“Nitnem” is combination of two words NIT means every day and NEM means regularly.

Simply it just says: “that everyday habit,” “that daily practise.” This word is most commonly heard in Sikh preaching. Everyone can be heard discussing about it. There are different meanings and teachings related to this strong word in the Sikh religion.

According to our religion, this habit consists of daily banis (verses,) that are each to be recited at different times of day by Sikhs every morning, evening and before going to sleep. Morning nitnem banis are Japji sahib, Jaap sahib, Amrit savaiye, Chaupai sahib and Anand sahib. In the evening Rehras Sahib, and at night (before going to bed) Kirtan Sohila.

Each of the banis carries the energy of a particular tattva (element.)

Ether – Japji Sahib and Shabd Hazaaray (Amrit Vela) Balances your natural earth energy with the etheric energy
Air – Jaap Sahib and Tav Prasaad Swayaas (Morning) Tunes your mind to the Power of the Infinite
Fire – Anand Sahib (Morning) Energizes and empowers you
Water – Rehiras Sahib with Bentee Chaupaee (Sundown) Moves you gracefully from the male sun energy of the day into the female moon energy of the night
Earth – Kirtan Sohilaa (bedtime) Prepares you to leave the earthIn this regard we may look at the five Nitnem Banis thus:
Japji Sahib

This is in the form of Updesh or instruction to the mind from the soul. It is meant to be recited to the self and is not primarily meant for others to hear, but it can certainly be done in a group as well. If this is kept in mind it should be possible to identify ego or any other distraction. Japji Sahib conditions the mind to be receptive.

Jaap Sahib

This Bani of the tenth Guru is entirely in praise of Akal Purakh either in second or third person. In the former portions, it should be possible to detect whether the speaker is talking to the Master or not. Sometimes negative ideas tend to come to mind during Paath. These pertain to something that has happened or is to be done. If such a thing happens one may tell the self, “so this is how you talk to the Lord?” The course may then be corrected. Of course this is applicable in respect of all Banis.

Swayyay

These ten Swayyas are the last composition before we take on the mundane activities for the day. They tell us not to get too engrossed in making money, unjust exercise of authority and the like. The ninth Swayya tells us to avoid pretense and act in love (Jin prem keeo tin hi Prabh paaio). Understanding them as such makes them relevant and helps in concentration.

Rehras Sahib

Rehras is recited at sunset after the day’s work is over. One may be tired, elated or not so happy because of what happened during the day. The compositions forming the parts of Rehras are meant to thank the Lord for enabling us to do our duties that day. It is mostly in second person addressed to God. The day’s distraction and fatigue may make concentration difficult but it helps if the mind is motivated that it is going to talk to the Master. Its beginning lends itself well for the purpose. It starts with “Sodar tayra kihaa –“. Later “Vaday mayaray Saahiba –“, Tu ghat ghat antar –“Tu karta sachiaar maidaa saaee”, “Na hau jatti satti nahi –” all in second person. These are only representative examples. Similarly in the Chaupaee the tenth Guru enables us to talk to Akal Purakh in large part e.g. “Hamri karahu haath day rachhaa”, “Tumhay chaad koee na dhiaaoo”, “Raakh lahu mohay raakhanhaaray” and so on.

Sohila

Sohila which is normally recited at bed time is a short Bani reminding us about the end of life and preparing us to leave the earth. Every time one goes to sleep, it is a “little death,” and so this bani is a “rehearsal” so to speak for the final leaving. If recited in that spirit, it brings humility and concentration followed by good sleep.

Guru ji named them under one heading as nitnem banis and asked each sikh to read them every day, with proper attention and concentration. This requires experiencing the sound of each bani.

Gurbani cleans one inside. When one does paath of Gurbani and listens attentively to the

sound of Gurbani, it has an enchanting and life-changing effect on the seeker. Just by listening to Gurbani one’s sorrows and pains are removed.

