Kaur Life

11/10/2023

Save the Date! Gaavani 2024 is coming to Texas! Renowned female kirtanyas across North America are uniting to celebrate the music and message of Our Guru. Spread the love of the true Guru with your friends and family, and join us in January for our annual Gaavani program!

Jan 13, Saturday Evening - Jan 14, Sunday Morning in the DFW area.

06/09/2023

As we morph and evolve into a digital archive, we want to reflect on what we have built together, with Guru Ji’s Kirpa.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Feeling there was a need for online resources for Kaurs to engage with Sikhi, Lakhpreet Kaur started Kaur Thoughts in 2012 to explore Sikhi and gender. Over time, with more readers and guest writers, in 2014 Lakhpreet changed Kaur Thoughts into a non-profit organization, Kaur Life, and invited the Sikh Panth to help it grow.

In the last 9 years, over 300 writers from across the globe have written over 390 articles! These writers have covered topics like Black Lives Matter, Q***r Identity, The India Farmers Protest, kesh, careers, surviving s*xual assault, and more. Kaur Life sevadars have hosted (or co-hosted) 10 events including book clubs, retreats, and discussions.

We are delighted to see you–the Panth–has grown over the years with Kaur Life. We feel blessed by Akal Purkh for this opportunity of seva and to be able to experience such a unique moment in time.

The Kaur Life Board is humbled and honored to have been a part of your Sikhi journey and we look forward to serving you in a new way.

In Chardi Kala,
Lakhpreet Kaur, Harleen Kaur, Isha Kaur, prabhdeep singh kehal, and Sangeeta Kaur
Kaur Life Board

Learn more via the link in our bio. https://kaurlife.org/2023/06/08/were-evolving/

06/09/2023

Exciting news! Kaur Life is morphing into a digital archive. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Due to many factors, the Kaur Life Board feels the best way for us to keep serving the Sikh Panth is for Kaur Life to become a digital archive of original publications.

In this next phase, the Kaur Life website will take the time to ensure that Kaur Life can be remembered for what it was able to accomplish. We are moving away from a real-time publication for news and editorials, and moving towards a reference resource for future use. Kaur Life would become a Sikh cultural resource dedicated to sharing Kaur Life’s publications to ensure the Kaur Life community’s knowledge production.

We’re not ready to announce any specifics just yet, but we will share more details as soon as we can. As founders and organizers who are deeply invested in Kaur Life and community, our priority is to ensure that we stay true to the original mission of Kaur Life and our core values.

Learn more via the link in our bio. https://kaurlife.org/2023/06/08/were-evolving/

04/14/2023

This Vaisakhi many Sikhs will accept the gift of Amrit. Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh’s writings shed light on the significance of the Amrit Sanchar ceremony, which represents a powerful symbol of autonomy and empowerment for Sikh women, as they commit to the Sikh way of life. This initiation grants Sikhs the Five Ks which are integral to a Sikh's identity and represent a commitment to Sikh values of equality, justice, and bravery.

The Amrit Sanchar ceremony can be seen as empowering for Sikh women, as it allows them to actively participate in the initiation process and claim ownership of their faith. It challenges the notion that women are passive recipients of religious rituals, but rather active agents in their spiritual journey. It encourages Sikh women to embrace their religious identity with pride and assert their agency in shaping their own beliefs and practices.

04/14/2023

Vaiskahi was a moment of empowerment and social transformation, as Guru Gobind Singh Sahib Ji called upon Sikhs to keep rising against oppression and establish justice in society.

This event can be seen as a reflection of Guru Gobind Singh Sahib Ji’s stance on equality. Initiation into the Khalsa was open to all regardless of gender, caste, s*x or other social categories. Guru Gobind Singh abolished the prevalent practice of only certain men being initiated into prominent orders and made it clear that women were equally eligible to take part in the ceremony and become members of the Khalsa community. This gesture by Guru Gobind Singh challenged the gender norms and expectations of the time, advocating for equal participation and agency for Sikh

03/23/2023

03/23/2023

The situation in Punjab is affecting everyone….

03/21/2023

03/20/2023

Love this...

A scene from my current exhibit, My Grandmother’s Dress — visual anthropology meets embellished photography to unearth interstitial histories and construct new meanings.

On Thursday, May 11 / 12:00 – 1:00 pm I will welcome Dr. Deepali Dewan, Dan Mishra Senior Curator, Global South Asia at the ROM and author of Embellished Reality: Indian Painted Photographs: Towards a Transcultural History of Photography to the MacLaren. I look forward to hearing her speak about the history, function, and significance of this genre in conjunction with my exhibit.

03/16/2023

For Sikh kids, seeing characters that look like themselves can help them become more self-confident. Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop, children’s literature scholar says, “Literature transforms human experience and reflects it back to us, and in that reflection we can see our own lives and experiences as part of a larger human experience. Reading, then, becomes a means of self-affirmation, and readers often seek their mirrors in books.”