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.

Gravesend "Sikh Temple"

Today I was working in Gravesend (which I don't usually do). I was working with and talking to 2 students in particular for the majority of the lesson.

They were very nice lads and I could tell they wanted to start a conversation with me. One of them asked me "Are you a Sikh?" to which I said yes. He said "I thought so" (I hope I didn't make it too obvious for him). He asked me if I went to the "big temple" in Gravesend. Then what he said next totally shocked me. He said "I've been there before with one of my friends. It's a nice building . One of the blokes in the temple told me that if someone brings in a pig or some bacon then they have to knock the building down and build it from scratch." I was so speechless! It got worse, he went on to say "They preach Islam in there aswell. I saw pictures where underneath it said they were tortured and killed for not embracing Islam." I was just thinking, Hai Rabba! I told him that it was just absolute nonsense to knock down a building for something like that, let alone such an expensive building. I told him that Islam was definitely not being taught in there, and infact the pictures he saw were of brave and fearless men and women who gave up their lives rather than their faith so we could be here today. If only someone in a Gurdwara Sahib could explain to non Sikhs the maryada and relevance of pictures and stuff, it would have such a huge impact and the 'parchaar' they do to their friends etc. Rather than them thinking Sikhs are a bunch of skeptical, forceful weirdos. He also said that someone he was speaking to inside the Gurdwara said although Sikhs aren't meant to smoke and drink, it is perfectly acceptable to 'eat marijuana'. If I wasn't wearing a Dastaar I would have pulled all of my hair out by now. Either the student was hallucinating or there are some seriously misguided and dangerous individuals inside the complex.

He then brought up a video of Gravesend Gurdwara on Youtube (by himself) and it was someone's wedding. The clip showed the groom being brough in from the car park. Behind him seemed to be all of his friends and family, accompanied with 3 dhol players. At the front of this procession was, what I can only guess was his mother and aunties etc, jumping up and down and waving their arms around - on the Gurdwara grounds! He then told me that his "Sikh" friends have told him in the past that men don't have to wear turbans, they can wear patke and women can cut and remove their hair. Sometimes we are our own worst enemies!

He said "Whilst I was there they tought me some Punjabi words that I still remember." I was really impressed and asked him to say them to me. I was expecting them to be words like Seva, Keertan, Guroo Sahib but he said "I remember the words aloo gobhi, dhaal and muttar paneer!" Dhan Vaheguroo!

It's all nice and lovely having such impressive, expensive, massive Gurdware but if we are not making any effort to educate first ourselves, and non Sikhs then these nice big buildings are nothing but an illusion and we have failed as a kaum.

Taking More Inspiration From Other Faiths

Recently I've been working with a Black, Christian lady that I don't usually work with. She is notoriously known for "being the one that seriously believes in God in the office".

We were somehow talking about routines and what to do each morning (work wise). She said "Raj the first thing I make sure I do everyday is to go into the classroom, get on my knees and pray like there's no tomorrow. I pray that I have a nice and peaceful day that God has blessed me with." I thought that was very inspiring and courageous.

The other thing I noticed is when she talks to her friends and family on the phone she always ends her conversations with "God bless you and have a blessed day." I thought that was very nice and cheerful!

"I Can Still See The Blood On My Hands"

I was recently talking to a very good old friend that I went to school with since year 7. She has now moved to London and works as support worker for young disabled children.

When I saw her she told me how she had now become a vegetarian and had not eaten meat for 28 days. I found it amazing and told her she was doing a very good thing.

I asked her out of curiosity why she decided to become vegetarian, she said "I've always known that you're a vegetarian and have found it amazing. Part of my role was to take the fresh meat out of the bags when it got delivered into the centre and put it into the freezers ready to take out later on for the kids. But this one day when the delivery came in, I picked up the bag and noticed it hadn't been closed properly. Then all of a sudden the blood that was in the bag had spilled down my clothes. I couldn't believe it. It was like a scene from a horror movie. If the children had seen me like that with blood dripping everywhere they would have freaked out big time. All I could see laying in the bag was a dead pig. I felt sick and told my manager I can't do that task anymore. The worst thing is, I can still see the blood on my hands."

Vaheguroo.

Power Through Words

The other day at work as part of an English qualification I was undertaking, I had to deliver a presentation to a few of my co-workers.

