Sikh Children’s Literature in the Diaspora1

Geetanjali Singh Chanda

Introduction

The category ‘Sikh literature’ poses a conundrum. There is a substantial body of work about Sikhs that encompasses Sikh history, religion, identity, scriptures and literature, some of it is in Punjabi and some in English. Sikhs were geographically rooted in the Punjab and linguistically in the Punjabi language. But Sikhism’s displacement and migration out of India has led to a renegotiation within the community as well as with the larger host community of their new abodes. Sikh diaspora literature however is a relatively new category both because it is from and for the diaspora and also because the literature as a distinctive body of work has not been examined before. This paper specifically examines the genre of children’s and young adult literature by and about Sikhs that is produced in the diaspora. The paper is part of a broader study of Sikh diaspora literature and seeks to understand the ways in which Sikh identity is constructed and disseminated through children’s literature. Addressed to children born to Sikh parents in a foreign land, especially when their religious and cultural identity is subject to critical, even hostile scrutiny, offers a unique looking glass for the diaspora as a whole. The particular search for Sikh diaspora literature is akin to unpacking Russian babushka nestling dolls. Within the larger communities of the new homelands—the United States for the purpose of this paper—are nestled diaspora Indian communities, within which is the Punjabi com- munity. However, not all Punjabis are Sikhs and in any case not all Sikhs wear turbans. We return persistently to W.H. McLeod’s question: Who is a Sikh? He suggests “. . . the term ‘Sikhism’ should be reserved for that area of Sikh tradition which is amenable to clear definition, namely the Khalsa.”2 This group, particularly the men, are clearly identifiable by their turbans and observance of the outward symbols of Sikhism the 5Ks: kesh

1 this paper is dedicated to my mother Amarjit Bhagwant Singh. 2 W.H. McLeod, Who is a Sikh? The Problem of Sikh Identity, (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989), 3. 352 geetanjali singh chanda

(uncut hair), kanga (comb), kara (steel bracelet), kachha (breeches) and kirpan (sword or dagger). However, this definition is too restrictive for our search for ‘Sikh literature’. It excludes women who are not required to wear turbans; it excludes sahajdaris who do not keep long hair but believe in the basic tenets of the faith;3 it excludes non-Sikh Punjabis—those who may be ‘culturally’ Sikh but not ‘religiously’ Sikh—to borrow a Jewish distinction.4 In other words though religiously adequate it is inadequate for examining the broader culture including children’s literature. Our next question must therefore be what exactly does ‘Sikh literature’ connote? Is it literature about Sikhs or by Sikhs? Is it only that which is written in Punjabi? Or could it be in English or other languages? Can it be deterritorialized, unanchored, and have lost its regional and linguis- tic moorings to flourish abroad and in English? Even the injunction that all Sikh males be called ‘Singh’ and females ‘Kaur’ has been sidestepped, rendering the search for Sikh authors problematic. Furthermore, not all Sikh authors write about Sikh subjects whereas some non-Sikhs authors write about Sikhs subjects. Sikh writing is haunted by some of the same issues that shadowed early Indian writers in English who struggled over the criteria of how one qualified for identification as Indian. Should ‘Indi- anness’ be decided on the basis of passport, ethnicity, location, or subject matter? Authors who write in Punjabi, like authors of bhasha (regional language) literatures could claim legitimacy because of a linguistic rooted- ness. But diaspora existence and writing in English has altered that and even though English is claimed as just another Indian language the debate has not been fully resolved. This review of children and young adult Sikh literature is located in the context of Sikh creative writing in the West and in English. These chil- dren’s books articulate the continual negotiations among diaspora Sikh communities about what it means to be a Sikh. At the same time it is also in conversation with the mainstream adopted community about the necessity of defending a particular identity which marks them as differ- ent, while belonging to and living within the larger Western, and in this case specifically, North American society. The essay, takes a tentative yet

3 According to W.H. McLeod, in the 18th century the term sahaj-dhari was used for Sikhs who cut their hair. And, he adds, that the Chaupa Singh Rahit Nama uses it in exactly the same way. W.H. McLeod, Who is a Sikh? The Problem of Sikh Identity, (Oxford: Claren- don Press, 1989 (1989), 45. 4 My thanks to Michael Hawley for bringing this comparison to my attention.