Sunday, June 1, 2003		Books

New Delhi-based journalist-turned-author Gurmukh Singh’s first book, The Global Indian - The Rise Of The Sikhs Abroad (Rupa), was released on May 26. Even before it was released, orders for it had been placed by Sikh organisations and Sikhs living abroad. For the last several months, Gurmukh Singh has been travelling from one country to another, focusing on the Sikhs living there. "Since the focus is on the Sikhs, the publishers and I thought it will be apt to have the inaugural launch function at Chandigarh before it is launched in New Delhi, London, New York and Vancouver," says Singh. Humra Quraishi met him for an interview. Excerpts:

For the sake of travel and adventure. I attended a couple of other functions organised by the World Punjabi Organisation (WPO) where I met many people, like Mangal Dhillon, who were doing something to mark the tercentenary of the Khalsa. Then the WPO took me on a cultural trip to Pakistan just before Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s Lahore bus trip. It was there that I started thinking about doing a book on famous Sikhs around the world. It was decided that I would write a coffee-table book. The WPO wrote to my editor, agreed to pay for my round-the-world ticket and provide board and lodging and logistical support.

Looking back, I think it was rather naive of me to have thought about undertaking such a difficult project. I thought I would swing through various cities and finish the book in four to five months. But when I started, the enormity of the task hit me. First, I had to meet some people to know something about the community in that particular city or country, and then collect the names of distinguished Sikhs. When I tried to contact these people, they were simply not available. But once people came to know about the project, they were very keen to help me. That is the beauty of the Punjabi hospitality. I got lots of invitations from Sikhs in different places to visit them. And visiting them in places as far apart as Paldi (the first Sikh settlement in North America) and Woolgoolga (the first Sikh settlement in Australia) was educative and exciting.

I have used interviews and glossy pictures. I have gone back in time to narrate the experiences of the first Sikhs who landed in England, Europe, Canada, the USA, East Asia, East Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Then there are loads of rags-to-riches stories, for instance how Ujjal Dosanjh, who became the first coloured premier in Canada, landed there as a 17-year-old boy and worked in sawmills to pay his college fee, how Tony Deep Wouhra, who now owns the East End Foods chain in Britain, hawked eggs on the streets of London, how Kartar Singh Thakral, who is the richest Sikh in South-east Asia and Australia, started his textile business from a corner shop in Singapore, etc.

As far as Canada, Britain, the USA and Singapore are concerned, yes, the Sikhs have arrived. They are right up there in the top bracket, doing very well in politics, business and their professions. In Canada, Sikhs form about 70 per cent of all Indian immigrants, and constitute about 2 per cent of the total population. Apart from Ujjal and Herb Dhaliwal, there are three Sikh MPs in the Canadian parliament. In Britain, where Sikhs are about 40 per cent of all NRIs, there are three Sikh MPs in the House of Commons, one Lord and scores of mayors. In businesses, real estate, hotels, broadcasting, etc, the Sikhs have done very well. In the USA, Dalip Singh Saund was the first Asian/Indian to become a Congressman in the fifties. Hotelier Sant Chatwal and jockey Darshan Dhaliwal have done exceedingly well in their fields as have ‘peach king’ Didar Singh Bains and ‘okra king’ Harbhajan Samra. In the 85-member Singapore parliament, there are two turbaned MPs — Inderjit Singh and Davinder Singh. In Australia, Gian Singh Bains is the top cane grower in the country. Chandigarh’s Sukhi Turner is the three-time mayor of Dunedin City in New Zealand.

If my observation is correct, I think they have a lot more reverence for their religion, though the next generation can barely write or read Punjabi. As Sikh scholar Gurinder Mann of the University of California, Santa Barbara, told me, the next renaissance in Sikhism will happen outside India. I think that is true.

It is not like the 60s and 70s. Many Sikhs like Harbhajan Mann, Jazzy B, and Ruby Bhatia have come back to establish themselves in showbiz. Yes, most common people are not interested in coming back. This is because of the quality of life in foreign countries.

Very much so. In fact, the world’s funniest joke for the year 2002 was scripted by a British Sikh, Gurpal Gossal.

They ask you questions about communalism and corruption and feel nothing will change in India. Once I was travelling in a taxi in British Columbia. The young driver, who had grown up in Canada, said, "When Vajpayee became PM, we hoped that being a bachelor without any encumbrances, he would enforce discipline and the law. Alas, he has disappointed us."

Well, I have made clear in the beginning of the book that it focuses only on the countries where the communities are growing in numbers. I feel most Sikhs in West Asia are expatriate workers. They have not settled there.