Spring Break
Sikhs celebrate founder's birthday
Ruth C. Wamuyu
Daily Staff Writer
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"He is very relevant to what is happening now," said UC Berkeley visiting professor Meji Singh. "He was born in 1469 at a time when there was a similar situation because there was strife amongst different religions."
Singh said Nanak taught respect for all religions.
"He proclaimed that we are all children of the same creator," he said. "He said we had to live in harmony with creation because the creator manifests itself in creation."
During his speech, Singh criticized the Mel Gibson movie, "The Passion of the Christ," because he believed it did not portray the love that Jesus had even for his tormentors. He drew a parallel of that love to the love Guru Nanak advocated.
"You and I are the same," he said. "I am going to love you no matter what you do to me. When people punch you, you don't punch back, you kiss their feet."
Guru Nanak rejected the old Hindu caste system that was based on rituals and divided men based on their birth status, said Atmajit Singh, Punjabi studies professor and organizer of the event.
"He made revolutionary contributions to revolutionary ideas about human rights and human values," he said.
Atmajit credited Nanak with the rehabilitation of the concept of family in 15th century India when family was seen as a hindrance to achieving spirituality.
"Guru Nanak emphasized you could have contact with God performing family and social responsibilities," he said.
He also said that at the time Guru Nanak lived, people had "become subjugated by religious leaders."
"That is why every Sikh man has to have the last name Singh, which means a lion, because Sikhs should roar," he said.
"When the guru was born his birth was called a lion's roar."
However not every Sikh man has Singh as a last name.
"Singh has moved to a middle name," said Guru Chahal, a 28-yearold Sikh.
"This is because of societal concerns. Families would like to distinguish themselves and so last names have become more specific."
Chahal was born in India but said his upbringing was not very religious.
"I came here today so I could get to know my religion and get in touch with my roots," he said.
Chahal said he moved to the United States 10 years ago.
He was not the only one who came to learn about his religion.
"I am a second-generation Punjabi so there are some words I don't understand," said Remi Baines, a 39- year-old mother of two. "I am pretty in touch with my culture because I go to a lot of functions, but I want to gain a deeper understanding of Guru Nanak's teachings."
Baines, whose middle name as required by the Sikh faith is Kaur -- meaning princess -- said she would take her children to the next event.
Minni Kaur Sood, wife of SJSU global studies professor Mohan K. Sood, said she was interested in educating the American public about the Sikh faith and started attending the symposium last year when they moved from Chicago to the Bay Area.
Pamela Wilson is a good example of an American who was so fascinated by the Sikh religion that she is becoming one, said Atmajit, the organizer, when introducing Wilson.
"I took elementary classes in Punjabi," said the San Francisco State University geography graduate student.
"Some people say I am not a Sikh yet so I guess I am in the process of becoming one."
Jasvir Kaur Zonobi, a 1993 SJSU alumna, said she is always intrigued by Guru Nanak's teachings and had read a lot about him.
"I have found his philosophy to be important in my life," she said.
"He taught equality through every message and rejected rituals that separate people."
The difference between men and women is transitory and superficial, said Jaskaran Singh Sahota, a software engineer and independent filmmaker.
"Guru Nanak said that a woman is the first teacher to a man as his mother," he said. "She has to be educated in order to educate her children."
Sahota said Guru Nanak taught that a woman was a man's companion in all aspects and that women have equal rights to men.
"Women have equal rights to participate in all aspects of Sikh society," he said. "They even fought as soldiers in the 16th and 17th centuries."
Sahota said the Sikh faith was the first religion to advocate equality of all people including women.
"For example, a woman had to burn herself alive when her husband died," he said. "But when a wife died, a man could marry again. Guru Nanak protested against this practice."
Guru Nanak is relevant to today's society, said Arvind Singh, one of the speakers.
"His is relevant today because we have a universal society divided by racism," he said.
He also said there was a need for Guru Nanak's teachings because of, among others, religious hatred between different religions, international conflicts and violation of human rights.
"Guru Nanak said depriving others of their dues is like feeding pork to Muslims and beef to Hindus," he said.
Arvind said the guru traveled to teach his message about equality and would do so in the local indigenous language.
"I learned about Sikhism by reading Punjabi works translated into English," said Loren Chain Singh, a Chinese-American Sikh.
Loren said he had been told he must one day read the books in Punjabi.
"I have no desire to be a linguistic scholar or to abandon my Chinese or American roots," he said. "Yet I desire to be a good Sikh."
Loren said it would be in the Sikh faith's best interest to accept the pervasiveness of English.
"Sikhism has descended into an indocentric religion, which does not bode well for its future," he said.
Atmajit, the Punjabi studies professor, said he was struck by what Loren had said but emphasized that Punjabi was important to the Sikh faith.
A point echoed by Robbie Singh, a former Punjabi student, was that it was important that the Guru's language be taught and spoken.
"I started learning through English but there was something missing," he said. "I realized English was not doing a great job."
However, the event, though dominated by speeches, had other activities.
A barefooted trio of SJSU students, eyes closed in seeming rapture, dressed in brightly colored traditional garb sang at the beginning of the ceremony while Punjabi students, Avishkar Basra and Geetpal Kaur, recited poems about Guru Nanak in Punjabi with animated hand movements and facial expressions.
"I have learned a lot about Sikh
culture through this type of event,"
said Dominique Van Hooff, the chair
of the department of foreign languages
who opened the symposium
on behalf of the interim Provost,
Carmen Sigler. "We promote the
knowledge of cultures through language.
It fosters understanding between
cultures which leads to peace
and harmony."
