- May 9, 2006
- 3,261
- 5,192
[I wasn't sure whether I should put this in my blog, or here. Apologies if it's not in the right place.]
A thick skin is required of "Western Sikhs" as anti-western sentiment from some of our fellow Sikhs is bound to be apparent from time-to-tide.
I can understand some of where it comes from (colonialism) and what feeds it today (racism, protection of culture and heritage).
It's a bit rich for a "privileged Westerner" to come along and feast at the proverbial table of the Sikhs when, in history, we've already taken so much. Why should we deserve to savour the pearls of Sikhi, when Westerners ravaged the country, and some of us express such racist hatred throughout the world towards Sikhs and Indians even today.
What impact has this had on you non-Punjabi "converts" to Sikhi? How do you transcend it? Do you ever feel like you a) don't deserve to be there, and b) that "they" don't want you there?
Do you ever ponder that if the core of Sikhi is universal, why those core elements can't be expressed purely on the backdrop of our own cultures?
A thick skin is required of "Western Sikhs" as anti-western sentiment from some of our fellow Sikhs is bound to be apparent from time-to-tide.
I can understand some of where it comes from (colonialism) and what feeds it today (racism, protection of culture and heritage).
It's a bit rich for a "privileged Westerner" to come along and feast at the proverbial table of the Sikhs when, in history, we've already taken so much. Why should we deserve to savour the pearls of Sikhi, when Westerners ravaged the country, and some of us express such racist hatred throughout the world towards Sikhs and Indians even today.
What impact has this had on you non-Punjabi "converts" to Sikhi? How do you transcend it? Do you ever feel like you a) don't deserve to be there, and b) that "they" don't want you there?
Do you ever ponder that if the core of Sikhi is universal, why those core elements can't be expressed purely on the backdrop of our own cultures?