Tribune News Service

Amritsar, August 14

Sarbpreet Singh, author and poet, talked about his book ‘Story of the Sikhs’ with Beena Sarwar, editor of ‘Aman Ki Asha’ initiative, and Mandira Nayar, senior special correspondent, ‘The Week’, during a web session hosted by Majha House, on Saturday.

The session was centred around his book, which brings together stories of three Punjabs—Pakistan, India and overseas.

Dr Gurupdesh Singh, member, Majha House said, “It breaks the myth that books reliving history are boring. This is a very readable book. One can tell that a lot of effort has gone into the writing of this book as it contains many lesser-known stories from the lives of Gurus and also is rich with passionate translations of rare poetic verses from various sources.”

Sarbpreet said, “Having been raised in Manipur I was not familiar with Gurmukhi, but it was through books by Cunningham, Macauliffe and Khushwant Singh, that I began to understand and appreciate my rich heritage. This book is a synthesis of years of engagement and effort as in order to reach it I even moved through starting a podcast for the Sikhism, which brought me in direct and deep engagement with Granth Sahib.”

Beena Sarwar, reviewing the book, said she was especially struck by the first section, which deals with episodes about Guru Nanak Dev and Babur. “When Guru Nanak Dev reached Saidpur, now in Gujranwala, he was imprisoned by soldiers of Babur. Even in prison, Guru Nanak Dev continued to sing hymns. His fame reached Babur, who invited him to his court. Legend has it that Nanak Dev told the Emperor that although his empire would reign for long he should seek the forgiveness of Allah for all the havoc he had wreaked. To me all these tales are about imperialism, about the oppressor and the oppressed. It’s disturbing for me to note how only names change through history, but the oppressive tendency of the ruler remains intact even today.”

Nayar said she thinks the Punjabi diaspora is doing so much in spreading the good work of the Sikh Gurus.

Sarbpreet also talked about his own journeys across borders in the search of his heritage. “My sojourns across the borders were met with so much love from the people there that it simply overwhelmed me. I am nostalgic about my visits to the shrine of Baba Bulleh Shah where all these man-made borders simply stopped existing for me. I felt they were as meaningless to me as they must have been for Baba Nanak. We must forgo our egos and differences and embrace our common humanism,” said Sarbpreet.