A commemorative coin has been released in honour of Bhai Sahib Bhai Mohinder Singh Ji’s achievements at Soho House Museum in Birmingham. A Handsworth currency project was launched to find 3 inspirational visionary personalities of Handsworth who have contributed to society and made a difference to the local community.

One of the chosen personalities was Sikh leader Bhai Sahib Bhai Mohinder Singh Ji Chairperson of Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha under whose leadership the Nishkam Centre, Nishkam Schools and the Nishkam Health Centre came into fruition.

Thousands of coins featuring Bhai Sahib Ji were distributed to local schools and the local community to celebrate their achievements.

~ Source – DailySikhUpdate

#MarkYourDates for the Largest Annual Educational Fairs – Career Guidance Fair

Date: 18-20th June
Venue- Bhai Lakhi Shah Vanjara Hall, Gurdwara Rakab Ganj

The CGF – 2015 brings together major Universities and educational institutions to share educational information and provide career counseling to students. The event has been carved to provide timely direction to steer the youth towards fruitful careers. The CGF-2015 is the need of the hour and will attract hundreds of career-conscious students and their mentors over three days.

DSGMC has been doing the philanthropic work of providing quality education to the students of Delhi.

One to One counseling & Psychometric test for the students will be an important highlight of the event!

SHARE and let know others!

~ Tapasleen Kaur
~ New Delhi, 5th June ’15

Gurdwara Khadur Sahib is a historical town, sanctified by the visit of eight Sikh Gurus. The second Sikh Guru Sri Guru Angad Dev Ji preached Gurbani, developed the Gurmukhi script, established Mal Akhara, got the Janam Sakhi written from Bhai Perra Mokha ji, broke arrogance of Hamayun and influenced him with spiritual ideas, prepared Gurumukhi Primers and served mankind for nearly 13 years during his Guruship period. His devoted wife Mata Khiwi, contributed to the practice of “Langar” (free community kitchen) over at Khadur Sahib.

Description of sacred town can also be found in Bani of Sri Guru Granth Sahib and Bhai Gurdas Ji.

The historical town has many heritage buildings but these could not get formal recognition of having heritage status. Old ‘Baran-dari’ (the building having 12 doors) and ‘Khoohi’ (well) situated in the complex of Gurdwara Tapiana Sahib fall in that category.

On the bank of the Gurdwara’s sacred Sarovar (pond), the old ‘Baran-dari’ was constructed. The arcs, design of ceilings and small ‘Lakhauri’ bricks suggested that such buildings were constructed in the beginning of 16th century, the same time period as Guru Angad Dev ji.

This assessment suggests that Guru Angad Dev ji used to address his followers and preach them in this building.

In addition, there is an old ‘Khoohi’ (well) in basement of modern Mata Khivi Langar Hall situated in complex of Gurdwara Tapiana Sahib. This ‘Khoohi’ was also constructed with the same bricks and material as that of ‘Baran-dari’.

It suggests that the ‘Khoohi’ was also built in the same period thereby belonging to Guru Angad Dev ji. It is a well known historical fact that Mata Khivi Ji used to prepare food for Sangat. This fact can also be found in Guru Granth Sahib. As the latest research suggests, the water of this ‘Khoohi’ was used by Mata Khivi ji for ‘Langar’.

~ Source- Sikh24

Bhagat Puran Singh ji was undoubtedly one of the greatest Sikh Hero of this century who worked totally selflessly all his life to provide the last hope to the mentally and terminally ill patients. Whenever he use to see a deserted dead body (human or animal) immediately he would prepare (by his own hand) a grave and him human/animal a deserving respect of death. He was to Sikhism, what Mother Teresa is to Catholicism.

Against the backdrop of violence and poverty in 1947 he established a premier institute which takes care of sick, disabled and forlorn persons. Whatever money and financial resources he could gathered he used it to establish this institute. It is also believed that he was almost nominated to receive Nobel Peace Prize in 1990 but by not giving him prize it was the loss of sick and disabled persons as well as Nobel Prize committee. His life story is a saga of grit, determination, faith in the almighty and unending love for the suffering humanity. A very brief sketch of Bhagat Ji’s life is given below.

