Our Heroes
The Story of a Journal: The Sikh Review
by SARAN SINGH
The Sikh Review was born as the brainchild of a group of satsangis - including Capt. Bhag Singh, MBE - in Calcutta, India.
They would hold weekly sessions to discuss Gurbâni philosophy at the residence of Mrs. Kuldip Kaur, Principal, Central Model School. Her father, Raghbir Singh Bir was already a celebrated author, and Editor of the Punjabi daily, Desh Darpan.
In 1950 he suggested that a monthly journal was the best way to have a broad based forum. Publication started around 1952.
By then, I had married Kuldip's younger sister and was posted at Dhanbad, Bihar, as Deputy Commissioner. The dedicated core group sustained and built up an office, eventually located at its present address. Luckily, Capt. Bhag Singh continued to nurture the Journal - in total dedication - until age 85.
When I retired in 1983, circumstances/ destiny dictated that I stay in Calcutta rather than go home to Delhi.
My connection with The Sikh Review, as editor, is wholly fortuitous. When I relinquished charge of Advisor to the Governor of Assam (at Guwahati) in early 1983, I would have - in normal circumstances - gone back to New Delhi to live (in retirement) in my own modest house in Vasant Vihar. This would have enabled me to use my memberships of the Delhi Gymkhana & Golf Club for recreation and rest.
But God had other plans. My wife (who died recently - in Sept. 2007) was visiting our younger daughter in Calcutta, in early 1983, to help with her newly-born son. I joined them in celebration. As a courtesy, I visited The Sikh Review office in Park Street's Karnani Mansion. I discovered that the Editor and the Publisher - both senior grey-beards - men of rare dedication, in a pathetic disarray! There was no system or time-table. But the journal would still appear - sometimes one combined issue for two months, mostly 64 pages of cheap newsprint paper brought under the Government. quota system, with a shoestring budget.
Over this time, my wife took charge of our baby grandson, while my daughter and her husband, Ravinder, set up a gas outlet (petrol pump) that had been allotted to Ravinder's father, Air-Commodore Mohinder Singh [his ancestry is traced directly to Jassa Singh Ramgarhia!] who then passed away in May, 1984 - after predicting (a macabre coincidence) that 'Mrs Gandhi will be shot dead!'
Being swept into these circumstances, and with the Punjab (and Delhi) seething under untoward political developments, I stayed on in Calcutta. In fact, I had an appointment with the then PM, Mrs Gandhi (who knew me well in Assam and earlier) on May 1984, when I was scheduled to visit Delhi (on invitation of UPSC). I intended to advise her to forebear and temper her Punjab policy under President's Rule.
That meeting never materialized because of her preoccupation in the Lok Sabha. When the army launched a frontal assault on Amritsar on June 3, 1984. I was shocked. I found The Sikh Review editor, Capt. Bhag Singh Ji [a WW II hero] broken hearted! On impulse, I took him along to see Mother Teresa - the Nobel Laureate - whom I had known for several years since my tenure as Secretary to the Government of India in its Ministry of Social Welfare.
At Capt. Bhag Singh's request, I wrote the Guest Editorial for The (black border) Sikh Review's July 1984 issue, which was promptly banned in Punjab and Chandigarh by a government notification.
When my wife and I left for the U.S.A. in July 1984, to be with our (first) daughter in Buffalo, New York, I was invited by Sardar Amarjit Singh (of the JFK Airport Authority) to attend a public meeting in New York - which I did; only to discover: (a) that the Government of India and the Press in India took adverse notice. The government even contemplated forfeiting my pension. (b) that the Khalsa Lobby [which was then infiltrated by Indian government operatives and agent provocateurs, led by the infamous Indian Army General, Jaswant Bhullar] in Canada and U.S.A. had branded me as a sarkâri agent!
Returning in late October 1984, I found India engulfed in chaos, following the assassination of Mrs. G.
The Sikh Review was steered into a better system and scrutiny, with in-depth contents and wider networking - upto and beyond 1990's.
In 1984, the "Bluestar" had shocked Capt. Bhag Singh more rudely because he was a proud 'war hero'. Both the age and the tragedy robbed him of all energy, and his health deteriorated to the extent that his son and daughter escorted him out to Chandigarh, where he lived for a couple of years more, before chalanâ at 87.
He was a man of rare courage and total dedication, instrumental in securing the historic Gurdwara Nanak Shahi, in Dhaka IBangla Desh), after the defeat of Pakistan in the 1971 Indo-Pakistan War, thanks to Gen. Jagjit Singh Aurora, who won the war as GOC-in-C Eastern Command.
In 1985, when Capt Bhag Singh left, I had no choice but to assume the role as editor. It is now over two decades! The journal has been fortunate in enlisting support and contributions of some of the greatest scholars: (Late) Sirdar Kapur Singh, ICS, Dr. Trilochan Singh, D.Litt., Harbans Singh (Encyclopedia of Sikhism), Dr. Hira Lal Chopra, Indologist (who knew the Qurân 'backwards'), and many more. It became a forum for scholastic debate, outlet for passions in 1984, and since, extending its outreach to the farthest corners of the planet.
The Sikh Review, from time to time, focuses on special events or occasions by publishing Special Issues around them. The April issue this year, for example, had 'Vaisakhi' in focus.The August issue marked the Journal's 57th Anniversary. The September issue, "In Homage to W.H. McLeod", brought us bouquets ... and brickbats!
November 2009 was dedicated to glorious Guru Nanak.
Conversation about this article
1: I.J. Singh (New York, U.S.A.), December 11, 2009, 11:12 AM.
