The younger generation of Sikhs are sadly ignorant of their
own rich and invaluable heritage. I include myself in this ignorance. I have
over the course of my life made it a point to make inroads into Gurbani, understand it to the best of my
ability. Much, much remains to be known.
But I do know that it isn’t enough just to keep hair and go
to the gurdwara regularly. To make our practice pertinent and germane to our
lives we have to understand the concepts and messages of Sikhism. Translations
of the words of our gurus and bhagats are inadequate for the reason that, as
someone said, ‘poetry is that which is left out in translation.’ The richness
of the words, phrases, images, rhythm, music, are untranslatable.
The only way I know to convey and interpret the deep truths
of Sikhism, Hinduism, Sufism – the three traditions I have explored in three of
my books, is through an imaginative recreation of the essential messages
through the medium of plots, characters, events. Besides the messages, the
stories that I explore, develop and create are a way of showing and
demonstrating the sense, import, gist, substance, essence of Sikh
philosophy.
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