Amritsar: A lone turbaned Sikh distributing disinfectants, fruit and medicines to Yazidis and Assyrian Christian refugees who have taken shelter in Erbil, Kurdistan, invites curious glances from everyone, making many wonder about the Santa-like man with a flowing white beard. Ravi Singh, CEO of UK based Sikh charity Khalsa Aid, who headed out to the […]
Amritsar: A lone turbaned Sikh distributing disinfectants, fruit and medicines to Yazidis and Assyrian Christian refugees who have taken shelter in Erbil, Kurdistan, invites curious glances from everyone, making many wonder about the Santa-like man with a flowing white beard.
Ravi Singh, CEO of UK based Sikh charity Khalsa Aid, who headed out to the war zone to do his bit towards reducing the suffering of these displaced groups, is living the Sikh credo of sewa (selfless service) by doing whatever possible, be it arranging water or milk supplies.
“The majority of these people don’t know about Sikhs, only that they are of Indian origin,“ Singh told TOI over the phone from Erbil on Monday .“They are amused to see a turbaned man helping them when other turbaned men (ultras of the Islamic State or ISIS), who also sport beards, are killing them in cold blood.“
He has launched a relief mission to assist the fleeing minority communities being persecuted in Iraq by the ISIS.“We are working towards providing aid in the form of clean drinking water, food items and shelter,“ he said.
Singh said on his arrival in Erbil he found around 3,0004000 refugees taking shelter in St Joseph’s Church. They needed everything — brooms, disinfectants, bleach, milk — and he put together a network with the help of like-minded natives and began distributing rice and vegetables. “Today we distributed milk to the refugees,” he said.
After getting a phone call from a Swedish doctor about 70,000 displaced people in Duhok desperately needing water, Singh extended his stay in Erbil by another couple of days. “We will request the governor of Erbil and the officials of the private company that supplies water, and see what can be done,” he said.
Asked what inspired him to go to the war zone, Singh said: “Khalsa never turns its back on such atrocities. It is our duty as Sikhs not only to wish everyone’s good but to enforce it too.”
~ By Yudhvir Rana
~ Source: The Times of India (Delhi)
Change is the sign of development. Indian society is also changing continuously. Joint family system is being converting into nuclear family system. Our kids were previously looked after by their grandparents who inculcated in them the moral values and attached them to their culture and heritage by telling them the folk tales. In such a […]
Change is the sign of development. Indian society is also changing continuously. Joint family system is being converting into nuclear family system. Our kids were previously looked after by their grandparents who inculcated in them the moral values and attached them to their culture and heritage by telling them the folk tales.
In such a scenario Gurmeet Kaur , in March 2013, launched the first set of folktale books under the title of Fascinating folktales of Punjab. It was the first time ever that Punjabi folk literature was presented to our children in a fun, educational and inspiring manner. Set of 3 board books printed on child-friendly, heavy, laminated art-board with vibrant colors made the characters come to life.
These books connected our children to Punjabi heritage and language from a very early age while bringing the stories that are being forgotten back to life. They helped the children to form an association and bonding with the Gurmukhi script.
The feedback was amazing. Public demand for more books made her continue this work. After a year and half of hard work, her team has now completed the design for two more board-books that makes the series of board-books complete. How exciting it will be for our little ones to be able to hold and enjoy Five Folktales from the Land of Five Rivers!
We are sure you will fall in love with them as you did with the first ones.
She needs to raise funds to get the books printed and shipped to the USA to be in your hands. You may pre-order the books for your family, friends and the local community.
She needs your contribution TODAY.
Please drop her a mail with your order and send your pre-order cheque made to Gurmeet Kaur at the following address. Gurmeet Kaur 245 Portsmouth Ct. Roswell GA 30076 www.folktalesofpunjab.com
NEW DELHI: On October 28, 1914, a wounded sergeant of the King’s Own Scottish Borderers recuperating in Dublin, Ireland, told the British press about Indian bravery on the Western Front. He said: “We were close to them when they received their baptism by fire. They were halted in an exposed position and it was only […]
NEW DELHI: On October 28, 1914, a wounded sergeant of the King’s Own Scottish Borderers recuperating in Dublin, Ireland, told the British press about Indian bravery on the Western Front.
He said: “We were close to them when they received their baptism by fire. They were halted in an exposed position and it was only by occasional flash of fire from their dark eyes that you would have seen that anything unusual was on. Many of them were hit, but few of them dropped out. They got the order to advance and you never saw men more pleased. They went forward with a rush like a football team charging their opponents. They got to grips with the Germans in double quick time, and the howl of joy that went up as they felt their bayonets gripping something solid told us that those chaps felt that they were paying the Germans back in full for the peppering they had got while waiting for orders. When they came back from that charge, they looked very well pleased with themselves, and they had every right to be.”
