News & Update

The historically prosperous state of Punjab, situated in the northwest corner of India, is one of the country’s most fertile regions. Known as the “bread basket of India,” its soil is home to rolling fields of wheat, rice paddies and sugarcane plantations. But trouble lurks in paradise: Punjab suffers from an environmental crisis that is a result of the 1960s Green Revolution that brought mechanized agriculture, genetically modified seeds and chemical fertilizers to Punjab, and has today resulted in poor farming practices, excessive pesticide usage and a shrinking groundwater table.

This sustainability crisis captured the attention of Chris Canales CC ’14 and Angad Singh CC ’16, who filmed an original documentary in rural Punjab during the summer of 2013. Their film, compiled from interviews conducted with rural community members, agriculturists, and academics, provides a comprehensive overview of the crisis, with a focus on rural Punjabi youth, who will inherit the socioeconomic problems their families face due to the crisis: dependence on government subsidies, poor harvests and crippling debt.

Film is a powerful medium to convey the complexity of a multigenerational crisis without pretending that we have the answers

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By documenting a little-known crisis that is often overshadowed by larger, global environmental concerns, Sustain Punjab aims to reach an audience far beyond the local communities that the crisis has impacted. And for the sake of the young people of the agricultural communities, who stand to inherit a land besieged by so many problems, Canales and Singh hope that it succeeds in spreading its message.

Film will become a tool to create awareness about Punjab among U.S. audiences. “Our project isn’t just about a film. Our focus is the story of the youth of Punjab and the difficulties they face growing up.

~ Source: www.college.columbia.edu

Manikaran is located in the Parvati Valley along the banks of river Parvati, northeast of Bhuntar in the Kullu District of Himachal Pradesh. It is at an altitude of 1760 m and is located about 40 km from Bhuntar.

According to Sikhs, during third Udasi, Guru Nanak Dev ji came to this place in 1574 Bikrami with his disciples Bhai Bala & Bhai Mardana. Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji was with Bhai Bala and Bhai Mardana in Manikaran region and Bhai Mardana felt hungry and they had no food. Guru Nanak sent his good Friend Bhai Mardana to collect food for Langar (the Community Kitchen). Many people donated flour (atta) to make Roti (bread). The one problem was that there was no fire to cook the food. Guru Nanak Asked Mardana to lift a stone and Bhai Mardana then lifted a rock and a hot spring(hot water) appeared. As directed by Guru Nanak Dev ji, Mardana put the rolled chapatis in the spring to his despair the chapatis sank. Guru Nanak then told him to pray to God saying that if his chapatis float back then he would donate one chapati in the name of God. When he prayed all the chapatis started floating duly baked. Guru Nanak Dev Ji said that anyone who donates in the name of God, his or her drowned items float back.

The water of the spring is also supposed to have curative powers & extremely auspicious. The water is so hot that rice for the “Langar” is cooked by putting it into a linen bag and dipping it into the boiling water.

~ Source: http://kullutourism.com/

Story of Ms Kirpa Kaur Khalsa who is from Australia and is currently studying in the UK. Bhenji recently took Amrit and became a member of the Khalsa family. May she be blessed with more Chardikala and Gursikhi Jeevan!

She narrates her journey of being an Amritdhari Sikhni!

I first felt a connection with Guru Sahib when I was 5 years old looking through a picture book in my school library in Australia. Growing up I continued to witness the amazing power of Guru Sahib. Every step closer I took to Guru Sahib, on my discovery I felt so much Pyaar (love) and such a strong presence guiding me on this beautiful lifelong path. Guru Sahib brought me to England for a university exchange and continued to shower me with blessings and guidance- the amount of Pyaar Guru Sahib gives his children is beyond anything in this world. On 20th December 2014 in Coventry, Guru Sahib blessed me into the Khalsa Family. There is no way to describe this feeling! All I can say is my soul is at peace now.

With the power of Naam and Guru Sahib’s Pyaar, there is no way we can ever feel alone or empty. When I was really young I just felt fascinated by the people in the library book and mesmerized by Sri Harmandir Sahib. When I looked at the pictures I felt like I had found my place in the world. It was like I had a connection with it from past janams (lives). There are not a lot of Gursikhs in Australia. However, with God’s grace I applied for exchange programs all over the world and Guru Sahib brought me to England and surrounded me with so many inspirational Gursikhs.

