Panel – Sikh Dating and Marriage in the Diaspora” Panel leader – Sn. Jessi Kaur
[Eighth Annual Conference On Sri Guru Granth Sahib (2019)]
Abstract:
Culturally dating is a part of the Western social milieu. Sikh communities in the Diaspora are seeing a a clash of perspectives between parents that still uphold the Punjabi culture and their off spring born and raised in the West who want more freedom to chose their life partners. Jessi Kaur will moderate an open discussion around the dating phenomena with a multigenerational panel of Sikh men and women.
Panel Leader:
Jessi Kaur, a TEDX speaker has written three children’s books that are used as diversity education and enrichment literature in several public schools in US and Canada. Her new book Home of the Beloved will be released this year. Her essays on Sikhi and current issues have been published in several online and print journals. She is a frequent speaker at international conferences including several times at the Parliament of World’s Religions. She was the Co-Founder of International Institute of Gurmat Studies, founded IGS Now a non- profit organization that spreads Oneness and has been on the board of Kaur Foundation since its early years. She served two terms as the Fine Arts Commissioner for the city of Cupertino in California. She is a Talent Acquisition Consultant to high tech companies and prior to moving to the US taught English Literature at Delhi University, www.jessikaur.com
Video of Panel
Panel Members
Amrita Ghumman
Amrita was born and raised in India and has been living in the Unites States for almost 30 years now with her husband and 3 children .She is presently working as Lead Physician at AMP wellness center at Applied Materials.When she has free time she enjoys gardening, cooking, reading and meditation. In addition to taking care of her family , she also spoils her 2 dogs , Zara and Akira
Simran Ghuman
Simran Ghumman is currently a student in the SFSU post-baccalaureate program with hopes to become a veterinarian. During her undergraduate career at UC Santa Barbara, she was heavily involved in the Sikh Student Association. Simran grew up in the Bay Area with her two brothers. She loves spending time with her family dogs, Zara and Akira, In addition she loves baking and cooking.
Pushpinder Kaur
Pushpinder Kaur
An Educator, an Author and Punjabi as a Second Language Curriculum Developer
Pushpinder is one of the founding members of Guru Nanak Khalsa School San Jose, the biggest Sunday school with close to 700 students, and it just completed 30 years. She designed Stepping Stones PSL Instructional Resources to teach Punjabi as a second language. Her curriculum is used in about 70 Gurdwara Schools in US, Canada and Australia. Pushpinder, an author of children’s books wrote The Boy with Long Hair, and helped produce the Cultural Safari video with Kaur Foundation. Both resources are accepted by the California Department of Education to be used in elementary schools. Pushpinder is featured in Jutti Kasoori, a PBS documentary about the 100 year History of Sikh Women in California for her contributions.
Jagmohan Singh Sahni
Jagmohan Singh, after finishing his education in India, came to United States about 50 years ago.
He is trying to learn Gursikhi from SRI GURU GRANTH SAHIB & Sadhsangat .
He has three lovely daughters & five grandchildren.
He is 70, lives in San Jose with his wife Kawaljit Kaur for the last 40 years.
Daljeet Singh Virdi
Daljeet Virdi is a Partner at Andreessen Horowitz. He holds a Masters in Computer Science from UIUC and a bachelors from Santa Clara University. He lives in Palo Alto.