Beard

I think its okay to acknowledge that there are differences in caste, based on ancestors work. But beyond that, its not right to discriminate or make any current judgement on someone based on that. I think inter-caste marriages can fix the problem, and I think over time, very slowly, this will happen...but very slowly.

My university library actually has a whole section on history of Punjab/sikhism. Do you recommend any specific books? I actually began reading A history of the Sikhs by Kushwant singh, but I never got a chance to finish it.

This is one of the most annoying things, jatts will say, "we don't think we are superior, we are just proud of who we are and our ancestors, and acknowledge that there are differences" and then they will proceed to list off ways they are superior and how others are inferior. Non-jatts will say, "jatts think they are better than us, they are arrogant, its their fault that that the caste divide will never end" It seems as if both sides equally discriminate the other. I went to a wedding of a Tarkhan man a few months ago, they had assigned seating based on "friends", when you walked in and sat down, you noticed that everyone of the same caste was seated together, in different parts of the hall. I didn't know anyone at my table, and my friends were on different tables. I also know a few parents who don't want their kids doing bhangra because "eh jattan da kam ah". At the same time, i know alot of jatts that will purposely blast jatt-pride songs infront of non-jatts, they'll treat them differently, and they will make fun of them non-stop behind their backs, "bhapey this and that" And I've heard countless times that "I'm going to marry in my caste, I don't even consider anyone else, its just how it is" I know this probably gets talked about alot, but I just get really sick of hearing all these things, I just had to vent this out. I understand how alot of people believe what they believe, but its especially annoying when I see sardar's with full dharhi's who are supposed to represent our religion and what we believe, who can tell me anything detail from sikh history that I want to know off the top of their head, who can translate random lines of gurbani for me.....discriminate against one another just based on caste. It doesn't make any sense to me.

To be honest, I don't know much at all about different sects, the akhand kirtani jatha, nirankaris, etc. Or organizations like Dal Khalsa, Babbar khalsa. I want to educate myself further on the current issues and divides in our religion, their purposes, people, leaders, acts, etc. I'm still young, but as I'm growing older, I keep hearing these names often, I just want to be objectively educated on everything, with no bias.

I just think, why do I need to keep asking god to help me, he has already given me so much, all the right tools for myself to succeed in life, for me to help others. In my eyes, it becomes my responsibility to use those tools and not let them go to waste. God gave me a brain and free-will, its up to me to use it appropriately.

I keep hearing people say stuff like, "do paath and remember vaheguru, and vaheguru will give you anything you want" When I used to go to the gurdwara, as an example, I used to think, "Please vaheguru, let me do well in school, on my exams. If I do well, I'll become a better person blah blah" Basically I was always asking for things. Over time I started realizing that its kinda greedy/selfish of me to always be asking for things. As I got older, the only thing I really think to myself is being thankful for everything I have. And that theres people out there who have much worse situations than me. So instead of asking vaheguru to help me do well on exams or whatever else I have to do, I started being thankful that I have the opportunity to go to school, and everything else that I have.(Just an example) Anyways, this was just a random thought in my head, something that I realized over years. Just curious what other people's thoughts are.

This is great advice, I also recommend the same program. For skinnier guys, its important to gain strength to be able to lift heavy weights, then go into bodybuilding and more isolation lifts. I think the general consensus is start off with Starting Strength, then once you plateau and don't feel like you are progressing anymore, theres a program called MadCow a variation of StrongLifts program. When MadCow stops working and you're lifting heavy weights, then switch to this program called 5/3/1 and use that forever. Those are all "Strength" training programs. After those lifts you can add more bodybuilding type isolation lifts to increase size on a specific body part. But trust me if you're benching 250-300 for reps, and deadlifting/squatting 400+, you're gonna be pretty damn big. Along with lifting, whats equally if not more important is your diet. Eat as much as you can, try to hit like 3000 calories a day. Drink alot of milk. Try to eat your calories in protein and carbs preferably. Cottage cheese, brown pasta, daal, sabji, sweet potatoes, brown rice, get a protein shake. Alot of skinny guys stay skinny and just get ripped when they work out because they dont eat enough. Diet is the key to getting thicker and more massive.