Tribute to a hero

Oh Lord, If I worship you...

While skimming through a muslim site I found something interesting attributed to a prominent muslim leader-


O Lord,
If I worship You
From fear of Hell, burn me in Hell.

O Lord,
If I worship You
From hope of Paradise, bar me from its gates.

But if I worship You for Yourself alone
Then grace me forever the splendour of Your Face.

Sikh Warriors

It was a documented fact that Sikh warriors were the most feared and fearless warriors on the battle field, the Mughals, the Persians & even the British documented this in their dairies, reports to their superiors and etc.

They did not get this reputation by just eating Alu Pratha, () they trained their butts off! Not just physically but spiritually as well each soldier was trained to kill anything that moved in a 30 yard radius, they were so good that it is said that each man was equivalent to fifty of any other army’s of that time. Each Sikh warrior was called Fauj which literally means a battalion.

Didn't get his reputation, merely by eating Alu Paratha

They achieved this reputation by training in armed, unarmed combat & meditating countless numbers of hours. The martial art they trained in was Shastar Vidya, literally meaning Science of weapons but i interpret it as the science of making your body a weapon.

I leave you with this quotation written in the Jang Namah (battle chronicles) by Quzi Nur Mohammed in 1765, He was a staunch enemy of the Sikhs but he goes into a rosary of praise when he goes into defining qualities of Sikh Warriors.

” … If you cherish the desire of learning the art of war, face them on the battle field. When they hold their mighty sword, they gallop from Hind to Sind. Nobody however strong and wealthy dare oppose them. If their sword struck a coat of mail, the coat itself becomes the enemy’s shroud. Each and every one of them look like massive boulders of rock. In a grandeur, each one of them excels fifty men…”

An absolutly amazing article I found on Hargobind Singh Khalsa's Blog.

....bunch of red indians yelling

Today I was at the Gurdwara (Sikh place of worship, Sikh temple) and a few interesting things happened.

Well the most interesting thing was that; Snatam Kaur came and sung a bit!

Snatam Kaur is a very talented young artist/vocalist (nominated to the grammy awards) who sings devotional songs in a very light, inspiring and soothing way. She sung really nice today, and me being me, I recorded it!

I must say that the sound quality was awful; too loud – I was too optimistic when setting the volume on my mp3 player, so the recording comes with a few distortions if you listen very closely and carefully with a high volume; so try to keep it low. Also, the first 3 minutes is basically full of disturbances since they were still sorting out the microphones and stuff (no I haven't bothered editing and cutting the track since that takes ages)

Today’s recording.

Recording from last year. (this recording is much better)

Another thing that happened was that, since I brought my mp3 player I started messing around with it, and recorded something that a friend of mine thinks sounds like "a bunch of angry red Indians yelling."

Link (Caution; only listen if you are healthy, don’t have any heart disorders or are pregnant)

This is post as light humour only; and I have no intention on offending anyone.

Hope you enjoy the tracks.

Wish with care

Although there's a lot of stuff I need to blog about, among other things the two camps I've been to lately and a lot of other stuff, I decided to post about something that's very recent. A bike ride with my cousin where we discussed the issue of 'wishing stuff', and how we easily get carried away wishing stuff and, once we get what we wish we really regret it.

Sometimes what we wish comes as a really big challenge and struggle.

A bit background info; I’ve studying Medical Technological engineering (basically maintaining and developing machines in hospitals). My education started last semester (Jan 2007). The first semester we studied medical courses (in order to make a pulse meter; you need to know what a pulse is! In order to make a pacemaker you need to know how/why/when the heart depolarises etc). I found that a lot of fun. I found it really interesting; thought – I might as well study biomed. So I apply for biomed and a few other extra courses I had applied for ….which are realllllly hard to get in…. The fact that I applied late doesn’t help

I was anxious all summer waiting for the response; did I get into everything I wanted to get in to? (this was one of the small things that didn’t allow me to enjoy Sikh student camp to its fullest).

Ok so a lot of prayers and anxiety later I find out that I got into the program I wanted to!!! Wooohooo!

But what about my other seat, in the engineering? Should I just dump that? How can I dump something I haven’t even done!!?

