Sarab Loh Ji Ki Saadaa Rakshiya Hamnay

Back...but not for too long.

2006-08-25T08:16:00.000-07:00

Been really busy the past 3 weeks....been working on a project which could boost restaurant profits.Basically trying to offer lunch/dinner packages at the restaurant to tour companies for their tour groups...there is a good market for it...besides northern indian cuisine has been in demand lately...plus the increased numbers of tourists from India who practically eat nothing other than dhall and roti...LOL.Got 2 more weeks for National Service and a goodbye to my pampered civillian life.Anyways, was at Singh Sabha gurudwara for the past 2 evenings, and co-incidentially, few singhs from the Akhand Kirtani Jatha of Tarn Taran graced this little island of ours, before making their way to Indonesia...said theres some samagam going on there.These singhs were really chardikala man.... i mean... when youre in their company... theres like total anand...its like having the darshan of Guru Gobind Singh Ji Maharaaj himself.They gave me like a lifetime collection of audios and videos from various samagams.Its really difficult to explain...but the sangat of singapore really needs these kinda chardikala gursikhs to bring us back to the path of Gursikhi Jeevan.Felt kinda sad when they left though i'd only known them for 2 days...Hopefully with Maharaaj kirpa, once im done with my 2 years of NS, i'll take the earliest flight to amritsar to re-group with them and Grooo Grooo the whole night long.It felt as if we had known each other for lifetimes...Here are some pictures...

Bhai Tejbir Singh.Chardikala.Beat him to taking a photo though :P.

Bhai Gurbir Singh.Same Age but unbeatable avastha.Listening to Jhoolde Kesri Jhande by Tigerstyle

Group Photo.I still do not know the name of the singh on the right.There was so much love between us that we did not even bother knowing each others' names.I pray to GuruJi for the company of such lovely gursikhs my whole life.Maybe some of em could come to singapore and expand the jatha a bit more.... :P

One

2006-08-06T21:39:00.000-07:00

I've been away for some time.Been in really low spirits... you know... one of those things which just gets to you and doesnt leave you for a long time, that. Things started picking up today, and hopefully I can become more chardikala again with Waheguru's grace. I bought a new camera anyways, the previous one got stolen.I took this sorta ... self portrait of myself with it.

This is my personal tribute to two of some of the most graceful men who have walked this earth. Lord Buddha and Jesus of Nazareth, being shown as one, in the same light. They taught us how to be tolerant, peaceful and compassionate. They spread the message of waheguru at different times, when humanity was degenerating. They loved everyone regardless of faith, caste, color, creed. Apart from speaking the truth, they showed us the possibility and beauty of truthful living, which guru nanak dev ji later re-emphasised.This is my humble tribute to them, and through this I hope that we see no difference in each other, that we are all, children of one god, who is known by different names.

Satnam.

Song Of The People

2006-07-24T23:05:00.000-07:00

All the battles I have won against tyranny,
I have fought with the devoted backing of these people.
Though them only, have I been able to bestow gifts.
Through their help, I have escaped harm.
The love and genorisity of the people,
Have enriched my heart and home.
Through their grace, I have acquired all learning,
Through their help in battles, I have slain the enemies.
I was born to serve them; through them I reach eminence.
What would I have been without their kind and ready help?
There are millions of insignificant people like me.
True service is the service of the people,
I am not inclined to serve others of higher castes.
Charity will bear fruit in this and the next world.
If given to such worthy people as these,
All other sacrifices and charity are profitless.
From head to foot, whatever I call my own,
All I possess or carry, I dedicate to these people.

Dasam Granth, Guru Gobind Singh, Sabad, 2,3,p.716.

Guru Gobind Singh Ji Maharaaj wrote this unique "Song of the people" glorifying their innate strength and power nearly sixty years before Rousseau wrote his "social contract" and about 150 years before Karl Marx formulated his "Manifesto".It shows his great conviction and faith in the innate strength and democratic Will of the morally awakened masses.

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa!
Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh!

Boycott Bollywood NOW!!!

2006-07-23T19:27:00.000-07:00

Wahegurujikakhalsa,Wahegurujikifateh!

