Yaar Punjabi
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Famous Sikhs
Manmohan Singh
Waris Ahluwalia
Fauja Singh
Dr. Narinder Singh Kapany
Amrit and Rabindra Kaur
Rabinder Singh
Gurbax S. Malhi
Nuvraj Singh Bassi
Kamaljit Kaur Sandhu
Manmohan Singh
- The 17th and current Prime Minister of India.
- Considered to be one of the most qualified and influential figures in India's recent history, because of the economic liberalization he started in 1991 when he was Finance Minister.
- The first Sikh to become Prime Minister of India.
- Manmohan Singh has a doctorate from Oxford University. He is the most educated Indian Prime Minister in history.
- Mudhsuden Singh Panesar, popularly known as Monty Panesar, plays for the England cricket team.
- He is the first Sikh to represent a nation other than India in cricket.
- He is a crowd favorite in England, and many English fans have worn patkas and beards while watching Panesar play.
- Nicknames for Panesar include 'The Montster', 'The Python' (as in Monty Python), 'The Beard to be Feared', or most popular 'The Turbanator'.
Waris Ahluwalia
- Actor who has played a number of roles in commercials and Hollywood films, including The Life Aquatic and The Inside Man.
- Waris is also a popular jewelry designer and owner of the House of Waris jewelry brand.
Fauja Singh
- Fauja Singh is an over 90 year old marathon runner.
- He holds a world record as a runner in his age bracket.
- In 2004 he was featured in an advertising campaign, 'Nothing Is Impossible', for sportswear manufacturer Adidas.
- While running marathon races in London, New York and Toronto, he raised money for various charities promoting Sikh culture around the world. He has also raised money for a charity dedicated to the care for premature babies.
Dr. Narinder Singh Kapany
- Widely acknowledged as the father of fiber-optics.
- Dr. Kapany has over one hundred patents. His research and inventions have encompassed fiber-optics communications, lasers, biomedical instrumentation, solar energy and pollution monitoring.
- He is a Fellow of numerous scientific societies including the British Royal Academy of Engineering, the Optical Society of America, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
- Named one of seven 'Unsung Heroes' by Fortune magazine in their 'Businessmen of the Century' issue.
Amrit and Rabindra Kaur
- Amrit and Rabindra are contemporary British artists of international standing.
- Their paintings address contemporary subjects in a detailed, decorative style inspired by the tradition of Indian miniature painting.
Rabinder Singh
- The first judge in the United Kingdom to sit in the high court wearing a turban instead of a wig.
- Rabinder Singh co-founded the Matrix Human Rights Law Chambers with Cherie Blair, wife of Prime Minister Tony Blair.
- He holds a Bachelor of Laws with first class honors from the University of Cambridge and a Master of Laws from the University of California (Berkeley).
- Also thought to be the youngest person to sit as a judge in the U.K. high court.
- First Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officer allowed to wear a turban and unshorn beard.
- Graduated from the RCMP training academy in Regina (Saskatchewan, Canada)
Gurbax S. Malhi
- First turbaned Sikh to be elected to the Canadian parliament, the Canadian House of Commons. He was first elected to parliament in 1993.
- Canadian law prohibited members of parliament from wearing headgear of any sort in the Commons. Malhi's insistence on wearing a turban caused the law to be changed shortly after the election.
- Malhi has introduced numerous Sikh ceremonies to the Canadian Parliament (including an annual Akhand Path and a Diwali celebration).
- He was also instrumental in having the government of Canada produce a postage stamp bearing the khanda symbol.
- Snatam Kaur is an American singer and songwriter.
- She is a popular New Age artist, selling over 70,000 albums a year.
- Snatam Kaur’s albums have topped New Age Retailer’s Top 20 lists every year since 2004.
- Surinder Kaur (1929–2006), was an Indian singer and songwriter.
- She sang mainly Punjabi folk-songs, where she is credited for pioneering and popularising the genre and later was known as the ‘Nightingale of Punjab’
- Surinder Kaur recorded her first song in 1943, which she sang with her elder sister Prakash Kaur.
- She recorded more than 2,000 Punjabi songs over her lifetime.
Nuvraj Singh Bassi
- Nuvraj Singh Bassi is a defensive lineman who plays in the Canadian Football League for the Montreal Alouettes.
- He made history as the first turbaned Sikh in the league.
- The first Sikh to become a non-medical enlisted U.S. Army soldier since the 1980's without shedding his turban.
- Lamba was recruited for his language skills.
Kamaljit Kaur Sandhu
- Kamaljit Kaur Sandhu was the first Indian woman athlete to win a gold medal in track and field at the Asian Games.
- In 1970 she won the 400m in Bangkok with a time of 57.3 seconds.
- She also competed at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich.