“Dukh daaroo sukh rog bhaiaa jaa sukh taam na hoee||

In this way, the mind becomes trained to feel close to, and remember, Vaheguru. The strength of the Nitnem Banis is unlimited. It energises you, and you will feel the powerful effect as you keep on doing day by day. Your inner soul will find peace, harmony, clarity and decisiveness. Fear will be gone. Your powerful ego, anger, restlessness and mental madness will become silent and contentment will start residing in you. You will feel motivated and inspired all the time. You will develop inner sight to every aspect of life. You will want to do more work for the upliftment of the society. You will develop an attitude of expressing gratitude for every little thing in your life.

As you keep up with this spiritual routine, your intuition will deepen and you will always feel guided. Your hurdles and problems are not yours anymore, they are taken care of by the One.

Each person’s experience will be different and special. The living example of creating this spiritual habit to me is my father in law, who does Nitnem every day without being affected by any situation in his life. The tasks he has been able to accomplish cannot be achieved without divine blessings. Even I feel that he gets all his strength, energy, calmness and vision from God. He always tells me that doing Nitnem not only gives you power, but also restrains you from doing wrong deeds by keeping you alert in your day to day activities.

But there are people who will question this. “What’s the need of this? I don’t understand it. So first we will be learning the deep meaning and then follow it?”

To me these are just excuses. Because it’s not easy to follow this, you need full determination and God’s grace to recite these banis. Without doing Naam Simran, the meaning and depth of Gurbani becomes much harder. Our minds are pitch black due to the deeds of many lifetimes. Naam Simran helps remove this blackness, and when the blackness is removed, the mind more easily soaks in the meaning of Gurbani which is pure light. Each time you do Nitnem, you will feel that you are enlightened in a different way. Every time you will see anew the meaning of your life.

Guru Har Rai ji was once asked whether there was any benefit gained by reading the Guru’s Bani without understanding it. “Yes,” he replied, “Just as grease sticks to the pot even when it is emptied, so does the Guru’s Word stick to the heart. Whether you understand it or not, the Word bears the Seed of Salvation. Perfume persists in the broken pieces even after the vase that contained it has been shattered.”

In today’s world, when our homes are controlled by all sort of other entertainment gadgets, which are in full power to divert us from our main path of life. It’s very important, as parents, that we should inspire our children to do Nitnem daily. I know they can’t do all the banis, but if you start them at early age, then they create the habit for their whole life. I still don’t remember when my mom made me learn Japji Sahib by heart. She used to make us learn even while bathing and still now, whenever I take a bath, the path starts automatically because it became my habit.

It’s important to inculcate these habits in ours kids because our habits form our character. Take care of your character because it will lead you to your destiny, and your destiny will be your life.

I feel that reading Gurbani is our spiritual habit, just as brushing our teeth is our health habit and eating breakfast is our daily routine. We all follow our other routines without questioning them, similarly we should implement this one.

Just do your duty first and leave the rest in God’s hands. “SARAB DHARAm meh srshth dharam, har ko naam jap Nirmal karam.” READING Gurbani is the 1st STEP, UNDERSTANDING Gurbani is the 2nd STEP, and IMPLEMENTING Gurbani is the 3rd STEP. One cannot get to step 2 or 3 without achieving step 1.

Only those can do Nitnem, who have Guru Ji’s blessings. “Jis nu kirpa kareh tin naam rattan payia.” We should always do ardaas that Guru Ji gives us that power that we are able to recite banis with more dedication, engrossment, faith and conviction. Reciting Nitnem banis imparts a sense of sublime bliss that instils the spirit with a lasting kind of calm confidence that ever increases, with regular practice, to inspire and uplift the soul.

