wjkk wjkf

There are loads of reasons and most of us probably wouldnt be able to comprehend them...but the point is that there are LOADS of orphans...and there shouldnt be

lol scary

I promised myself that I would STRIVE to adopt at LEAST one orphan child....we all should...if not adoption then definately fostering.... I know it seems a lil easy to say, but think about it....You're bringing love, education even a home to a child...what could be wrong in it? Have you ever looked into an orphans eyes and seen that gaze they give you? If you had, you wouldn't think twice about it.

waheguru - so chardi kalaa...I would wear it anyways...I'm sure when she see's you in it she's proud - even if she doesnt say so. Even if she doesnt, know that we're all proud of you

:WOOHOO: :kaur: :awesome :hi5 :nishaan_sahib_right: :gatka-singhni: :goodpost:

lol those are the emo's that came to mind in that post

also the autobiography of bhai sahib randhir singh ji - good read...

I also got a book solely by the poets/bhagats etc. who wrote Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji...1 shabad every morning really makes you feel good.

What's the name of this book?...

Sikh Saint Autobiographies are so inspiring...aren't they...

You just feel so blessed to be reading those...

I cant remember the authors name haha I'm at college but the books called "The Bhagats and poets of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji" or something along those lines

I found this letter from last year which was sent by someone doing work with extremely underprivelaged children to the people at my school who helped raise some funds.

Not just as sikhs but as human beings, we should be striving to do more for others - especially the underprivelaged. Perhaps we could all take a leaf out of Celia's book , and try to do more for others whilst being extremely grateful for what Waheguru has given us.

Also, we all go to India (and quite regularly) I was thinking. Could we sort of put a fund together for Indiagoers that could do some kinds of seva everytime they go? Like have a section in the forum solely for people to declare their travel plans - and we could all put in a few quid or donate old books and clothes for them to take with them? Or am I being a bit naive and you'd all rather come on the forum to argue about bana and meat? :umm:

"Dear Dr. Trigg and all the students at Tomlinscote,

I am now back in Sucre, Bolivia, and would like to send a MASSIVE thank you to all those who helped

with the Mufti Day in July!! I’d like to assure you all that the £750 has been spent wisely and that the

children in the three places where I’ve spent it were all extremely grateful and so excited at all the lovely

things I have been able to bring them, thanks to all of you. Believe me, your money has gone FAR, it’s

fantastic and I have felt like Mrs. Claus for the past month!

So, where has all your money gone exactly? ... Well, I have bought hundreds of books - literally hundreds.

I managed to find some amazing books, fairytales and educational books along my travels through

Uruguay, Peru and Argentina, which I just couldn’t resist stuffing into my already overstuffed backpack

and lugging back to Bolivia with me – it sounds a bit mad I know, but if you knew me, you’d know I'm

just a little bit crazy, so it’s normal! Anyway, I picked up some lovely pop-up fairytale books and some

excellent Maths and English language books which I hadn’t found in Bolivia at this stage...needless to

say, when I got back I discovered some amazing bookshops and therefore was able to buy heaps more,

including some really beautifully decorated fairytale books and the thing they loved the most was some

musical fairytale books I found!

I have also spent a lot of the money on educational textbooks; arithmetic, algebra and lots of literature

books, more for the older girls at the orphanage, as they had been sharing literally one book between 15

children - and these books are probably older than most of you!

I’ve also bought some fun Disney duvets and lots of Disney cushions so that the kids can have a reading

corner, because they all really love to read; I guess it’s just such a novelty when they’ve never had books

of their own. Honestly, most of these kids live in unfinished shack-type accommodation, they don’t even

have running water for a toilet, let alone nice books to read, so I hope you all understand how much you

have really helped to make a difference, even if it only seems like a small one, you’re all fab!

I’ve also bought lots of educational materials for all three places...all the pens, pencils, paper, coloured

pens, crayons, rubbers, sharpeners, notebooks, board markers...that they could ever need, and you wouldn’t

believe how excited they get about these simple things, things that we take for granted!

I’ve also been able to buy complete school uniforms and PE kits for all the boys at the boys’ orphanage,

as well as sandals, footballs and basketballs!

The rest of the money has been spent on various educational games, for all three places, as well as things

that some of the orphans lack, like shoes and various pieces of clothing, as they only get new things once

a year at Christmas, and if they break or ruin them, then that’s it and they have to wait until the next

Christmas!