One of my co-workers was marking me against the criteria for the qualification, he said the presentation can be of any length and any topic. So of course I done it about the "basics" of Sikhi.

Some of the people I work with are very opinionated and quite clueless about other religions and faiths; including Sikhi. They had never heard of a Sikh before, all they knew was 'some people' gather outside the temple when it's someone's wedding and wake the rest of the street up with that big drum. 

I only had about 5 slides on the presentation showing pictures of 5 kakkar, Singhs & Singhnia in Bana and Dastaar and about Sikhs in British history. 

My colleague who was marking me was a very typical fat, aggressive, ex army man, smoked too much and didn't look at religions lightly. 

All in all I only spoke for just under 10 minutes. My colleagues just could not stop looking at the pictures and kept saying how interesting and great the Dharam is. They really wanted to know more but we didn't have enough time. My colleague who was marking me said that it was the most interesting presentation he had ever seen/heard (bearing in mind he did not like the concept of religion, at all) and that he would save the presentation and show his students, every time he got new ones - even though it had absolutely nothing to do with his curriculum! Dhan Guroo Nanak.

If you also notice in the above picture there is a Khanda made out of wood on the wall. I turned up to work one day and saw that my colleagues had made it out of wood and painted it. They didn't tell me about it, but it sits nice and proud at the front of the classroom. They didn't put up or make any other religious symbols!

Choosing Your Sangat - To Follow The Crowd Or Not?

Let me start off by saying this is not a 'how I got into Sikhi post', this is just my experience with choosing the right sangat and why it is so important. I believe this may help many other people getting into Sikhi who are still at school.

Ok, so when I started secondary school in year 7 I was a mona (use to cut my hair), I use to listen to heavy metal and rock music and use to wear baggy clothes. I was not interested in Sikhi at all apart from having the odd Khanda sticker on my door. I didn't have any Indian friends and pretty much knew nothing about Punjabi culture.

Guroo started pulling me into Sikhi in year 10 after watching a film about Shaheed Udham Singh (I don't want to go into too much detail as I will write a post about how I properly got into Sikhi!). Basically, watching the film inspired me to keep a Dastaar - although I still used to shave. Just before getting into Sikhi fully and properly, I started to get into Indian culture. I started going to Indian parties - I never used to go before, I started doing bhangra, I started listening to Hindi music and watching Bollywood movies (Vaheguroo!) and even giving up the drums and picking up the dhol. So the only thing I needed now was Indian friends.

In my year there were only 3 or 4 other Indians. I was really desperate for "sangat" at the time so I really tried to impress them and show how "Indian" I am. We set up a dhol group, that didn't last long, and even arranged to do a bhangra dance infront of the whole school - which ended in me giving a performance by myself, Vaheguroo. At that time I really idolised Jazzy B and even wanted/started to look like him.

Long story short, thankfully for me, they were too proud of caste and I did not want to be associated with such people, and I don't think they really wanted to be associated with me.

The end of year 11 came up and I had no idea of what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go. After alot of searching I applied for a Music BTEC at 6th form with another school, thinking I could actually pursue it as a career. I started on the first day and already I didn't know what it was, but something made me feel really out of place. None of the other boys really made an effort to talk me, despite me going to primary school with most of them. At lunch I had had enough so I walked home. My mum said all of the obvious things a mum should say. I knew I didn't want to give up that easily and convinced myself that I would go back the next day to give it another shot. So the next day came, I was trying to feel positive but it wasn't really happening. To help matters, during form time in the morning one of the other boys had made a Bin Laden comment and to my surprise the teacher didn't say anything, instead just laughed a little. I went to my first Music lesson and as soon I got in I remember the teacher saying "OK so your first piece of homework for this class will be due in tomorrow, I want you to write a 500 word essay on a microphone". I thought Dhan Vaheguroo I only know 10 words max about a microphone let a lone 500! As soon as the lunch bell went off I headed back home for the second time. This time I knew I didn't want to go back. I told my mum and although she was a bit skeptical at first, she eventually understood.

I went back to my old school and asked if it was possible if I could start on their 6th form, and luckily I could. I was even more happy that a couple of friends I knew from outside of school were also on the same course as me. One was 'Sikh' (mona) and the other was a Muslim. This is where the problems started.

