The Gurdwara was actually rather large. It's been established for about 20 years. We were greeted by the Gurdwara Sevadaars who were all Monay (cut-haired). I knew before I came that the Gurdwara does not have large Keshdhari Sangat and therefore the seva of the Gurdwara is carried out by the Mona Sangat who have a lot of pyaar (love) & shardaa (devotion) for the Gurdwara and a lot of respect for Amritdhari GurSikhs.
It was good timing. As we arrived, the Singhs from London arrived with Bhaji Rajinder Singh, one of local Sevadaars. Poor Bhaji Vijay Singh! Waheguru! Well more like, poor Bhaji's Vaajaa (harmonium). It had a slight accident in the airport and didn't smell too good (won't say anymore! Waheguru). Just thinking about Bhaji Vijay Singh's Vaajaa and the traumatic ordeal that it went through at the airport makes me giggle!
Entering the Gurdwara we could see no Singhs and noticed one elderly Bibi in the whole Sangat who had her jooraa (hair-knot) on top of her head, donned with a Dastaar on her head and her Gatra Kirpaan showing. It was very inspirational to see this Bibi stand out of the Sangat and be in Sikhi Saroop in a city that has no Gursikhs. Dhan Guru Gobind Singh Jee and Mata Sahib Kaur Jee. Aunty jee looked over the moon to see all the Singhs and gave everyone huge hugs! We also met Bhaji Sidharat Singh from Aberdeen (who is an Amritdhari student from India) who was in Chardi Kalaa as usual and made us all smile.
Saturday morning we came downstairs after we were told that the Aunty jees had made us Parothay to eat. As you can imagine it didn't take long for all the Singhs to get down to the Langar hall and get stuck into the Mehthay Waale Parothay with Garam Chaa (obviously Sant Baba Paman Singh jee stuck to drinking milk!). As usual we probably ate more than we needed to and felt bit sleepy afterwards! Waheguru. We waited for the children and decided that on Sunday we would tie Dastaars on the Sangat and give them a Dastaar as a gift for them to keep.Everyone was unsure of how many children to expect. Well, at 9am only 2 children turned up (and I think they were brother and sister!). We started the morning with Simran, Ardaas and a Hukamnama to get Guru Sahib's blessings. With Guru's Kirpaa, within the hour we had around 20-30 children (which is alot for Dundee as there is very little Sangat, and whatever Sangat there is - they don't come to the Gurdwara). We began our classes. In the morning, Ravjeet Singh, Bhaji Sidharat Singh & I had the under 10's, and Bhaji Vijay Singh & Bhaji Paman Singh had the over 15s & adults (basically aunty and uncle jees). Everyone looked excited.
The Under 10's introducing themselves to one another.
Under 10's group were quizzed about the Sahibzaadey and 10 Gurus by Ravjeet Singh before we showed them a video.
Bhaji Vijay Singh with the adults. Waheguru. It was so funny, Bhaji had a rough time. Let's say the topic was "Equality" and there was a heated debate which went bit off course between one elder of the Gurdwara and all the ladies. Waheguru.
This is Seva Kaur jee all the way from Northampton. Waheguru. Her family showed a lot of dedication by taking time out and driving all the way from Northampton to Scotland for the weekend. Seva Kaur would go up to all the Singhs and say "Bhaji, Bhaji". Very cute.
Afternoon class with 10 years old to adults taking about Sikh history, Sikh principles and lifestyle.
In the evening after Rehraas Sahib, there was a late night keertan darbaar till 11pm. It was pleasant surprise to see a lot of the local Sangat and stay till the end of the Keertan darbaar. One Bhai Sahib from the local Sangat said that there's never been any Raagi Singhs or Parchaaraks ever come to visit Dundee Gurdwara before and on Sunday the Diwaan is for 2 hours and even then there's usually little or no Keertan (the little keertan done is by one or two children who have learnt keertan from Glasgow and learning themselves).
Bhaji Vijay Singh
Bhenji Manpreet Kaur. The day we arrived Bhenji was doing Keertan with the 2 Singhs with a blue patka in the photo. We thought a shabad tape was playing. She continued to do keertan for an hour or so on the day we arrived. Guru Sahib's Kirpaa on these children.
Bhaji from Northampton with his daughter Seva Kaur in his lap as he does Simran. Waheguru. Looked nice to see father and daughter doing Simran.
To be continued...
12 comments:
oooo loooooook my new friend Seva Kaur :P (bhajeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee) haha
glasgow vale baba jee and his milk lol
AWWWWWW its so nice, the pictures are so good thanx for all. We enjoyed it very much the best experience we ever had and hope to have more of it again. Seva looks so cute "dede". From Manpreet Kaur...
AWWWWWWWW its so cute, the pictures are so good thax for all of this. We had the best experience ever and hope to have more again. Seva looks so cute "dede". from Manpreet Kaur...
That's great! Btw is Ravjeet sitting on the vaaja in the picture?
Waheguroo. I don't think Ravjeet Singh is actually sitting on top of the Vaaja (well I hope not!). lol.
Just wanted to say a BIG thank you for coming to Dundee - it meant a lot to me and my family! I admire Bhaji Manvir Singh's (and his team) depth of knowledge and his commitment and dedication to making positive change for today's Sikh youth! Can I ask - apart from the prothe and lots of hugs from Dundee community - I hope you also got something out off coming to Dundee!
Thank you to all the Dundee Sangat for their pyaar and satkaar. We all took away inspiration from our visit.
Keep in Chardi Kalaa and may Guru Jee continue to bless you all.
did u eat all the jalabiees
i thought sidharat singh and ravjeet singh did fateh of the jaleebis??? lol. its all seva :D
nope i read it was next level with baba from London going. Biggg uPPPP Englandyyss BRUUUP
wjkk wjkf jiyo
hope u bin good manvir bhaji
i got a question, its kinda stupid but well...in any case...
Can an amritdhari person do a luv marriage ?
if yes,y so n if its no,y so aswell
thx...gurr kirpa karan
Waheguru Jee Ka Khalsa,
Waheguru Jee Kee Fateh.
Anonymous jee - In short the answer is "No". The only "love marriage" acceptable in Gurmat is the marriage between soul and Waheguru through receiving Amrit and dedicating one's life to Rehat, Baanee, and Baanaa.
The issue is about showing respect and not viewing others in a wrong manner. Sikhs have "assisted marriages" whereby someone is in between in the process of the fix-up (- you still have a bacholaa (middle-person) even if you know your future partner before hand).
When seeking a partner, you look for "gunns" (virtues/ qualities) not "kaam" (lust) (which nowadays is commonly labelled "love"). One shouldn't get intimately involved with anyone outside marriage whether it be a physical intimacy or emotional intimacy (i.e. flirting, getting "too" personal and too close to someone that you your relationship goes beyond the way you would act and treat another friend). All relatonships with people outside marriage should be kept as "Sangat-roop" (fellow people to do Sangat with to bring you closer to Waheguru and the Guru's Path).
A similar discussion has taken place in a bit more detail on another post on the blog which going through the reasons:
http://manvirsingh.blogspot.com/2007/03/sardaar-hari-singh-nalwa-jee.html
At the end of the day Vaheguru is always thinking out for you, so have faith in Him. You don’t need to look out for girls and boys to get married to and keep thinking this when meeting someone at university or college etc, rather leave it to Vaheguru.
When you are ready to get married tell (1) your parents (and relatives) (2) senior members of local Saadh Sangat, and (3) elder Gursikhs who will arrange suitable rishta's (match-ups).
Guru Raakhaa.
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