3 K's or 5 K's?

On Saturday, I was cashing up money with the Manager and the Manager asked me what my religion was. I said that I was a Sikh. He replied, "O yeah! Sikhs". He said he lived in Coventry and had seen Sikhs. He then said, "So do you wear the 3 Ks? Let me remember what they are... is the first "K" - "Koran"?" Waheguru! I couldn't stop laughing. I said firstly there are "5 Ks" and secondly "Koran" is a religious book not an article of faith. Shockingly he then said, "So is the Koran your religious book?" Sat Naam, Waheguru. "No, its the holy book of the Muslims," I replied. It was very surprising that he was from the part of Coventry where there lived a lot of Sikhs yet he didn't know who's holy book the Koran was! However, with Waheguru's Kirpaa after showing my Kirpaan and Karaa, he said that he remembered what he had learnt at school years ago. Rab da Shukar.

Saturday night was the end of month youth keertan at Southall Park Avenue Gurdwara. It was nice to see new faces and new Keertanis. Next week there's a youth keertan programme on Saturday 2nd June at Seven King's Gurdwara starting 7pm to late, and also there's a programme in Leicester at Gurdwara Gur Panth Parkaash, Ashford Road, from 6.30pm to 10pm.

Here's some photos of Saturday's youth keertan in Southall:








On Bank Holiday Monday I was working! I was standing at the cash desk and I saw a family walk into the store. The customer came up to me with his son and wife behind him. He said, "Excuse me mate... I would like to order two CHICKEN TIKKA MASALA CURRYS please." I glared at him and thought "Hai? Chicken Tikka? Where am I going to get Chicken for you from - forget Tikka Masala Chicken!" I didn't know what to say. I was just shocked that I am standing in an electrical store and a man is asking me for a Chicken Curry! Waheguru. Rab Raakhaa!

Then the man said, "Go on then... Can I order some Currys please." I looked at him with a confused face lost for words! He was either barking mad or I thought he must have been thinking that I reminded him of an Indian restaurant waiter or something (scary if he did think that!). He then pointed to a huge sign at the back of the store that had the store name "Currys" on it. The man said, "I am standing in Currys right?" and then started to laugh. I started to laugh as well. The man said that his son and him had a bet on whether he could ask me for a Curry because the store name was "Currys". He said that his son was moaning and groaning that he felt hungry and that he promised him a Curry for lunch. Instead of taking him to the restaurant, he teased him by bring him to the "Currys" electrical store. Waheguru. It was funny after he told me.

Khalsa Camp, UK

Time has flown by and now summer is just around the corner. Summer holidays means a summer of camps! Last year was my first year at Khalsa Camp. I was slightly apprehensive about going as I didn't know what to expect at the camp. However, I applied and ended up going. The atmosphere at Khalsa Camp was amazing. Everyone was so friendly, warm and welcoming. The amount of pyaar (love) and humility shown definitely moved my heart, and speaking to others who attended the camp (people with cut hair, non-Amritdharis and Amritdharis) - they felt this from the camp sevadaars and the whole camp as well.



So, what to expect at Khalsa Camp? I was pleasantly surprised that everyone got an ensuite room to sleep. This was helpful to go to sleep and get rest without being disturbed! Otherwise camp can be very tiring.


Everyone wakes up before 4am and has to be inside the Guru's Darbaar for 4am sharp for Amrit-Velaa. Everyone I have to spoken to who has been to Khalsa Camp will say that the highlight of Khalsa Camp is the AMRIT-VELA (early morning) Simran and Nitnem together with the Sangat. It was very powerful and you can feel the power and energy of Naam in the environment. 4am to 5am is Naam Simran, 5 am to 6am is Nitnem (daily prayers) followed by Ardaas and Hukamnama.


6am to 8am is SNOOZE TIME. lol. It was good to get time to rest after Nitnem so that one feels fresh and awake for the rest of the day. 8am to 9am was breakfast.



From 9am to 1pm there were two talks with discussions and afterwards campers had the option of choosing a workshop on the subject of their choice. I would describe the talks as very deep, thought-provoking and spiritual relating to the individual and life. It was nice to see a mixture of seriousness and reflection as well as comedy, humour and fun in the talks.



Lunch was from 1pm to 2pm. This followed by activities up to 5pm. The activities ranged from Dastaar (turban) tying class, yoga exercise, netball, football, go-karting, horse-riding and more. Go-karting was funny! Well I shouldn't say that - it was dangerous and PAINFUL for some. No names mentioned, some Singhs from London bashed their cars into one another - didn't look too good! Although I'm not a brilliant driver, with Guru Sahib's Kirpaa I didn't crash into anybody or anything!