As I was searching for "Indian sangat" I was over the moon that finally there would have been some good sangat on the same course as me.

At this point I had started keeping my dhaari. When I have finished my work during classes I would spend the majority of time listening to Keertan on my iPod and researching about Sikhi and Gurmat on the internet.

During our 'free time' in the common room they would start talking about girls. I just kept my iPod plugged in and continued listening to Gurbani. Then in class when I would listen to keertan, my punjabi friend would change it and listen to bhangra, as if he owned it. I would be listening to keertan and it would be like "Sant Janaa Mil Har Jas Gaaeiou..... meri nachdi de khul gai vhaal.." Dhan Vaheguroo! Unfortunately due to my weaknesses I didn't say anything and continued listening to bhangra. I thought oh, this is what Punjabis do nowadays, I want to be one of them so I won't say anything.

Progressively things got worse. They started bunking lessons, and I followed. They used to go to gravesend to meet girls and I just felt so out of place. Sometimes they would even go to the pub and start drinking at 2 o clock in the afternoon! Other 'Punjabis' would come and start smoking cannabis. With Guroo's kirpa I never went to these places and just went home instead.

I remember one day being pulled up in the Assistant Head Teachers office. She said how another teacher had reported some kids truanting and one of them had a turban. She was calm and knew through my previous years at the school that I was a good lad. I explained it was the sangat I was with and she said "I know." Although that really shook me up, I can't stop thinking about how amazing Guroo Sahib is. If you wear a Dastaar it means you have responsibility and you can be spotted from a crowd of millions. It was like Mahraaj was saying "You've made the stupid mistake, now you have deal with the consequences!"

Long story short (again), things continued like that but bit bit I was getting stronger in my Sikhi. We missed so much work that our tutor was constantly on our case to catch up and finish so we can get the qualification. In the end we stopped going and didn't actually get the qualification in the end. 1 whole year totally wasted!

Academically I gained nothing, but Sikhi and sangat wise I learnt a huge amount. If I would have stuck with my non Sikh friends like previous years, they would have kept me on track and I could have my BTEC now. But due to my own naivety I wanted to be around "my own kind" and I lost out on so much.

Moral of the story: Sangat doesn't mean "our own Punjabi lok", they can be white, black, blue and green. As long as they keep you on the right path that's what you want! For some reason I kept thinking being around non Sikhs is going to get my no where and being with Punjabi people is the way forward. In the end the Punjabis led me down a dangerous path and had no consideration for "our Sikhi", whilst the non Sikhs had been much more loyal to me and respected all of my beliefs.

Dhan Vaheguroo.

A Co-Workers Stag Do

The other week a co-worker of mine had his stag do (in a country I can't remember the name of). He was saying how his friends had replaced his luggage with women's clothing and he had no choice but to wear it for the time he was out there. Why he told me I have no idea, but I suppose that's the sort of 'normal' stuff that happens on stag dos.

He then told me he went into a restaurant with his friends, and across their table was another stag party who they later found out were also from England. My friend went over and starting speaking to them. As they seemed to be all Asian, my co-worker asked them what Religion they were. Half of them said Hindu and half said Sikh.

He said to me "They all had beer glasses in their hands, meat on their plates and all cut their hair. I said to them I work with a proper Sikh, and he doesn't look anything like you."

Dhan Guroo Nanak, how amazing is it that even gore know how great the daat of Sikhi is!

Taking Inspiration From Other Faiths

At work we have one student who is Deaf so she has a signer who is with her all the time during lessons. One day during lunch break, we got talking, as we do, and he started asking me questions about Sikhi.

He told me that when he was 10 years old, his best friend was a Sikh (Sukhjinderpal or something). He told me he found it really weird that he kept his hair but his 6 year old brother had a hair cut. What are you suppose to say to that?!

I then asked him about his faith. He said that he is a devout Christian and started telling me how he goes to Church regularly. I asked him how he got into signing and what made him take a sign language course. He told me that 3 years ago at his Church an elderly couple started attending. They were both deaf but no one would make the effort to talk to them at the Church - even the Priest. He said that he felt so bad and he wanted to help them so took up signing classes. He became qualified rather quickly and was able to communicate with the elderly couple. He went on to say they were extremely happy that they were finally able to communicate with someone else in the Church. He then went on to tell me that he arranged for them to go to another Church nearby where the choir sign the hymns! I was really taken back and just amazed at how someone could go through so much just to make someone happy and giving them the gift of communication! Dhan Vaheguroo.