My association with S. Saran Singh, a wonderful man deeply imbued with the Sikh virtue of modesty, has indeed been memorable. I was visiting India in the 1970's. My older brother (then a Naval Officer) was in Delhi, and I stayed with him. The Naval Officers had a small group of Sikhs who would meet once a month at someone's house by turn and one of them would in turn read from the Guru Granth and then do a mini-kathaa on it. That evening, Saran Singh (then a Secretary to the Government. of India) was there and he led the reading and the kathaa. I was impressed that a non-granthi could know so well how to explain a shabad. He then invited me to his office for lunch the next day. The next time I met him was in the 1980's, but after 1984. I had already gotten into writing about Sikhism and the politics of India, and had been contributing somewhat erratically to Jerry Barrier's South Asia in Review - a wonderful quarterly containing book reviews - and I liked doing those. I also was contributing regularly to the now defunct World Sikh News. These were post-1984 realities. Saran Singh was the keynote speaker at the Annual Symposium of the Hemkunt Foundation in Washington and I was there as a Judge. We stayed at the same place and spent time together. I gave him some copies of what I had written and published - several book reviews and opinion pieces. He liked them and the rest, as they say, is history. Working with this scholarly and thoughtful man has been a fantastic learning experience. He has led The Sikh Review through good times and bad with rare aplomb - particularly in the last twenty-five years and indeed put The Sikh Review on the map for Sikhs worldwide.
2: Sohan Singh (Canada), December 12, 2009, 1:35 AM.
Good article ...
3: Sanmeet Kaur (Brampton, Ontario, Canada), December 12, 2009, 11:33 AM.
We grew up with The Sikh Review. Dad always brought it home with the Khalsa Samachar. As a kid, I recall finding them both tedious reading. They became staples, however, when we grew up. There were also those times when Dad would explain, elaborate, question or we would have questions and even get in to a debate with Papa. Thank you S. Saran Singh ji, for your wonderful seva and sikhchic.com for posting this article.
4: Prof. Raja Singh (Jalandhar, PunjaB ), December 13, 2009, 7:39 AM.
Such truly learned Sikhs - retired bureaucrats like S. Saran Singh - should be taken on the advisory boards of the S.G.P.C., the Delhi Gurdwara Prabhandhak Committee and other Sikh institutions.
5: Manjyot Kaur (New York City, U.S.A.), December 13, 2009, 11:40 AM.
Many appreciative thanks to Sardar Saran Singh ji for a wonderful and much-needed article! I am greatly indebted to Dr. I.J. Singh, my first "lamplighter" along the Sikh path, for having brought The Sikh Review ("TSR") and its eminent editor into my life. When I was blessed to begin to explore the incomparable jewel of Sikhi and needed continual guidance to "separate the wheat from the chaff," TSR was there as an immensely valuable and ever-trustworthy source of information and analysis. As, with Guru's Grace, I continue to learn and grow as a Sikh, this top-notch journal remains an invaluable goldmine of inspiration and knowledge. It holds a place for me that no other publication, in print or online, can fill. Sardar Saran Singh ji is my peerless role model of a quintessential gursikh, a personification of what "man nivaan, mat ucchi" truly means. I will always have the highest respect, esteem and admiration for him.
6: Parminder Kaur Dhillon (Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S.A.), December 13, 2009, 2:35 PM.
We grew up reading The Sikh Review at my parents' home. Then became life members when we moved to the U.S. I look forward to the publication every month. My father, Air Marshal Puran Singh Bajwa, PVSM (retd.) passed away on November 30, 09. He introduced us to Bhai Sahib Vir Singh, Atam Science, the Sikh Review, Preet Lari and other publications. I did meet with S. Saran Singh during meetings in New York in 1984. Incidently, his son-in-law Ravinder Singh was my classmate in the Air Force School in Delhi and Ravinder's father, Air Cmdr. Mohinder Singh a colleague of my dad in the Air Force. I wish continuing success to The Sikh Review. I know in this time and age, people do not have time for reading but it is important we cultivate this habit amongst our children. I know I have benefited and learned a lot from The Sikh Review.
7: Ravinder Singh Taneja (Westerville, Ohio, U.S.A.), December 15, 2009, 7:11 PM.
We are lucky to have a man with S. Saran Singh's ability and humility at the helm of The Sikh Review. The magazine needs to be nurtured and actively supported.
8: Hardeep Singh (Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A.), January 13, 2010, 12:54 AM.
A great magazine which brings various panthic issues and Sikh history to the folks settled all over the world. Its monthly issues contain invaluable perceptions and perspectives. But my heart cries when I see these books and journals lying neglected in gurdwara libraries, only to be discarded in dumpsters during a karseva. Books are known to be the oldest sources of carrying forward a heritage or a philosophy. Without the print media, any thought or community is only one generation away from being extinct. Are we listening! Are our gurdwara managements and institutional leaders going to take any actions to save these written documents, books and journals for posterity?
9: Sukhbir Singh Bawa (New Delhi, India), February 19, 2010, 7:47 AM.
The Sikh Review has done a great service to the Panth. Its editors deserve all the praise. May Waheguru help the editors to keep the magazine going so that it can continue serving the Panth.
10: Ajaib Singh (New Delhi, India), November 26, 2010, 9:24 PM.
The Sikh Review was the brainchild of Capt. Sahib as we fondly called him (Bhag Singh ji). He nurtured this publication with total dedication and single mindedness. He was indeed a man with a mission and his name is fondly remembered and respected amongst all readers of The Sikh Review. I met him a number of times on his visits to New Delhi, once along with Dr.Hiralal Chopra and what a sight it was to see both these legendary figures. Thank you, Captain Sahib - I am also getting old now but have securely passed on knowledge of The Sikh Review to the younger generation to read and learn about our glorious religion.
11: E.L. (Oran), January 21, 2011, 6:49 PM.
Great post, thanks for being humble and sharing.