Khoob Teri Pagri, Mithe Tere Bol

The other week I was at my university course which has a huge diverse range of people.

A Black Christian lady came up to me and said "Rajdeep, next week can you please bring me in a Turban to wear aswell? I really like yours and I want to keep my hair neat and tidy aswell. It makes you look very elegant and lovely." I was taken back and also explained that my mum and sister wear Dastaara. She said "Oh great, that means you must have some girly colours then! I bet they look like queens."

Vaheguroo.

How Much Do We Really Love God?

Recently I've been thinking quite a lot about love for God. Do we really have love? What is love? Am I showing love? Am I doing enough Bani to show love? Am I doing enough Seva to show love? Am I doing anything for the homeless to show the love?

On a personal level, the answer is a big fat no. Then you look around at pictures of Gursikhs with radiant faces. You hear stories of how they've given their lives for love. How they spend all day and night in meditation. How they travel all around the world to spread Guroo's word. That's love.

Every time I think of love for God I always think of this one sakhi of a Gursikh that someone told me.

A gupt Naam Abhiyaasi Gursikh regularly done Seva in 5 Pyaare. Before the Amrit ceremony can commence, the jathedaar, in the presence of Guroo Sahib, will always ask the 5 Singhs if their Rehat is good and if there is anything they have done and want to get off their chest.

The jathedaar asked the first Singh. The Singh said there was no issues and his Rehat was good. The jathedaar then moved on to the 2nd Singh. The Singh said the same. The jathedaar made his way through the rest of the Singhs. When he got to the 5th Singh he said. "So Singh Sahib, have you broken your Rehat? Is there anything you want to confess?" At this point the Gursikh just burst into tears. "Yes there is, I've done something so bad I just can't stop thinking about it." The rest of the Singhs looked shocked and didn't know what to say. "The other day I was really hungry, I went to eat my food and forgot to thank Vaheguroo for giving it to me."

That's love.

 

jinaa n visarai naam sae kinaehiaa |

What are they like - those who do not forget the Naam, the Name of the Lord?

 

bhaedh n jaanahu mool saa(n)ee jaehiaa |1|

Know that there is absolutely no difference; they are exactly like the Lord. ||1||

First Time Hearing Akhand Keertan

It was new year's eve 2005/6 and there was a handful of sangat in the dabar hall. The local auntiya are doing Keertan and not many people seem interested. I'm sitting towards the back in a massive coat, tiny dastaar and goatee.

Suddenly 3 Singhs arrive on stage with beautiful flowing beards and pure white clothing. This is not the norm in this little Gurdwara.

The auntiya get off and the Singhs start, someone turns off the light. From the first word the Singh sang it had struck a chord in my heart. They're doing Keertan by memory, and faster than usual, what is this? The words they're singing, I'm finding them too powerful. They're not looking around the room, seeing if anyone is listening, they're just sitting there with their eyes closed. This is very different.

Then they start doing Simran, quite fast with a lot of love. So this is Simran? I could feel my soul move within my body. It was coming up to 12.00, the Simran got faster and faster, louder and louder. It felt like no one else was there. Just me in this big hall, with the King sitting on the Throne as the light shone down.

That day, God had pulled me into his arms. Tears stroll down my face. Why did they have to stop?

prabh keejai kirapaa nidhhaan ham har gun gaavehagae ||

O God, Treasure of Mercy, please bless me, that I may sing the Glorious Praises of the Lord.

ho thumaree karo nith aas prabh mohi kab gal laavehigae ||1|| rehaao ||

I always place my hopes in You; O God, when will you take me in Your Embrace? ||1||Pause|| The next day at work, I was working on the fragrance department and I just wanted to do Simran the whole time I was there. Luckily, I was going through my old computer and found the video recording I made of it. It was nearly 10 years and video technology was a new thing on phones, hence the bad quality. Vaheguroo.

Man From Up North

One of the reasons I haven't been posting much is because unfortunately recently I've only been hearing/experiencing negative things. I was not going to share this story but I thought I might as well so others can see what people think of when they look at Sikhs.

A couple of months ago I was out shopping with my mum. A white man in his 40s came up to us and started chatting as if we had known him. After a couple of minutes he said where are you from? We said that we we're local. He then said "It's good to see Sikhs around, especially in turbans. I'm from Wolverhampton (atleast that's what I think he said) and we have Sikhs everywhere. They sure can drink a hell of a lot though. I went to a friend's wedding a few weeks ago and some of the men couldn't even walk properly. I just remember seeing turbans everywhere and alcohol bottles."

