Asha Marie Kaur

Research Assistant

Asha Marie Kaur is a Research Assistant with SikhRI. She has a BA in Political Science and International Studies from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where she was born and raised.

Her work at SikhRI is tied to her love of the Persian language and the ways it connects Iran, Afghanistan, Central Asia, and the Indian subcontinent. She is working on writing sabad in Perso-Arabic script to reassert gurbani's place in the Persian literary world. A self-identifying mixed-up Sikh, she is also working on creating resources for Sikhs and non-Sikhs alike that offer ways to connect the word of the Guru to concepts of justice in today's world. One day she hopes to get a PhD in Iranian politics, and for now can be found between Newark, New Jersey and Chicago, Illinois with her travelling cat Mac.

Videos

Wednesday
,
24
June
2020

Love & Justice: Week 5 - Introduction to the Guru Granth Sahib

This course is an immersive introduction into the principles of the Sikh faith told through the primary source of the Guru Granth Sahib and secondary historic texts on the life of Guru Nanak Sahib. This course has been created with an audience of young ad

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Wednesday
,
17
June
2020

Love & Justice: Week 4 - The Janamsakhis

Biographical accounts of Guru Nanak Sahib’s life depend largely on the janamsakhis (Witnessed-Narratives) which are devotional accounts told in a poetic style of the Guru’s life, written by various authors, decades after his death.

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Wednesday
,
10
June
2020

Love & Justice: Week 3 - Historical Influences of the Era

While it is true that Guru Nanak Sahib regularly engaged with the beliefs and practices of Muslims and Hindus, the notion that Sikhi is simply a blend or revision of these faiths is misguided.

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Wednesday
,
3
June
2020

Love & Justice: Week 2 - The Bhakti Movement

The Bhakti movement is key to understanding the historical environment Sikhi was founded in. Bhakti can be roughly translated to “devotion” and is a movement defined by the collected thoughts and writings of bhagats that contemplated the nature...

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Wednesday
,
27
May
2020

Love & Justice: Week 1 - Introducing the Sikh Paradigm

The Love and Justice sessions offer a profound exploration of the Sikh faith, centering around the legacy of Guru Nanak Sahib. As the first of the Ten Sikh Gurus, Guru Nanak Sahib transcended the boundaries of conventional labels, serving as a thinker...

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Podcasts

Wednesday
,
25
September
2019

O Creator: Listen

In this transcreation, the original Gurmukhi is followed by an English transcription to guide pronunciation of the Sabad (Divine-Word) in its original form.

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Tuesday
,
22
October
2019

Fill This Unbaked Vessel: O’ Creator

In this transcreation, the original Gurmukhi is followed by an English transcription to guide the pronunciation of the Sabad (Divine Word) in its original form.

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Tuesday
,
17
December
2019

All Under The Earth (Ham Jer Jimī)

ਹਮ ਜੇਰ ਜਿਮੀ ਦੁਨੀਆ ਪੀਰਾਮ ਸਾਇਕਾ ਰਾਇਆ ॥ ham jer jimī dunīā pīrām sāikā rāiā. هم زیر زمین دنیا پیران شیخ ها راییا All the sheikhs, spiritual teachers, rulers [will be buried] under the ground.

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Monday
,
20
April
2020

Afghanistan Sikhs: Past, Present and Future – The Sikh Cast | SikhRI

Asha Marie Kaur talks with The Sikh Cast host, Manpreet Jassal, about the history of how the Sikhs got to where they are in Afghanistan today. We separate facts from rumors and how Sikhs around the world can help.

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Monday
,
27
April
2020

Allah the Unseeable

Through the Persian-influenced Sabad of Guru Nanak Sahib, Asha Marie Kaur explores our feeling of "place" in light of COVID-19. 

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Monday
,
25
May
2020

Let Compassion Be the Mosque

The Sikh Research Institute's Asha Marie Kaur speaks on how Guru Nanak Sahib integrates Persian and Arabic vocabulary in Sabad to invoke Islamic practices, laying the foundation for a uniquely Sikh engagement with other faiths.

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Articles

Monday
,
27
April
2020

Allah the Unseeable

Persian-based Sabad is difficult to read and understand for both native Panjabi speakers and native Persian speakers. Panjabi grammar and South Asian vernacular speech is imported into Persian and vice versa, creating new deviations of standard pronunciations. The hybridized language of Gurbani takes influence from the languages of South Asia at the time (Panjabi, Persian, Sanskrit, Braj, and many more) in which the bani was revealed, but often defies the rules of language and poetry to create new meaning. The language of Gurbani stands alone, therefore the following commentary was created to help guide readers through the meaning of this Sabad and enrich understanding.

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Monday
,
25
May
2020

Let Compassion Be the Mosque

Sabad is Infinite; we are very finite. This is our understanding at the moment, which was different yesterday and may evolve tomorrow, as we deepen our relationship with the Sabad. In this transcreation, we have chosen to keep the repeating words in the Sabad the same. We aspire to learn and retain the Divine attribute as used in the original Sabad and avoid terms like God or Lord.

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Presenting at Upcoming Events

Asha Marie Kaur
 is not presenting at any upcoming events as of yet. Explore our upcoming events.