There is no harm in learning from any individual or a different faith as every entity in its entirety comprises salient attributes that must be acknowledged and learnt from

Being the most sacred place of worship in Islam, the Grand Mosque of Makkah, more commonly known as Masjid-ul-Haram, is visited my millions of Muslims all year round. But here is a quick reality check – there have been such incidents reported where some non-Muslims also furtively sneaked into the holy city of Makkah. This is not something that I am claiming (please don’t kill me!), but is, in fact, present all over the internet. Even the Saudis punish the non-Muslims who are caught red-handed from Makkah or Madinah by inflicting nothing more than penalties and/or deportations. However, the stationing of religious police beyond the turnoff on the main roads to prevent non-Muslims from proceeding into Makkah highlights two main aspects: Muslim custodians of the sacred sites are efficient in ensuring that no violation of the law takes place; and some non-Muslims are inquisitive enough to know more about true Islamic values and culture whose practical manifestation can be seen only at its religious centres.

The purpose behind setting the grounds for this article is again based on two reasons: not only Muslims but the followers of all religions are equally efficient in guarding their respective places of worship; and there are certain Muslims that burn with curiosity to visit churches, temples and Gurdwaras. One such Muslim was me (I still am a Muslim!) whose spirit of interest made her look towards the northern side of the Hazuri Bagh Baradari.

The Holy Kaaba is venerated as the most sacred site in Islam and is claimed by Muslim ideology to have been the House of God since forever. This is our ideology and no one among Muslims can deny this. But the fact is, as historians narrate, that this building at the centre of Islam’s most sacred mosque was once a house to approximately 360 idols until the Conquest of Makkah and was converted into a mosque. Although Muslims eye this as restoration of the mosque originally established by Prophet Ibrahim, this single incident has been recorded in pages of history from different angles. It is all about perspective (I hope to have not committed blasphemy by saying this!).

Similarly, for how long will we all blame Ranjit Singh for constructing a Gurdwara adjacent to the Badshahi Mosque? Let us all get over it and acknowledge the fact that if these two religious sites can stand side by side, so can their ardent followers.

As mentioned earlier, the administration of Gurdwara Sri Dera Sahib in Lahore is as strict and vigilant as the Muslim religious police in Saudi Arabia; both of them efficiently identify the non-believers and ask them about their purpose of entering the premises of the religious sites. In my case, however, special mention of Mr Ahtisham Jan Butt and Mr Aroon Kumar is an obligation on me as they facilitated and organised a memorable tour to the Gurdwara.

We were welcomed into the Gurdwara by Rana Shahid, a Muslim member of the staff who was willingly serving as an acolyte. By the amount of knowledge he had treasured in his heart and the level of respect and deference he was giving to the Sikh ideology, one could have never guessed that he was not a Sikh had our fellow Aroon Kumar not told us. It touched my heart, if not others’, as it was actually the first time I saw a non-believer of a religion serving it with such devotion and passion. Following his footsteps, all of us wore handkerchiefs on our heads to show our respect for the sanctuary.

We were guided to the hall where specially prepared Langar was to be served, a tradition known as Pangat. Rana Shahid taught us some basic etiquette of the institution of Guru ka Langar, some beautiful pearls of wisdom which might have been prescribed in almost every religion but whose practical manifestation could be seen during these community meals. Food is prepared in ample quantity so as to suffice to everyone’s need, but it is an individual’s moral duty to put only as much food on a plate as he needs; wastage of food is strictly admonished. It is for this reason and to eliminate the possibility of transmission of communicable diseases that sharing of food is also highly discouraged.

The Langar is served to all the visitors, and so were we, without distinction of faith or background, and for free. It is pertinent to mention here that it was one delicious meal – and, of course, without meat. This clarified one facet on me that vegetarian food can be toothsome. We were served mixed vegetable and palak paneer along with rice and roti (Parshada). If one had to refuse from getting more food, one would do it by gesturing Pranamasana, i.e. hands pressed together with palms touching, fingers pointing upwards and thumbs close to the chest; saying a direct “no” to food is considered insult to the rizq being provided by God.

Another interesting custom is to wash your own dish and glass. This act serves to promote the idea of equality of all human beings. Believe me when I say that all these little yet significant acts practically taught me those moralities which have been enjoined by my own religion. Yet we are unable to see their applications in our madrasahs and mosques. We then thanked Rana sahib for the flawless arrangement by doing Pranamasana. We should learn from everywhere, why just from our own religious sanctuaries?