5pm to 6pm was relax and refresh time. 6pm sharp everyone used to be in the Guru's Darbaar. There would be Keertan by campers followed by Rehraas Sahib, Ardaas and Hukamnama.



One day everyone went to the sea-side! It was a nice day out. Some people had water fights in the sea, others played volleyball and some just walked on the sandy beach and soaked up the nice weather.



On that day Keertan was done on the beach. It was mind blowing. There was a particular young Keertani from India who sang amazingly. Whenever there was Keertan, everyone sang along and you can feel that everyone was immersed in the Sangat and Shabad. It was like heaven on earth.


Langar was served at 7pm. The Langar was Chardikalaa! Like Boss Sikhi Camp, the cakes and other nice treats were great! Summer time always means putting on a few extra pounds for me with all camps having chardikalaa langar :)

8pm to 9pm there were optional discussions that took place in small groups. Usually at the end of day a lot of campers had questions in their mind or wanted answers about something. This was a good opportunity for those people to go along and share their thoughts or even just listen to what others have to say and learn from it. The evening was open to campers. Most campers were in bed by 10pm ready to wake up in the morning!

I am glad I attended Khalsa Camp. You have to experience it yourself to know the feeling. I am looking forward to Khalsa Camp 2007.

Mark your calendar for Saturday 18th to Thursday 23rd August to participate in the camp. For more information and to apply, check out www.KhalsaCamp.com


Next post on camps will be about my experience at Boss Sikhi Camp.

Booze & Bhangra

Last week my mum asked me to get some milk from the local shops. So I went to the shop, picked up the milk bottle and went to the cash desk to pay. The young girl had a glance at my face and then suddenly turned her back to me and bent down to get something. I thought, “Hai? What’s she doing?” Chalo. She came back up and placed a bottle of WHISKEY in front of me. Waheguru, Waheguru. I looked at the bottle and then looked at the lady with a puzzled face not knowing what to say. She then stared at me and said, “O dear me! Sorry Sir! You looked like another customer who comes into the store. He always comes and buys whiskey so my mind automatically got the bottle out when I saw you.” Rab Bhallaa Kare. I said, “Definitely not me” and we both laughed.

where I live. It's possible she mistook the It made me think who the mystery customer could be considering there's not many SardaarsDastaar for a black woolly hat or something. This happened before to me! This lady at work said my dad come to the store looking for me and was very rude. I thought "It doesn't sound right." I asked "Was he wearing a turban and have a beard." She said, "Yes." I said my dad doesn't have a turban. Then I thought, "Hai? Which Singh came in?" Then the man comes in the store again and the supervisor said that "the man who said he's your dad is in the store."

I was curious to see who the person was considering he said he was my dad! She pointed out the man and Rab Bhalla Kare... the man was a Muslim man wearing Salwaar Kameez, half cut beard, wearing a WHITE SKULL CAP. I said to the supervisor, "Firstly, do I cut my beard? And more importantly, how on earth did you mistake a skull cap for a turban!" Worst thing was that it wasn't even a traditional skull cap - it was more of a woolen white cap! Waheguru. I was pretty shocked at how someone could mistake a woolly hat for a big pagh! (The man was the father of the Pakistani cleaner who works at our place - but the lady thought he was referring to me when he said "My son works here.")

On Thursday, a lady came to the store where I work to return a home cinema system. She said that she brought it from a store elsewhere and was promised that she was told that it was brand new and the only thing wrong with it was that it had a tattered box. So she bought it. When she got home she said the found someone’s WEDDING VIDEO in the DVD player and realised that it was second-hand. So she wanted a new one.

I was bit shocked that she found someone’s wedding video in it and got her a new one. I didn’t see what happened to the DVD player and the wedding video as one of the senior staff members took over. Two days later I was walking through the store and the person in charge of the television section of the store asked me to come over to the TVs. I went over and he said, “Have you seen this. Do you know what this is and who these people are?” Waheguru. In big letters it said “BHANGRA” on top of the screen and then it had three screens (like a intro slide) showing snippets of the video. It was EMBARRASING to watch! It had Bhangra written as the title but the music was like QVC channel music or something you expect from a Christmas song. The video was of the wedding video returned by the customer days before.

The people doing Bhangra looked weird! Waheguru. Either someone had messed around with the settings when filming, but it was kind of slow motion and people just twirling and one or two characters looking like they had an electric shock on the dance floor. The Gore couldn’t stop laughing. Then they had Bhangra dancers on the dance stage who looked like they were doing a Mexican wave. It looked awful. It’s a first wedding video I have seen of the kind.