I asked him if he has any more responsibilities within the Church. He told me that every week, without fail, he goes to the same Church 3 or 4 times a week to clean the whole place thoroughly by himself - with out receiving any money. How blessed are these people that do so much Seva for their places of worship when Sikh can't even keep satkaar of Guroo Sahib in most Gurdware.

Dhan Rab De Pyare.

The Respect From Sikhs

The other day at work the students had to research 2 different cultures apart from their own. One of the students said me "I want to research about you Raj" - Dhan Guroo Nanak! He started looking at images of Sikhs, and started asking me why my Turban was so different to theres haha!

 

He then looked for images of Sikh women and found some of Bibi Balpreet Kaur Jee and asked if women had to wear Dastaara aswell. He was so shocked when I told him even women have to keep their hair and wear a Turban. He said he's never known a Sikh woman to keep all of her hair. Dhan Vaheguroo.

 

Then the girl sitting next to him said "I've got so much respect for Sikhs". She continued "my mum works in London and has to get a taxi pretty much of all the time. In London it's mainly Sikhs and Muslims who work as taxi drivers. My mum always tells me that the majority of Muslim taxi drivers always treat her as if she is beneath them and they start flirting with her and other disgusting things, but all of the Sikh taxi drivers have treated her with so much respect so we respect Sikhs a lot." Dhan Guroo Nanak Dhan Teri Sikhi.

Apologies!

I'm aware that I haven't upadted my blog in a while, I've had problems with the internet at home and been quite busy with work and other little projects. So please forgive me, I will try and update it more regularly!

Apart from that I wish everyone a happy new year! Why not check out this video of some great veechar that was done on new years eve...

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Dass was fortunate enough to spend new years eve with Bhai Manvir Singh and other Gursikhs. After the programme we went to a local family's house to do some Simran and Amritvela. After the Simran and Bani, Bhai Manvir Singh told us his story of how he got into Sikhi, and some other stuff. 

During the whole time, I couldn't help but think how strong Bhai Sahib was with his Sikhi principles. He said some things which just made me think "Omg I can't believe he just said that!". 

Then it made me think more. Is that only because we have become too relaxed or even ashamed in our principles/beliefs? 

Every time someone (usually family or at work) trys to purposely start an argument about Sikhi or an aspect of Rehat or something, we stay quiet and just hope that they shut up. What use is there in arguing with people when neither side will change their mindset or opinions at the end?

Religious people are known in society to constantely preach about religon and look down on others who do not follow the same.

I have never once preached or spoken to anyone about religon at work (unless they ask me questions). However, I find (and this is from my own personal experience) that athiests and Christians tend to argue more about religon and question me about my lifestyle. People have told me many times that I should start eating meat etc. Usually I just stay quiet, becuase they're not looking for long detailed logical answers, they're just trying to be clever and take cheap shots at religon whilst boosting their own ego. I usually just say that animals are not for consumption of the human body and live and let live.

After hearing Bhai Manvir Singh telling us of his personal experiences, I started thinking to myself, Is it time we started being more "out there" with our principles? If people can constantly question us why we keep hair, why we don't eat meat etc shouldn't we be more firm and forceful when people question us?

It's such a shame that we live in a day and age when our own people feel the need to question everything and they themselves think they know better. Should we not just be straight up with them rather than staying silent? I've had many experiences where people in the gurdwara have questioned me on maryada and certain aspects of Sikh history. If they wanted to have an intelligent discussion then I would not have minded at all, but it's the way people put their views across - in a very angry and egotistical manner!

If these manmukh bande are so forward with their anti-Gurmat views, why aren't we like that with our Gurmat views?!

One of my new years resolutions is to become more strong and firm when people want to have 'discussions' about religon. I hope others also take this message on board.