I am currently sorting out all the pictures I have of the kids. There are some photos of the girls in the orphanage

where my host mother works and where I’ve spent a fair bit of time helping with homework,

reading etc., some photos of the kids in the other place I work (it’s like a youth centre where really poor

kids can go and get help with their homework, or even just a place for them to go and read or play, since,

of course, they don’t have such luxuries in their houses) and some photos of the boys in another orphanage,

which is also incredibly poor, where I spent some of the money. The girls in the photos are currently

writing you all a thank you letter which we’ll post as soon as we can. Well, that’s all really, just wanted to

say thank you again, so much, you’re all stars! And I promise I am going to put the girls from the girls’

orphanage in touch with you and you can all have pen friends (well those of you learning Spanish of

course) and who knows maybe one day some of you will be able to visit Bolivia and see for yourself what

a wonderful, but sad place it is, all at once!

Thanks so so much, you’ve all been amazing, and I really really appreciate your support and help, as do

the kiddies!!

Celia x "

Asia Research Centre public lecture

The Two Faces of Asia: bridging the gap between high growth economies and the poor

Date: Thursday 2 October 2008

Time: 6.30-8pm

Venue: Old Theatre, Old Building

Speaker: Rajat M. Nag

Chair: Professor Athar Hussain

Despite impressive growth over the past few decades, the Asia Pacific region is still home to two-thirds of the world's poor. In many Asian countries, the gap between rich and poor is widening and policymakers are faced with extraordinary challenges in closing this gap and spreading the benefits of growth to the most vulnerable in their societies. Rising fuel and food prices have exacerbated these inequities and placed millions more on the edge of poverty. The Managing Director General of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Rajat Nag, will discuss how the region is grappling with these complex challenges and how ADB's Strategy 2020 is targeted to make a difference in the lives of the poor.

Rajat M. Nag, an alumnus of LSE, is a development professional and economist who has dedicated his career to bridging the gap between the Asia Pacific region's thriving economies and the millions of poor people left behind. He has held several senior positions in ADB over the past two decades and as Managing Director General since December 2006 provides strategic and operational direction to ADB in its fight against poverty.

This event is free and open to all with no ticket required. Entry is on a first come, first served basis. For more information, email events@lse.ac.uk or phone 020 7955 6043.

Media queries: please contact the Press Office if you would like to reserve a press seat or have a media query about this event, email pressoffice@lse.ac.uk or call 020 7955 7060.

If you are planning to attend this event and would like details on how to get here and what time to arrive, please refer to Coming to an event at LSE

nihang singhs generally speakin do not wear black dastaar or baaneh, their coulour of preference is blue...wjkkwjkf bhenjee its surprsin to mee to see nihangs in black, that is a first in my eyes... never seen it before...

proper nihang singhs are warriors.. totally imbued in the love for akaal purakh, tyar par tyar always ready, wich is represented by the rang blue...

black a colour, unsettledness...morcha.. when people are dieing/suffering..agnoy.. its more of an upsettin colour if u get me?... as the singh jee said baba nihal singh jee talks about it in his kathaaa...

mayb wjkkwjkf bhenj wen u go harianvela nxt you can ask the singhs there.. and also tell em that his moorak said hi!! lol i wanna goo harianvelaaaaaaaaa vaheguroo kirpa karehh!!!

as sum1 said.. blue keskee/bonga is a must for a dhamalaa..

gagan mandel vich boongaa hamaraa...akaaalooo!!!!

Nihang Singhs dont wear black dumaala or baana. Its maryada for them to only tie blue bunga and blue keski, then they can tie either blue, white or orange as dumaala.

Since Nihang Singhs wore dumaala first i think its right to respect the maryada instead of coming out with comments which are not worth posting.

Vaheguru Ji ka Khalsa Vaheguru Ji Ki Fateh

vaheguroo..satbachan jee!!!

mY gur imil auc dumwlVw ]

mai gur mil ouch dhumaalurraa

I met with the Guru, and I have tied a tall, plumed turban.

akaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaloooooooo!!

I did ask them why only blue, white or orange (traditionally blue) - the answer was that Black also symbolises Kalyug...it's the colour of evil, dirt (and as you said pahji, dying and agony etc.) Wearing white symbolises you trying to stay detached from kalyug and maya, living a simple life, and keeping away from 5 chorr. Blue is a VERY old tradition, it's the colour of shaheedi and qurbani, warrior-lifestyle and the power which Guru Gobind Singh Ji took away from the Moghuls (Muslims peers and the rich usually wore blue) which is why Nihangs always have a blue Nishan Sahib, instead of the more common orange. Orange is also the INDIAN traditional colour for shaheedi and now more commonly the Khalsa.