So although I had gotten what I wished, and prayed for; I was now in a big dilemma – what do study and do for the rest of my life!!!

I since not all of them started at the same time, I decided I’ll start all of them (don’t worry; education in Sweden is totally free [which might be the reason why I’m so spoiled] – so I wasn’t spending all my summer savings paying 4 different university fees.)

Studying 3 different fulltime courses, and one part time course just doesn’t work. Believe me; I’ve tried it. (I’m struggling with 2 fulltime ones – it’s working!!!). On a more serious note; I managed to make up my mind; I decided to carry on studying Medical Technology; and worse comes to worse I'll have to change later on if I find it really boring - but I can't just leave something I haven't even tried! I don't regret it - and am really happy that I've got my priorities straight now. And who says it needs to be so dramatic - something I want to do for THE REST OF MY LIFE. Come on! Nothing says I can't change field later on; after I get my basic degree - I think it's a very tabu thing within Indian culture - to change your mind later on. But one thing is for sure; life was living hell when I still hadn't made up my mind !

Point being; wish with care – cause its very likely that you might get what you want; but in the end you might regret asking it to begin with.

Kind of reminds with the quote;

ਵਿਣੁ ਤੁਧੁ ਹੋਰੁ ਜਿ ਮੰਗਣਾ ਸਿਰਿ ਦੁਖਾ ਕੈ ਦੁਖ ॥

ਦੇਹਿ ਨਾਮੁ ਸੰਤੋਖੀਆ ਉਤਰੈ ਮਨ ਕੀ ਭੁਖ ॥

To ask for any other than You, Lord, is the most miserable of miseries.
Please bless me with Your Name, and make me content; may the hunger of my mind be satisfied.

Page: 958

Sikh Youth Camp

Here's the trailer to the Youth Camp, we've been organizing and have worked really hard with!

Hope you enjoy it; and attend the camp if you can!







p.s I didn't make the video

The Begger Boy

by Sat Mandir Singh Khalsa (Virginia), Grade 12 Miri Piri Academy, Amritsar, India, December 10, 2006

"A few weeks ago, during a so-far uneventful G.T. (Golden Temple) trip, I was walking along, minding my own business, when I suddenly felt a tug on the side of my chola. I looked down and saw a scrappy-looking beggar boy about seven or eight years old staring up at me, hand outstretched. He looked pitiful. He had long, greasy hair that was draped sloppily over his face and almost concealed his big, round eyes, which portrayed an emotion of deep sorrow. A tattered hemp shirt that was much too small for him was pulled as far as it would go over a cavity of a stomach, which indented his skeletal frame. Covering his twig-like legs was a pair of old, hand-me-down trousers that were torn and faded from generations of use. His feet were shoeless and calloused from many years of walking barefoot through the rough streets of Amritsar. From head to toe, he was covered in a thick coat of dirt and grime that darkened and splotched his skin.

He was repulsive, and he’d touched me! I felt contaminated. I quickly turned and hurried back up the street. Pausing at a nearby shop, I bought an ice cream, thinking it might help purge my mind of the dirty little boy. It didn’t. I kept thinking about those big, sad eyes staring up at me. Why did he make me feel so guilty? I wasn’t responsible for putting him on the street, for forcing him to beg. I hadn’t hurt him… but I hadn’t helped him either. He was in need, but instead of feeling sympathy for him, I felt disgust, as if he didn’t have feelings, as if he weren’t human. I was angry with myself. How could I have brushed him off so easily, without a second thought, as if he were some insect crawling up my leg?

I finished the ice cream bar, bought a second for later, and continued on up the street. About a hundred feet away, I came to a second shop. The storefront was packed with MPA students, all matching in their blue cholas with miniature adi shaktis patched onto the sides. Each one had a five or a ten or a twenty rupee note in his or her hand and was jabbing it at the men behind the counter, hoping to catch their attention so that THEY would be first to be served. I realized how awfully rude this was and made a mental note to myself to be a little more respectful in the future.