Maya Eats The World

BYrau mhlw 5 ]

bhairo mehalaa 5 ||

Bhairao, Fifth Mehla:

icqvq pwp n Awlku AwvY ]

chithavath paap n aalak aavai ||

The mortal does not hesitate to think about sin.

bysuAw Bjq ikCu nh srmwvY ]

baesuaa bhajath kishh neh saramaavai ||

He is not ashamed to spend time with prostitutes.

swro idnsu mjUrI krY ]

saaro dhinas majooree karai ||

He works all day long,

hir ismrn kI vylw bjr isir prY ]1

har simaran kee vaelaa bajar sir parai ||1||

but when it is time to remember the Lord, then a heavy stone falls on his head. ||1||

mwieAw lig BUlo sMswru ]

maaeiaa lag bhoolo sa(n)saar ||

Attached to Maya, the world is deluded and confused.

Awip BulwieAw BulwvxhwrY rwic rihAw ibrQw ibauhwr ]1] rhwau ]

aap bhulaaeiaa bhulaavanehaarai raach rehiaa birathhaa biouhaar ||1|| rehaao ||

The Deluder Himself has deluded the mortal, and now he is engrossed in worthless worldly affairs. ||1||Pause||

pyKq mwieAw rMg ibhwie ]

paekhath maaeiaa ra(n)g bihaae ||

Gazing on Maya's illusion, its pleasures pass away.

gVbV krY kaufI rMgu lwie ]

garrabarr karai kouddee ra(n)g laae ||

He loves the shell, and ruins his life.

AMD ibauhwr bMD mnu DwvY ]

a(n)dhh biouhaar ba(n)dhh man dhhaavai ||

Bound to blind worldly affairs, his mind wavers and wanders.

krxYhwru n jIA mih AwvY ]2]

karanaihaar n jeea mehi aavai ||2||

The Creator Lord does not come into his mind. ||2||

krq krq iev hI duKu pwieAw ]

karath karath eiv hee dhukh paaeiaa ||

Working and working like this, he only obtains pain,

pUrn hoq n kwrj mwieAw ]

pooran hoth n kaaraj maaeiaa ||

and his affairs of Maya are never completed.

kwim k®oiD loiB mnu lInw ]

kaam krodhh lobh man leenaa ||

His mind is saturated with sexual desire, anger and greed.

qViP mUAw ijau jl ibnu mInw ]3]

tharraf mooaa jio jal bin meenaa ||3||

Wiggling like a fish out of water, he dies. ||3||

ijs ky rwKy hoie hir Awip ]

jis kae raakhae hoe har aap ||

One who has the Lord Himself as his Protector,

hir hir nwmu sdw jpu jwip ]

har har naam sadhaa jap jaap ||

chants and meditates forever on the Name of the Lord, Har, Har.

swDsMig hir ky gux gwieAw ]

saadhhasa(n)g har kae gun gaaeiaa ||

In the Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy, he chants the Glorious Praises of the Lord.

nwnk siqguru pUrw pwieAw ]4]15]28]

naanak sathigur pooraa paaeiaa ||4||15||28||

O Nanak, he has found the Perfect True Guru. ||4||15||28||     Recently I have begun to notice more and more how maya is taking over the world and eating people whole, and unfortunately this includes Amritdhaaris. No matter where I go I constantly see that people always have to have the nicest things and latest models. Whether it be cars, mobile phones, tablets or whatever else there is.  I have seen how a simple cheapish car is not nowhere good enough for people (including Singhs) but infact they must have the top of the range, most expensive thing you've ever seen in your life with extra bits that no one has ever heard of! Like heated seats, who needs heated seats?! This has become so bad that one Singh said to me "Look at this Aldi I've got now, it's not as good as the others, it hasn't even got heated seats". The first word that came to mind is Akirthghan! Everyone seems to need to spend hundreds on the latest phone. People seem to be on the phone and sending texts nearly 24 hours a day! I have seen Singhs not be able to do Keertan because they hadn't had their phone with them. The worst incident I can remember is seeing countless Singhs and Singhnia argueing on Facebook when the new iPhone came out. They were really debating about the features and the operating system to such an extent it was very worrying. People seem to be saying that all of this can't possibly be maya because it is being used for good (e.g. Bani, going to smagams etc), but what about the amount of time people waste by argueing over really silly and pathetic things? What about all of the money that Sikhs seem to be wasting on their maya than giving it away to those less fortunate? Surely it would be better to get a nice cheapish reliable car, and then use the rest of the money to help others? The people with the flash cars don't seem to be helping those that haven't transport and need lifts. My humble benti for others is to please think about those less fortunate than ourselves (because there are plenty out there!) and do not try and let maya take over us.