Nihangs were encouranged to wear these colours as they are members of Dals - they are collectively an army... "the ladlian faujan". And like all armies they require a uniform.

Next year (or hopefully THIS year ) I will ask the bhai sahib why he was wearing black. It may just be because of personal preference - or because it may have been a donation)...people often gift Nihangs with clothes and food...or because he was unaware of Baba Nihal Singh Ji's katha (which is unlikely lol.)

The point is - colours will NOT effect your avastaa, closeness to Guru Ji w.e - BUT they are symbolic and can mean different things to different people.

Personally I avoid black because it dont suite me and I think it's a boring colour - but I HAD to wear a black dastaar in High school because it was uniform. Simple

lol at harianvela

lol I got a picture of me with a bunch of nihang singhs - some wearing blue and orange and white but some of them are wearing black - dumallas and bana - so I guess it depends on personal preferance. I dont think it will effect your spirituality.

however I was told at my amrit sanchaar that green and red are to be avoided - as someone else has said - what panj say is sat bachaan.

also the autobiography of bhai sahib randhir singh ji - good read...

I also got a book solely by the poets/bhagats etc. who wrote Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji...1 shabad every morning really makes you feel good.

I am a Sikh youth who doesn't know much. Most of the things i have learnt is from the internet, and that can't all be reliable. I don't know any stories of the Gurus, my punjabi is limited so its hard to ask my grandparents who are the only khalsa sikhs, who i can really talk to, although im going to go to a punjabi class on Sunday.

Most the books that have stories in them are in Punjabi, i can't find much Sikh history in english, except on the internet, but all that stuff is about 1984. The only classes in my local gurdwaras that teach sikhism is only for children under 16. I did go once, but i didn't feel comfortable sitting wih lots of little children, not that theres anything wrong with that, but then we can't discuss more mature issues.

I read a nitnem in english, but it is all in old fashioned language. I understand most of it but not all. If i had no internet i would be nowhere. I don't think enough is bieng done to encourage sikh youths to get into sikhism, and i don't think there are many places to learn about Sikhism.

If you know that there is problems, then why aren't you trying to help, and if someone is really interested in Sikhi, then they won't find lectures boring. And you wonder why there are so many mona Sikhs, its because the last generation forgot to teach the new one.

visit www.sikhnet.com for the basics

www.sikhitothemax.com to reading, transliteration and translations of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji

www.sikhism101.com which is very cool, easy to read and understand...

If you're from coventry then there's a massive sangat there that can probably help you learn more Jio

When I was younger there used to be an english guy - who was not a sikh but was homeless and visited the gurudwara for shelter and food, regularly. He knew more about sikhi than a lot of people I know - especially my grandparents. His way of 'giving back' to Guru Ji was asking the committee members to allow him to have paper and pencils to give to the kids. He understood Punjabi fluently, so often he would translate the veechar and have the kids draw pictures on what it was about. I learnt so much from this. It was very simple but it definately had a big impact on the kids.

Now we have youths who are pretty into sikhi (go to a rehnsbhai and you get the picture). It's upto us to do the veechar, explain our history, have open forums and stuff...but we've spoken of this before ...

Recycling with the Nihang Singhs of Punjab

A throw-away line completely opened my eyes to what was actually going on around me. "Nick, where's the bin?" I asked, as I wandered around the room looking for somewhere into which to deposit a plastic bag and its contents. "There isn't one," he nonchalantly replied, "and nor is there anywhere on the camp."

We were in Punjab in the lead up to the Sikh Tercentenary of 1999, just months before mobile phones moved in to herald the new millennium. Now each time we return it is harder to forget western civilisation and the 21st century. The cacophony of tacky ringtones doesn't blend so easily with the stillness of prayer or the beat of spiritual music.

Nick had actually been living and photographing at this camp for a while by the time I went to stay there with him from the small village where I was then living in at the other end of Punjab. I was already used to all the rural sanitary arrangements, and had even grown to love the sensuousness of having a bath with a bucket of freezing water in an open outdoor closet and all the other things which wake us up out of our western comfort zone. The lack of privacy, the lack of personal space, the lack of respect that what is mine is mine and not for general consumption, each had changed my outlook on life forever. Now though I was confronted with a different issue: where do I put my rubbish?