Bhagat Puran Singh, born at Rajewal, Distt. Ludhiana on June 4 1904., at the house of Chaudhari Chibu Mal and Mehtab Kaur. In an interview to Patwant Singh Bhagat Puran Singh discloses how he became a Sikh ,in his early life he use to travel a lot from village to village and would stay at a Hindu Temple. One day while he was staying at a Temple Brahmins told him to clean the temple and then when he was done they sat in front of him and ate the food without offering him., Incidentally next time he had to stay at a Gurdwara and Bhai ji of Gurdwara not only gave him good food but also a cot and a glass of milk afterwards., without asking for any sewa for Gurdwara. After this Bhagat Puran Singh didn’t even thought twice and became a Khalsa.

He set out in life for the service of the suffering humanity- the greatest religion. He founded Pingalwara in 1947 with a few discarded patients. He was also a writer as well as publisher and an environmentalist. Pingalwara is a very big home of human service.

Bhagat Ji’s contribution in spreading awareness about the global dangers of environment pollution, increasing soil erosion etc are also commendable. His dedication was awarded heaps of honors by many quarters. Prestigious among these was the Padamshri award in 1979, which he surrendered in the wake of the army attack on the Golden Temple in 1984.

He left for his heavenly abode on August 5, 1992. We request you to kindly display the attached appeal at the maximum number of places so that the Sadh Sangat is made aware of the efforts being put up by this Society.

Here are some of the quotes of Bhagat Puran Singh ji

Dignity in death is a birthright of each living thing.

All Punjabi should at least sow a tree of “Bohar”, “Pippal” and “Neem”. These trees are essential to our eco system.

At this time Pingalwara is run by Dr Inder Jit Kaur, she is also President of All India Pingalwara Charitable Society(Regd).

~ Source: sikh-history.com

The Pilot who flew many night strike missions during Kargil War is IAF Vice Chief. Air Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa, the daring fighter pilot who flew with the then Indian Air Force (IAF) Chief during Kargil mission, took charge as the Vice-Chief of the Air Staff (VCAS).

With 37 years of experience in his kitty, Air Marshal Dhanoa is also in line to become the next IAF chief by the end of next year. Commissioned into the IAF in June 1978 as a fighter pilot, Air Marshal Dhanoa is an alumnus of Rashtriya Indian Military College, the National Defence Academy and the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington.

It was during the Kargil operations, he hit the headlines after commanding a fighter.

~ Source – oneindia.com

The night before we’re set to meet, Amarjit Singh leaves a message on my phone. He sounds tired and stressed out. It turns out the 62-year-old cheese maker—who has built a reputation over the past 26 years for his exceptional Indian and Latin American cheeses—was forced to make a last-minute delivery to a grocery store in the nation’s capital. When I see him the next morning at his factory in Ingersoll, in southwestern Ontario (a 1,200-kilometer round-trip from Ottawa), I learn he’s only been back in town for a few hours.

Singh is a busy man. For Local Dairy, the company he has owned and operated with his wife and son for nearly three decades, he is the research and development team, as well as responsible for sourcing ingredients and helping with label design for his dairy products. A self-taught cheesemaker, he still works the line at the factory throughout the week and even hand-delivers the goods to restaurants, grocery stores, and specialty shops on weekends. “We do everything old school. But passion keeps me going,” he says.

The hard work is paying off. Just over a month ago, Local Dairy’s Oaxaca cheese—a semi-firm string cheese that traditionally hails from southern Mexico—took home the award for best mozzarella at the Canadian Cheese Grand Prix, the Oscars of Canadian cheese. Singh is the first to acknowledge that most people wouldn’t expect award-winning Latin American cheese from a Canadian Sikh of Indian descent. And though this might sound like a parody of multiculturalism, it’s more simply explained as a byproduct of Canada’s history of immigration—for years, Italians, Greeks, Polish, Indians and many others have made a life here, bringing along and fusing gastronomic traditions. It’s no different for Local Dairy.

Singh came to Canada when he was 16 years old, and lived by himself until the rest of his family immigrated. When he was old enough, Singh opened a tire store in Scarborough. Though the business was an early success, he was always aware of the fact that Indian cheese—specifically, paneer—was virtually impossible to come by in Canada. When he was forced to close the tire business due to familial squabbling, Singh and his wife, Gurinder, ventured into the cheese business.
“My mother used to make paneer, so I first learned from her,” Singh says. “My dad laughed at me. He thought just because we liked the cheese didn’t mean everyone would, but I had a belief that there could be a market for it here.”