Pick Your Colour!

The other day I had to go to Boots to do some shopping.

As I was looking around, I noticed a huge poster that said "Find your true skin colour, we have 1000 colours with our new Loreal range". There were many of these posters around the shop.

It is very sad now that this world has come to a time when you have to pick your own skin colour. Surely your true skin colour is the one you were born with!! We live in an age of Kaljug now where no one seems to be happy with the body they have got. We see people writting and drawing all over there body with tattoos, changing hair colour to ridiculous colours like bright green and pink! Who knows, maybe in a few months we'll see people walking around with blue, yellow, green skin!

What Akaal Purakh has given us is more than perfect and does not need to be changed in anyway.

Meeting A Living Shaheed

Possibly one of my greatest experiences, ever. Lately I have been having reoccurring dreams about this particular Gurmukh and I have a burning desire to meet them again.

It all started in India back in 2010. This was the first time dass had been to India as an Amritdhaari, the last 2 times I went I was a mona. I wanted to meet as many Gursikhs as possible.

I was really interested the Nihang Singhs and their way of life. However the majority of the youth (and elders thinking about it!) in the UK haven given the term "Nihang" such an awful, awful reputation. Therefore I wanted to go and see some real Nihang Singhs and get some Vidhiya from them.

I had never heard of Baba Nihal Singh from Harianbela before. I came across the website when I was on Google one day. The first ever picture I saw of Baba Jee was...

When I saw it I thought that Baba Nihal Singh looked very 'scary' and (dare I say it) quite moody. Nevertheless something inside me still was buring to get their Darsan. Whilst I was looking at this particular website it mentioned how Baba Jee was "Jinda Shaheed" (a living martyr). I remember someone telling me that Baba Jee used to take bhang (weed) but had stopped it a few years ago - that's where I thought the title Jinda Shaheed came from!! Vaheguroo (Meri Math Tori Raam!). I managed to get the number for the secretary (Nihang Gurdev Singh Jee). I rang him whilst I was still in England and asked if it would be ok to go over the sometime and stay a few days. Bhai Gurdev Singh Jee said it was no problem and they welcomed everyone and anyone.

When I got to India I was hoping to visit them as soon as possible. I rang Bhai Gurdev Singh Jee pretty much every other day just to make sure I could still see the Singhs. The days were passing away and still no Darsan. This was because we were staying with family and they had wasted so much valuable time - I've never been to so many Punjabi restaurants in all my life! I managed to get Darsan and spend a bit of time with other Gursikhs so it wasn't a great loss.

Eventually we had 2 days left in India. My mum was not Gursikh at the time though I had told her numerous times I really wanted to see as many Gurmukh Pyaare as possible. She was getting really agitated that I was bugging her about going to Harianbela. She eventually agreed to let me go with my cousin and a good family friend.

When we got there we were greeted by a group of Nihang Singhs in Guroo's Bana. The all said Fateh with big smiles and folded hands. As we entered we met Bhai Gurdev Singh who seemed really nice and even offered us a glass of milk! He told us that Baba Nihal Singh was very busy and had just popped out. He said we could wait for a while until he returned. 10 minutes later as we sat down drinking our milk, we saw a Nihang Singh step off a horse. He was very tall, with a great big Dhumalla, he was dressed in all Blue and had such an amazing smile.

I was totally lost just by looking at him. His Farla was flowing brushing his Shaster he had in his Dhumalla. He immediatly started walking towards us. I was panicing inside. Without saying Fateh to anyone else, he came up to us and said the loudest Fateh with pyaar that I have ever experienced. Who was I that Baba Jee should come up to me first!?

ਹਮ ਰੁਲਤੇ ਫਿਰਦੇ ਕੋਈ ਬਾਤ ਨਾ ਪੂਛਤਾ!

 I was so nervous at that point that I can't even remember what he said to me at that point! Vaheguroo. I knew he knew what I was thinking. He said "Come inside and we'll talk" (not in English obviously!). As soon as we sat down Baba Nihal Singh gave me a Blue Dastaar, some Blue Hazooria, a nice big Sarbloh Kara and a free Nihang Singh magazine! I was nobody yet I was treated like a king. All in all we talked only for about 15/20 mins.