I turned away from the shop and continued on my journey up the street. I heard someone call out my name. Still walking, I looked back over my shoulder to see what he wanted. I never found out. Just after I had turned around, my legs hit into something and I had to stumble forward to prevent myself from falling. Startled, I looked down and standing there before me was the little beggar boy, in exactly the same position with his arm outstretched, palm cupped, staring.

My first thoughts were similar to the ones I had had during our previous encounter, but I soon silenced my mind and took control. Remembering the ice cream bar in my pocket, I took it out and handed it to him. His eyes instantly illuminated, and he smiled so widely that I could see tops of his gums. In the blink of an eye he had the ice cream out of its wrapper and into his mouth.

A few seconds later, I was surrounded by an entire posse of children, all looking at me hopefully. I turned back to the shop, ordered ten more ice creams, and began handing them out. The rest of the children’s reactions were similar to that of the first. One by one they took their treat gratefully, being extremely careful not to drop it. Then they slowly licked away, savoring every moment. When they finished they skipped away, rejuvenated and content. As I watched them go, I realized how such a small sacrifice on my part could make such a large impact on others less fortunate."

Copied from MrSikhnets blog.

Gurmeet Ram

Although I had intentionally avoided writing about the controversy in Punjab, I finally decided to make a post about it. For those of you who haven't heard about what's been going on:

Basically there's been a conflict in Punjab due to the fact that the leader of a dera/sect called Sacha Sauda "appeared in advertisement dressed up as Guru Gobind Singh, the revered 17th century Sikh guru. "

Akal Thakhat has issued edict against the leader, and is currently, (practically) forcing him to apologize. They organized a Punjab Bandh-day, which basically means that all shops, offices, schools and everything are closed, in protest to what happened.

An ultimatum has been issued saying that if he doesn't apologize for this "blasphemous act" by ay 27, they demand the closure of his deras in Punjab.

More background info about the issue

Basically, I think that what he's done isn't very nice, and one can almost guess that his intentions weren't to be very nice either. Although I can understand that a lot of Sikhs are upset about it, I think that this might be taking it too long.

I agree with the fact that peaceful protests have been made to get people's attention that Sikhs are very upset about the issue, and that what he's done was very offensive. To quote from tribuneindia.com from May 24; "Makkar was reported to have told mediapersons that he did not believe in what the law and Constitution says. He had stated that deras of Sacha Sauda would have to be vacated.” Something gives me the feeling that, the approach that will be used to impose this ultimatum isn't going to be very peaceful, especially considering the fact they are openly saying they don't give two hoots about the law. The fact that some "hard-liners" have announced that they will reward the person who manages to 'bring the dera leader's head' will be weighed in gold, does not help.

I think the approach Sikhs used to use before was really good. In 1920's against the British for having taken over the Gurdwaras and imposing their rules and regulations, Sikhs peacefully protested, and were at times SHOT for doing so [Hence: Gurdwara di seva ley kurbaniya kitiya; Those who sacrificed their lives in order to be able to serve and take care of the religious shrines- in the daily ardaas. (read more about that here).] Another event that comes to mind is the massacre of 1978 in Amritsar, where the Sikhs peacefully, (without weapons) protested against the Nirankari baba for the "blasphemous" words he used to address Guru Granth Sahib Ji. They were shot the whole bunch for protesting (read more here). Today Sikhs are getter more into using violence. It become the easy-way-out to show that we are upset. Whereas before Sikhs would take a lot of sh*t before using violence; Sikhs now quickly jump to the resort of using violence. Sikhs are loosing this tolerance, and ‘taking-the-sh*t-first-resort’, which kind of worries me,

I think the article by I.J Singh and Ravinder Singh raise a lot of very important issues regarding this event. I strongly recommend that you read it, especially if you have been following the recent events in Punjab. Click here to read it.

Humility

There's this Hindu couple that comes to the local Gurdwara. They do soo much seva. It's unbelievable how much seva they do. You caa always find the wife doing the cleaning-the-shoes-seva. And what's so cool is that, they never show off, talk about it or anything. It's as if they do the seva; and forget about it, never to be remembered again. Now I don't know what's going on in their brains; they might be stuck in the 5 vices, and what not; but what really amazes me ias that they do the seva they do, with a LOT of humility.

