Speakers
What happens to a spiritual practice when politics pulls the community apart?
Amardeep Singh presents a talk on the Sindhi Nanak Panthi tradition, with an introduction by Aruna Madnani, founder and Managing Trustee of the Sindhi Cultural Foundation, and a discussion with Chiranjeev Singh. The session also includes a book launch with Jitu Virwani.
Across the lower Indus basin, a syncretic culture shaped by Guru Nanak’s teachings once transcended faith, language, and geography. In Sindh and Balochistan, communities identifying as Nanak-Panthis worshipped at Darbars and gurdwaras where the Guru Granth Sahib stood alongside other sacred texts. Partition, migration, and reform movements fractured this fluid identity, leaving it preserved only in fragments — memories, shrines, scattered communities. Drawing on field research from Lost Heritage: The Sikh Legacy in Pakistan, The Quest Continues: Lost Heritage, and the docuseries Allegory, this session reconstructs that layered story.
Tea and snacks will be served from 10:15 AM.
In collaboration with :
Venue: Auditorium
Speakers
Amardeep Singh
Amardeep Singh is an independent visual ethnographic researcher based in Singapore. He is Producer and Director of the award-winning 24-episode documentary series Allegory: A Tapestry of Guru Nanak’s Travels and author of Lost Heritage: The Sikh Legacy in Pakistan and The Quest Continues: Lost Heritage, The Sikh Legacy in Pakistan. After a 25-year career in financial services, including as Head of Revenue Management for Asia Pacific at American Express, he now focuses on documenting cultural memory and spiritual heritage. He currently leads the Oneness in Diversity project, creating audio-visual educational content on Guru Nanak and the fifteen Bhagats.
Chiranjiv Singh
Chiranjiv Singh is a Bangalore-based retired IAS officer, writer, and culture promoter. Joining the civil service in 1969, he served as finance secretary, principal secretary to two chief ministers (Devraj Urs and S. M. Krishna), and ambassador to UNESCO in Paris, retiring in 2005 as additional chief secretary. He was conferred the honour of Officer of the National Order of Merit by France’s ambassador to India, Alexander Ziegler, for his contribution to cultural, intellectual, scientific, and social causes in Karnataka, nationally, and internationally.
Aruna Madnani
Aruna Madnani is curator of Lost Homeland of Sindh, a permanent gallery at the Partition Museum dedicated to preserving the history, memory, and cultural legacy of Sindh and its people. She is also producer of Doorway to Sindh, a YouTube series exploring Sindhi history, identity, and culture. She serves as Managing Trustee of the Sindhi Culture Foundation, Vice President of TM Hinduja National Sarvodaya High School and Junior College, and Director at AIM for Seva — reflecting her deep commitment to cultural preservation, education, and social impact initiatives.
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