The Story Isn’t Over: History from the Margins

In this episode I get to talk to Sathnam Sanghera - author of  EmpireLand: How Imperialism Has Shaped Modern Britain, memoir The Boy  With the TopKnot and a novel, Marriage Material. In addition, Sathanm is  a writer for The Times and a presenter for Channel 4.  

In episode 15 of the ਸੋਚ (Sōch) Podcast I have the pleasure to talk to  Amandeep Madra - one of the main individuals behind UKPHA - about warrior-saints, empire, history and so much more.   

In episode 14 of the ਸੋਚ (Sōch) Podcast I have the pleasure to talk to Nidar Singh about Sanatan Shastar Vidya.  

00:12:00 - Before we dig our teeth into Sanatan Shastar Vidiya I get to  know a little bit more about Nidar Singh, discussing his family,  upbringing and education.  

Episode 13 of the ਸੋਚ (Sōch) Podcast is with Preeya Kaur and we discuss  her dissertation - Understanding the causes and consequences of the 1984  Sikh Genocide in India.   

We start with briefly getting to know a little bit more about Preeya  before then diving into Preeya's dissertation.   

We start with the definition and framing of genocide, the role of the  nation state, the period of time researched, why concepts of  'oppression, 'violence' and 'resistance' are key to understanding the causes of the genocide, what were the key causes, what were the  governments motives, what were the key consequences, what do you think  you've added to the narrative regarding 1984, the source based utilised  for the dissertation, how all of this understanding is key in informing  policy and concluding with discussing the parallels between then and  now.

Episode 12 of the ਸੋਚ (Sōch) Podcast is, once again, with Davinder Singh  Toor. However, this time we explore art, arms, armour and artefacts  from the Toor collection.

★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

00:00 - Introduction  

In this episode of the ਸੋਚ podcast I get to talk to  Davinder Singh Toor, who he has put together one of the finest  collections of Sikh art, arms, armour and rare artefacts from all over  the world.

In this episode we cover all of the following (with a rough time stamp):

00:00  - Intro and getting to know more about Davinder Singh Toor’s family  history, upbringing and the lessons he learnt from his parents.

In this episode of the ਸੋਚ podcast I get to talk to  Kamalpreet Singh Pardesi, the genius behind Gurmatvechaar.com and a  plethora of translations of vedantic and Sikh texts.

However,  before we get stuck into Vedant and Sikhi, I found out more about  Kamapreet, his family history and how he ended up here in the UK. We  discuss how he ended up in the research and work he's doing.

We  find out about his family’s heritage in Punjab, originally from a  radhaswami background until his father's generation met Sant Ishar Singh  Rara Sahib Wale who brought them into Gurmat. His maternal grandfather  was from India and grandmother from Burma. His grandfather was working  on the railways in Pakistan on the day of partition and eventually ended  up in Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania, although they did return to India for a  brief period. It was due to his grandfather working for BT and being  transferred to Leicester, that his family ended up in England.

Kamalpreet  recalls the impact of 1984, Sant Jarnail Singh Ji, Sant Isher Singh  Rara Sahib Wale, kathavachaks, reading and going to Guru Nanak Sikh  School in London and how all of this helped develop his initial  understanding and progression.

Around the 33 minute mark we turn our focus onto Vedant, Sikhi and pre-colonial texts and discuss the following:

What is Vedant?

In this episode I have the pleasure to talk to Inder  Singh Bassi, who is a 24 year old professional boxer signed to MTK  Global, a six-time London champion, a three-time National finalist and a  Haringey gold medallist as an amateur boxer.

We start with his  family coming to England in the 1960s from India, how his father and  uncles fell in love with Cassius Clay (Muhammed Ali) and wanted to learn  more. We discuss his uncle's expertise in wrestling, their family  desire to see a kesdhari Sikh boxer and how this led to the  establishment and running of a kids boxing, wrestling and kabaddi club  at the gurdwara.

We discuss the relationship between Inder’s Sikhi  and his boxing career, the amateur boxing beard rule and how, as a case  study for Lions MMA, Inder was able to help have the rule overturned.

We  talk about how representation in sport matters, how Inder got into  boxing, what his training schedule is like and his fighting style. We  then move onto how Inder keeps himself in the right frame of mind when  approaching a fight and dealing with a loss. We then find out about the  glass ceilings Inder has had to face and smash through during this  boxing career.

To conclude, we round up the conversation discussing role models, food and what the future might hold for Inder Singh Bassi.

Two quotes in particular from the podcast that stick out:

“I’m  not here just to make numbers. There’s some fighters who are here just  to make numbers and they’ll box bums and they’ll have 10 - 12 fights and  win them all. But it's not the same as boxing people who are there to  win.”

“From a young age, when I was 16, I had a Bhagat Singh phone  case. It’s always been Bhagat Singh, it’s not because of who he was, it  was someone who done something at such a young age and left a legacy,  good or bad. That’s what I want to do too. I know I’m not a freedom  fighter obviously and I’m not here to fight a war against no government  but in my field I want to leave a legacy.”

