The Sikh Foundation wishes you on this joyous occasion on the 350th Birth Anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh. We present a video tribute to this great Guru, selecting artworks and drawings from the Kapany Collection. The video is put together by Sonia Dhami, Executive Director of the Sikh Foundation and AK Sandhu creative head of Curre Creative.
By Sonia Dhami
Celebrating Guru Gobind Singh’s 350th Birth Anniversary, the Sikh Foundation, presents a selection of artworks from the Kapany Collection, which inform us of the life and times of the Guru.
Guru Gobind Singh, a multi faceted personality, a warrior, leader, poet, linguist and musician is one of the most fascinating and remarkable figures in world history.
The flame that he lit in our hearts continues to inspire Sikhs all over the world to fight against injustice and aspire to excellence in our chosen fields.
When we look back at history, we see that within 100 years of the Gurus death, the Sikhs had an independent empire, which effectively stopped all foreign invasions, which had plagued the Indian heartland for centuries, giving way to peace and prosperity for its entire population.
The Punjab was the last kingdom to be annexed by the British and again within 100 years, India was freed from foreign rule enabled by the sacrifices of its freedom fighters, many of who were from the Punjab.
It is the legacy of Guru Gobind Singh that inspires a community, which is less than 2% of the population in its homeland, but its farmers today contribute over 40% to India’s national grain pool.
The Sikh community in Canada, which is also less than 2% of the total population, has contributed 4 ministers in the National Cabinet including the Hon. Harjit S Sajjan, the Minister of National Defense and the Hon. Navdeep Singh Bains, Minister of Science Technology and Innovation.
Brave young Sikh women all over the world are making waves. Lilly Singh from Canada and Gurmehar Kaur from India are named amongst the Top Ten Next Generation Leaders by TIME magazine.
Rupi Kaur, author all of 25 years old topped the New York Times bestseller list with her first book “Milk and honey”.
The scientific inventions of Dr. N.S Kapany changed the world forever enabling this age of fiber optic connectivity.
This list of achievers is long and illustrious. It is the legacy of Guru Gobind Singh that the Sikh community all over the world continues to aspire to excellence, be it in sports, arts, business, technology, agriculture or public life.
Above all, as Sikhs we pray for Sarbat da Bhalla.