- Stanley K. Lacy Executive Leadership Diversity Forum - December 2007; [speech]
- Inter-Faith Thanksgiving Prayer Service, Saints Peter & Paul Cathedral, Indianapolis - November 2007; [speech]
- Inter-Faith Prayer Service, St. Paul’s Catholic Center, Bloomington - October 2007
- Guest Speaker, IUPUI Freshman Class - October 2007
- Keynote Speaker, Marion County Council on Youth (MCCOY) - September 2007; [speech]
- Guest Speaker, USDA/INRC, for Asian-Pacific Heritage Month - May 2007; [speech]
K.P. Singh regularly contributes essays to Sikhpoint.com.
Many of his articles can also be viewed under the heading "At Home in the Heartland," at NRIinternet.com. More information about K.P. can been found in the Who's Who section of the NRIinternet website.
In the past, K.P. authored essays in the IN Touch section of the Indianapolis Star (March 2004 - November 2005).
The 2008 Spirit & Place Festival theme: “Exploring Imagination” is truly thought provoking. As I see it, the theme invites and celebrates our efforts and resolve in transforming ordinary and extraordinary, imagined and perceived ideas, and cherished hopes and dreams into visions of reality.
First, we must define and understand imagination, its significance, and important place in human affairs. It is in exploring that we set forth new markers in human advancement and test the power and limits of our imagination, skills, experience, and great ideas. Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan, a former President of India, reminds us, “ideas move the world, and thought precedes action.” Someone else made another brilliant call: “great ideas are wonderful but something has to be done about them.”
SEEING IMAGINATION AS A LIVING PRISM
As living-breathing and thinking beings, we carry special hopes, dreams, and expectations that best reflect our times, interests, talents, and commitments to improve our personal and collective human condition. We wonder, examine, and interpret the meaning, intricate mysteries and interrelationships, and the boundless promise of life. We see life as a colorful and complex tapestry of thoughts, emotions, ideas, and raw images of dreams and possibilities. We see life as a many-faceted living prism, teeming with and unfolding many ideas and images that dazzle our mind and attention. Our study, meditations, and reflections inspire us to give shape to ideas that capture our imagination.
Celebrating Our Divine Spiritual Mosaic (December 25, 2007)
We see God as an Immaculate Reality, Eternal Truth as something of an omnipresence that carries a halo of awe, mystery, and unimagined power that is beyond description, measure, and dimensions as we know or understand them. This inherent knowledge, divinely-inspired memory and passion seeking a spiritual connection with the Spirit within and all around, has been part of human yearning and prayer from the earliest beginnings of time and life. Our search for this Eternal Truth, affirmed by much testimony and evidence throughout the history of human civilization, has introduced us to many spiritual philosophies, interpretations, and revelations. Much like the ever-expanding, unfathomable universe, human spirituality has an aura of awesome mystery, growing fascination for all living beings, and continuous evolution and illumination. Different faiths seem to affirm similar images and understanding about the Supreme Nature and Spirit of the Divine and yet offer new Light and distinct perspectives.
Exploring Our Racial and Cultural Diversity (December 13, 2007)
A presentation made by K.P. Singh for the Stanley K. Lacy Executive Leadership Series
CLASS XXXII DIVERSITY DAY
The Indianapolis Urban League
December 13, 2007
Kanwal Prakash “KP” Singh
(Notes, Comments, Reflections)
BY LAND, BY SEA, BY AIR, BY INTERNET
The human universe is in an unprecedented flux. People, cultures, ideas, talents, hopes and dreams are on the move as never before in search of something different, better, safe, exciting and impossible driven by imagined or real opportunities to better their lives. They are traversing into known and unknown places, across established geographic, national, and cultural boundaries, creating new frontiers of hope and promise with an amazing pioneering spirit. The United States of America has been one of their favorite destinations for reasons that we all know and that they have come to believe as the best place for their skills and future or to start a new life. In recent years, we have begun to see this movement of people in many directions, and that reasons for this cross-continental adventures by modern-day pioneers are increasingly multi-dimensional.
This trend and influx is irreversible; this confluence of nations on this blessed land and other Continents are nothing short of providential. We want to make certain that this transition must be a smooth, orderly, and mutually-rewarding experience for cultures, communities, and individuals relocating their hopes and dreams in new lands; willing to face entrenched ideas in place that are unfamiliar and that their receptions that at times may be less sympathetic. These newcomers are equally challenging to the established order and the existing populations; many feel invaded and threatened by new cultures, faiths, traditions, experiences, and sudden expectations and uninvited fierce competition.
Being a leader means: dispelling the fear factor, unfounded stereotype, indifference, or hostility towards newcomers and getting to the task of highlighting the positives of this global phenomenon and its relevance to our community and interests.
Meaning, Festival and Spirit of Thanksgiving (November 20, 2007)
A spiritual reflection offered by K.P. Singh at Saints Peter & Paul Cathedral, Indianapolis, Indiana.
Wonderful Lord:
“Self-Created, Self-Illuminated, Immaculate Reality,”
“Embodiment of all virtues and attributes
That we can imagine
All those we cannot possibly fathom.”
“You are the Father and Mother of all Creation,
We are all Your Children.”
All people, faiths and cultures and communities
Together make
Your beautiful temporal, cultural, and spiritual tapestry;
Almighty King of Kings:
You have commanded us to recognize
“All humanity as One Race, One Brotherhood;”
Revealed and affirmed that as the “Magnificent Master
You have fashioned all beings from the same clay,
Infused the same Divine Light in all Life;
Your Immaculate Order governs; Your dazzling Radiance
Illuminates the unfathomable and the manifest
In every realm, every direction and dimension”
The Art of Youth Celebration (September 28, 2007)
A presentation given by K.P. Singh at a fund raiser benefiting the Marion County Council on Youth, or MCCOY.
Indianapolis Art Center
September 28, 2007
OUR ARTS, OUR SPIRIT, OUR HUMANITY
Kanwal Prakash “KP” Singh
The great Indian poet, songwriter, singer and musician, actor, artist, philanthropist, humanitarian, and enlightened teacher, Rabindranath Tagore, reminds us that:
I take it to mean that here on earth we too must welcome and cherish each life that God has sent to us and help it to grow, prosper, and reach its fullness and potential. The Sikh scriptures remind us that: “God is the Father and Mother of all Creation and we are all God’s Children” and “Every living being is a repository of Divine Light.” Serving others with all gifts entrusted to us by our Creator is a major commandment and honored tradition in the Sikh faith.
The Indian poet offers another universal vision, a deep yearning, and prayer to imagine a place where some basic human and sacred rights are not a dream but a solemn commitment:
“Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free,
And the world is not broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls.”
Some scholars and admirers see this poem, originally in Bengali, as a universal anthem for all humanity; a fervent hope and prayer for all people, cultures, and nations. It is a lofty dream, but then dreams are supposed to be lofty. Such a place and spirit is well within the realm of possibility in this blessed land. We have to believe, work hard to see that everyone experiences the glow of such freedoms from fear, ignorance, or prejudice. We can say that the American renaissance and promise is gradually expanding and someday we would all be able to affirm:
The unexpected and unimagined is possible here.
Labor and creativity, without distinction, are rewarded;
Great dreams are invented and given amazing shapes everyday.
I offer a few thoughts about arts offering some needed light to our spirit and humanity: