Ranjeet01

I would suggest you go there for 2 weeks but go there not for holiday but as if you were living there. Do some research on cost of living, housing, work etc. You would get a better feel for the place.

Sikhi I have also realised is a systems over goals process. What I mean by this for example is that if your goal is to become more patient and less angry and less anxious person, by reading bani daily and doing naam simran on a regular basis means you make those changes which kind of makes the goal irrelevant in some respects. You are also creating discipline in a natural way which can even willpower look irrelevant because it becomes second nature.

There is no need to drop Singh in the least because South East nations have a fair bit of Sanskrit in their languages.

On social media and in life in general, I observe that many people are unhappy in their lives. They have bad vices and want to lose weight, quit smoking, drinking etc. So you see a lot of people making resolutions etc to eat better, join a gym etc. Then you have these NLP types that attend these Tony Robbins seminars. I know of a former work colleague of mine who attends these and got together to give food the homeless. Which got me to realise, don't we as Sikhs do this kind of things with our seva? It seems that even though society is becoming less religious or less spiritual, these kind of things would be found in religion (Sikhi in particular ) but it seems to be fragmented and manifest in different ways. Another example, you hear from these self improvement types is that you must meditate, make self affirmations and show gratitude. This is what naam simran and ardaas is supposed to do. I see many people wanting to improve their lives mentally, physically, spiritually etc. However, I realise that our Gurus encapsulate all these things so that we can become the best version of ourselves. The question then "Is Sikhi the ultimate self improvement vehicle?". Is there other things which you read or hear about with these self help types that has already covered in Sikhi? What other messages are we missing out on that are right in front of our noses in our bani that we only see with these self help, NLP, motivational speaker types?

How so? Please provide examples.

I know he was blocked because I saw he mentioned it on his Facebook page. It was all over social media. There were thousands of people who saw it as well. Jagraj did not like the squabble in public because as he quoted to Sunny as I recall , " You are making an @ss of us". He was quite embarrassed. Personally I would not call what Basics of Sikhi does political anyway.

It comes from seeing the way the brothers have interacted over the years on social media as well as mainstream media. You build up quite an idea of what the dynamic is between the brothers as well as from plenty of personal life experience. My suspicion was that Jagraj was clearly the alpha male in their family and the more popular one who got all the girls. Sunny admits that in his post therefore he confirmed my suspicion. When you hear Jagraj speak, look how charismatic he was. Compare Sunny in his speech, no contest. It is clear that more girls would be attracted to him. I can imagine that there was a lot of sibling rivalry between the two. It is quite common for siblings (particular two brothers with a small age gap) to argue and fight. With the intermarriage issue, Jagraj was blocked from Sunny's facebook page but it did not stop Sunny from going on Jagraj's page and starting an argument. Jagraj told him to stop because he was making a mockery of their family. You'd think that Jagraj was the elder brother because he was clearly the more mature one. This is from my observations over the last few years.

Learn to read between the lines

One of things I always suspected was Sunny was envious of Jagraj. He admitted to it when he called him the "cooler younger brother". There is only two years between them and the closer the age gap in general the greater the sibling rivalry. It must be very difficult for an elder sibling to be in the younger sibling's shadow.

It is very sad to see Bhai Jagraj Singh leave us but Maharaj in his hukam has decided that his time is up in this world and he is needed elsewhere. When I watch his videos what I realise about Jagraj was that he brought a fresh and unique perspective to parchaar that has never been done before. He was not afraid to think outside the box. He broke things down into bit size chunks which made it very easy to understand. His approachable manner drew people in a way maybe other parcharaks could learn from. These are the things that has attracted more people to Sikhi. We need to build upon that.

I sometimes wonder about the kind of throwaway society we live in. People think of nothing about spending £££'s on clothing only to discard of it. Then you have ladies that think of nothing of spending £200 on a suit,only to wear it one or two times. I think sometimes our people go overboard on cost that it compromises quality. The amount of times i've seen our people pay for some shoddy service because it's cheap only to find that if they paid a little extra they would have been better off. In fact by going the cheaper option, they end up spending more because they have to rectify the problem.