It feels as if they've got a lot more humility in the Gurdwara than most of the Sikhs put together (including me haha). It feels as if they're the carrier of the torch of Guru Nanak, more than the Sikh sangat is; which is stuck in ritualism, Akhand Paath, and what not. I'm not talking about rehit or anything; because although they might not be following the rehit, I personally think that the devotion they're serving with passes all lengths; of the devotion most rehitvan Sikhs do in this part of the world.

I don't have much to say, other than; although I'm not saying Rehit isn't important, I still think there are more important things (despite the many quotes the exist to emphasise rehit), in the spiritual life, such as; devotion, gyan etc. That being said; I'm not saying there aren't rehitvaan people who don't have above qualities; but I think more emphasis is put in the exterior, than the interior; rather than a balance of both.

Haven’t posted for long due to getting a part-time job, and due to preparations for a Sikh youth camp in Sweden is on the roll! So much to do; and so much things going on.
Hope to post a bit more frequently =D

ਦੇਦਾ ਦੇ ਲੈਦੇ ਥਕਿ ਪਾਹਿ ॥

ਦੇਦਾ ਦੇ ਲੈਦੇ ਥਕਿ ਪਾਹਿ ॥
ਜੁਗਾ ਜੁਗੰਤਰਿ ਖਾਹੀ ਖਾਹਿ ॥
ਹੁਕਮੀ ਹੁਕਮੁ ਚਲਾਏ ਰਾਹੁ ॥
ਨਾਨਕ ਵਿਗਸੈ ਵੇਪਰਵਾਹੁ ॥3॥
(SGGS: 2)

Just when I had started thinking life can't get any better; I get a call.



I have no way to express myself, so I really don't see why I'm posting this. All I can say is; acknowledge what you have been given; whether from your brother, sister, mother or whoever. Just acknowledge. Just once go and say 'thank you', and show your appreciation for something; and look how happy they become.

When you're done doing this; Go and do an ardaas, and thank God for everything he's given you.

Just a few days ago, one of my eye went black for a few seconds. I was panicking. It felt as if the right eye was paralyzed (and it didn’t help that I couldn't see anything with it). That's when it struck me. I'm not appreciating what God has given me at all. Not to the extent that I've been writing on this blog. That’s when I realised that I've been given much much more than I appreciate; and now realise that I cannot and will not be able to appreciate everything he's giving me. (My eye’s okay now )

Just once; appreciate; and thank. Acknowledge.
What's funny is; I keep getting materialistic things that keep making me more and more content (sounds very weird I know). When you look at Gurbani; you see that the Bhagats had been blessed by much more than materialistic things, and look at the extent they are content too (post getting weird and weirder ). How much they're thanking God; how much they are
appreciating....

Considering my Sikhi isn't much developed, and I'm (honestly) not making much effort to develop it; I cannot believe I'm getting so much...

ਜਾ ਤੂ ਮੇਰੈ ਵਲਿ ਹੈ ਤਾ ਕਿਆ ਮੁਹਛੰਦਾ ॥
ਤੁਧੁ ਸਭੁ ਕਿਛੁ ਮੈਨੋ ਸਉਪਿਆ ਜਾ ਤੇਰਾ ਬੰਦਾ ॥
ਲਖਮੀ ਤੋਟਿ ਨ ਆਵਈ ਖਾਇ ਖਰਚਿ ਰਹੰਦਾ ॥
ਲਖ ਚਉਰਾਸੀਹ ਮੇਦਨੀ ਸਭ ਸੇਵ ਕਰੰਦਾ ॥
ਏਹ ਵੈਰੀ ਮਿਤ੍ਰ ਸਭਿ ਕੀਤਿਆ ਨਹ ਮੰਗਹਿ ਮੰਦਾ ॥
ਲੇਖਾ ਕੋਇ ਨ ਪੁਛਈ ਜਾ ਹਰਿ ਬਖਸੰਦਾ ॥
ਅਨੰਦੁ ਭਇਆ ਸੁਖੁ ਪਾਇਆ ਮਿਲਿ ਗੁਰ ਗੋਵਿੰਦਾ ॥
ਸਭੇ ਕਾਜ ਸਵਾਰਿਐ ਜਾ ਤੁਧੁ ਭਾਵੰਦਾ ॥7॥

Shabad; ang 1096

I've been typing and erasing; so I see no point in continuing. Just acknowledge; and love.

