Within months of his arrival in the United States, Pamela attended her first semi-private yoga class with Yogi Bhajan. He quickly swept her into service as his driver, photographer, personal attendant and secretary. He was one of the many Eastern-born teachers who appeared in the U.S. in the midst of the transformational ‘60s. Over the course of the next 16 years, re-naming her Premka, Yogi Bhajan called upon her innate abilities, encouraging her to document the growth of their proliferating lifestyle community and the evolution of individuals from New Agers to yogis and finally to Sikhs. She became the Administrative Director for the International Headquarters of 3HO Foundation and Sikh Dharma International and the first Secretary General for the international ministerial council of the Sikhs (Khalsa Council). Premka rendered some of the major prayers of the Sikhs into American English, in a book entitled Peace Lagoon24, first published in 1971. She also served as Editor of the community’s 32-page quarterly magazine, entitled Beads of Truth. In 1979, she helped to conceptualize, compile and edit a full color volume of more than 400 pages, presenting a history of Yogi Bhajan’s achievements in the U.S. The volume was a gift in honor of his 50th birthday and was entitled The Man Called the Siri Singh Sahib25. In 1984, she moved to Hawaii, married Siri Brahma (Jack Dyson) and within two years, their son Casey Dyson, was born. Over the course of the ten years of their marriage, they designed and built a total of five houses and flipped a few fixer-uppers as well. Like many women, her time out of the workplace impacted her career skills: she had missed the transition to computers and the internet. When it was time to step back into full time employment, she chose to move in a totally different direction, going back to school to become licensed as a massage therapist, while writing her stories and providing editing and proofreading services. Pamela currently lives in upcountry Maui. She and her partner of the past 15 years raise chickens and honeybees plus freshwater fish and vegetables in an aquaponics greenhouse. Utilizing catchment water and solar electricity, they strive to live in greater harmony with the beautiful nature that surrounds them.