In 1989, Singh entered into a partnership at a Mennonite creamery in Kitchener. Originally, he was only helping with the production of yogurt, crème fraîche, and a cooked cheese known as koch käse, but a chance encounter with a Salvadoran cheesemaker named Luis Alvarado—who’d been brought to Kitchener through the Mennonite church to make crema—changed everything. “I started asking Luis about Latin cheeses and he would encourage me to try making paneer,” Singh says. When his Mennonite partner went broke, Singh bought out the remaining portion of the business and started making cheese with his wife and Alvarado. In 1999, he relocated the business to Ingersoll, a town of 12,000 people that resides in one of the province’s top milk-producing counties, and set up shop in a historic factory that, over the last 134 years, has been home to a pork-packing plant and the once-renowned Ingersoll Cheese Company.

In the past two decades, Singh has traveled to cheese factories in Mexico, Italy, England, France, India, Turkey, and Cyprus to learn different styles and techniques. Currently, he and his staff of seven make over a dozen dairy products, including Oaxaca, queso fresco, duro blando, chihuahua, koch käse, crème fraîche, cultured butter, ghee, yogurt, dulce de leche, and, of course, paneer. (“We were innovators in the world for packaged paneer,” he boasts. “Nothing in India has a shelf life of more than two weeks. Ours is six months.”) Throughout the week, freshly made cheese is distributed to stores and restaurants across Ontario, either with one of Local Dairy’s five delivery trucks, or by Singh himself.

Arturo Anhalt is an expat from Mexico City who owns a trio of restaurants in Toronto called Milagro Cantina Mexicana. He’s been using Local Dairy products since the restaurants opened a decade ago. “I first found their crema in a Latin grocery store in Kensington Market, and it was so good,” Anhalt says. “We struck up a relationship and now every time Singh makes a delivery we end up having a 30-minute chat.” Milagro’s executive chef, Barjinder Bains, is an Indian hailing from the Punjab region. He and Singh often have protracted, animated conversations about Local Dairy’s products. “It’s not every day you see two Indian guys discussing the state and quality of Mexican cheese, but, hey, I guess that’s Toronto,” Anhalt says.

Toronto’s Cheese Boutique—a shop chef Daniel Boulud once called the best cheese store in [North] America—stocks a half dozen Local Dairy cheeses. “We have a big demand for these types of products, from our retail customers and wholesale restaurant accounts, especially with the boom of Mexican cuisine in Toronto right now,” says maître fromager Afrim Pristine. “The products are unique, not many people in this country are making them.” Singh also supplies many other Toronto eateries, including El Catrin, Nota Bene, Playa Cabana, and Fonda Lola.

Twenty-six years after getting into the cheese business, Singh remains outspoken and hungry to learn. Local Dairy’s recent win at the Canadian Cheese Grand Prix may have put a spotlight on the small creamery, but Singh feels unchanged. “We’ve long been a hidden secret,” he says. “This was the first year we submitted cheese to the competition and, actually, the only reason I did was because the Dairy Farmers of Canada kept pushing me to do it.”

At the end of our interview, Singh gives me a tour of the factory. Having been away from Ingersoll that week, he checks the equipment to make sure it’s all been cleaned properly. Although he may be nearing the typical retirement age, Singh has no intention of slowing down. “I’d like to have another ten or 20 years of doing this,” he says. “The work’s never bothered me, and I realize if I don’t work, I’ll never be healthy.”

~ Source: munchies.vice.com

Athletes and activists came together for a panel discussion at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights to talk about how sport can be a springboard to tackling human rights issues. Boxer Pardeep Singh Nagra spoke about how he fought for his right to religious expression.

In 1999, he was a light flyweight boxing champion. He also had a beard — a mandatory article of his Sikh faith.
He was barred from competing in the Canadian Championships because he refused to shave his beard. While the courts ruled in his favor and called on the Canadian Amateur Boxing Association to end what they deemed religious discrimination, Singh’s career ultimately came to an end.