I had so many problems and hurdles to get to UK but Guru ji did not let me fail any test. Even in the last hurdle with my visa I had no certainty that I would be allowed into the country to stay, but I felt that confidence to just to go and everything would work out – and it did. With God’s Grace everything happened perfectly – I know Guru Sahib wanted me to come here and be amongst the Gursikhs and the Saadh Sangat. It’s an amazing feeling – everything was done for a reason!

My name before was Ruby Palmer. My family is full of beautiful people. I love them so much but it is hard for them to understand as they don’t believe in religion. There have been a lot of hurdles and the image of a Dastaar (turban) is confronting for them because it’s so different to anything they know. However, I just explain to them with love why I am doing things and with time they’re getting more and more use to it- it’s just about changing what they perceive as normal. The bottom line is that they just want me to be happy, and following Guru Sahib’s path is what makes me feel the happiest and fulfilled.

20th Dec was the best day of her life when she connected to Guru Sahib & became the member of Khalsa Panth!

~ Source: http://manvirsingh.blogspot.in/

Gurdwara Pathar Sahib, is a beautiful Gurdwara Sahib constructed in the memory of Guru Nanak, about 25 miles away from Leh, on the Leh-Kargil road, 12000 ft above the sea level. The Gurdwara was built in 1517 to commemorate the visit of Guru Nanak Dev to Ladakh , the founder of the Sikh faith.

During his lifetime Guru Nanak travelled to many distant places and one such place was Tibet. Guru Nanak is well respected by Tibetan Buddhists who consider him a saint; The Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Buddhists in Tibet, has confirmed this in his discussions with some Sikh leaders saying that Tibetans revere Guru Nanak as a Buddhist saint under the name of Guru Gompka Maharaj.

During the period of 1515-18 when Guru Nanak was returning to Punjab through Srinagar, after travelling to Sikkim, Nepal and Tibet, he had rested at this place. It is believed that Guru Nanak Dev reached Leh via Sikkim, Nepal, Tibet and Yarkhand. Today the site and the Gurdwara is revered by both the local Lamas and Sikh sangat. Currently the Army is looking after the Gurdwara.

According to a local legend, once a wicked demon live in the area who terrorized the people where the Gurdwara is now situated. The people prayed to the Almighty for help. It is said that Guru Nanak heard their woes and came to their aid. He settled down on the bank of the river below the hill where the wicked demon lived. The Guru blessed the people with sermons and became popular in the area. The locals called him Nanak Lama. Seeing this, the demon got into a rage and decided to kill Guru Nanak Dev.

One morning when the Guru was sitting in meditation, the demon pushed a large pathar (boulder), down from the hilltop, with the intention of killing the Guru. The boulder gained speed as it rumbled down the hillside, but when it touched the Guru’s body, it softened like warm wax and came to a halt against Guru Nanak’s back. The Guru kept on meditating unhurt and undisturbed. Thinking that the Guru had been killed, the demon came down and was taken aback to see the Guru deep in meditation. In a fit of anger, he tried to push the boulder with his right foot, but as the Pathar still had the softness of warm wax, his foot got embedded in it. Pulling his foot from the boulder the demon was dumfounded to see the impression his foot had just left in the stone.

On seeing this, the demon realized his own powerlessness in comparison to the spiritual power of the great Guru. He fell at the feet of Guru Nanak Dev and begged for forgiveness. Guru Sahib advised him to get rid of his wicked ways and asked him to lead a life of a noble person. This changed the life of the demon, who gave up evil deeds and started serving the people.

Guru Nanak Dev thereafter continued his holy journey towards Srinagar via Kargil. The pathar pushed down by the demon, with the imprint of the body of Guru Nanak Dev and the footprint of the demon, is at present on display in Gurdwara Pathar Sahib. It is said that since the visit of Guru Sahib (in 1517) to the building of the roadway in 1965, the local Lamas had held the Pathar sacred and offered prayers to it as, no doubt, they do to this day.

~ Source: Sikhiwiki