TEDx | American Turban

Balpreet Kaur at TEDxOhioStateUniversity. (source: YouTube)

Balpreet Kaur and the power of kindness

May 15, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Last fall, Ohio college student Balpreet Kaur became well-known for her response to a photo of her that was surreptitiously posted to the social website Reddit: The object of the photo was an attempt at mockery. Among the first 100 responses to the posting on Reddit were harsh and derogatory comments about Balpreet Kaur’s facial hair, gender, ethnicity, and religion. And, what began as mockery on one specific website was beginning to spread virally on the internet. Balpreet Kaur’s response […]

Categories: Interfaith, Profiles • Tags: Balpreet Kaur, Ohio, Ohio State University, Reddit, TED, TEDx, Women in Sikhism

"Among the world’s 25 most populous countries, Egypt, Indonesia, Russia, Burma (Myanmar), Iran, Vietnam, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Nigeria stand out as having the most restrictions on religion as of mid-2010 when government restrictions and social hostilities both are taken into account. Brazil, Japan, Italy, the United States and the Democratic Republic of the Congo have the least restrictions and hostilities." (source: Pew Forum)

Ranking religious freedom around the world

May 2, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

In a recent TEDx event in Rome, Italy, Brian J. Grim (of the social research organization Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life) discusses his research into government restrictions and social hostilities related to religion among countries around the world. Providing an overview of the research behind the Pew Forum’s recent report Rising Tide of Restrictions on Religion, Brian Grim shares two conclusions about the relationships between certain types of government restrictions and social hostilities in countries that rank high […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Hate Crimes, Reports/Studies • Tags: Brian J. Grim, Italy, Pew Forum, Pew Research Center, Rising Tide of Restrictions on Religion, Rome, TED, TEDx

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Behavioral economist Keith Chen introduces a fascinating pattern from his research: that languages without a concept for the future -- "It rain tomorrow," instead of "It will rain tomorrow" -- correlate strongly with high savings rates.

Future-less languages, saving money, and the Guru Granth Sahib

March 20, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Referring to the people of South Asia, Salman Rushdie writes in his novel Midnight’s Children (which is among my favorite reads): “…no people whose word for “yesterday” is the same as their word for “tomorrow” can be said to have a firm grip on the time.” It is an interesting observation that the word kal in Punjabi or Hindi can refer to day prior or to the day after the present day. While Salman Rushdie might have been lamenting about […]

Categories: Reports/Studies • Tags: future-less language, Keith Chen, language, Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie, TED, TEDx

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How the mustache became a movement

November 6, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

For those looking for a break from the nation’s focus on today’s US elections, I offer a change of pace. In addition to being the month of the election, November is Sikh American Awareness and Appreciation Month in California. Moreover, November is also “Movember” in many parts of the western world — a growing movement to raise awareness for men’s health in which men grow mustaches during the month of November for the cause of prostate cancer research. Movember started […]

Categories: Reflections • Tags: Adam Garone, Moustache, Movember, Prostate cancer, TEDx

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“Some of our greatest achievements will be seen after our lifetime.” ‪

June 27, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

At a recent TEDx Talk event entitled “Forces of Change” at Adams Morgan in Washington, D.C., Amardeep Singh, co-founder and Director of Programs of the Sikh Coalition, talks about his motivation in working for civil rights and social justice. What is especially poignant about this talk is that the very next morning, Amardeep Singh led a group of Sikhs to the first-ever policy briefing on Sikh civil rights issues at the White House. Forces of change, indeed.

Categories: Civil Rights • Tags: Adams Morgan, Amardeep Singh, Sikh Coalition, TED, TEDx

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South-Asian/Sikh blogging and exploring “hybrid” identities

June 14, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

I received a message from Priya Kumar, a doctoral student at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, and who recently completed a TEDx Talk (see above) about the role of the web in the South Asian diaspora: My name is Priya and I am a doctoral student in Politics at SOAS London. I did a TEDx talk in May about hybrid identities and the web, and I used your blog as an example of […]

Categories: American Turban, Reflections, Reports/Studies • Tags: blogging, London, Priya Kumar, School of Oriental and African Studies, Sikh diaspora, TED, TEDx, United Kingdom, University of London

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Vaisakhi and self-transcendence

April 20, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

In a recent talk at the 2012 TED Conference, Dr. Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist (and an atheist with an appreciation for religion), talks about the evolution of the human capacity for self-transcendence: “But every known religion has some sort of rite or procedure for taking people out of their ordinary lives and opening them up to something larger than themselves.” His talk is timely, as it comes around the season of Vaisakhi when Sikhs celebrate the transformation of their […]

Categories: Reflections, Sikhism • Tags: Evolution, Guru Gobind Singh, Guru Granth Sahib, Jonathan Haidt, Khalsa, Self transcendence, TED, TEDx, Vaisakhi

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Entrepreneur G.P. Singh’s three keys to realizing your potential

February 13, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

A recent talk given by Gurvinder P. Singh at a TEDx event (associated with the nonprofit Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED) Conference) in San Antonio, Texas caught my attention: A successful entrepreneur who sold his homegrown defense contracting firm for millions, G.P. shares the trials, tribulations and truths of showing up in the U.S. with $8 in his pocket and building a life of purpose. The talk – “Life Lessons for Realizing Your Potential”. As I watched Gurvinder Singh speak — […]

Categories: Reflections • Tags: Gurvinder P. Singh, San Antonio, Sikh diaspora, TED, TEDx, Texas

American Turban

A compendium of the Sikh American experience.

Archives

Balpreet Kaur and the power of kindness

Ranking religious freedom around the world

Future-less languages, saving money, and the Guru Granth Sahib

How the mustache became a movement

“Some of our greatest achievements will be seen after our lifetime.” ‪

South-Asian/Sikh blogging and exploring “hybrid” identities

Vaisakhi and self-transcendence

Entrepreneur G.P. Singh’s three keys to realizing your potential

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