My Experiences with True Gursikhs

[Surrey Singh]

I got back from Calgary yesterday...the calgary Sangat is amazing...they are so Chardi Kala, they made us feel so at home, and gave us so much support...continous Sukhmani Sahib Paats, Simran, Kirtans...thank you.

These three Gursikhs were some of the closest people to me in the world. I saw them all, almost every other day. They were more than friends/role models...they were like family. I Love them so much. It is really hard to keep in Chardi Kala after something like this, but what can i say?...Hukam...thats what Parminder Singh Ji would always tell us..."WE MUST ACCEPT HUKAM". I would like to take a little bit of time to tell you about what these Gursikhs meant to me...and to share some of our experiences together.

BHAI PARMINDER SINGH JI

I was very attracted to Parminder Singh's Sikhi when i first met him. We would sit one on one for hours on end at the Guru Nanak Academy and talk about Sikhi...he taught me so much. He had so much Bani memorized...one time we were sitting in a meeting, and i asked him "where does it say that a Kirpan must be Sarbloh?"...he waited for a few seconds, and began writng something, and then he slid it over to me. He wrote the actual quotes from Dasam Bani (or Sarbloh Granth) that tells about the importance of a Sarbloh Sri Sahib. I was so amazed!... He shared some personal things with me about his Sikhi. The kind of stuff someone tells you, but doesn't want you to go around telling people about because he didn't want people to praise him...he was full of Nimarta. But i believe that it is now ok to tell people about certain experiences he went through, because they are very inspiring.

1st of all..the amoun

t of Seva this Singh did was more than people can do in lifetimes. In high school, he would go to the Gurudwara right after school and stay there till like 11 pm, doing Seva. He would walk home, sleep for a few hours, and ALWAYS kept Amritvela. One day he was walking to the Gurudwara at 2 am, and some white guys in a car started calling him names...he just kept on doing Simran, and then these guys got out of the car to beat him up. They came towards him, and he just kept on reciting Naam, and all of a sudden those Gorays all just got freaked out, started yelling in terror and jumped in their cars, and took off. I believe that there was Shaheed Singhs, or Guru Ji...or who knows...that were standing with him, and these gorays saw them and ran for their lives. This Singh was beyond words...its hard to explain him.....Parminder Singh Ji always kept Amritvela...when we went to Toronto to do a camp, sometimes we would come home really late from the Gurudwara/someone's house, and i would sleep in the next morning, but he was always up at Amritvela...i felt ashamed to wake up at 7 o'clock, but he would make me feel so comfortable, and just smiled when i was coming up with lame excuses for why i slept in. (not that he asked me or anything...it was just to take out some guilt) Bhai Sahib was an extraordiany soul...and i am glad that i have had the privelage of having his Sangat.

BHAI CHARNJIT SINGH JI

Charnjit Singh...he's crazy!!! I loved fighting him one on one, even though he would whip me...he is crazy at Gatka...we would talk till all hours of the night when he would spend the night at my house, he would tell me about his plans, we would watch Gatka videos, and study them, pushing pause and slow motion. He had such a crazy sense of Gatka, that he would be able to tell exactly what the guys did wrong, and what they did right...One night we rented 'Braveheart' and watched it while i translated what was going on...He loved that movie (well just the parts with fighting)...he

was a true warrior...not only did he have knowledge of how to use weapons, he had knowledge of weapons...their history, history of wars, he knew sooooo much...he read like hundreds of books about Sikh warriors etc...he would talk to us at the Akhara for hours sometimes, about history of wars, and....jst too much, he knew more than anyone i know of. Whenever members of our Akhara would take him out somewhere (parks, downtown, science center museums etc)...he would always try to talk to little white kids and give them piar. We always had to keep an eye on him, and tried to explain that in Canada you can't just go around playing with other people's kids, because parents get mad...but he didn't care! he would always wave at them, and smile etc...Khalsa School kids just adored him, he was like super-hero to them. (he was a Super-hero)...Bhai Sahib was loved everywhere very much, he loved the Toronto Sangat, and would always be talking on the phone with them...most of the time when he got into my car, he would say..."do you have a little time?"...I knew what that meant: drive to Billa Fabrics cuz i gotta buy some more calling cards!

RENA KAUR

Rena Kaur...haha...FRIEND!!!! thats what we called each other...we just called each "friend"...we had a messed up sense of humour and people probably thought we were weird...but we didn't care. we would only call each other friend (example..."hey friend...come here"...or..."hows it going friend?"---"good friend, how are you?...ya i guess we were weirdos!)...we had a secret handshake that made her so excited when we would do it...one time we were doing it and she started to make funny little noises, and i looked up, and she was smiling so hard, and so excited that she started to breathe really heavy and was making weird noises!!! I remember i would fight her at Gatka practice, when she used to wear a ramal...and i would hit her on the top of the head, and tell her "if you had on a keski, it wouldn't hurt"...

she was something else...so pure...just full of love..it just made your day when you saw her...we considered her like our baby sister. She was the most happy person in the world...i never saw her sad. In Gatka, when she would hurt (a cut etc.), she would get really happy, and be proud of her 'battle wounds"...she would always be skipping around, making people laugh, she put us all in a good mood.

