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Writing For Our Children:
Inni Kaur

Q & A with INNI KAUR

 

 

 

She teaches at the Sunday school in Norwalk’s Gurdwara in Connecticut, USA. INNI KAUR is also an acclaimed writer. In New Delhi recently, she talks to MONA MEHTA about retelling stories of the Sikh gurus using contemporary vocabulary.

 

How is your storytelling of the Sikh Gurus different?
I write for children in the West. Indian publications make the stories very miracle-based and children with a western upbringing find this difficult to understand. More importantly, in the Sikh faith, there are no miracles; the only miracle is you. It is experienced when the Guru comes into your life, and you adopt His teachings and see the change. When you, as a Hindu, adopt the teachings of Raam, you become Raam-conscious, every action of yours becomes Raam-like. So too, when you bring the Guru, the shabad, into your life. Inspired, you give your best, you change.

When children are able to touch, feel and see, the story becomes real. Of course, the stories have morals, but I go a step further and put in ‘discussion points’ after each chapter. If the story is associated with a gurdwara, I ask readers to ‘research it’, something children can do independently.

A map traces Guru Nanak’s journeys, so children visualise how the Guru travelled such distances without cars or planes. Guru Nanak, founder of the Sikh faith, made four landmark journeys and I talk about these.

The first volume is about Nanak’s birth and and early life. The second is about his return from the first journey.Two more volumes on Guru Nanak are in the pipeline and then I will continue with stories of the other Gurus.

How do today’s children respond to stories of miracles that you, too, have included in your narratives?
Miracles happen only when you are a believer. Take the story of a giant cobra shielding baby Nanak. His father tells the mother, “It is a lie, you are just making this up.” There is a division. The mother believes the child is special but the father cannot see the light. The cobra shielding baby Nanak is a metaphor but in the course of time, it is being conveyed as a miracle. I explain that everybody, except the father, was able to see the light in the young Nanak; he could see it much later. In the discussion points, I open the floor so young readers can discuss what might have actually happened.

Is mythology important for children?
Mythology is fine as long as you are able to personalise the myth. You can recreate the magic by walking the child through the story. I create the setting, and get the child motivated to get into the skin of the character. When they are part of the drama, children are hooked. Otherwise, it’s happening out there.

Recently, I did a story-telling session on what Divali means to the Sikhs, at the Rubin Museum Of Art in Manhattan (New York, USA), as part of an exhibition on early Sikh art and devotion. Dressed in a cloak, I walked down the aisle with the backdrop of the Gwalior Fort, accompanied by 52 children representing the 52 rajas who left the fort along with the Guru. It touched a chord. I heard a child exclaim, “Wow, the Guru was really clever”. It’s important to help the child connect with the Guru. Else, it is just a story.

In a discussion that followed, children could talk about human rights’ violation, political prisoners, and standing up for the rights of all. The political prisoners were not people of his faith -- they were Hindu -- yet the Guru stood up for them. So, what does that tell you? The idea is of one humanity, one consciousness.

In our Sunday schools, many children have one Sikh parent. When one parent is Sikh and, say, the other is Jewish, the child also attends Judaism classes at the Synagogue. Some non-Sikh Hindu parents’ children too attend the gurdwara’s Sunday school. We organise kar seva every two months.

Sikhi is a personal journey; a marathon. The Sikh Rehat Maryada (Code of Conduct) lists five articles of faith, the 'Five K’s’ -- kesh, kirpan, kangha, kachcha and karra. They are the gifts of the Guru; you can adopt them, if you like, at any stage in your life. But make no mistake that every Sikh values these gifts of the Guru more than his or her life. Over the centuries Sikhs have laid down their lives for the right to wear the Five K's. As a practicing Sikh I too am willing to lay down my life for the right and freedom to wear the Five K's.

How do you convey the concepts of sin and piety, heaven and hell?
In the Code of Conduct, published in its modern form in 1932, a Sikh is one who believes in only One god, accepts the teachings of the Ten Gurus as encapsulated in the Guru Granth Sahib, and bows before no other entity, dead. alive or inanimate. The three basic principles are: naam juppo, meditate on the Name; kirat karo, honest labour, and vund chhako, share. In Sikhi, 'paap' - transgressions -  takes you away from your divinity, your nature. We believe that we’re all part of the same divine spark, regardless of our faith. The five 'thieves' distract you, lead you off the path of divinity: kaam, krodh, lobh, moh and ahankaar. We are to overcome these to experience divinity.


Buy the books at 20% discount @ www.books.indiatimes.com or sms WHB to 58888 or call at 09910118888

 

[An edited version of this script first appeared in Speaking Tree. Edited for sikhchic.com]

November 27, 2012 

 

Conversation about this article

1: Ramneet Kaur (Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A.), November 29, 2012, 12:13 PM.

I know Inni Kaur's work. She is doing such a wonderful job. I also teach in a gurdwara and use her book. Children just love the book and I am looking forward to more of her work.

2: Harinder Singh 1469 (New Delhi, India), November 30, 2012, 2:10 PM.

Inni kaur ji is blessed ... and the best part is, she gets to visit us every year. It's a good connect and is, in a real sense, widening her reach among our children. She can foresee the need. We are proud of her books and thankful that we can sell them in our "1469" stores.

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Inni Kaur"









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