Sardarni
Inderjit
Kaur
Giani
Gurdit
Singh
Columnists
We Have Come A Long Way?
by Guest Columnist ROOPINDER SINGH [The Tribune]America's oldest university, Harvard, has recently been in the news with its appointment of Drew Gilpin Faust as its first woman President... what we call Vice-Chancellor in India.
It's a pity that Ms Faust's selection has become news because of her gender and not her capabilities.
Harvard is located in Boston and I recall that the city was the venue of an international conference of the executive heads of universities from around the world, way back in 1975.
It was winter, quite a cold winter. Many of the University Presidents and Vice-Chancellors were there with their spouses, and elaborate measures had been taken to take care of and entertain the latter while the conference was in session.
There was sightseeing, a tour of Harvard University, various kinds of luncheons to introduce them to American culinary delights, and so on.
The ladies loved it. They would meet and plan out the day in advance, see if they could include something they particularly wanted to do. The American planners had done their bit and, given the prominence of many of the attendees, even the US State Department was involved in ensuring that everything went off smoothly. Every day, the gaily clad women would board buses and go off to yet another adventure.
There was just one incongruity.
Among them would be a tall, turbaned gentleman with a flowing beard and a white kurta-pyjama. He seemed quite comfortable to be among these ladies, even though he spoke hesitantly in English, with a thick foreign accent. But he mimicked well and often had those around him laughing with him.
The gentleman was certainly not one of the American officials. Who was he then?
He was Giani Gurdit Singh, my father.
He was quite at ease waiting for the evenings when my mother would be with him. Some of the women told him they would rather be there as delegates than as spouses. He just smiled. That's where his wife, Sardarni Inderjit Kaur Sandhu, the then Vice-Chancellor of Punjabi University, Patiala, was.
There were only three lady Presidents/Vice-Chancellors in the world at that time.
Unfortunately, 32 years later, there are still too few, and though Ms Faust's appointment is a cause of celebration, to mutilate a Virginia Slims slogan: "We haven't come a long (enough) way, baby".
[Courtesy: The Tribune]
Editor's Note: The author's father—referred to hereinabove—eminent Punjabi writer and Shiromani Sahitkar, Giani Gurdit Singh passed away on January 17, 2007. A former member of the Legislative Council of Punjab, he was 84 years old. He had a prominent role in the founding of the Punjabi Univeristy, Patiala, of which his wife became a Vice-Chancellor. Sri Damdama Sahib was officially recognised as the fifth Takht on the basis of his report to the SGPC and the Punjab Assembly. He was the co-founder of the Guru Granth Vidya Kendras in both Delhi and Chandigarh. His book "Mera Pind" - My Village - one among several, was published and acclaimed worldwide, as was his extensive work on the Guru Granth Sahib. Punjabi literature has lost a great son.
Our heartfelt condolences to Sardar Roopinder Singh, Sardarni Inderrjit Kaur and their families.
[For further info: http://www.roopinder.com/ , http://www.gianigurditsingh.com/ ]