Harian Belan is a beautiful haven set in the rich lush greenery of Northern India. It is the home to a community of Nihang Singhs, spiritual warriors whose way of life has not changed from 300 years ago when they were brought together by Guru Gobind Singh as his army. It is a very spiritual place and the sound of people reading from the Sikh holy book, called the Siri Guru Grandth Sahib, echoed throughout enhanced by birdsong and the ubiquitous chirping of grasshoppers. The tinny loudspeakers and the jeeps the Nihangs travelled around in when they weren't on horseback were the only way of knowing we weren't back in the 17th century. The bag in my hand became a statement of modernity in deep conflict with the eternal balance of nature and man.

We had many hours to idle away and I began to observe how the camp worked and the community cooperated together. All food is cooked in camp in the communal kitchens. This feeds the members of the camp and any who come to visit or are just passing through. A deep seated part of the Sikh way of life is to feed people. Chapattis the size of dinner plates, pitted, bubbled and occasionally burnt, lentils and very spicy vegetables are cooked on fires which are constantly being stoked with the dried leaf waste from the fields. The leftover food (because nothing is ever reheated) is fed to their horses and the local dogs. The water is from the well. The ash from the fire is piled up just outside the eating area and used as washing up liquid to clean the stainless steel plates and cups. Sewage is turned into compost which is used on Harian Belan's extensive fields which grew all the food necessary to support the community. Any things bought from the market, such as spices, come in paper bags which are added to the kitchen fires. In the cold winter months we all huddled up around the fire which kept the kettle boiling all day. How warm those metal cups are when filled with Chai. I don't really like tea and so would be given buffalo milk straight from the udder instead which was just as warm. The buffalo were fed on all the vegetable peels. In all of this there was nowhere for plastic to go.

While we were there a Mela (fair) took place. No big deal, only 10,000 people were expected. In the days running up to it all our duties were enhanced. Everyone in the camp, including us, was given Seva, a selfless service, to perform. Nick spent 2 ½ hours each morning and night cross-legged on the floor making balls out of the chapatti dough. Before the Mela preparations, mine was to help in the kitchen, either by stirring the vegetables with the huge spoons in the cauldrons or by flipping the chapattis on the oven. Now it was to shell 60kg of peas a day for about 5 days. Do you have an idea how big a pile of peas can look when you're sitting cross-legged in front of it?. Those pea-pods were carefully checked for non-edible rubbish before being fed to the buffalo and I swear I could almost taste peas in the milk for a few days.

The Mela day was filled with performances by the skilful warrior showmen, services in the Gurdwara, and food for all. As the sun set and the last people began to leave the cleanup team collected barely a rubbish bag of unrecyclable stuff which was then ignominiously deposited down by the main road. Finally I managed secretly to slip in my own little contribution.

Guru Kaur © 2007

Guru Kaur is married to Nick Fleming. She spent a year living in Amritsar and Anandpur Sahib as a representative of Yogi Bhajan in the time leading up to the Sikh Tercentennary. She and Nick lived with the Nihangs during Nick's first trip there to photograph them.

MAAAAAN I miss harianvela... :umm:

wow! thats why I love nihung chaunnis so much. Their lifestyle is true to Nature and God whereas we well educated sikhs have made a mess of earth and the environment.

Regarding bibek, these days very few nihung singhs keep dietary bibek, having said that u do find some really charrdikala bibeki singhs in nihung chauunnis.

Not all nihangs are 100% bibeki, often they take offerings of food or water from others who may/may not be amritdhari (seen with my own eyes). It's hard times and if someone is there and you can see that they are a good person and they stay away from the kurehits etc. then would it not be a sin to discriminate against them? just becasuue a person is amritdhari it doentnecessarily automatically make them a better person, no?

how the hell can u lot tar everyone with the same brush based on your own views like that? - we're sikhs we're not meant to judge ...and you lot are judgin people you dont even know, havent even met!!!

ehmi...where is it gonna be cos I heard that the muslims took over Lea Jr...so it's not appropriate to use that place no more?? Also Pahji can you PM me SOnia Bhenji's number - I really gotta go round and learn some kirtan with her lol she bought a saaj back for me ages ago but I couldnt go round cos of exams and weddings n stuff

lol ehmi I'm comin on the 13th

lol even the moderators manage to get off the topic

hmmm...check urs jio

ehmi...sorry about my first post - I thought it was that other guy...Swami Ramdev - HE's the one you gotta look out for...this dude sounds pretty different

jio my PM's dont work properly - check ur comments

^ bahaha -- don't be so sure -- wait, they prolly made that guy in sesame street based on him "the count"

:lol:

baahahaha...i used to love the count...and bert and ernie :lol:

and me :upid:

lol actually come to think of it - looks more like that old man from the munsters