The Peace of Sukhmani Sahib

For the past week or so I have been bit stressed because I had some work to complete for university and also it was my brother's wedding. Waheguru! So it was difficult juggling everything - from making Chaa and serving relatives Laddoos to reading books! I remembered that during my A-Levels and time at university in London I would listen to Sukhmani Sahib whilst revising. So I've been listening to Sukhmani Sahib read by Giani Thakur Singh jee on the computer.

WAHEGUROO! The peace and contentment that Sukhmani Sahib brings is amazing. So peaceful! I felt stressed before, but listening to Sukhmani Sahib I felt carefree. I felt nothing to worry about and my mind became relaxed. It's as if Guru Sahib embraces you and says, "Don't worry" and makes the mind feel collective, calm and more alert.

Giani Thakur Singh's voice and the way he reads Gurbaani is beautiful (very paced and smooth). I kept playing Sukhmani Sahib one after another. The way Giani jee reads Paath made me feel as if I was sitting in Guru Sahib's Darbaar in front of Satguru Sri Guru Granth Sahib jee with my eyes closed enjoying Guru Sahib's Darshan (presence/vision). It's hard to explain.

Strange feeling, but nice.

I know that during May and June a lot of students will be writing essays or revising for exams. I definitely recommend listening to Sukhmani Sahib during the day and get the feeling of "Sukh" (peace) in this busy and hectic life. :)

Download:

>>>Sukhmani Sahib (Part 1)- Giani Thakur Singh jee

>>>Sukhmani Sahib (Part 2)- Giani Thakur Singh jee


More Audios from Giani jee:

>>> Kathaa & Gurbaani Paath

Interview with Bhai Sahib Mohinder Singh

I came across the video interview with Bhai Sahib Mohinder Singh jee from Soho Road Gurdwara in Birmingham. The interview is from the Parliament of the world's religions that was held in Barcelona, Spain. The theme of the conference was "Can religion meet the future?" Bhai Sahib gives a well explained, to the point, and inspirational response from the perspective of Sikhi in the interview:

ਕਛਹਿਰਾ - The Significance of the Kachhera

I came across this article on Sikh Philosophy Network forum. It is very informative and helps explain the significance of the Kachhera (special undergarment, which one of the 5K's). Sometimes at camps, talks and forums youngsters have questions about the Kachhera and it's significance. The article below helps to explain the significance of the Kachhera:

Author: Hai Bhi Sach
Date: 30-01-07

The Kachhera is also known as a “Rave Kachhera” or “Barekaa(n) Waala Kachhera”. The name “Rave Kachhera” comes from the fact that the cloth it is turned diagonally (i.e. at 45 degrees to the direction it has been woven) and sewn together to form a tube which is then further shaped. Hence the word Rave (diagonal). The name “Barekaa(n) Waala Kachhera” comes from the fact that unlike a conventional boxer short, which does not necessarily keep your modesty when you sit down on your feet. Whereas the “Barekaa(n) Waala Kachhera”, because the way it is cut and sewn together, it clings to your thighs as if it has put the breaks on hence giving the wearer a dignified appearance. The leg opening closes up tight against the thighs.

Why invent the special Kachhera for the Sikhs? In fact the kachhera predates Guru Gobind Singh Sahib. The main reason for the existence of this particular design is that during the times of our Gurus the “Sikh Warrior” had to be ready for battle at all times (Tyaar bar Tyaaar). The Sikh warrior did not have the time to change clothes if attacked at any hour of the day or night. The Kachhera allowed the Sikh warrior to operate in combat freely and without any hindrance or restriction. Sikhs fought many battles only wearing this undergarment. The Kachera thus plays a very important part in Sikhs daily life. A Sikh Warrior is always ready to go into action. The Kachhera is thus an important part of a Sikh attire.

http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/new-to-sikhism/14434-kacheras.html

"Where is God?"

Children at the Sikh Youth Camp held in October 2006 at Singh Sabha Gurdwara Sahib in Bradford. Bhai Roop Singh jee worked with the youngsters to write poems about Waheguru. The children in video below have been asked to write a poem about "Where is God?"

Busy Weekend

On Saturday I was at work and one of the managers was asking me about the Dastaar (turban) and how long it takes me to tie it. I explained that the white showing underneath is a Keski (short under-turban) and that the blue coloured turban is the main turban. I explained how I comb my hair, tie a Keski and then tie a large Dastaar. He seemed surprised and said, "I thought the white bit showing was your turban you tie and that the blue turban is a HAT, which you just SLIP ON." I looked puzzled, and said, "I don't know where you picked that up. A Sikh ties his Dastaar fresh always and unties it layer by layer in the evening."