The men described above were among the 1.3 million men of the Indian Army who fought across the globe in the First World War. A century later, their sacrifices are now being honoured by world leaders and country heads, the latest being UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon on Thursday. But leading this tribute march is Great Britain under whose flag the Indian Army served in both world wars.
“Britain feels an enormous amount of gratitude to India and her Army for their decisive intervention in the First World War. Without the Indian Army, we couldn’t have won. The Indian Army was the only Commonwealth army that fought in all theatres of the war. So the commemoration of the Indian soldiers’ role is of utmost importance to us,” says Brigadier Brian McCall of the British Army, now the defence attach at the British high commission in Delhi.
An artist’s impression of the memorial to Victoria Cross winners.
While many Indian commemoration programmes are already under way in the UK, Britain has some elaborate plans for India. “We have digitized the war diaries of the various regiments that participated in the conflict through the National Archives of UK. These treasure troves of information, hitherto unavailable to the people of India, are also being hardbound in print. We shall officially hand over these to the government of India at a grand ceremony on October 30 at the high commissioner’s residence in Delhi. These records will then be placed in the National Archives of India,” McCall tells TOI in an exclusive briefing at his south Delhi residence.
But the commemoration doesn’t stop there. Britain has also prepared six sandstone memorials for each of the Victoria Cross winners in the war (the Indian Army won 11 VCs, but Britain has placed three of them in Pakistan and two in Nepal) apart from a memorial tablet that will be placed on a war memorial, either existing or the one that finance minister Arun Jaitley promised to set up in his 2014-15 budget speech.
The high commission has been liaising with the United Service Institution of India’s Centre for Armed Forces Historical Research in the latter’s India and the Great War commemoration project — a four-year initiative sponsored by the ministry of external affairs that aims to re-establish the lost Indian voice in the predominantly white narrative of the First World War.
Squadron Leader Rana TS Chhina (Retd), who has been piloting this initiative, elaborates on the six proposed memorials, “The sandstone memorial will be placed in a chhatri, the traditional Indian memorial to the dead. These chhatris will be funded by the state governments and established in the villages from where these soldiers came. The Amar Veer Smarak, as these memorials will be known, will be a matter of pride for those villages, states as well as the country. Villagers in Haryana and UP have already set aside plots to set up these memorials.”
The memorial tablet that will be put up on a war memorial.
To be part of this grand ceremony, McCall says, the commanding officers of all those regiments whose war diaries are being digitized have been invited. However, “not one has acknowledged the invite”. It would certainly be embarrassing for both Britain and India, more for India, if the government and the military don’t support this initiative. A senior Indian Army officer says on condition of anonymity, “We want to commemorate the WWI centenary, but the MoD hasn’t given us a go-ahead. They haven’t said ‘no’ either. They aren’t saying anything at all. And that is so depressing.”
But McCall isn’t disheartened yet. “We plan to fly in a Royal Air Force band for joint performance with an Indian Air Force band at the ceremony. I can tell you this that every Indian who attends that ceremony will come out of it with his chest swelling with pride,” he says.
Akal Academy Chogawan celebrated Independence Day by planting 50 saplings of shady and fruit-bearing trees in the school premises under the fourth round of “Ajit Greenary Drive” to make India green and pollution free. Under the supervision of Principal Gursharanjeet Kaur, staff and students planted the saplings. To plant more trees is a worth praising […]
Akal Academy Chogawan celebrated Independence Day by planting 50 saplings of shady and fruit-bearing trees in the school premises under the fourth round of “Ajit Greenary Drive” to make India green and pollution free.
Under the supervision of Principal Gursharanjeet Kaur, staff and students planted the saplings.
To plant more trees is a worth praising step taken by the Principal Gursharanjeet Kaur to fight against one of the major Global Problem.
Dear Friends, Sat Sri Akal The world knows me as a Master Off-Spinner and the Turban has been my identity. I have represented India from 1966 to 1979, finding a place in Wisden Cricketer’s Almanack and while playing across the world, I always sported a colourful Patka and never have I been asked to remove […]
Dear Friends, Sat Sri Akal
The world knows me as a Master Off-Spinner and the Turban has been my identity. I have represented India from 1966 to 1979, finding a place in Wisden Cricketer’s Almanack and while playing across the world, I always sported a colourful Patka and never have I been asked to remove my turban.
Exactly opposite happened last month to two young basketball players from India – Amarpal and Amjyot Singh. They were representing India at the Asia Cup Championship in China.
Just before the game, both of them were asked to remove their turbans if they wanted to play. They were told that wearing turbans violated the rules of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA).
This is a shame! How can our country’s top sportsmen be humiliated like that? Sign this petition and ask FIBA to change its policies. Sikhs should be able to play with their turban on if they want to.
My faith and religion have played a big part in my successful career. FIBA’s policies should be more sensitive to people’s faith. Sign this petition and tell them so.