Rana sahib then led us to the Shaheed Asthan of Guru Arjun Dev Ji, the place where the fifth Sikh Guru had embraced martyrdom. As per tradition, the Mughal emperor Jahangir had subjected Guru ArjunDev in late May of 1606 by making him sit on a burning hot plate and pouring red-hot sand over his head and body. Mian Mir, a renowned Muslim Sufi saint who laid the foundation stone of the Golden Temple in Amritsar and taught us the lesson of cooperative, constructive and positive interaction between people of different faiths, tried to intervene but was stopped by Guru Dev Ji, saying that it is the “Will of the Almighty”. On the fifth day of inhumane torture, Guru Ji was permitted to take a bath in the River Ravi on presumption that his blisters will burn even more intensely on coming in contact with cold water. However, as legend has it, Guru Ji dipped in the river but never returned, thus sowing the seeds of martyrdom in context of which his Shaheed Asthan, a memorial rostrum, was erected at the site.

Later, we were guided to the entrance of the Gurdwara adjacent to which was standing the Roshnai gate in its original form.At the top of the entrance were embossed the figures of three Hindu deities, namely Brahma, Ganpati and Krishna. Rana sahib, despite anything to the contrary, clarified that these figures have nothing to do with Sikh ideology and were added later by the Hindu-turned-Sikh Kashmiri rajas Gulab Singh Dogra and Dhiyan Singh Dogra. It was quite amusing for me to know that Sikhism, in its essence, is a monotheist religion.

Rana sahib apprised us that the Guru Granth Sahib, the Holy Book of Sikhism, is treated as a living entity and the eleventh and the last Guru of Sikhs owing to which the place (dwara) where it (Guru) is kept and recited, along with the effectuation of all measures of deference, is known as Gurdwara. Hence all the visiting devotees and listeners revere the premises with utmost respect, sit on the carpeted floor, and never show back while leaving the place where the holy scripture is placed on an elevated throne in a prominent central position under the shadow of a crown made of pure gold. Guru Granth Sahib has 1,430 Ang (parts) and yet another flabbergasting piece of information was the congruency of the first Ang with Surah Ikhlas (chapter 112) of the Holy Qur’an.

Adjacent to the Gurudwara is Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s Samadhi, the building housing his funerary urns. Also, next to the Guru Granth sahib’s resting place are the Samadhis of Kharak Singh and Nau Nihal Singh, Ranjit Singh’s son and grandson, respectively.

Along with amusing my eyes with the features of architecture associated to a totally different religion, this tour to Gurudwara Sri Dera sahib was enlightening in a way that it taught how to respect humanity as equally as the creed. While the Holy Scripture and Gurus are venerated with extreme honour, human beings are also served with equal respect in the forms of Seva during distribution of Langar, washing of dishes, valuing the food being offered, and Serais(accommodation) in the premises of every Gurdwara.

There is no harm in learning from any individual or a different faith as every entity in its entirety comprises salient attributes that must be acknowledged and learnt from. After all, it is all about perspective!

PakistanToday.com

J Singh Kapur, a Sikh student of Valley High School in West Des Moines, Iowa in US, won the 2017 National Speech and Debate Tournament in the category of original oratory -considered to be the most prestigious high school speech and debate competition in the US.

Taking off with a jig on a Punjabi song, the speech titled `Let’s Dance’ exposes the tendency of building simplified narratives and ignoring the complexities of the past as well as contemporary times.Both his style and content are attracting admiration or reaction.

His speech is rocking social media and radio channels are inviting him for talk shows.
His speech takes off from the Bollywood films’ disconnect with reality and its simplified narratives.
“We are a story-telling society. We each seek to provide our scattered and confusing experiences with a sense of coherence, by arranging the episodes of our lives into stories. But our problem arises when our complex realities do not match the narrative.”