Firstly, I apologise for not posting these past few days. I guess you can call it "spiritual breakdown". Anyways, I will be recuperating today, starting with some seva later at the temple.The topic I want to talk about, might not be so new to most of you.however, There is still a large number of sikh youth(especially in singapore)I suspect are aloof about this problem. It has to do with India and Bollywood's potrayal of sikhs as comical figures in the film industry. Sikhs are commonly played by comedians in bollywood movies. From past experience, I can recall Johnny Lever(Bollywood Comedian) dressed up like a sikh in past hindi movies, acting like an idiot,and people laughing at him.It gives the perception that all sikhs are like that. Also, in "Mohabbatein", Anupam Kher, another comedian, is potrayed as a sikh, and he is made to wear a "patka"(children's head covering), although the gaffer is in his 40s'.He is made to wear colourful clothes, shirt with shorts above his knees, and suspenders, also a bowtie if I remember. All a recipe for a clown. I admit sometimes sikhs are potrayed as heroic characters too, but usually more like Indian government puppets, which is a different topic altogether.

If that was not enough, sensitive sikh jokes are constantly circulated in SMSes in India, and If this continues, It won't take much time for them to reach our shores too.People read these and laugh behind our backs. I have had personal experiences at the restaurant too.

Sikhs have made great sacrifices for the well being and independence of India. When Ahmed Shah Abdali used to abduct hindu mothers and sisters, it was the brave sikhs who, at 12 midnight, used to terrify Abdali's forces and rescue those hindu sisters and mothers. Not for us, they would be reading the Qur'an today.However, in this present day, 12'0'clock jokes about sikhs are all too common. Just google it and you'll know what Im talking about. The 9th guru of the sikhs, Guru Tegh Bahadur, gave his head for the sovereignity of the hindu faith.For the independence of India, 121 revolutionaries were hung by the rope, out of which, 93 were sikhs!

Sikhs are a mere 2% of India, but a backbone of its defence forces. Punjab is India's most profit making state, and Sikhs form its majority.

Despite all these achievements we have done for the well being of India, its media still makes fun of us, still treats us as jokes, still treats us as 2nd class citizens.I know, you're gonna say,"Well that's India, this is Singapore."I say, your conscience is dead.I don't know what to say to you, who, shamelessly watches bollywood movies, looks up to their actors/actresses as idols, and adopts their lingo and their latest trends, while , blatantly, your race is being made fun of, being laughed at, by those same people.

Please watch the video below. It is a protest by SSF(sikh students federation)against the movie, shabad, which was released last year i think. It had some anti sikh propoganda in it.The person spreaheading this protest is Prabsharanbir Singh, a genius of philosophy(navigate to the right for his link). For those of you who do not understand punjabi, I have already explained the situation above. For those of you who dig Hindi movies, are bollywood fans, there is no excuse for you not to watch.Please don't turn it off because of your guilt. THIS IS THE TRUTH about what is happening to our people today.


A protest in Chandigarh against the movie 'Shabad' and the portrayal of Sikh's in the Indian media and Bollywood.

Alright, those of you, who have seen reason after watching the above demonstration,and want to do something about it, do email me. Especially if you're in Singapore, we can link up together to do something about these problems.Mere talk is not enough.

GO VEGETARIAN/VEGAN NOW!

2006-07-19T09:39:00.000-07:00

Last night, I was sitting here, surfing the web casually, until i stumbled upon a blog. It made me sit up straight from my slack position and pay attention to what was being shown on the screen.I would like to share that piece of information with you, in hope that It could change your life, like how It changed mine,In an instant.

I used to eat non-halal meat, thinking that halal was the only cruel mean of killing an animal for food.Now I realise, that, no matter what the method of killing an animal is, it's still flesh, its still life, it's still got a soul.I've gone vegetarian now.( no more chatka for me , no more excuses )I hope you can too( if you already have not ), out of love, mercy and basic humanity.

P.S.: For sikhs, think deep about that akal takht maryada concerning the meat issue.It's wrong, even if it's chatka.