In episode 8 of the ਸੋਚ podcast, I have the pleasure of talking to Sharnjit Kaur, a PhD Candidate at University of British Columba focusing on museums & critical race theory, a co-ordinator at the South Asian Studies Institute, instructor at the University of Fraser Valley and co-curator of the Sikh Heritage Museum located in the National Historic Gur Sikh Temple - the official name of the gurdwara. 

We first start with getting to know a little bit more about Sharn, her family history, her interest in Sikh history, her dissertation on the Nihangs of Ranjit Singh’s court, working at the University of the Fraser Valley, getting involved with the National Historic Gur Sikh Temple, her curatory work and her current PhD. 

We discuss the age old question of diasporic communities - identity and then move on to discuss the decolonised space that is the National Historic Gur Sikh Temple Museum, and the history of the Gurughar itself, along with Sikhs in academia. 

Then we dive into the history of Sikhs in Canada starting with why did Canadian immigration policy and public opinion go through so many ups and downs? Sharn provides a brilliant and critical analysis of this short but extremely pivotal period of six years - complexities  of census taking, oral histories of Sikh and Dalit settlements in British Columbia in the late 1890s, jobs, long hair and gender norms, cremation and “the other”.  This is before breaking down the history of the Gur Sikh Temple of Abbotsford BC and its connection to the Ghadr movement.

We then discuss the Komagata Maru incident. However, we start with a Canadian court case in November 1913 where a judge overruled the deportation of 38 Punjabi Sikhs who had arrived to Canada on the Panama Maru. It was the victory of passengers of the Panama Maru that encouraged the sailing of the Komagata Maru in the following year. The Komagata Maru sailed from British Hong Kong, via Shanghai, China, and Yokohama, Japan, to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on 4 April 1914, carrying just over 300 passengers from Punjab province in British India. The ship had been hired by Gurdit Singh Sandhu, a Singaporean businessman who wanted to circumvent Canada anti-immigration laws by hiring a boat to sail from Calcutta to Vancouver. 

We discuss Gurdit Singh Sandhu and his opinion of the Ghadr movement, Bhagwan Singh and his rallying of the people of the Komagata Maru whilst the ship was in Hong Kong and a breakdown of who, what, when and where of the Ghadr movement, along with its parallels to the Tractor2Twitter movement today.

We discuss the legacy and impact of the Komagata Maru incident, how it impacted immigration policies then and now, World War I, the hypocrisy of the British Empire and the importance of historians, in particular,  Hugh J. M. Johnston. 

We move on to discuss the period between Komagata Maru and the Second World War, migration patterns and how South Asian and East Asians, along with the help of workers unions, fought for the right to vote for over fourty years. 

We discuss the role of caste and the perpetuity of privilege in early Sikh settlement to Canada, the need to portray the facts as they are and what is special about Canada that seems to incubate Sikh identity. 

We discuss why there is such an interest from Sikh Canadians in their history and what is special about Canada that seems to incubate this spirit? We end the podcast discussing what led to the establishment of the Sikh Heritage Museum, why it was important for the museum to be built and how Sharn got involved.

In episode seven of the ਸੋਚ Podcast I get to talk with  Simran K. Arts and Satnam Singh about traditional arts, sikhi and representation.

As usual, we start with getting to know Simran a  little bit better, for instance, the importance of her grandfather’s  photography whilst she was a child and the V&A Museum whilst she was  studying for her A-levels. We discover that it was restoration that was  Simran’s original interest before finding her passion in traditional  arts.

Amongst a whole lot more, we find out who Simran’s  inspiration is, her training in Persian miniature painting and the  connection between traditional arts and the Divine and then we dive deep  into the philosophical question of what is the most valuable  characteristic you need to have as a traditional artist?

Before  moving onto the topic of traditional art and Sikhi, I provide three  examples of traditional art: the showcase of Liberian music and dance at  the 1901, 1926 and 1984 Worlds Fair, the construction of a cultural  centre on Malaita, a Solomon island, that resulted in the revitalisation  of the indigenous East Kwaio community and resurrection of dead art  forms and, lastly, the colonisation of Hawaiian Hula, which has had such  a lasting impact that many of us today are only familiar with the  stereotypical, colonial trope of Hula dancing.

We go about trying  to define traditional art and Sikh art, discussing examples of  traditional Sikh art such as sakhis and raag kirtan. An example I find  particularly interesting is the gach and tukri embellishments of the  inner walls of Sri Harmandir Sahib. Gach is a base formed by mixing  crushed gypsum and water, and heating the mix to the right temperature  until it reaches the consistency of a paste. The paste is then applied  to the surface to be treated, and fine steel implements are used to etch  floral and other designs in the paste before it sets. The next stage  involves infilling these with sheets of gold leaf (varqs). In tukri  work, pieces of coloured and mirrored glass, sometimes specifically made  for the purpose, are cut and inlaid into gach to form patterns and  textures with their myriad reflections and colour effects.

We then  dive deeper into traditional arts and Sikhi with questions such as, why  are traditional art forms of indigenous communities outlawed or banned?  Does the artist have a responsibility to be historically accurate? Does  the artist have to be considerate of their audience? Does the artist  always have to respect traditions? Where do you see Sikh art going? Does  representation within art matter? We conclude with a community question  - why does traditional art pre-occupy itself with natural materials?