The Guru's Gift
Cynthia Mahmood and Stacy Brady
Mayfield Publishing Company, Mountainview, California, 2000
Pages : 123


At first glance it is a very modest booklet; interviews with only 13 Sikh young women from North America who are at an age (20 something) where people are barely aware of their still developing sense of self. Furthermore the second author, Stacy Brady, is an undergraduate student.

It takes a second reading to savor its full flavor. Then one discovers that there is little that is more important or more enjoyable than placing the developing sense of self under a microscope?

The young women interviewed at length have been raised primarily outside the cradle of Sikhism - Punjab - or India. Yet, through their parents and families, they have retained a connection to their cultural roots. Now as they discover the pristine Sikh principles that shape them, conflicts and cracks appear between the cultural baggage of their immigrant past and the teachings of Sikhism. They also learn to integrate the various competing facets of their identity into a whole. How these young women evolve and view their complex, multi-layered sense of self becomes the focus of Mahmood and Brady. Their new identities are not so simple. As an example I point out one young woman's response. She said: "I'm a Canadian/ I'm a Punjabi/ I'm an English speaker/ I'm a listener of Latin music/I'm a Sikh."

In its land of origin and ever since its inception, Sikhism has existed as a very small minority in the midst of two large, competing religious systems - Hinduism and Islam. Certainly in practice neither of the two advocated or attempted to grant equal rights to its women. Perhaps because Sikhism existed largely in the Hindu and Islamic cultural milieu, nor has Sikhism, although in its teaching and theory Sikhism provides a model of non-sexist, gender neutral society.

It is interesting to note that as the young women interviewed in this study developed their identity as Sikh, they began increasingly to integrate Sikh values in their lives. This was rapidly accompanied by a rejection of commonly seen Punjabi (and Sikh) cultural practices such as the dowry system and recognition of the need for equal rights in a marriage. Communication between marriage partners became more important than caste. They came to see that becoming independent and assertive was not necessarily becoming too Western, as their parents thought, but perhaps becoming more Sikh - closer to Guru and God. Sikhism remains one of the few major religions that allow the shaping of strong female identities. "Within Sikhism,"as Mahmood and Brady observed, "there is room for both gender equality and committed spirituality…"

The discovery of the meaning and mystery of Sikhism by these young women also meant that their most powerful detractors and questioners came from within their community and family. How each woman dealt with such opposition from friends and relatives makes fascinating reading.

Most of these young women display very mature modern interpretations of Sikhism. For instance, Sikhism has no "unclean days" for women and such notions are forthrightly rejected. The discussion on the turban and the sexual dichotomy in this matter are well explored. Bhai Vir Singh's classical novel Sundari is competently analyzed from a modern perspective. The multicultural reality of young Sikh women is excellently portrayed with sensitivity.

Identities, self-respect, sense of self are recurring themes in the words of the interviewees. That is what any religion is really all about.

Most young women the in this study appear to have come from comfortable or affluent families. Many have some systematic knowledge of Sikhism acquired through many of the youth camps that are now found all over North America. They have been able to integrate what they have learnt of Sikhism with what schools and colleges have taught them in literature, history, philosophy and women's studies. Some are extremely mature and far thinking.

I need to point out that the women interviewed constitute a very small and special subset of the Sikh women in North America. There are three additional subgroups possible, and their views of the self and of Sikhism would be very different, even contradictory.

There are Sikhs in the working class neighborhoods where both husbands and wives are mostly uneducated. These are Sikhs at the fringes of North American society, financially and socially. Language skills are minimal whether in Punjabi or English. They lack the resources to teach their children much of anything whether it is Algebra or Sikhism. They are often in conflict with their own children who are raised here and are much more comfortable with non-Sikh society. One can find similar pockets in most large cities of United States and Canada.

The business and professional crowd of Sikhs is entirely different. These are affluent Sikh families with a Mercedes, BMW and an occasional Rolls in the garage. But many of the women neither drive, nor do they speak much English. They are completely at home at Fortunoff and Tiffany; they ceaselessly watch Hindi movies. They don't think about Sikhism but provide generously for the gurdwaras' physical facilities.

There is a third group of women who have made it on their own without husbands. Many are professionally educated, some are divorced. Others have children. Their views of Sikhism and of the Sikh society around them are often more challenging.

These other subsets are waiting to be heard. They, too, are the voices of our future.

At times it appeared that Mahmood and Brady seemed to identify with their subjects. Readers might recall that a major criticism of President Reagan's biographer was that he identified with Ronald Reagan to the extent that he invented a voice and a character so that he could view his subject better. Mahmood and Brady might receive some similar criticism, though, I think, it would be undeserved. Possibilities of bias remain endless. Pure objectivity doesn't really exist, nor can it; we merely speak and act from different levels of subjectivity.

Whereas Cynthia Mahmood is a Professor of Anthropology, Stacy Brady, at the time of writing this book, was a student working for her first degree. But I am genuinely pleased at the sharing of the plaudits - credits, authorship, as well as the occasional brickbats that will come the way of the authors. Academic habits and academicians are usually not all that generous.

Very noticeable is the fact that writing styles of the two authors merge easily, indeed seamlessly. There isn't the jarring note one would expect when two voices compete for the same space. The manuscript has been well polished, honed and edited.

Cynthia Mahmood and Stacy Brady take occasional pot shots on the politics and reality of academia. They are well deserved, though they may not always be appreciated.

This brief book is one that academicians, specially ethnographers, and lay readers alike should appreciate.


Dr. Inder Jit Singh is Professor & Co-ordinator in Anatomy, New York University. Among other publications, he is the author of two books: 'Sikhs and Sikhism: A View With a Bias' and 'The Sikhs Way: A Pilgrims Progress'.
I.J. Singh is on the editorial advisory board of 'The Sikh Review', Calcutta and 'The Encyclopedia of Sikhism', Punjabi University, Patiala.