Biography of Surjit Kaur Shinhat

Born in Northern India, Surjit Shinhat taught English and Punjabi for many years in the school systems of India, Britain and Canada, to both adults and children. Her work with young people of Punjabi ancestry in England inspired many to write and pass their Punjabi O and A Level examinations.

In Canada, she taught Punjabi to Indo-Canadian children at high school and elementary school levels and to Canadian adults in the Sikh Ashram and various gurudwaras in Montreal.

After teaching in Montreal for a couple of years, Mrs. Shinhat noticed the dearth of materials geared to young adults and children trying to learn Punjabi in a North American context. Punjabi From Zero is the result of an effort to create a dynamic teaching tool to help fill that gap.

Having left India at a very young age, Mrs. Shinhat always highly valued the rich cultural heritage of Punjabis. Responding to the needs of young Canadian students learning the language who knew little of that culture, Mrs. Shinhat embarked on another unique publishing project. Published in three volumes, Tales From The Five Rivers charts the journeys of our Sikh gurus in Northern India in Punjabi, English and French.

Now retired, Mrs. Shinhat devotes her time and her energies to the worthy cause of spreading the light of knowledge and information about the Punjab and its peoples to all interested and especially to the descendants of the land of five rivers.