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Everything is God's Will...we must accept his Hukam with smiles...we all learned so much from these Gursikhs, they will always be cherished in our hearts...they lived a Gursikhi Jivan and accomplished so much...There is is just too much to say about these special people, but it can't be put into words...they spent their lives in Chardi Kala, were true Gursikhs, and i am happy for them because i know they are at a better place.

[Jaspaul Singh]

One day he was walking to the Gurudwara at 2 am, and some white guys in a car started calling him names...he just kept on doing Simran, and then these guys got out of the car to beat him up. They came towards him, and he just kept on reciting Naam, and all of a sudden those Gorays all just got freaked out, started yelling in terror and jumped in their cars, and took off.

Wow!! Thanks a lot for sharing these stories... we all feel da loss of such gursikhs, everyday i find out more and more inspiring stories about them. The more the better, better to share, and the more we will also get inspired and willing to learn more :umm:

[Surrey Singh]

Bhai Sahib doing what he loved best...

[Guest r k]

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for a biography of rena kaur please go to www.kaursunited.org - it is not up yet but will be soon.

Vaheguru jee ka Khalsa

Vaheguru jee kee Fateh

[Guest r k]

..

[anon]

vwihgurU jI kw Kwlsw!

vwihgurU jI kI &iqh!!

i got to meet parminder singh jee at the gurmat camp in toronto. he was jokes there too. there was this one bibi from britain or something. she had the illest accent though. we would sit in our groups and when she would start talking, parminder singh jee would turn towards a couple of us and he'd have this big smile on his face. when you saw him smile, you could do nothing but smile back. in our case we'd bust out laughing cuz he would do this everytime. this bibi would look at us all crazy cuz she thought we were laughing at her. but she was good tho, always forgiving. parminder singh jee was too jokes. he'll be missed. unfortunately i wont be able to attend any more of his camps which i was really looking forward to doing.

vwihgurU jI kw Kwlsw!

vwihgurU jI kI &iqh!!

[Son of Guru Gobind Singh Ji]

waheguru jio...,

I will never be able to forget the smile on Bhai Parminder Singh Ji's face.

Once when he was in Fresno, I told him to stop smiling at me so much because now it seems to me like he's making fun of me for something. And Bhai Sahib replied and said, "No no 'Singh Ji', I wasn't making fun of you." I know he wasn't, but I couldn't believe that a person could stay happy all the time!

I was just amazing how much he knew. During the kirtan class, he would come in and pick up a vaaja and start teaching kids how to play. During the Gatka class, he would come and pick up the soti and teach kids how to spin it. During lecture classes, he was impressing everyone with how much he knew, just to make others want to learn more.. It was just awesome, you name it, he was doing it!

Rena Kaur was such a dear sister that I cannot put her into my words. She respected everyone! We had only known each other for about two years, but we were really close. In the past couple of months she kept on asking me to come for the May smagam in Surrey, but I asked her where would I stay and where would I eat because I didn't have any amritthari relatives there and she said I could stay at her house and she would cook fo me. Then I asked her what would she tell her parents about who I am, and she said she would tell them that this is their son from California!

vaaheguru ji ka khalsa vaaheguru ji ki fateh _/\_

[Khalsa4ever]

vwihgurU jI kw Kwlsw!

vwihgurU jI kI &iqh!!

They were all sooo... amazing!!

vwihgurU jI kw Kwlsw!

vwihgurU jI kI &iqh!!

[Gurjeet_Kaur]

vaheguroo jee ka khalsa vaheguroo jee kee fateh!!

what can i say about rena kaur... i just met her in january and even in that short time she has shown me soo much pyaar... i just went to the kirtan at her house and in her parents' room there was a sign on the wall that read:

"Dear mom,

Please wake me up at 7:00 because i have to tie my dastar and take a shower.

love, rena kaur

Vaheguru ji ka khalsa vaheguru ji ki fateh"

and parminder singh... he was ALWAYS smiling... i always thought it was so cute how you could only see two of his teeth and everything else was covered by his long darhi... :umm: just by looking at him you would smile also...

[S1ngh]

wahegurooo... they sure were REAL sikhs.. Thank you sangato for sharing untold gursikh real happenings.. They truly were blessed.. and rena bhaenjees sign of waking her up is just sooo cute and it shows her determination to follow the rehit.. i wish that i knew that singhnee.. I was once invited to the group chat convo at msn with rena bhaenjee.. but never talked directly.. But im glad that SHE IS STILL inspiration to others.. (just read the Karen Kaur's Reply at main topic)

me and parminder singh jee had one thing in common.. faces always on SMILE.. When i was in fresno... Whenever me and bhai sahib bumped into each other, we always smile to the maximum .. other person can sense that there's probably some smiling competition going on.. hehe.. But there was one huge difference.. bhai sahib jees smile was more natural and gursikhi walley and mine was kinda fake.. Im certainly gonna miss bhai sahib jee's style.. but im very strong in thinking that the legacy of these gursikhs will continue in the future..