This morning we had the pleasure of welcoming to our class Daljit Nagra, a poet whose work we’ve been reading.
Nagra is a British poet whose poems relate to the experience of Indians born in the UK (especially Indian Sikhs), and occasionally employ language that imitates the English spoken by Indian immigrants whose first language is Punjabi, which some have termed “Punglish.”
Nagra’s visit helped give extra context for our visit the previous day to the oldest “gurdwara,” or Sikh place of worship, in Europe, Khalsa Jatha, located in West London. While at the gurdwara we learned about the tenets of Sikhism, explored the historic building, and then joined in a “langar” meal, a Sikh practice of providing free meals to anyone in the community who needs one.
Blog post provided by Peter Miller, affiliate professor of English at Goshen College.