A Beautiful Mind

2006-07-18T20:16:00.000-07:00

Sunday, July 16, 2006

Religion and Postmodernism

Although I am not a postmodernist, but I do strongly feel that postmodernism has created a space for the return of religion. Anyone can wonder where religion was gone all the time till postmodernism came on the scene? I believe that it was not gone anywhere but it was simply marginalised or rather wiped away from the public sphere by the onslaught of modernism. If it existed at all during that period, it existed in forms imposed on it by modernism. Now when modernity's robes have become rags, cloaks thrown by it on other things are also in shards. So, after a long period of domestication, religion today seems to be in a rebellious mood. I understand it as an epochal event. If religion manages to free itself from the clutches of modernist discourse in the coming days, then it is definite that the future of humanity is going to change decisively. Because this issue has vast significance, we must explore its vicissitudes with care and commitment.

posted by prabhsharanbir at 7/16/2006 08:32:00 PM

Prabhsharanbir Singh..... cannot be described in words.His views, his vision(if adopted, in my opinion), might just save sikhism and other world religions from degenerating.His is a voice I have not heard in The Punjab or anywhere else,for more than a decade.Do visit his blog, for further insight into the man, and his mind. Navigate to the right for his link.

A Warrior's Mantra - Ode To The Almighty Sword

2006-07-18T10:03:00.000-07:00

ਖਗ ਖੰਡ ਬਿਹੰਡੰ ਖਲ ਦਲ ਖੰਡੰ ਅਤਿ ਰਣ ਮੰਡੰ ਬਰ ਬੰਡੰ ॥
खग खंड बिहंडं खल दल खंडं अति रण मंडं बर बंडं ॥
The sword chops well, chops the forces of fools and this mighty one bedecks and glorifies the battlefield.

ਭੁਜ ਦੰਡ ਅਖੰਡੰ ਤੇਜ ਪ੍ਰਚੰਡੰ ਜੋਤਿ ਅਮੰਡੰ ਭਾਨ ਪ੍ਰਭੰ ॥
भुज दंड अखंडं तेज प्रचंडं जोति अमंडं भान प्रभं ॥
It is the unbreakable staff of the arm, it has the powerful luster and its light even bedims the radiance of the sun.

ਸੁਖ ਸੰਤਾ ਕਰਣੰ ਦੁਰਮਤਿ ਦਰਣੰ ਕਿਲਬਿਖ ਹਰਣੰ ਅਸਿ ਸਰਣੰ ॥
सुख संता करणं दुरमति दरणं किलबिख हरणं असि सरणं ॥
It brings happiness to the saints, mashing the vicious ones, it is the destroyer of sins and I am under its refuge.

ਜੈ ਜੈ ਜਗ ਕਾਰਣ ਸ੍ਰਿਸਟਿ ਉਬਾਰਣ ਮਮ ਪ੍ਰਤਿਪਾਰਣ ਜੈ ਤੇਗੰ ॥੨॥
जै जै जग कारण स्रिसटि उबारण मम प्रतिपारण जै तेगं ॥२॥
Hail, hail to the cause of the world, saviour of the universe, it is my preserver, I hail its victory. 2.

Guru Gobind Singh Ji Maharaaj,
Bacchitar Natak, Sri Dasam Guru Granth Sahib.

Public Opinion

2006-07-17T10:17:00.000-07:00

In the village where the great zen master Haukin was living, a girl became pregnant.He father bullied her for the name of her lover, and, in the end, to escape punishment, she named Haukin.

The father said no more, but when the time came and the child was born,he at once took the baby to Haukin and threw her down."It seems that this is your child,"he said, and piled on every insult and sneer at the disgrace of the affair.

Haukin only said, "Oh, is that so?" and took the baby in his arms.Wherever he went thereafter, he took the baby, wrapped in the sleeve of his ragged robe.During rainy days and stormy nights, he would go out to beg for milk from the neighboring houses.Many of his disciples, considering him fallen, turned against him and left. And Haukin said not a word.

Meantime, the mother found could not bear the agony of separation from her child.She confessed the name of the real father, and her own father rushed to Haukin, and prostrated himself,begging over and over for forgiveness.

Haukin said only, "oh, is that so?" and handed the baby back.

In today's world, we worry about what others say and think of us too much.All we remember is a collection of other people's opinions about ourselves.Therefore, we are very careful not to do anything "socially wrong", lest it changes their views and perceptions. We try to fit into the "norm", so as to speak.For this, we would even turn our backs on our beloved gurus and gursikhi. Cutting our hair, refraining from gurudwara visits,smoking and drinking,going to clubs,dressing up "funny", excess make-up and skimpy attire for the sisters.Even up to the point that, if we are out with our friends, and we bump into an "un-cool" relative, a nerdy friend, or some giani ji who has lost his way, we pretend to ignore em, lest our "friends" build up a "negative" opinion about us.We depend on what people think or say about us so much, that we dont even know who we are anymore.We have lost the very essence of our purpose on earth, truthful living.

