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Punjabi
Studies Program organizes symposium on the Guru
WSN Network
SAN
JOSE: The Punjabi Studies Program at San Jose State University
organized a Symposium on Guru Nanak and his Teachings on Saturday,
December 1, 2007 commemorating the Birth Anniversary of the Guru.
Guru Nanak was the founder of Sikh religion, known to be one of the
youngest faiths in the world.
The
participants were young adults from high schools who spoke on
different aspects of the life and teachings of the Guru. His life,
according to the speakers, symbolized values of love and peace which
in the long run laid the foundations of an international brotherhood
of God-loving people. They also dwelt on the Gurus message of
equality and equity based on his ideas of diversity and inter-faith.
The
program started with singing of two holy verses of the Guru by the
participants which forcefully advocated the establishment of a free
society without any enemy or an alien.
The
two groups representing Khalsa Schools respectively of the Gurdwaras
of San Jose and Fremont, made their speeches on the great guru. The
quality of content and presentation was very high and the audience
applauded the students with profuse clapping one after the other.
The
event was presided over by Dr. Karl Toepfer, Dean of Humanities and
Arts, who in his speech said that the Punjabi Studies Program in the
Department of Foreign Languages is one of the most important
language programs run by the University with active co-operation and
support of the Sikh community of the Bay area. This is the only
South Asian language in this part of the country, which has
succeeded in establishing its distinct identity in the Diaspora
languages brought by the immigrant communities as a part of their
cultural baggage. The University is proud to include it in the
language teaching programs of this University.
Dr.
Mahinder Singh Madan, Chair of the SJSU Punjabi Studies Funding
Support, speaking on this occasion, gave an account of 10–year
history of the program. He said that it has been a very successful
endeavor and both the community and the University are equally
pleased to see it thriving over the years. Now it needs to be
expanded and diversified to enable it to serve the community with
more vigor and strength. Dr. Madan also stressed the secular and
broad nature of the instructional program which takes into its orbit
the language and culture of all Punjabi speaking people across the
borders of the countries, India and Pakistan.
Dr.
Dominique van Hooff, the Chair of the Department of Foreign
Languages, in which Punjabi language is located, also stated that
Punjabi language teaching Program is most applauded program and ‘we
are proud to be managing the same.’
Dr.
Inder Mohan Singh, a leading software entrepreneur, and Chairman of
the Chardi Kala Sikh Community Center also praised the University’s
Punjabi Studies Program and said it has contributed a lot to the
spread of Punjabiat as a cultural phenomenon.
The
event was prepared by Mrs. Arshinderpal Kaur, a member of the
Committee overlooking its running on behalf of the community. She
was praised by the audience for her hard work in preparing various
items of the program.
5 December, 2007
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