For the past two weeks of my summer break, I have been reading this book that has introduced me to the Sikh Wisdom and has changed my perspective about life.As a practicing Hindu, I knew what Sikhism was but didn’t really know about its teaching . Recently it was the tenth year anniversary of the mass shooting in Sikh Temple of Wisconsin. In memory of people who lost lives in this hate crime I want to share a review of this beautiful book by Dr. Simran Jeet Singh. Reading this book will teach you a lot about the philosophy of Sikhism and the challenges of immigrant Sikh families. He also talks about how his faith and teachings of Sikh gurus helped him deal with racial discrimination and bullying.
While reading The Light We Give by Simran Jeet Singh, I learned about his experience as a Sikh in America starting from his growing years. The author shares many incidents of violence against American Sikhs because of ignorance and hate. He talks about getting judged for wearing turbans and being called names as “ terrorist” especially after 9/11 attack in New York.He also shares valuable lessons we can learn through Sikh wisdom. I really liked the philosophy of ‘ “Nirbhau and Nirvair”which means one without fear and without animosity/hate. He also talked about the importance of ‘sewa’ or selfless service in Sikh religion. Being influenced by the value of Sewa, I have used my summer break in doing a lot of volunteer activities like working for Sewa International USA to raise funds to support a child program. I have also tried giving back to the community by helping out in the local public library, and temple.
Currently, Dr. Singh is a professor of Islamic Studies in Columbia University. Through this book, he shares his life stories and teaching of Sikhism in a simple language. As a middle grade reader, I enjoyed reading this book and learned a lot.
I loved how Dr. Singh added so much humor when tackling racist comments. For instance, when someone in New York told him to go back to his country. He replied promptly “My mother would love you. She always tells me to come back to Texas”. As I read aloud this line to my mom, we had a good laugh.
The author also talks about his life as a father of young kids during the pandemic as his wife worked in a hospital as a doctor. I could relate to his experiences as my parents are doctors and were working with COVID patients during pandemic.
ALERT: This book will make you cry (If you get easily emotional), laugh and relate.
I highly recommend this book to everyone. Especially youths like me.