community. Sikh women are at the very top of every field of endeavour. At the very least, their contribution to society is demonstrably at par with that of men. Some would say it is arguably even higher.
5 Why then, we wonder, do we neglect to recognize the life work and achievements of women in our community? Maybe because women have entered the world-wide work-force in large numbers only since approximately two decades ago. Maybe we are still burdened with an overly male perspective of things around us, which continues to blind us to female roles and contributions.
6 The reasons behind the discrepancy will be fodder for another discussion topic, another day. This week ...
QUESTIONS TO PONDER
- If you look around you in your community, your own circle of activity and acquaintance, which Sikh women do you see or know to have done extraordinary things in their chosen careers or fields of endeavour?
- Who are the Sikhnis and Sardarnis who have, locally or globally, gone beyond the call of duty to serve humanity?
- Who are the Sikh women who have taken on leadership either in their respective professions or career paths, on the home front or within the community?
- Which Sikh women do you recognize as deserving recognition, but who have remained, for whatever reason, unsung heroes? Why do you think they are deserving?
- We are not looking for perfect lives - after all, we don't look for perfection in men when we honour them.
- Please share with us these extraordinary persons - their names, a short description of why you think each deserves recognition, etc. And tell us where they live ... generally, the town or city, state or province, country ... You may name any number of deserving people.
- Just your choices of Sikh women of distinction, please, this time around. We'll turn to discussion of related issues - the why, what, how, when, etc. - on another day.
Conversation about this article
1: Amardeep Kaur (Sydney, Australia), December 30, 2009, 5:35 AM.
Great idea. - JASMEEN KAUR: recently awarded Young volunteer of the year award by the state government for her inter-community bonding, voluntary work etc. - NISHA KAUR JHOLL & HARMEET KAUR: young Sikh women helping to plan and execute events such as blood drives, homeless shelter food distribution, clothing appeals within their local sangat. - JASBINDER KAUR: Only in high school, yet a beacon of hope for those around her. Voice of optimism and caring concern, embodies the concept of seva in her local school community. - TAREN KAUR GILL: a young pharmacist running businesses in a rural area - helping to raise the profile of Sikhs in such areas; Sikh representative to national leadership forums, promotes interfaith dialogue, a voice of reason and a role model for the younger generation. These are just a few off the top of my head from the Sydney region ... I am sure there are many many more, and of course every year, we also have Sikh women as top academic achievers in our schools and universities, hired by the leading businesses/ firms and representatives at state national sporting camps.
2: I.J. Singh (New York, U.S.A.), December 30, 2009, 8:11 AM.
I sometimes think of women in our religion as the invisible half. Most, if not all, of us will insist that the blinders with which we operate in life are cultural and not at all stemming from Sikh doctrine or teaching. The question then is why do we not change things? We have changed some realities - in our parents' generation, women were generally educated but not very much. Very few pursued careers. I know what cultural and social norms dictated in the past. Times have changed but our cultural shackles remain. When gurdwara management is to be selected, it is 99.99% men. Good heavens, we won't even let women perform kirtan on a regular basis, and in some gurdwaras never. But they can cook langar for zillions! The role of women in our home and communal life should be such that no difference is apparent and their prominence in gurdwara or society raises neither eyebrows nor applause - in a truly egalitarian society that we say the Gurus founded, it should be such an ordinary matter in the course of things. We have two choices as we talk about this issue: We can debate it and lament it until the cows come home, as we have done before - or we can change it, starting at home and in our gurdwaras. And don't point to Margaret Thatcher, Golda Meir or Rani Jind Kaur; they were outliers.
3: T. Sher Singh (Guelph, Ontario, Canada), December 30, 2009, 9:27 AM.
A long string of names comes to mind immediately. But I'll start with one: MANJYOT KAUR of New York, U.S.A. She is a brilliant and prolific writer on things Sikhi, revealing a deep insight into the Faith. She's been a pillar of sikhchic.com for much of its existence. And Sikhs all over the continent and beyond rely on her seva in her many, many areas of expertise. Greater recognition of her work is long overdue.
4: Pranjulaa Singh (Gwalior, India), December 30, 2009, 11:23 AM.
Talking of women achievers, I would like to nane vote, NEERU SINGH GYANI of Gwalior as one such pillar in this competing world. Born and brought up in Mumbai, she is the first Sikh woman to be appointed BJP Zilla Sanyojak (for youth) in the rural areas of Madhya Pradesh in Gwalior. Along with this, she is an artist and also a director of Pranjal Arts, a company that promotes young artists. She is a committed social worker who has done many programs for the upliftment of women, youth and artists. Every year she organizes workshops for children. She resolves to empower the Sikh youth around Gwalior.
5: Manjit Singh (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada), December 30, 2009, 3:11 PM.
A local Sardarni, AJIT KAUR DEOL - based in Winnipeg, Canada - certainly deserves to be honoured for her life-work. She is a perennial activist, always devoting time to public and civic causes, as well as within our own community. A retired school principal for as long as I can remember, she has never slowed down.
6: Ravinder Singh Taneja (Westerville, Ohio, U.S.A.), December 30, 2009, 4:22 PM.
AMAR KAUR PUREWAL of Marion, Ohio, U.S.A. and GURPREET SINGH of Lancaster, Ohio. Amar for her tireless - and thankless - effort to get a new, larger facility for the gurdwara and being the perennial community activist. Gurpreet for her selfless service to the cause of Sikhi through superbly organized and coordinated annual Youth camps and symposia - which have been fixtures in Central Ohio for as long as I can remember.
7: Irvinder Singh Babra (Brantford, Canada), December 30, 2009, 11:29 PM.