Singh said by sharing his experience in an open forum, he hopes to help prevent possible cases of discrimination in sport in the future.

“I’ve always seen it as a responsibility, to continue to … always make sure that we can put rights and equality on the forefront no matter what the venue is,” said Mr Singh. “If we can continue to reduce these incidents … going forward, then it’s our responsibility.”

“It’s very important to prevent these things from happening again, that you remember these things and make people aware of what happened in the past and to keep fighting for the rights for everybody,” said Ramos-Farina.

~ Source: SikhIssue.com

“From the One Light, the entire universe welled up. So who is good, and who is bad?”

Bhagat Kabir Ji was a revolutionary saint-poet of the Bhakti Movement. He emphasized the equality and fraternity of all mankind. Once Bhagat Kabir Ji was going to sell cloth he had made himself. He met some Sadhus (a renunciate spiritual devotee) on the way whom he gave the entire cloth free of cost.

Saint Kabir Das (Kabir, Arabic for “great”, dasa, Sanskrit for “slave” or “servant”), is widely acknowledged as one of the great personality of the Bhakti movement in North India. He was as is widely acknowledged born in Year 1398 A.D.(71 years before Guru Nanak). Kabir panthis (followers of Kabir) say that he lived up to the age of 120 years and give date of his death as 1518, but relying on the research of Hazari Prasad Trivedi, a British Scholar Charlotte Vaudeville is inclined to lend credence to these dates and has proven that 1448 is probably the correct date of Saint Kabir’s demise.

He is one of the medieval Indian saints of Bhakti and Sufi movement whose compositions figure in Sikh Scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib. From among all of them, Kabir’s contribution is the largest, 227 Padas in 17 ragas and 237 shlokas. Under each raga or musical mode marking a section of the Holy Book, Kabir’s hymns appear at the head of Bhagat Bani, a generic name for the works of contributors other than the Gurus.

The presence of a substantial amount of Kabir’s verse in the Sikh Scripture Guru Granth Sahib and chronologically he being the predecessor of Guru Nanak, founder of the Sikh faith, led some Western scholars to describe him as the forerunner of Sikhism. Some have even called him the preceptor of Guru Nanak

Kabir’s compositions do figure in what are known as Goindval Pothis, anthologies of the hymns of the Gurus along with those of some of the Bhaktas prepared in the time of Guru Amar Das, Guru Nanak. They were included in the Guru Granth Sahib as well. But this happened much later when Guru Arjan, fifth in spiritual line from the Founder, compiled the Holy Book. Besides his own works and those of his four predecessors, he entered the hymns of some saints and mystics, both Hindu and Muslim, of which Kabir was one of them.

Kabir lived in the fifteenth Century after Christ, which was a time of great political upheaval in India. As is true of many contemporary religious teachers, very little reliable information concerning Kabir’s life is available, though there is no dearth of legend gathering around him. Kabir’s life was centered around Kashi, also called Banaras (Varanasi) Legend has it that he was actually the son of a Brahmin widow who abandoned him and that he was found by a Muslim weaver named Niru, who adopted the boy and taught him the weaver’s trade. It is not clear whether he ever married, but tradition gives him a wife named Loi and two children. His caste was that of Julaha and from his sayings his caste’s hereditary occupation of weaving.

On the basis of modern research, it seems probable that Kabir belonged to a family of non-celibate yogis converted, not long before and to a considerable degree superficially to Islam. From the writings of Kabir it seems that his knowledge of Islam was slight, rather in his poetical utterances (Bani) a wealth of Hathayoga terminology and a thought structure which bears obvious resemblance to Nath Yogis. Nath Yogis in addition to the yogic conception that all truth is experimental, i.e. to be realized within the body with the aid of psycho-physical practices, concentration, control of breathing and thus making the body incorruptible and the yogis immortal.

Bhakti movement was started by Hindu saints while Sufi mysticism by Muslim saints in medieval India (1200-1700). Kabir immensely contributed to the Bhakti Movement and is considered a pioneer of Bhakti along with Ravidas, Farid, and Namdev. His concept of love as a path of suffering may possibly indicate, in some measure, a debt to the Sufis. These and other elements from Nath tradition, bhakti and Sufism, Kabir combined with his own mystical nature and produced synthesis which is the distinctive religion of Kabir. Tradition tells us that Swami Ramanand was his Guru (a teacher).

