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Sikh amputee finds new life in marathon running

September 5, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

The Oklahoman shares the story of one Devender Pal Singh, a 39-year-old Sikh marathoner from India known as “the Indian Blade Runner” because he runs long distances on a prosthetic leg. Devender Pal Singh visited Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, to receive a new prosthetic to help him better run long distances. He lost his leg in 1999 after sustaining injuries in the Kargil War: Devender Pal Singh said he sustained severe injuries in 1999 when his Indian Army unit guarded the […]

Categories: Profiles • Tags: amputee, Fauja Singh, Kargil War, Major Devender Pal Singh, marathon, Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, Prosthesis, TED, TEDx

Sikh philanthropist GP Singh gives back

August 22, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

The San Antonio Express-News features Sikh philanthropist Gurvinder Pal Singh (otherwise known as G.P. Singh), of San Antonio, Texas: “I have lived here for 34 years,” says Singh, who turned 60 on June 30. “My children were born here. They got educated here. I ran a business here. I employed over 400 people here. So, I am defined by San Antonio and I feel it’s my duty and frankly a privilege to give back to the community that has been […]

Categories: Profiles • Tags: Gurvinder P. Singh, San Antonio, San Antonio Area Foundation, San Antonio Express-News, TED, TEDx, Texas

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Pico Iyer at TED Global 2013. (Source: TED Blog)

Defining “home”: soil versus soul

July 22, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

In this TED Talk delivered in Edinburgh, Scotland in June, writer Pico Iyer reflects on the meaning of “home” for people who are from diasporic communities: 220 million people live in a country that is not their own. Younger generations often find themselves influenced by overlapping waves of cultures — they have connections to the cultures of their parents (which are often different) and the cultures of their spouse. At the same time, they have their own connections to where […]

Categories: Reflections • Tags: Edinburgh, hyphenated identity, Immigration, Pico Iyer, Scotland, Sikh diaspora, TED, TEDx

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Lesley Hazleton. (Source: The Accidental Theologist)

Is doubt essential to faith?

June 26, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

At a recent TEDTalk event in Edinburgh, Scotland, Lesley Hazleton, a biographer of Muhammad and referencing his story, spoke about the relationship between faith and doubt: We have to recognize that real faith has no easy answers. It’s difficult and stubborn. It involves an ongoing struggle, a continual questioning of what we think we know, a wrestling with issues and ideas. It goes hand in hand with doubt, in a never-ending conversation with it, and sometimes in conscious defiance of […]

Categories: Reflections, Sikhism • Tags: doubt, faith, Lesley Hazleton, TED, TEDx

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

Dr. Amy Cuddy (source: Harvard Business School)

The body-mind feedback loop

January 11, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

In a TED Talk in June 2012, Dr. Amy Cuddy, a social psychologist from Harvard Business School, discusses the bidirectional relationship between how we see ourselves and our nonverbal language, such as external behavior and body language: Dr. Cuddy’s findings are actually part of a rapidly growing body of evidence that, across a range of important human experiences, feeling often follows action. We tend to assume it’s our personality — the sum total of our attitudes, motivations and emotions — […]

Categories: Reports/Studies • Tags: Amy Cuddy, Harvard Business School, Nonverbal communication, TED

“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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Considering the experience of Sikhs in America.

Tag: TED

Sikh amputee finds new life in marathon running

Sikh philanthropist GP Singh gives back

Defining “home”: soil versus soul

Is doubt essential to faith?

Balpreet Kaur and the power of kindness

Ranking religious freedom around the world

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

The body-mind feedback loop

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