Thank you, sikhchic.com. Wish you all a very happy new year and care to love and respect every thing feminine, mother, wife, daughter, sister ...
8: Manjit Singh (Washington, D.C., U.S.A.), January 01, 2010, 10:57 AM.
Two persons have done phenomenal work in and for our community: INNI KAUR (Connecticut) and GURMEET KAUR (Atlanta, Georgia). Both represent our best foot forward. They have showcased things Sikh in a new idiom, easily palatable by our young and our non-Sikh friends. Each community needs a clone of these extraordinary women.
9: Tejwant Singh (Nevada, U.S.A.), January 01, 2010, 11:16 AM.
Let 2010 be the year when we men walk the walk. Otherwise, merely listening to the beautiful gurbani about equality of men and women and swaying along, and doing little to implement it, is not Sikhi.
10: Sara Singh (London, United Kingdom), January 03, 2010, 3:14 AM.
I nominate MAI BHAGO and MAHARANI JIND KAUR ... women of courage and virtue who fought tirelessly for their people!
11: Mlle. S. (Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A. ), January 03, 2010, 10:44 PM.
My friend, GURMEET KAUR of Atlanta (Georgia, U.S.A.), honours Sikhi by living a spirit-filled life marked by devotion to the Guru and to justice. She has raised her son to care for others and to be confident in his identity. I knew nothing about Sikhi before I met her. One year later, my life is so much richer. I am touched by the beauty of the teachings of Guru Nanak and I read Gurbani - in English, of course - as often as I read the Torah. I finally had the will to give up eating meat entirely after years of considering it - all it took was a role model. All faith groups need ambassadors like Gurmeet who live their values daily while respecting the beliefs of others. What a beautiful world it would be if more people resembled this "ordinary" Singhni.
12: Gurmeet Kaur (Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A. ), January 05, 2010, 2:06 PM.
So sad that it took a separate Roundtable to identify and recognize women achievers of the Panth; and even still not many voices. We, the women of the Sikh Nation, are we content being the stepping stone as daughters, mothers, sisters, wives and happy merely seeing our fathers, sons, brothers and husbands being recognized? Aren't we more than just stepping stones: Aren't we the very architects of the Sikh destiny? Have you not heard of MEJINDARPAL KAUR on whose shoulders lies the framework of thousand-strong Sikh humanitarian organization known as the UNITED SIKHS? Have you not heard about VALARIE KAUR who has educated hundreds of thousands of Americans about post 9/11 hate crimes towards Sikhs? Have you not heard of SNATAM KAUR who with her angelic voice has brought the message of peace in Guru Nanak's footsteps in her travels away from her family for years? What about JASKARAN KAUR of ENSAAF, or HARPREET KAUR, the Director of the film 'The Widow Colony'? I can go on and on - but I will leave the rest to the creativity of others and rest my case by saying that 'Mai Bhag Kaur's do exist in the nation today. Let's recognize them, honour them, empower them, support them! sikhchic.com - Thank you for bringing this to our attention.
13: Sudip Minhas (Windsor, Ontario, Canada), January 05, 2010, 4:03 PM.
I agree with Gurmeet Kaur, "that it took a separate Roundtable to identify and recognize women achievers of the Panth". Let me just give a few reasons for that; its a good ploy on the part of those who share the power to satisfy the minority or the marginal by giving what is seen as a "limited space" to vent their emotions or else the pressure might get too high to be contained. So these pressure releasers serve as appeasers and the ones who are oppressed would feel vindicated ... at least they were recognized. I agree with Dr. I J Singh too, it is nothing to do with religion but culture which we all know is too pervasive. What is needed is forums such as these to continuously focus on women within their community rather than have the token patriarchal attitude of one roundtable. On the other hand, to all those women who feel strongly about what they need to do - what needs to be done will continue, irrespective of recognition.
14: Sanmeet Kaur (Brampton, Ontario, Canada), January 05, 2010, 10:58 PM.
First, my apologies to the Editor, then to the sangat, but the very fact that one must now name and honour our female heroes defeats the purpose this forum set out to achieve. Instead it displays how much of an afterthought women are considered by men and women alike. Gibran said, "And what is it but fragments of your own self you would discard that you become free? Do you accept One light resides in All? And if you do not, should I own the fetters which you have yourself bound your soul with?" And if we are unsung heroes, I bow my head in deep gratitude. For as much as a community needs heroes they can admire from a distance, it is our unsung heroes - mothers, fathers, grandparents, aunts - we emulate and aspire to be. They become our beacons, our mentors and we consider ourselves forever fortunate to have them. However, the endeavour has thrown into the spotlight more names and that is simply wonderful. As a child, I would pester my father as to why I wasn't allowed the Panj Pyaare Parshaad. One day, when I was about 7-8-years old and a tad exasperated, he said, "Guru Gobind Singh ji asked for a head of a Sikh, now why a woman didn't stand up at that time, I don't know." Naturally today I can put forth a number of eloquent justifications why. But why a woman, any woman in that crowd didn't rebel against her limitations and feel utterly compelled by complete surrender like The Five who answered the Guru's call, I still don't know. I only hope that when He calls again, I will have the courage to go. The Guru Granth says that He is Balraam-jeo - Ultimate Love, Friend and Deliverer - and we are all his female loves. My nomination goes to all the aspiring suhaagans (true wives) in whose heart resides the ever-loving Balraam-jeo.
15: Jas (New York, U.S.A.), January 30, 2010, 5:27 PM.
Mejindarpal Kaur - she's an amazing Sikh woman. She's an inspiration.