ਕੰਘਾ ਦੋਨੋ ਵਕਤ ਕਰ ਪਾਗ ਚੁਨੈ ਕਰ ਬਾਂਧਈ ॥

kanghaa dono vakat kar paag chunai kar baa(n)dhe-ee ||
Comb your hair twice a daily and re-tie your turban each time your wear it.
(Rehatnama Bhai Nand Laal Singh Jee)

He replied, "Manvir, I knew a Sikh who worked with me. He said his turban was a HAT and that he just slipped on his head when he came to work and slipped off when he went home." Waheguru! Jokingly I said, "Sounds like a part-time Sikh".

The same day, one of my work colleagues said that she knew another Sikh who worked at our work place a while back go. She said, "He was a Sikh as well. He was a Sikh like you are but he cut his hair, smoked, drank, and had a girlfriend." Waheguru, Waheguru - Rab Bhalaa Kare! She looked confused and asked, "How is it that you are a Sikh and he said he was a Sikh as well." I explained that the individual probably wants to associate himself to being a Sikh because he feels proud being linked to such a great history and heritage; however he himself is not a Sikh. He is as much as Sikh as a Muslim who eats pork and drinks alcohol and claims to be a Muslim. She then understood that Sikhs don't drink, smoke and have relationships outside marriage.

Guru Gobind Singh Sahib jee Maharaaj says:

ਰਹਿਣੀ ਰਹੈ ਸੋਈ ਸਿਖ ਮੇਰਾ ॥ ਉਹ ਸਾਹਿਬ ਮੈ ਉਸ ਕਾ ਚੇਰਾ ॥

rehiNee rehai soee sikh meraa.
ouh saahib mai us kaa cheeraa.
One who lives Rehit (the way of life) is my Sikh.
That person is my Master and I am his disciple.

ਰਹਿਤ ਬਿਨਾਂ ਨਿਹ ਸਿਖ ਕਹਾਵੈ ॥ ਰਹਿਤ ਬਿਨਾਂ ਦਰ ਚੋਟਾਂ ਖਾਵੈ ॥

rehit binaa(n) neh sikh kahaavai.
rehit binaa(n) dar chottaa(n) khaavai.
Without Rehit (the way of life) one cannot be called a Sikh.
Without Rehit (the way of life) one will struggle (in life).
(Rehitnaama - Bhai Desa Singh jee)

It just shows how our actions in life affect the perceptions of others.


On Saturday evening I went to Ilford as it was Bhai Tarsem Singh jee and Bibi Sukhbir Kaur jee's Anand Kaaraj on the weekend. On Saturday night there was a Keertan Darbaar at Seven King's Gurdwara Sahib and the Anand Kaaraj was on Saturday. I used my TomTom satellite navigator to get to Seven King's. All was going well until the TomTom said, "You have arrived at your destination." I looked around and couldn't see no Nishaan Sahib, no Gurdwara building and no Sikhs. I thought, "Hai? Where have I come?" Somehow the arrival destination was a PUB. Waheguru. I turned the car around in the pub car park and tried looking for the Gurdwara Sahib.

I decided to pull over and ask a member of public for directions. A man was walking down the road so I pulled up and put the window down. Little did I know that the Gora had a cigarette with him and while he gave me instructions I was struggling to breathe. I wasn't interested in listening to him, I was more interesting in putting the window up and being able to BREATHE! With Waheguru's Kirpaa I got away and decided to go back to the Sat Nav. I switched it off and then back on and put in the Gurdwara postcode again. This time it said I was 10 miles away! Very strange! With Guru Sahib's Kirpaa I eventually got to the Gurdwara Sahib.

Bhai Sahib Ravinder Singh jee from India did Keertan on Saturday and Sunday. Bhai Sukhwinder Singh jee (Sukhi Bhaaji) beautifully read Laavaa(n) da Paath and Bhai Sahib Pritvipal Singh jee performed the Ardaas. It was inspiring to see Tyar-Bar-Tyaar Gursikhs getting married in accordance to Gur Maryada. After the Anand Kaaraj, Bhenji Sukhbir Kaur jee sang the following Shabad:

ਹਰਿ ਪ੍ਰਭੁ ਮੇਰੇ ਬਾਬੁਲਾ ਹਰਿ ਦੇਵਹੁ ਦਾਨੁ ਮੈ ਦਾਜੋ ॥
har prabẖ mėrė babulā har ḏėvhu ḏān mai ḏājo.
O my father, give me the Name of the Lord God as my wedding gift and dowry.
(Ang 78)

May Guru Sahib bless Bhai Sahib and Bibi Jee with Chardikalaa Gursikhi Jeevan.