First I told Baba Jee about my Nitnem and how bad it was, and some other issues regarding Amrit. I wanted to re-take Amrit from there and experience proper Nihang maryada. He said don't worry we'll make it happen. Unfortunately it never did happen as I had to go back to the UK the next day.

He told me "Try your best to do you Nitnem, thats what makes us who we are." Baba Jee then gave me strict hukam to wear Bana everyday. This made me think. The Bana must be so much more important than what we make it out to be! I was told to wear it everywhere apart from work if we have a uniform. I was then told to wear my Dhumalla everywhere and at work. I was told never to wear a different style or to change it. Once again made me think about the importance of Dhumalla and Bana and our Roop. Nowadays pretty much everyone seems to be wearing this uniform but their actions speak something else. I was really happy/struck back at the hukam I received.

I then asked Baba Jee "So what do you think about bhang and jhatka? Do the Singhs here do it?" This is the important thing to take on board, I know there are videos out there that claim that Baba Jee said it is an ok thing to do. I know that other messed up "Nihang Singhs" say that he says it's ok, but this is what he told me directly:

"No, it is totally anti-Gurmat and if any of our Singhs are caught doing it, they are thrown out immediately. I know that there are messed up people in the UK that are doing these things - including that Niddar, but it's not right." As you can tell, at this point my love for Baba Jee just hit the roof!

As we left Baba Jee and the Singhs told us to keep coming back and to consider Harianbela as my 2nd home. So much pyaar! As we said our last Fateh, out of nowhere Baba Jee gave me a big hug! Vaheguroo.

Later on I learnt the reason why Baba Jee was given the title "Jinda Shaheed".

Back in 1984 (I think) Baba Jee was doing Chaur Sahib of Guroo Granth Sahib Jee. Some police officers suddenly broke into the Gurdwara and starting firing at the sangat. Baba Jee was shot a total of 3 times in the head, but would not stop doing Chaur Sahib!! When he went to the hospital he was told that if he did not have the bullets removed, he would die. He said, Challo that's Hukam and did not get them removed. To this day he still has the bullets in his head. Vahegurooo! Dhan Guroo Dhan Guroo Pyare!

Here are some pictures from the day:

 The Singhs from Harianbela

 Dass and Baba Nihal Singh

 

 The million Dollar shot!

 

 

Recently I have been having dreams about meeting Baba Nihal Singh Jee again. I have had a total of 7 now. If Guroo does Kirpa I would love to stay there for a few days in the future.

 

Vaheguroo

Woolwich Gurmat Camp 2012 Day 1

Last week was the annual Woolwich Gurmat Camp that lasted for 1 week. It was an amazing week with some amazing people and amazing stories! I learnt quite a lot and took alot away also. The feedback from the campers was really positive and everyone had fun!

Day 1:

The roti contest! For the younger campers

Is that a spade?!

Baba Uttam Singh doing Veechar of the Hukamnama

Groups practing the 'Camp Shabad'

  

 This was the Shabad the campers had to practise throughout the camp 

The older campers participating in some teambuilding exercises

 One of the teams making a bridge 

My team brainstorming!

Campers thoughts on team work

Playing human bingo

Bingo!

Fifa! 

Day 2

Day 2:

Baba Gurpreet Singh doing Veechar of the Hukamnama

More practise of the camp Shabad

Nice healthy food!

Campers enjoying the healthy food

 Baba Vijay Singh doing a talk about a Gurmat inspired film called "Glass Walls"

 Bibi Navrup Kaur doing a talk on Shaster to the young ones

The kids' work

Q&A with the panel

Vichaar

Day 3

Day 3:

Baba Uttam Singh doing a talk on forced conversions (everybody hates maths!)



More vichaar about forced conversion from a womans point of view

Lunch!

The power of Sikhi!

Amazing work by the younger campers. Hmmm I've seen this picture somewhere before?

The best in modern self defence technology!

A simple picture telling a powerful story

Younger groups with Magic Singh

Pick a card!

Checking to make sure it's not counterfit!

Not quite sure what this is for...

Elder groups with Magic Singh

Sevardars amused

Pick me, pick me!

Sevardars with Magic Singh

Young boy reading the Hukamnama!