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Tribute to Dr. Baldev Singh
January 29, 1939—October 2, 2009
A Sikh Extraordinaire with a Roving Mind
G.B. Singh
For the last few years, Sikhspectrum.com readers have engrossed themselves in a remarkable phenomenon of critical analysis and thought provoking articles on Sikhism, Hinduism, Bible & Koranic-based ideologies, and not the least their multiple spin-offs to include the New Age, modern & neo-modern Hinduism. These extraordinary intellectual debates would not have seen the day’s light without the pivotal input from Dr. Baldev Singh, a retired pharmaceutical scientist with gifted intellect.
Painful as it is to me and as it is to all of his admirers, on October 2, 2009, Baldev Singh passed away after a roughly six months of prolonged illness caused by a malignant brain tumor..
To the best of my memory, it was either in 2002 or 2003, while on the internet, I stumbled upon and read Baldev Singh’s “Open Letter” addressed to Oprah Winfrey on the subject of Gandhi. Frankly the contents of this letter attracted my attention and soon thereafter I read another of his article on the “meaning of the word Hindu.” These two papers were bold enough and stroked the depths of his scholarship to the point where it convinced me to contact the author.
Thanks largely to the Internet, no sooner I dispatched an email to him that within a short time, Baldev Singh responded. And soon thereafter we exchanged our telephone numbers. I met him face-to-face in April 2005 at his residence on the outskirts of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Not a day would pass that we wouldn’t chat over the phone or via email..
During this time, Baldev Singh had retired from the pharmaceutical industry, which allowed him to devote countless hours researching Guru Granth Sahib. I have never met a person who was exhausting numerous hours on research and pursuing serious intellectually driven analysis and conclusions. In time, I found myself relying heavily on his knowledge of Gurbani. This is a testament to Baldev Singh’s efforts that a professionally skeptical person like me would learn the wisdom of Gurbani from him. And I am sure I wasn’t alone--there are so many readers who also benefited from Baldev Singh’s exposition of Gurbani.
His untimely death has left me stranded with anguish and pain. In so many ways, I have lost a great friend. I share these feelings with you because I know Baldev Singh has touched many other people especially the regular readers of Sikhspectrum.com.
This November 2009 issue is dedicated to his memory and I sincerely hope that this tribute will inspire more individuals to come forward, and challenge the intellectual inquires to further heights from a hallowed spot at where Dr. Baldev Singh left us. I cannot think of a more fitting honor to him than to carry on those passions of his that so captivated his mind and energized him.
Sarjit Singh Sandhu
Dr Baldev Singh {Maan) of Yuba city, California, left the mortal human abode on October 2, 2009 after fighting a malignant brain tumor. He leaves behind his wife Mrs. Nachhater Maan, two daughters and grand children. Amongst his siblings are his brother Darshan Singh of Fresno, California, his sister and their children. Baldev Singh was an outstanding scholar of Sikhism who accepted the most difficult challenges that demanded hard labor and collection of sources of literature that other scholars had neither the courage nor the patience to handle.
I got introduced to Dr Baldev Singh by chance in 1999 through the publication of Understanding Sikhism - The Research Journal. It was Dr Devinder Singh Chahal, Quebec, Canada who introduced us. Dr Chahal sent me the first issues of the magazine for the year 1999. In an article written by Dr Harbans Lal Saxena, Dr. Lal had mentioned that Sehjdhari Sikhs fought in support of Guru Gobind Singh in the battle of Bhanghani in 1688 CE. I found this statement to be incorrect. Sikh history informs us that the ceremony of Khande dee Pahul, which transformed Sikhs into Khalsa, was performed by Guru Gobind Rai in 1699 CE. Before the ceremony of Khande dee Pahul all followers of Sikh Gurus were known as Sikhs.
In accordance with the policy statement of the Journal, comments were permitted about difference of opinion or flaws in the information published by other scholars and readers. When this mistake was brought to the notice of the editor, Dr Chahal, he published this information in the next issue of the Journal. But Dr Saxena did not care to respond to the questions raised about the origin of the word Sehjdhari and history of anointment of Sehjdhari Sikhs by Charan Pahul. He simply said that these questions had already been answered.
Dr Baldev Singh came forward to point out in the next issue of the Journal that Dr Saxena had not answered the questions asked by Dr Sandhu. It was a question of integrity and honesty especially required of Sikh scholars who published articles in that journal. Besides, the editor was expected to insist on an apology from the author for such a mistake.
Later I contacted Dr Baldev Singh by e-mail and to my surprise he knew about me from his contact with Dr Baldev Singh Minhas who was working as a Post Doctoral fellow in the Chemistry department of the University in which Dr Baldev Singh was pursuing his doctorate.
I found in him a meticulous scientist who carefully studied the theology and history of Sikhism with the precision that is expected from a scientist who had spent his life doing research in Pharmaceutical chemistry. Dr Baldev Singh was steadfast in his pursuit for truth and was always determined to collect all available information on a subject before writing about it. Most of his published papers are in the Sikh Virsa International, Calgary, Canada, Understanding Sikhism- The Research Journal, Montreal, Canada, the Sikhspectrum.com, USA, Abstracts of Sikh Studies, Institute of Sikh Studies, Chandigarh etc. In September 2009, Sikhism: Interpreters and Detractors was published under the auspices of International Sikh Institute for Research and Teaching, Hercules, California and it contains five chapters written by Dr Baldev Singh out of a total of seven chapters. This is a lasting and befitting tribute to his memory and his selfless service for Sikhism and the worldwide Sikh community. This book contains information that elegantly illustrates the depth and diversity of his grasp of gurbani and history of Sikhs from a point of view of the twenty first century. As editor of this book, I feel proud of the brilliant Sikh scholar whose loss to the Sikh community will not be compensated in my lifetime.
Let me point out that some of my friends have different views about Dr Baldev Singh who did not pay attention to their urban background, culture, and customs and stuck to his moorings that made him what he was. This, too, illustrates his honesty of purpose and commitment to values he acquired as a young man, raised in rural environments amongst the fauna and flora of pre-independence Punjab. He was really a true son of Punjab..