Apart from quite a few other examples of simplified narratives, he narrated his experience to highlight the stereotyping of Sikh and Muslim identities post-911. He told the audience that he was two years old when 911 happened and (as his parents told him later). His family was watching the horrific tragedy unfold on TV when he shouted `Papa’ after seeing an image on the screen. “The image was that of Osama bin Laden.My father told me that this was a moment of profound fear for him as he realized that Americans may see his beard and turban and think he’s a terrorist.”

JJ, who bagged thee first prize, won a scholarship of $2,000.
In his blog “Story of a Sikh American”, JJ tells how a group of teenagers at restaurant shouted “hey Osama go home”. “There have been times when I’ve been tempted to remove my turban and to cut off my hair, but my father encourages me to strengthen my roots,” he wrote. In the light of such provocations, this high school student co-founded “The Iowa Sikh Turbanators” in January 2017.The forum is being run by youth Sikhs dedicated to raising awareness about Sikhism. The goal of the Iowa Sikh Turbanators is simple: to “turban-ate” the negative stigma surrounding the Sikh faith through community service events.

Source- Times of India

J Singh Kapur, a Sikh student of Valley High School in West Des Moines, Iowa in US, won the 2017 National Speech and Debate Tournament in the category of original oratory -considered to be the most prestigious high school speech and debate competition in the US.

Taking off with a jig on a Punjabi song, the speech titled `Let’s Dance’ exposes the tendency of building simplified narratives and ignoring the complexities of the past as well as contemporary times.Both his style and content are attracting admiration or reaction.

His speech is rocking social media and radio channels are inviting him for talk shows.
His speech takes off from the Bollywood films’ disconnect with reality and its simplified narratives.
“We are a story-telling society. We each seek to provide our scattered and confusing experiences with a sense of coherence, by arranging the episodes of our lives into stories. But our problem arises when our complex realities do not match the narrative.”

Apart from quite a few other examples of simplified narratives, he narrated his experience to highlight the stereotyping of Sikh and Muslim identities post-911. He told the audience that he was two years old when 911 happened and (as his parents told him later). His family was watching the horrific tragedy unfold on TV when he shouted `Papa’ after seeing an image on the screen. “The image was that of Osama bin Laden.My father told me that this was a moment of profound fear for him as he realized that Americans may see his beard and turban and think he’s a terrorist.”

JJ, who bagged thee first prize, won a scholarship of $2,000.
In his blog “Story of a Sikh American”, JJ tells how a group of teenagers at restaurant shouted “hey Osama go home”. “There have been times when I’ve been tempted to remove my turban and to cut off my hair, but my father encourages me to strengthen my roots,” he wrote. In the light of such provocations, this high school student co-founded “The Iowa Sikh Turbanators” in January 2017.The forum is being run by youth Sikhs dedicated to raising awareness about Sikhism. The goal of the Iowa Sikh Turbanators is simple: to “turban-ate” the negative stigma surrounding the Sikh faith through community service events.

Source- Times of India

On Canadian Multiculturalism Day, Singh shared his personal experiences of growing up in Canada, and how the country’s official embrace of diversity often falls short of reality.

“While Canada is known for celebrating Multiculturalism, as a kid growing up, it didn’t always feel that way,” Singh wrote on Twitter. “I remember feeling like there was something wrong with me for just being me, and I wanted to belong.”
Singh said he learned early on that he had to “work twice as hard for half as much,” and that his turban and beard made him stand out.

Singh said he has been racially profiled and stopped by police during his time as a defence lawyer and even after he entered politics.

“Since being elected, I’ve faced criticism for caring about how I dress,” Singh said. “The truth is, like many [people of colour], I don’t have the privilege to not care.”

How people of colour dress “impacts how they are perceived and treated.” Singh said. “It is something we grapple with everyday.”

Singh, who is well-known for his sharp personal style, said that fashion allowed him the confidence to own his identity and do the work he was passionate about.

“Fashion became my social armour,” Singh said.

Singh said he hoped his story would help young people going through similar struggles with identity and belonging