Dear brothers and sisters, lets remember what Guru Nanak Dev Ji told us:

jau qau pRym Kylx kw cwau ]
jo tho praem khaelan kaa chaao ||
If you desire to play this game of love with Me,

isru Dir qlI glI myrI Awau ]
sir dhhar thalee galee maeree aao ||
then step onto My Path with your head in hand.

iequ mwrig pYru DrIjY ]
eith maarag pair dhhareejai ||
When you place your feet on this Path,

isru dIjY kwix n kIjY ]20]
sir dheejai kaan n keejai ||20||
give Me your head, and do not pay any attention to public opinion. ||20||

Few hundred years later, Guru Gobind Singh ji, brought it into practise, when he asked for a head to be sacrificed.The symbolic meaning of which is, you are dead to the world now, and your head belongs to the guru.You are to walk this path of truth righteousness as a khalsa, ignoring all other worldly illusions.

A gursikh has no need of other's opinions. He knows himself, he knows what he is doing, and he does not need others to say.Even if the world were to go against what he is doing, he would simply laugh.He knows the truth.They who condemn him, don't. He wont make any "efforts";waste of his time, to change others' opinions about him.Who are they anyways?They who dont know themselves, are trying to label him.

Waheguru ji ka khalsa!
Waheguru ki ki fateh!

Justice and Compassion - Jesus and the money changers

2006-07-16T21:26:00.000-07:00

Let me remind you of a situation that happened in Jesus' life. He took a whip and entered the great temple of Jerusalem."A whip in the hand of Jesus....?"This is what Guru Gobind Singh Ji means by "When all else has failed,it is just to take to the sword."Yes, Jesus can handle the whip, no problem;the whip cannot overpower him.He remains alert, his consciousness is such.

The great temple of Jerusalem had become a place for robbers.There were money changers inside the temple and they were exploiting the whole country.Jesus alone entered the temple and upturned their boards-the boards of the money changers-threw the money around and created such a turmoil that the money changersescaped outside the temple.They were many and Jesus was alone.He was in such fury, such rage!

Now, this has been a problem for the Christians;how to explain it?- Because their whole effort is to prove that Jesus is a dove, a symbol of peace.How can he take a whip in his hands?How can he be so angry, so enraged that he upturned the boards of the money changers and made them scram for their lives? And he must have been on fire, he was just by himself, yet he was unstoppable.

Such was his shakthi, that the priests and money changers cried "The man has gone mad!"

Christians avoid this story. There is no need to avoid it if you understand: Jesus is innocent. He is not angry or enraged, its just his love and compassion for upholding righteousness.The whip in his hand was a form of shakti, which was to uproot evil and tyranny.

Today, we are experiencing the same problem in our community. Corrupt managements controlling gurudwaras, and hijacking funds for their own selfish needs.Lack of gurmat and parchaar in the gurudwaras.Any promising katha vachak giving out speeches which wake the guilt in us,is immediatley kicked out on fake allegations.Angs being skipped whilst the Akhand Paath reading is going on. Sometimes, youths in bana are questioned and chided for wearing their kirpans outside, or simply for dressing different.Just because it makes the majority guilty when they see a amritdhari khalsa in full saroop. They wanna bring him down and away from gurmat too. You know what else is happening.If Jesus could kick those corrupt money changers out all by himself, why cant we? Christians claim him to be the son of god, so are we. We are children of Akal Purakh.We are the youths of today, we are the children of siri guru gobind singh ji... we cannot tolerate this kind of beadbi going on in our father's house.Let us all unite under one banner, and have a common goal of bringing about changes to our gurudwara systems. Lets do it through legal means.We can do it. The future of Guru Nanak's sikhi lies in our hands now.

Waheguru ji ka khalsa!
Waheguru ji ki fateh!

Waheguru Ji ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji ki fateh!

2006-07-16T18:40:00.000-07:00

With the blessings of Sodhi Sacche Paatshah,Guru Gobind Singh Ji Maharaaj, I have started this blog. I will try to post on it regularly.