Would Uncle Pat, a force of nature, have been welcomed in today's U.S.?

A tribute to the bon vivant who would have turned 100 this month

Uncle Pat – Patwant Singh – would have turned 100 March 28th. As is customary, the Sikh holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib, was read around the clock for three days in our family home in New Delhi to commemorate the centennial year of his birth.

Uncle Pat, our late mother’s younger brother, didn’t have children, so my sister, Amrita, and I were his by default and design. He had an enormous influence on us - and never hesitated to let us know when he thought we were misguided.

Patwant was a force of nature: An author of books about Sikhism, Punjab politics, and global affairs; the publisher of a preeminent magazine on modern art and architecture; a public intellectual, and an outspoken critic of the powers that be. He was also a bon vivant who enjoyed his Glenmorangie, dressed with flair, sporting Guccis and Puccis and had an international circle of friends and admirers.

It was Uncle Pat who first encouraged me to go into journalism, have a second child, and not make the mistake of going through life without a dog. And it was he who encouraged Amrita to buy a Volvo, build a house, and write about Indian politics.

To my surprise, the first time he came to visit me in Des Moines and I hosted a party to introduce him, his name was already familiar to many in the Sikh community here. Sikhs are a minority religion in India, but their efforts to elevate and support people who need help, regardless of religion or nationality, are extraordinary.

When he visited Amrita in Amherst, her colleagues knew his writings on Punjab and invited him to give a talk at the college where she teaches.

His sense of humor was legendary. When we were little, he made up “baa!” tiger stories to scare us, bribed us to leave the study when adults were gossiping, and shared funny stories of his travels that would have us in stitches. He encouraged us to maintain a strong and proud sense of our national origin, and unfailingly scolded us for not moving back to India.

He came to visit us regularly when we were growing up in New York, where he had longstanding friendships of his own, and could often be spotted at the legendary Four Seasons restaurant designed by his friend Philip Johnson. But today I wonder what indignities he might have encountered simply for entering the country. Would his turban - an essential element of Sikh identity, along with the long hair beneath it - have triggered profiling by immigration authorities’? Would he have been hauled in for detention and, despite his valid visa, faced deportation, as is happening to so many resident South Asians for using their voices to challenge the status quo?

How crushed would he have been by that change in respectful relations and protocols between the two nations, no matter which administration was in power.

Having returned from India just days before his birthday, I wasn’t there to hear the prayer service and help commemorate his remarkable life. But I’m doing that in my heart.

I wish I could tell him about the actions of Sikhs in Iowa in recent years to improve the lives of anyone in poverty or facing unfair persecution. Members of the faith have rallied to raise the state’s minimum wage from the paltry $7.25 an hour where it’s been stuck. Sikhs also joined Quakers and Baptists in suing the Trump administration over its moves to rescind protections against immigration enforcement in and near places of worship.

For several months, Urbandale has been considering whether to grant a zoning variance to allow the Sikh community to build a temple - called a Gurudwara. I attended one of the meetings along with members of the local Sikh community and explained a bit about Sikh culture. And I shared several of Uncle Pat’s books about Sikhism with the board so they would know the religion’s focus on supporting struggling communities of whatever faiths, anywhere in the word, financially and physically.

We were visiting Uncle Pat’s widow, our wonderful aunt Meher, days before his 100th birthday, when word came from Iowa that the variance was approved. The temple will be built.

I’ll be thinking of him whenever I visit, and hope some of you will stop by too. Everyone is always welcome in Gurudwaras, regardless of faith.

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