I got a pair of chinos for the smart casual look from Next for £20.They go great with a nice shirt or pool shirt or even a sweater. I like to mix and match. There are some great deals out there at the moment and I like to get value for money. I guess my problem is I don't know how to answer these questions. If I tell them I bought it at the price I bought it, they would probably say that I could have got a better deal or they might think I'm a cheapskate. I guess if I am setting a trend and people want to do the same then I guess I should be flattered. My missus always has go at me for wearing the same clothes. I've got a dodgy fleece that I have worn for nearly 10 years. She wants me to throw it away but I'm quite attached to it. I bought it for about £8 at Matalan. She's been making a real effort to smarten me up of late. She bought me some Lacoste and Ralph Lauren polo shirts which I know can cost a small fortune. I personally never spend more than £20 on a polo shirt. But as I look through my wardrobe, I know I am going to have a makeover.

Why is in the habit of our people to ask how much you bought something for? I bought a new pair of trousers and someone noticed. Asked me how much I paid for them. It could be a house, car or anything. Why can't they be happy to appreciate someone to ask these dumb question? What is their purpose, is it jealousy or is it that they want to buy one for themselves or could it be that they can say you paid too much and they could got it cheaper. Should you brag and say you paid much more than you really did? I never know how to answer this question.

These are the stresses of life. People need an outlet and unfortunately drink is an outlet. Women are now realising that these "equal rights" they have been fighting for are not what they are cracked up to be. Men apparently have been "privileged " but now women realising what this "privilege" really entails. Women are having more stressful and unfulfilled lives, they have been given the koolaid that one can have it all. But they are becoming more disillusioned. Women are suffering with more alcohol problems because their bodies are not as equipped to handle alcohol as much as men. Also the life expectancy between men and women is also narrowing.

Doesn't really answer my question.

Like a lot of things with women. The stigma of being perceived is more important than doing the action itself.

Can you substiante this?

Maybe the material goodies is not enough. There are probably other factors as well. I remember a show when Harjap Bhangal (well known immigration lawyer in the UK) was presenting. He mentioned how there is less corruption in general and rule of law in western countries and how that does play into people wanting to move out.

Don't touch it. Schools these days are driven by cost and go by the cheaper option. That is a big reason why Halal is pushed forward so much.

I tell you what Dally. Go out there yourself and test your hypothesis and tell me what you come back. Reality is you won't stick your neck out when it counts. You are still stuck in the 1980s.

My attitude is looking at the whole picture. I am perfectly aware what is going on wey before you even coming across these things. Your focus is one thing, you cannot move forward with your method. You been spouting the same thing for the last 10 years on various websites, nobody is going to listen to you. Some of your methods have been talked about 20 years ago and they haven't worked.You are so behind the curve it so unbelievable. If you keep focusing on the negatives you create too much analysis paralysis and don't get anywhere. That's why you are stuck like a broken record.

As per usual you are glass half empty. You focus on the negative. There are positive aspects too. It is better have an all round perspective.

Punjabi men are 3D learners, they can solve problems on their feet that no Gujerati or South Indian can do. There are a lot of people in the West that want to rich and famous quickly as well. Look at the Instagram models or the you tube stars. All those talent shows and reality shows in India are copied from the models on the west. We slag our own people off too much. Granted there are a lot of faults in our people but there are positives too.

Jatts aren't the only land owning and moneyed Sikhs in the Punjab? Are they giving back?

One of the questions I have is in the West where we have accumulated wealth and prospered there is a need to give back in one way or another and people give back generously. In some ways donated dasvandh is a manifestation of that. Do land owning and moneyed Sikhs in Punjab have the same need to give back like Western Sikhs or are they more apathetic?