Ayala: San Antonio author delivers labor of love: a children’s book about a Sikh hero - San Antonio Express-News

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Simran Jeet Singh’s newest book will hit bookshelves this month but has been in the making most of his life.

It’s the result of countless childhood visits to bookstores and libraries that ended in disappointment.

The 36-year-old San Antonio-born writer and scholar recalls scouring shelves for a character in a book that looked like him: a Sikh boy wearing a turban.

“I was crushed every time,” he says.

San Antonian Simran Jeet Singh's new children's book, "Fauja Singh Keeps Going," will be published in August 2020 by Penguin Random House.

About five years ago, his search began again, this time for his young daughter. Again, the shelves held little that reflected his faith or community.

Singh, the son of two of San Antonio’s most beloved philanthropists, G.P. and Winkey Singh, couldn’t stand by any longer. He literally took matters into his own hands and fulfilled a childhood dream.

Writing a children’s book was harder than he imagined, especially in finding a focus. As with so many good subjects, they’re often staring right at you.

For Singh, it was a story he already knew of a boy wearing a turban, just like him. He grew up to be a marathon runner, just like him, too. They share a common surname but aren’t related.

“Fauja Singh Keeps Going: The True Story of the Oldest Person to Ever Run a Marathon” will be published by Penguin Random House on Aug. 25. It’s a beautifully told, gorgeously illustrated book.

It depicts characters largely unseen in the mainstream, misunderstood and often mistaken as Muslim and labeled as terrorists.

FBI statistics show hate crimes against Sikhs rose 200 percent from 2017 to 2018, and that they’re the third most frequently targeted faith group behind Jews and Muslims.

The illustrations in Simran Jeet Singh's new children's book, "Fauja Singh Keeps Going," were created by artist Baljinder Kaur. The book will be published in August 2020 by Penguin Random House

Sikhs follow a religion that embraces equality and charity. It has South Asian roots, in Punjab, India, where it developed in the 15th century.

Throughout his young life, the author experienced hate — at O’Connor High School, Trinity University, at Spurs games while supporting the NBA’s most diverse team and during marathons in his new home, New York City.

He teaches at Union Theological Seminary and at his alma mater, Columbia University. He also earned a degree from Harvard Divinity School. His web show, “Becoming Less Racist, Lighting the Path to Anti-Racism,” is hosted by the Religion News Service, for which he also writes a column that appears in this paper.

Singh is a San Antonian through and through. His favorite breakfast taco — and he misses them badly — is the classic bean and cheese. His mother keeps him in flour tortillas from H-E-B, the uncooked that poof when warmed.

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You can sense the pride he feels when he talks about his parents and how they helped raise $250,000 for the San Antonio Food Bank in April.

Theirs is a balm that soothes the pain of hate.

His children’s book is another salve. It tells the story of the oldest marathoner in history, who was born in Punjab unable to walk. He overcame adversity, lots of it.

Only he knew what he was capable of, and he always had hope. A few steps led to miles. In his 80s and in a new country, he began to race.

Singh first saw Fauja Singh in an Adidas commercial featuring him, Muhammad Ali and David Beckham. The two Singhs eventually met and have given us this book.

The centenarian’s story will resonate across generations, cultures and faiths and will teach young readers that heroism takes many forms.

The author says it’s the first book on Sikhs from a major publisher and the first by a writer, illustrator and book agent of South Asian descent. You can see how much love they put into it.

The book industry often labels books such as these as having “no proof of market.”

As publishers examine their roles in the nation’s struggles against racism, “Fauja Singh Keeps Going” has beaten the odds.

The author now has two daughters. One saw the illustration of a mother combing a child’s hair and told her father, “‘That’s you and me in the morning.’”

It’s the representation a Sikh boy in San Antonio searched for on all those shelves.