Indo American News

Tag: Fish Eat Fish World

  • Story of Fish Teaches Sikh Kids a Lesson in Having Faith in Guru Nanak

    Story of Fish Teaches Sikh Kids a Lesson in Having Faith in Guru Nanak

    The kids from the school surrounded Singh, Likhari and teacher Manjit Soni with copies of the book they received.
    The kids from the school surrounded Singh, Likhari and teacher Manjit Soni with copies of the book they received.

    By Jawahar Malhotra

    HOUSTON: Bhupinder Singh was in the middle of explaining the central theme of his book and had gotten to the point when the main character, a young boy named Aman, turns to his dadaji (paternal grandfather) crying that he wouldn’t get the bike he wanted. His dadaji tried to divert his attention by reminding him about the cruise they had gone on where they had seen dolphins. “They eat other fish, because they can’t get out of the ocean to eat,” said dadaji. “Where do you get your food from?”

    “From the grocery store,” yelled out a little boy from the crowd of kids sitting on the floor of the worship hall of the Gurdwara Sahib of Southwest Houston. A bemused Bhupinder Singh looked out at the kids. He was delighted they were paying such close attention to the story he had written and self-published in the children’s book “Fish Eat Fish World”. He continued on and a few other kids blurted out comments. At the end, he said, Aman’s dad gets a new job “and Aman gets his bike”, many more kids cried out together!

    Punjabi school Director Manmeet Likhari introduced Bhupinder Singh and his book “Fish Eat Fish World”
    Punjabi school Director Manmeet Likhari introduced Bhupinder Singh and his book “Fish Eat Fish World”

    This reaction is what Singh had wanted when he first came up with the idea for the short 32-page book geared to Sikh children in the US and other western countries. The 8 by 10 book with a glossy cover and many colorful illustrations (by a young Canadian artist, Bhagat Singh Bedi) is based on a line from Sikh scriptures attributed to the second Guru Angad “Nanak chinthaa math karahu chi(n)thaa this hee hai” (Nanak says do not worry, the Lord will take care of us all). In the end, dadaji says “Don’t worry about your needs as the Creator .. provides sustenance to all.”

    Singh launched his new – and first children’s – book at the GSSWH last Sunday, February 4 just after the kids from the adjoining Punjabi School were finishing reciting the ardas (prayers) in Punjabi and practicing on their pronunciations. The school Director Manmeet Likhari encouraged them to practice and then introduced Singh and his “attempt to get kids to love reading books.”

    Singh admitted that he was not a writer (though he has written four books on Sikhism and several religious articles) and didn’t have an artistic mind, so he ventured to “find an illustrator who could pull together the Sikh ethos” in his drawings. As the little kids came forward to surround him and receive a copy of the book (it is being distributed free of charge), he realized that he had recreated that ethos for future generations of Sikhs.

  • New Sikh Children’s Book “Fish Eat Fish World” Release, Feb. 4

    New Sikh Children’s Book “Fish Eat Fish World” Release, Feb. 4

    Bhupinder Singh
    Bhupinder Singh

    By Jawahar Malhotra

    HOUSTON: Bhupinder Singh, a mechanical engineer and a Vice President of Newage Casting Co. a manufacturer and distributer for cast iron plumbing products in Houston has written four books on Sikhism and has also penned articles that have been published in magazines and journals. He recently released his first children’s book “Fish Eat Fish World” which will be launched at the Gurdwara Sahib of Southwest Houston this coming Sunday, February 4.

    Singh’s previous books have dealt with philosophical issues geared towards adults, but this is his maiden attempt to reach out to young kids. He says he was motivated by the lack of children’s books and characters that deal with values that relate to their parent’s cultures while they grow up in the West. “English children’s books are mostly written by western authors and reflect the environment they grew up in,” he said. “I wrote this book to fill this void. In this book, I bring a Sikh character that Sikh children can relate to.”

    While driving one day and listening to a kirtan whose chorus was “Nanak chinthaa math karahu chi(n)thaa this hee hai” (Nanak says do not worry, the Lord will take care of us all), Singh, 68, thought he could weave a story around this concept and made an outline for a story. He kept expanding on it till he got it finished and then found an illustrator to draw the pictures to go with it.

    Book Cover Design
    Book Cover Design

    The book is about a young Sikh boy called Aman with long hair tied to the top of his head who is picked upon by bullies. As a father of two grown sons, he can relate to this when they going to school and were taunted by calls of “Door Knobs” and “Smurfs”, Singh recalled.  Aman’s Dadaji (paternal grandpa) gives him emotional support and counseling to handle the bullying.

    He hopes that the final product, a 32 page brightly illustrated book, will appeal to Sikh and non-Sikh children and will provide diversity and broaden the stereotypes in the landscape of children’s books. He has received a lot of positive feedback from the people who have read it so far. “My best endorsement is when children take the book to school to share with their teacher,” he said, “and the teacher reads it to the other students in class.”

    “The main take away from the book is trusting the Creator,” said Singh, “and realizing that He will take care of their needs. But, it is not about becoming complacent in life,” he continued. “Don’t sit back without making sincere efforts.”

    Bhupinder Singh is the Vice President of Newage Casting Co. a manufacturer and distributer for Cast Iron Plumbing products in USA which he and his son jointly set up. He was born in Bhamo, Burma (now known as Myanmar) and had his early education there. He moved with his parents to India and completed his high school education in Imphal, Manipur. He did his B.E. in Mechanical Engineering from Regional Engineering Collage, Surat, Gujarat.

    He is a Registered Professional Engineer practicing in USA. He started his engineering career in New Delhi and while working there he had opportunity to live in Japan and subsequently in South Korea. After a tenure in South Korea he immigrated to the US. He has written four books on Sikhism and  several articles that have been published in magazines and journals.