Hanu

Waheguru ji ka Khalsa, Waheguru ji ki Fateh Are there any types of cheeses that are not permissible for us to eat in our diet? If so, which ones are they? Thank you. Waheguru ji ka Khalsa, Waheguru ji ki Fateh

I second that, that this is not ultimately the place you should be looking for help. Hukamnama has already spoken, so you have the religious front already directing you. It is typical of abusers to apologize profusely then abuse again, apolotize profusely, then abuse again, ad nauseum. They are sick people, they need help, but until they get a lot of it, you are stuck with a lot of pain and humiliation, fear, and potential violence and even death. Go to your family's house and contact a hotline for battered wives, and if you need quicker help, the police. It's not just your pain any more, it's your kid's too. And don't feel sorry for your husband. Sick though he may be, any man who mistreats a woman has lost his deservingness for pity. Best of luck to you. I don't know your name, but I will keep you in my prayers.

The Sikh Coalition has a Kirpan Resources Page http://sikhcoalition.org/InfoKirpan.asp Go to the bottom and see which of these documents would be effective for you to carry around with you. Perhaps one of them indicates size limitataions. I think SC has offices in California, so California rules are probably also taken into account here (I am referring to a later post). I don't know where you are from, but even if you are not from the US, at least some kind of literature on your person at all times is preferable to trying to explain to someone cold that you belong to a religion they have never heard of and that that "hidden weapon" (according to their vocabulary) is part of your way of fulfullling your relligious obligations. To answer your question more directly, if the police grab you for a kirpan do not resist, explain you are Sikh, that is a kirpan, a ritual dagger which you wear as part of your religion, you have (you should by then) paperwork in your backpack explaining it, do not fight or argue with them if they try to make you take it off or take it away from you. They have guns and you can eventually get it back or get a new one but if you freak them out and they think you are going to attack them there is only one of you. That might sound a little dramatic, but you can't be too careful with police. On the other hand they might not care. I haven't heard anybody's story of being accosted by the police for kirpan possession, and it hasn't happened to me, though I am often expecting it, so I have no true idea what would happen. I do carry at all times court papers from decisions indicating that kirpan is a religious article protected by the First Amendment and is not a weapon and that it is incorrect for police to stop individuals for carrying one or confiscate it. Just in case. Your question is very pertinent, so much that the SC itself dedicates an entire page of its site to the issue, so you are not alone in your anxieties. Best of luck.

DONE!

Waheguru ji ka Khalsa, Waheguru ji ki Fateh! Maybe you are in pain, or lonely, or ill and don't know it so your energy is drained making you irritable. Maybe you need to talk to someone about your feelings or go see the doctor and get a check-up. It is good, at least, that you understand that your actions are inappropriate. Now, time to find the motivations. Be kind to yourself first of all, because if you can't be kind to yourself, you can't be kind to other people, so be kind to yourself, and get the help and check out I mentioned above and see if any of those are the sources. I mean, you could be clinically depressed, something which makes people massively irritable, but it is treatable. When you say your prayers at night, even during the day, ask for help in finding the underlying problem and fixing it. Sure, it will pass, but it will pass a lot faster with a little footwork on your part. Waheguru bless you! Waheguru ji ka Khalsa, Waheguru ji ki Fateh!

Waheguru ji ka Khalsa, Waheguru ji ki Fateh! Veerji, this is very good advice for me to be getting, because it is a lot I keep forgetting. Thank you for the reminder. Waheguru ji ka Khalsa, Waheguru ji ki Fateh!

Waheguru ji ka Khalsa, Waheguru ji ki Fateh! Your kirpan snuck out at the gym, mine snuck out at home and my roommate (of one month) went on a rage with the landlord to try to get it so I couldn't even OWN it. Since I'm in U.S. I had to get Sikh Coalition involved, and I've been a bit of a nervous wreck since, since every time I walk through the apartment to go to the bathroom or something I'm afraid it's going to sneak out and cause a huge argument (my kirpan has Ik Onkar Satnam Waheguru engraved on the shaft, I don't take lightly to being told to remove it). Sikhi is a religion of sacrifice and martyrdom. What you and I are going through, our anxiety is the sacrifice, but we must face also through probably legal means, me with the Coalition, you probably by facing the head of the that company with legal paperwork showing that a judge decreed a kirpan is not a weapon but is a religious article whose used is protected by law and maybe even next step a lawsuit. Between you and me, I've never been casual about wearing a kirpan; I've always been nervous about going through checkpoints, to the doctor, to hospital, public buildings like court house, etc., bending over and it popping out on the street, so many places where unknowledgeable people will misconstrue--and you're already wearing a turban which here (New York City) means you are up to no good anyway... Best of luck to you. Hope you find a gym where you are comfortable and feel at home and can get some kind of satisfaction from these other people. Waheguru ji ka Khalsa, Waheguru ji ki Fateh!

