The arts have never been far behind the scientific work of Dr Narinder Singh Kapany, the father of fiber optics.

The American based innovator and philanthropist, who was born in Moga, Punjab is now urging his fellow Sikhs in British Columbia to set up a Sikh Art Museum.

If you set it up, I will provide the art for life, said Dr Kapany who was the keynote speaker at the Darpan Magazine  “Extraordinary Achievement Awards” held in Surrey last week.

Dr Kapany has some of the world’s most treasured Sikh art dating back centuries, including literature written by the Founding father of Sikhism, Guru Nanak.

His suggestion immediately took hold at Darpan’s red carpet gala.

“This is a fantastic idea which will bring a new dimension to the Sikh community in B.C,” said South Asian Post publisher Harbinder Singh Sewak.

“Coincidentally some of us have been talking about this and Dr Kapany’s support will be the push we need,” he said.

Sewak plans to rally other members of the community to pursue the dream of BC’s first ever Sikh Art Museum.

Dr Kapany’s challenge drew thunderous applause at the awards ceremony which attracted over 700 people, including several B.C. politicians and MPs.

“It is our hope that the life and work of these awardees will serve as an inspiration for all South Asians to realize the power of their dreams,”  said Darpan publishers Gurvinder Hundal and Ramneek Dhillon. 

“From our inaugural event to now, our goal is to showcase the gems of the South Asian community and honour them with DARPAN Magazine’s Extraordinary Achievement Awards – we hope this simple act will trigger the ripple effect of inspiring more South Asians to do the extraordinary.”

In their current issue, Darpan said ; “As an art enthusiast, Kapany himself dabbled in the artistry world and created ‘dynoptic’ sculptures in the late 1960’s. It started when one of Kapany’s employees, who was using a fiber drawing machine that Kapany had invented, had an accident and ended up bending the glass rod. The employee threw it in the trash and when Kapany saw the bent glass rod, he thought to himself, “My god, this is art. So I took it home and ended up adding several other pieces to it.” He went on to create 50 dynoptic sculptures and was approached by Frank Oppenheimer (American physicist, professor and founder of Exploratorium), who obtained Kapany’s permission to display his art project at the Exploratorium, museum of science, life and human perception, in San Francisco in 1972.”

Dr Kapany’s suggestion comes in the wake the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) getting recognition from the US government, to built International Sikh Centre at Yuba City in California state for promoting Sikhism in America, Canada and the other countries in the region.

This global centre will coordinate with the US and other governments and, through literature in many languages, promote Sikh history, art and culture.

The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee is an organization in India responsible for the upkeep of gurdwaras, Sikh places of worship.

Dr. Kapany is widely acknowledged as the father of fiber-optics, the technology behind devices from endoscopy to high-capacity telephone lines that has changed the medical, communications and business worlds. He was named one of seven Unsung Heroes by Fortune magazine in their “Businessmen of the Century” issue (Nov. 22, 1999).

Educated in England, Dr. Narinder Singh Kapany has lived in the United States for forty-five years. A graduate of Agra University in India, he completed advanced studies in optics at the Imperial College of Science and Technology, London, and received his Ph.D. from the University of London in 1955.

His career has spanned science, entrepreneurship and management, academia, publishing, and farming. His personal interests include philanthropy, art collecting, and sculpting.

 

Photo credit: Darpan Magazine