At this point I sort of stood there not knowing what to say, I just felt like putting my head down. My mum explained that that's not something that Sikhs do and they can't really call themselves Sikhs.

It was quite a distressing situation but interesting(?) to know what people think when they see a Dastaar.

Guroo Was With Me Before Amrit

At work today some colleagues and students were talking about how much they love drinking and what drinking games they have played. One student said he started drinking at 8 years old! Vaheguroo.

As I was sitting there in my own little world I just suddenly remembered how Guroo pulled me away.

When I was a mona (used to cut my hair) I went to Kenya for a cousin's wedding party. On one of the pre-wedding parties I was with some cousins from Kenya and they were really trying to get me to drink (I had never drunk in my life). They were really trying to peer pressure me into it and I felt a moment of weakness. I was really tempted to do it. The weather was hot, the music was loud I had family around me who I'd never met before. Then just as I was about to pick up the glass I felt someone pull my arm quite hard. I looked around but couldn't see who it was, it was really packed. Then literally 5 seconds after the fire alarm went off.

If that wasn't Guroo saving me I don't know what is.

There's A Sikh!

A few weeks ago I had to go the Job Centre and interview some students for work.

It was very quiet and the day seemed to drag. When I was having my lunch I heard a loud banging on my door, it was a white lady with a really big smile on her face.

I opened the door and she burst in saying "OMG I can't believe there is a Sikh here! We never get Sikhs up this way, seeing you has made me very happy. I'm married to a Sikh and go to the Gurdwara a lot and just sit there and listen to Paath. I find that doing this job (working at the Job Centre) is doing Seva in a way. Thank you again for being here, you've made me really happy."

Dhan Khalsa Roop.

The Power Of Parchar

A few months ago I made a post about doing a presentation on Sikhi to work colleagues. Yesterday my colleague who was marking me came to me and said "I had all of my family around the other day. My daughter's boyfriend (typical chavy sort of bloke) was there and was complaining about Muslims. He said look they've got a big Mosque in Gravesend now. I corrected him and told him that actually it's a Sikh Temple where anyone is welcome and they give free food. After that he felt a bit ashamed but continued to say that Sikhs have knives in their Turbans. I once again corrected him and said that Sikhs only have their hair tied up in their Turbans, not knives. I told him that they do carry knives but it is only for the protection of others. He then went on to say that the Sikhs he has met drink alot. I once again corrected him and said that the Sikh religion forbids any consumption of alocohol. He then said 'ok, Sikhs sound like a nice bunch of people'. I remembered all the things you said in your presentation that time."

Education is the key!

Dhan Guroo Nanak.

Shame!

One of the builders in our house is 63 years old, but very fit physically. He always likes to spend hours (and I mean hours) talking to me about his life and other random things - especially when I'm in a rush and have to go to work! Maybe I just have one of those faces or something.

He likes to talk about religion and other "Sikhs" he has met and wonders why we do things differently (lol). But the other day he said something that just made me put my head in shame, he said "You people really know how to throw a party, I don't think I've ever seen so much alcohol in my life. I would never allow that at my wedding. I saw lots of elderly men and some women not being able to walk and talk properly because they were so drunk. I don't think I've ever tried Indian vegetarian food, there were just platefuls of meat being put infront of me." I thought oh Vaheguroo, what am I suppose to say to that?! I explained that there is a very fine line between religion and culture.

As if that wasn't bad enough he went to say "My friend wears a turban, he wears a different one to yours. He has it so tight around his eyes it looks like he can't take it off. (I think he might have said something about him having a big beard but I'm not sure if that's what he said.) When they went to a wedding they looked very nice, he wore a nice suit and his wife wore a nice Indian suit with her hair tied up. But at the party they turned into different people. He took his turban off and let all of his hair down and started downing all of the alcohol bottles. His wife also took off her suit and wore short, tight clothes and let her hair down and also started drinking." What a sad state of affairs! The same Sikhi that countless Shaheeds have given their lives for, is being portrayed like this. I really hope it gets better before it gets worse. Needless to say I was gobsmacked and words just couldn't come out of my mouth.

You Look Like Royality

The other day my mum told me that an African lady had come up to her at work at the tills. She said "I've seen you working here a few times and everytime I've wanted to say how amazing and royal your turban looks. You wear different colours but this blue one makes you look like royalty."

Dhan Guroo Nanak.