Harman Singh Pandher :'Gurpreet Goes
to Gurdwara: Understanding the Sikh Place of Worship'
A Surrey teacher
is hoping his new children’s book will teach people about Sikh traditions and
culture, while increasing diversity and representation in children’s
literature.
'Gurpreet Goes
to Gurdwara: Understanding the Sikh Place of Worship' is a newly
published picture book by Harman Singh Pandher, a Grade 5 teacher and Punjabi
language teacher at Beaver Creek Elementary. The book follows a six-year-old
protagonist who learns about his family’s culture while attending Gurdwara and
gains a sense of community through worship.
Harman Singh Pandher’s
inspiration for the book dates back to his childhood when he first noticed Sikh
culture was underrepresented in media, particularly in the books available to
him.
“It planted the
seed for me to write this,” he said. “It started growing up as a student and
going to school and not really having these books in our library or available
to my teachers in my classes. Books that reflected my experience were in short
supply.” Interview with Kamilla Singh at Asian Pulse
TV
While Harman Singh Pandher
sharpened his writing skills in high school and university, he said the idea
for the book sat in the back of his mind until about 10 years ago, when his son
was about six years old – the same as the protagonist – and began really
learning about his Sikh heritage.
The book
remained an idea until recently, when Pandher connected with Surrey artist
Gurpreet Kaur Birk, who provided the illustrations for the book and brought it
visually to life.
“When I saw her
artwork and signature style, it went together perfectly,” said Pandher. “She
had that sensibility of a Canadian kid going through the same experiences, the
same questions. She was the perfect illustrator for the book.”
Finally, with
the recent events of COVID-19, Pandher found himself with the time to make the
final push of publishing Gurpreet Goes to Gurdwara, to almost immediate
positive reviews.
“The blessing in
disguise was this pandemic – everyone was at home and it gave me an opportunity
to focus on a passion that I put off,” he said.
“People are
reaching out to me personally that they want signed copies. Teachers,
teacher-librarians are reaching out to me. It’s been great. Everyone’s kind of
saying the same thing, we need more resources like this.”
Harman Singh Pandher notes
this is a Canadian story, emblematic of Canada’s diversity, and one that kids
can read and see themselves in the book. He said he hopes it inspires others to
write their own stories about their traditions and values.
“It’s important
for all cultures to share their stories and for parents to impart their
traditions and values to their children,” he said. “We learn so much from each
other, we learn how much we have in common and we learn about our differences,
which really makes us stronger as a community. We’re so lucky to be living in
such a diverse country and a community like Surrey.”https://www.sikhnet.com/news/sikh-canadian-teacher-writes-childrens-book-about-sikh-traditions
Dr. Gurdeep Kaur
Associate Professor
Sri Guru Nanak Dev Khalsa College
University of Delhi
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