Swedish Organisation of Sikh Students

After a few weeks of not going to Gurdwara (due to a part-time job on weekends) I went to Gurdwara today. So much politics. Even in the singing. I decided to make a post about it on the blog. I am a firm believer (as those who know me personally will know) that positive energy should be spread rather than too much negative; I decided not to write about that.

Instead I'm going to write about something else that happened today. Today our youth organisation had the first meeting of the year. The organisation initially started December 2004, when two Penjis and one Paaji, Navleen Kaur, Sharonjeet Kaur and Manvir Singh came to Sweden to hold the first ever youth camp in Sweden! Prior to that, we only had kids camps where we were forced to learn 'Ora aera' (Punjabi alphabets), the names of the Gurus in chronological order, and a lot of other historical figures [which I'm not saying are not important things to learn], by older people who did not manage to get the kids interested into Sikhi. The first camp was a great
success! The youngsters were united and, everyone wanted to get together and do stuff together. This is when Swedish Organisation of Sikh Students was founded.

The following year 2005, went quite well. A few charity related activities (collecting money for Red Cross in relation to the Tsunami and the Pakistan earthquake), a few physical activities, a camp etc. The year was overall quite a success. The camp this time was held by Navleen Kaur Penji and Veer Ravinderpal Singh. Camp was amazing- everyone was boosted - chardikala etc etc. Unfotunatly the Gurdwara people totally ruined it the last day by yelling at the kids for having a camp, and because their political ego wasn't fulfilled.

The year to come, 2006 was a total disaster. No activities, no-one interested in putting down their time into doing stuff. Everything went wrong. No-one bothered to do anything; everyone was busy with their life etc etc.

Then came 2007. We had an annual meeting in the beginning of the year, in order to analyse what was positive in 2006, what went wrong, and what we planned for 2007. Then it struck us: 2006 was a failure. There was nothing positive to write about it. We decided that we would hold more activities in 2007. One activity a month (in 2005 we had so many, that people got tired, and less and less people turned up every time); last Saturday in the month. That was today. We did Gatka today; one of the guys knew his gatka; so he taught the other guys. We had some warm up time in the beginning where we played some ball games (killer ball, spook ball etc)..Followed by the gatka.

The day went quite well. Although I've got an exam on Monday, and had to work till late, I decided to go, since I had made a commitment in the meeting that I would become a part of the committee, since I noticed that a lot of things needed to be changed. Overall it went quite well; most people had fun. We decided that a Camp would be held this year too; so hopefully that should work out. Like Jasbir veerji, Singapore, writes in his blog; "If its to be - its up to me." This veer, almost single-handedly organized a Sikh kids camp in Singapore; which was great! I've made a post about the Bahadur Bachey camp earlier on, which you can take a look at=)

I think in order for things to work out, you need to prioritize stuff. So even your studies and work need to be put behind at times, if you've chosen the role of beign part of the committee. That's something I've noticed some people don't do; even though they themselves choose to become a part of it. I think you need to have visions, goals; and the commitment.

Anyway; hope things work out well this year, and I'll keep the blog updated on what happens with the society.
Oh and photos of some of the things we've previously done can be seen here.

P.s I'm currently working on a post on 'My inspirations'.
It's going to be about a leader who inspires me =)

Now I need to study for Monday's exam!

Valentines!

Happy Valentines Day to all couples!

Hope everyone had an amazing day full of surprises and wishes.

Love between to parners is an absolutly wonderful thing.

Today I, however, gave a bouquet to my wonderful mum. This is what she did with it:

I don't like analysing too much, but one of encartas dicitionary's definitions of romance, is:

"Love affair: a love affair, especially a brief and intense one."

A Shabad I found which, I think, renders romance towards the relation between the human being and God: Shabad from Raag Majh.

What touches me is the contant use of words like: thirst, cries, sacrifise.