If atleast 25,000 people sign this petition, FIBA will know that this is an issue of great importance and change its policies to be more sensitive.
After you sign this petition, forward my mail to your friends and family. Let us support our country’s sportsmen in every way that we can.
Our Punjabi culture is very rich and today’s young generation in the race of modernization has been detached with it. Akal Academy Mahal kalan has made a beautiful attempt to aware and attach our young generation to our rich heritage by organizing an activity on Heritage Bonanza.
Parents, students and staff of the school participated in it.
A number of stalls on traditional items were displayed. On one stall utensils, used by our forefathers, were displayed while on the other stall traditional outfits were displayed showing their simple way and style of living.
On a stall a live demonstration of traditional way of churning the curd and making butter and buttermilk was shown by a student. On one of the stalls a student was spinning the wheel and singing a beautiful folk song taking the audience in the remote land of some imaginary world.
There was a stall on which there was a miniature of a house showing each and every detail of items used in past and still are being in some of the houses. Whether it is a wooden ladder or a spinning wheel or a toy each and every detail of the household item was there.
A live cultural progamme was performed by the students. They presented folk songs, folk dances Gidha and Bhangra. Their performance was wow, worth praising.
This activity was based on learning with enjoyment. This has enhanced the knowledge of the students. Parents were very happy and appreciated the programme.
This was really a very sincere step taken by the school authorities to acquaint and attach the young generation to their heritage and make feel them proud of their heritage.
Change is the only constant in life, goes a saying. For nearly as long as one can remember, the routine of independence Day Celebrations has remained the same, Flag hoisting, national anthem, parade, speeches, and cultural programmes in varying order. But Besides this essential routine, Akal Academy Kajri celebrated 68th Independence Day- 2014 with lot […]
Change is the only constant in life, goes a saying. For nearly as long as one can remember, the routine of independence Day Celebrations has remained the same, Flag hoisting, national anthem, parade, speeches, and cultural programmes in varying order. But Besides this essential routine, Akal Academy Kajri celebrated 68th Independence Day- 2014 with lot of exciting activities and patriotic tint.
The celebration started with the unfurling of the National Flag by the Principal and staff amid the patriotically enthralled students. This was followed by the singing of the National Anthem and thunderously raised slogans, “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” and “Vande Mataram”.
The Principal Mrs Simran Kaur Thind in her message asked the students to get away from social evils and work hard to become perfect human beings. She told the children to follow the path of truth, honesty, and hard work to make India stronger. Mr. Ashok Singh Guleria motivated the students to follow the principle of ‘Self Governance’, ‘Self’ Discipline’ and ‘Self Responsibility” to become ideal citizens of tomorrow that India really needs. Mr. Vijaypal Singh too spoke on the occasion. On behalf of the students Tanupriya and Abhijot Kaur addressed the audience. Yashi Mishra and Jashandeep Kaur read a poem on Jhansi ki Rani .
A unique and wonderful feature of the programme was conducting of Inter House competitions organized by different departments. Social Science dept organized Indian Heritage Quiz Show for class VIII and IX. Divinity and Music Dept. Organized – Poetry Compilation and Recitation competition for class VI-VII. Sports activities such as Kho – kho for girls, Volleyball for boys were also held. Last of all, Tug of war between senior boys of Class X to XII stole the show. The programme concluded with thanks giving speech by the Principal followed by sweet distribution.
15th August, 2014 the 68th Independence Day was celebrated with great pump and show by the students and staff of Akal Academy Bhadaur in central corridor in the school premises. It was conducted by the students of XII class along with Atul house holding the incharge ship. Principal Madam Ms. Gurdeep Kaur along with Vice-principal & coordinators hoisted the National Flag.
The National Anthem was then sung with great vigor by the students and teachers. All of them were dressed in white attires keeping in view the sanctity and regard for the National flag.
The function started with Shabad recitation by students of class X. K.G & 1st class students presented beautiful poems on patriotism. Folding their hands, they paid tribute to their nation. Their saffron colored turbans added color to the celebrations.
Class 2nd students holding the national flag in their hands sung a beautiful patriotic song which was followed by a skit depicting the sacrifices done by Indians to achieve independence.
English & Punjabi speeches were delivered by the VIII and IX class students. Three choreographies were represented by the students of IV, VII, VIII & IX classes. VI class girls represented Kawishri-“Kalgidhar di Vaar”.
At last Principal Madam delivered a speech on this occasion explaining the students the importance of celebrating this day.
On this eventful day the students were awarded certificates and prizes for their achievements in academics and sports. The event ended with reciting the National Anthem.
The programme was very well organized and all the students actively participated in this programme. Such programmes inculcate in students the feeling of being proud to be Indian and in the wake of bringing students at par with the students of city schools, such events boost the morale of these little wonders…
