Maroon turban, long flowing grey beard and brochures about founder of Sikhism, Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, in his hand, it is Partap Singh, the head of only Gursikh Peruvian family, who has taken upon himself the onerous task of spreading the message of Sikhism and Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji in South America.
Partap Singh moved to Peru 24 years ago as a tourism specialist and decided to settle down here. He married a local woman of Spanish origin and has a son and a daughter living with him. He took Peruvian citizenship some years ago. He has Guru Granth Sahib (in Spanish) at his home. Besides spreading the message of universal brotherhood, peace, and communal harmony as preached by Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, he visits different institutions to talk about Sikhism.
He also teaches Spanish and conducts online language courses for those who want to learn Spanish."Since we do not have a Sikh Gurdwara in Peru, we will celebrate the 550th birth anniversary of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji at an appropriate place," he says. Partap Singh and his family organize "langar" of "kheer" for needy and poor people regularly. "The idea of langar is to feed needy and poor," says Partap Singh who regularly visits other South American countries to spread the message of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji.
There are many many descendants of Sikhs in Panama but they have lost touch with their roots. They still have "Singh" as part of their names. Partap Singh is helping these Sikhs to trace their roots so as to help them to visit the places wherefrom their great grandparents came. On July 29, when Peru celebrated its Independence Day, Partap Singh was given the honor to be the flag bearer at the official ceremony.
-PTC News