Kabir believed in sell-surrender and God’s bhakti. The Kabirpanthis follow a lite of singing the praises of God, prayers and a simple and pure life of devotion. Kabir recommends ceaseless singing of God’s praises. He virtually suggests withdrawal from the world. He is against all ritualistic and ascetic methods as means to salvation. It is true that Kabir refers to some yogic terms in describing the meditational and mystic methods of the yogis. But, there is no ground to suggest that he himself recommends the yogic path. In fact, far from recommending yoga, he is quite strong in condemning ascetic or yogic methods, and says that yogis, in their meditations, become prey to maya. The point will, however be considered further while comparing Radical bhakti with Nathism.

Bhagat Kabir ji is ranked 5th as regards the volume of Gurbani contributed to SGGS ji, and from the 15 bhagats, he contributed the maximum number of hymns. His total contribution is 541 hymns set to 18 different musical measures (Ragas). Kabir has been accepted as the most revolutionary of all the saints of the Bhagati movement. He was the prominent disciple of Ramanand, and didn’t hesitate to strike blows at futile religious observances & formalism. Ramanand once advised him to get up early in the morning & remember the Lord. This advice impressed him so much that he propagated this throughout is life, awakening masses from their daily slumber of ignorance and uniting them with the Lord.

Besides loving devotion which is the main and dominant theme of Kabir’s Bani as included in SGGS ji, his aim was to free a man from the evil tendencies of ego, deceit, etc. based as they are on superstitions and futility. He criticized caste system, idolatry, and empty ritualism. He had an undying urge to transform a person into a being who is noble and pious spiritually, socially and morally. To achieve his mission, Kabir openly denounced the false superstitions, rituals and practices, in all religions, that had no relevance with the upliftment of human soul with the help of convincing examples. In a hymn included at Ang 324 of SGGS ji, he ridicules the idea that mundan (ritual shaving off a Hindu child’s hair) can lead to God-realization. He says that had it been so, the sheep would have attained liberation several times in its life, since it undergoes the same ritual so often. Similarly, he counteracts the Brahmin’s boast of high caste.

If you are indeed a Brahmin, by thy birth from a Brahmin mother,
then why didn’t you come by some other way? ||2||
With the help of another example, he refused to accept the superior status of Brahmins:

How is it that you are a Brahmin, and I am of a low social status?
How is it that I am formed of blood, and you are made of milk? ||3||

Says Kabeer, one who contemplates God,
is said to be a Brahmin among us. ||4||7||

~ Source- SearchGurbani

A charity walk has helped raise thousands of pounds for a Black Country Man to go to Nepal to help in the relief effort in the wake of two major earthquakes. Around 70 people ranging from children to World’s Oldest Runner, 104 Baba Fauja Singh took on the 11.5 mile route at Aston University Sports Ground which generated around 4000 Euros.

Baba Fauja Singh who is originally from India and now based in Essex is a keen charity supporter & took up running at the age of 59. He is widely recognized as the Oldest Marathon runner in the World.

This is not the first time members of Midland Langar Sewa Society have stepped into support people in time of desperation. While there are helped to clear paths & flooded homes as well as assist in retrieving belongings.

~ Source: expressandstar.co.uk

Everyone from all over the world and all walks of life just wants to get together and help. It was a blissful view to witness people pouring out their generosity for the noble cause.

The autumn is the ideal time to recite this raag …
Guru Amardas ji says….
Ang 1128

The entire universe is made of the same clay!
The potter Lord has shaped us into all sorts of vessels..
The five elements came together to form humans…
Who can say which is less which is more.

Maatee Ek Sagal sansaara
Bahau bidh bhaandey gharey ghumiaara.
Panch tut mil deyhee ka aakara
Ghut vudh ko karey beechaara.

We are ALL created from the same cosmic clay!
Vessels of varying sizes, shapes and colors….
It is the same cosmic clay.
It is His Play…….
Sikhi teaches this deep sense of brotherhood of man…..so relevant for today….

~ By Dr Navjeet Kaur