Waheguru ji ka Khalsa, Waheguru ji ki Fateh! Veerji, thank you so much for your kind offer and for your words of encouragement, but I am not living in UK but in New York City, so I cannot take advantage of your offer unfortunately. However, very kind of you. I will keep on the right track, and when Waheguru Ji wills it, something will happen. I am keeping my head covered, uncovering it literally only to wash and comb, and I am saying my nitnem and simran on a daily basis as prescribed. Waheguru ji ka Khalsa, Waheguru ji ki Fateh!

Waheguru ji ka Khalsa, Waheguru ji ki Fateh! I put mine up on Facebook. It's called "My Turban Is My Crown". Please stop by, drop a few suggestions on the wall. It's very basic, no informaton that you and I don't already know, but I tried to make it educational so the average viewer would stop and think next time they see one of the negative pages, maybe think enough to hit the "report" button. In any case this is the first time I've done this, so I could use some input. Cheers!

Waheguru ji ka Khalsa Waheguru ji ki Fateh! Veerji, thank you so much. My kapra is single, I have one 5 metre I had chopped from 7 metres, and several 7 metre kapras. I actually was watching this exact video for the triangular dastar last night and I was like "Oh my goodness! I could never do that!" Iit looks so daunting. But don't you have to fold beforehand? The dumalla actually looks a lot easier. But as the video closed was he going to be putting on a third pagg? For the dumalla do you cut the 10 metre kapra in half to make the two separate pieces? Yes, I should be asking jiani jis at the gurudwara, was using the flyers to get around the formality and be a little more casual, but I don't think many people at my gurudwara (not that many kheshdhari either I think) speak much English, so my flyers could have been more of a confusion than ever a help. Thank you again!

Waheguru ji ka Khalsa, Waheguru ji ki Fateh! That's maybe not a bad idea, considering the fact that the more of the derogatory pages you get closed down, the more of them seem to pop up. It would do two things in the long run: It would not only counteract the negative pages, it would act as a forum to educate people on Sikhi, a much needed thing generally but especially when there is stilll a lot of harrassment and bashing going on. Your idea is Brilliant! I will try to put up a page of my own this afternoon. I'll call it, if the name is available, "MY TURBAN IS A CROWN", so look for it in a day or two, hopefully there will be no problems setting it up.

Waheguru ji ka Khalsa, Waheguru ji ki Fateh I took Amrit about 6 weeks ago and since then have been wearing keski because I do not know how to tie a correct pagg, and the keski themselves are not really well tied either, kind of ridiculous. I put up flyers on two occasions at my gurudwara asking for someone to show me how to tie (I don't know anyone personally there), but no takers, none of my Sikh friends are Kheshdhari so they have no idea. I wrote once to this forum and somebody said to put the cloth on the bed with a weight, fold half, then weight down the other half, which made sense in writing but didn't work when I tried it because the cloth is too long for the bed. When I try to fold with the doorknob I can control only the first metre or two, then the rest is loose and gets ropey during the tying. So this is where I'm at. I did find a very good tying tutorial on a video, a general pagg with notch in the front for a patka or fifty to show through which is what I want, and I have practiced enough that I think with properly folded cloth I can pulll it off ok, but the problem is that when the tutor folds the cloth at the beginning he has helper--which doesn't show me how to fold it by myself. Every single you tube or other video I see of pagg tutorial has two or three people folding the cloth. I know that every single person wearing pagg in the world does not have a wife/husband/younger brother/etc. to fold their cloth with them in the morning--they are doing it alone, there must be a do-it-alone trick. What is the trick? How do you fold a 5 or 7 meter long cloth, with control and tightness and sharpness so your pagg looks good? Thank you so much for your help. You have no idea how tired I am of looking ridiculous.

That was a very good beat. Thank you. Thank you for the good thoughts. I agree, a lot of modern Panjabi music is degrading or at least mind-numbing, but I am a rhythm freak, always looking for that dhol or dholika to boost me up. Maybe I can find some recordings of the kind you posted. Don't get me wrong, though I have recordings of kirtan music and listen to that too. LOL! But what about the fabric softener? Thank you for your insightful reply.

Very good advice, thank you.

Waheguru ji ka Khalsa Wahegur ji ki Fateh Is it appropriate for a Singh/Kaur to be listening to their headphones while walking, on train, in laundermat, etc., instead of looking out for those possibly in need of help and repeating God's name? Frankly, it doesn't look good, but sometimes the urge for that dhol beat is irresistible. Are there any regulations I should be following? Thank you very much for your thoughtful advice.