Have you ever noticed her - the wee Indian woman on the bus? Have you ever wondered who she is? Maybe you think, 'she's not been here long,' or 'These people just keep themselves to themselves.'
Well can I tell you something? This wee woman has probably been here longer than you. She was born in the 1950s, to the first wave of people who came over here from India when the British carved up their land and made them homeless refugees. She was one of the invisible children. Always on the sidelines, watching the world go by.
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Trishna Singh, OBE, was born in Glasgow in the 1950s, a first generation Scottish Bhat Sikh. Her father came to the UK in the late 1930s and her mother followed after the Partition of India by the British in 1947.
Trishna left school, at the age of 13, with no qualifications. She had an arranged marriage, aged 21, and moved to Edinburgh to live with her husband – a first generation Bhat Sikh too, from Leith.
As a young girl, she questioned the cultural requirements of her community which stated that married women were subservient to their mothers-in-law and their husbands, and existed solely to have children and look after their families, in direct opposition to the teachings of the Sikh religion which states man and woman are equal. And although Trishna’s marriage was a marriage of equals, she was still expected to adhere to the social and cultural restrictions placed upon her by the wider Scottish Bhat Sikh community.
Trishna’s life has been challenging, in part. She has battled against her community’s traditions which she rightly saw as archaic customs, begun in India, and designed to ‘keep women in their place’ and has lived her adult life in a city she did not grow up in but which is now her home.
In 1989 she founded Leith Sikh Community Group, now Sikh Sanjog. Its aim was to provide support for women in the Sikh community who had been settling in Edinburgh since the 1950s. Thirty-plus years later, Trishna remains a director of Sikh Sanjog, along the way having studied and attained a BA in Community Learning and Development.
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Trishna Singh's book comes with two alternative titles - The Wee Indian Woman on the Bus and The Story of a Sikh Woman in Scotland. Both of these would be just as appropriate as it's actual title - A Silent Voice Speaks.
The author has achieved lots in challenging the traditional role that was expected of her in a Scottish Bhat Sikh community. The book is insightful, and I have learnt much about the Sikh religion. I found this aspect of the book to be informative and interesting.
Without doubt Mrs Singh is a remarkable woman to have broken free of the role that was expected of her by her elders. As a first-generation child to be born to Indian parents, her path in life was pretty much mapped out for her according to the traditional beliefs of her immigrant elders.
She had an arranged marriage to a man that she had never met prior to her wedding day. However, the author relates how this was a case of love at first sight, and the marriage was successful and fulfilled. Her husband allowed her the freedom not typically open to Sikh wives and was permitted to follow her own journey of self-achievement.
Trishna relates the journey of her accomplishments well. The book tells of her life as a child in Scotland through to her receiving an OBE at Buckingham Palace and to becoming a graduate at Glasgow University. She was also instrumental in setting up a charity which enables Sikh women to access a community which would previously been denied them.
The book includes several photos and there is a helpful glossary at the back. I think it will be of interest to anyone who would enjoy reading about how a woman can thrive and blossom within a tightly prescribed environment.
ISBN: 978 1912280520
Publisher: Fledgling Press
Formats: e-book and paperback
No. of Pages: 224 (paperback)
Trishna is the Founder/Director of Sikh Sanjog the only Sikh Family Support charity in Scotland and Punjabi Junction Social Enterprise the first Sikh women’s Social Enterprise in Scotland. She has over 30 years’ experience working in the Voluntary sector. She graduated from Glasgow University with a degree in Community Learning and Development in 2007 and in recognition of her services to the community, she is the first Sikh woman in Scotland to have received an OBE in 2014. Her work is centred on the thematic areas of Community Development Gender- Social Justice, Civic Engagement, Race Equality and Human Rights.
She was appointed first Honorary Sikh Chaplain to Edinburgh University in 2012 and is currently part of the Chaplaincy team. She has extensive knowledge and understanding of the Sikh religion and culture from the lived experience of women.
Her wealth of experience together with knowledge of ethnic communities in particular the women of the Bhatra Sikh Community in Scotland and their needs has resulted in her being asked to represent the Sikh Community in a variety of arenas both statutory and voluntary.
She is keen to continue to build links that can create pathways for women of all communities to participate in civic life. Her aim is to continue to break down barriers to learning, reducing the obstacles that get in the way of people receiving a service and improving communication between professions about the needs of the Sikh and other BME women. She would like to see the inequalities gap closed, especially in terms of disadvantage and exclusion relating to education, skills and training at all levels.
(author photo courtesy of The Poverty Alliance
author bio info courtesy of Sikh Sanjog
ARC courtesy of Love Book Tours.)
Fabulous review, thank you for your support of the tour.
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