Sikhism - Another Inspiration Video

Hi Everybody. I came across this very beautiful video shared by one of students, Pahul. It tells us how young  Sikhs need to get a hold on to their true culture and not get lost in show-off. Getting back to the roots in the right manner is the message of this film. Loved the message on "Khanda" symbol becoming merely a tattoo and the "Langar" (community service) decline in recent times. There were many things where I too received some lessons. Thank you Pahul for sharing the video.

TAAJ - A short movie on Turban and Sikhs

A very nice movie on the respect Sikhs command in the society. Really proud to be a Sikh. The movie sums up the importance of "Turban" in a sikh's life. Do watch it !

 

Oh My God !

I just finished watching this movie. I am still not sure what just happened. I always maintain that each and every movie has something to give as a TAKE-AWAY MESSAGE. The movie was such a breeze that it didn't feel like 120 minutes. It was completely mesmerizing. It was so compelling that I had to break out of my shell to resume my blog. I almost felt like I had my own questions to ask through Kanjibhai Mehta to God as to why there was so  much misery around the world and what it really meant to be truly happy. Sadly, it was the silver screen and I eventually realized it was a story that made me dream.

And it did. It made me dream. I actually had to squeeze every ounce of faith from my heart and accept the grim reality of the society. The sarcasm by one of the religious leaders towards the end as to the masses being "God-fearing" and not "God-loving" made the single most important impression. It was blunt and was the truth. In many ways, as we grow up, the mind becomes more and more bound to the accepted norms and behave to conform with the society. I actually remember a dialogue from the movie - Matrix. [Wicked sneering]. It goes something like this: Morpheus to Neo : "I owe you an apology. We have a rule. We never free a mind once it's reached a certain age. It's dangerous. The mind has trouble letting go." The same thing is what I believe would be true to most of the Indian society. Many would term the movie blasphemous. But to the younger generation, it appealed straight to the heart. What it actually did was to clear up the notion of religion and faith. Religion is a way of life and faith is the guide.

These are sad times. Our cultural values are eroding away under the invasion of the babas, the gurus and their camps. People have misplaced their faith in the so-called traditional practices. Religious gurus present contorted views and create extremism. The religious marketing has become so pervasive that once you enter a place of worship, almost every priest is asking you to put a piece of Gandhi in every other donation box. And if you don't, you are condemned.

What is faith ? It is not to sit and meditate to get a job done. Faith is a belief that if you have good intentions, your act will have the blessings of the divine. People tend to assign faith with the form of religion. Faith is something innate. Religion is a commonly accepted set of beliefs and ways of life which a person can choose to follow. The TAKEAWAY MESSAGE from the movie is not to stop believing in religion but to act always in good faith. This takes care of your selfish needs as well as the greater good. More on selfish needs and greater good later :).

PS: I actually signed up on IMDb to give it a rating (9/10). A must watch for all the atheists and specially for  the unlike.

Moving from Patiala to Chandigarh

Time has come for me to move from Patiala to Chandigarh. Still associated with Lakshya but moving to Chandigarh. Three long years have gone by. Thinking about the last working day spent at Lakshya, Patiala. Scribbled a few lines:

इस मुकाम पर आ पहुंचे हैं हम,
जब लगता था कि कोई होगा नहीं साथ,
क्या उम्मीद थी कि कोई गर्मजोशी से मिलाएगा हाथ.

आज जब घर से चल पड़े हम,
आँखें थी नम, दिल बड़ा कमज़ोर था,
सोच रहा था जहा बसाई दुनिया मैंने,
क्यों वहीं से आगे बढ़ चला था.

जब मेरे जाने का वक़्त आया,
कुछ ने बड़े ही सर्द होकर हमसे रुखसत ली,
और कुछ ने हमें गले से लगाया और कहा,
शुरुआत इतनी हसीं नहीं थी पर अब क्यों जाते हो,
जब दिल से दिल दोस्त बने, क्यों अकेला कर जाते हो,
मैं मुस्कुराया, कोशिश थी आँखें नम न हो,
किसी को मेरी कमज़ोरियों का इल्म न हो.

एक और साथी से तो मिल भी ना सका,
बेखबर ही मैं बिना उसकी दुआओं के बगैर आगे बढ़ चला,
दुआ करूंगा कि मेरे साथ मेरे दोस्तों का साथ हमेशा रहे,
अकेले ही रह जाउँ दीवारों और सिक्कों के साथ, ऐसी फ़तेह मुझे कभी ना मिले.

FEAR

One of the most important human feeling that challenges beliefs, self-confidence and capability is fear. What is fear ? For me, fear originates in doubt. The moment I doubt something, I fear. Fear is not getting afraid and crouching. Fear can also manifest in aggression and ability to accept.

I used to watch a US sitcom very popular in the world - FRIENDS. There's an episode on how the actors react when they turned 30. Hmm, the revelation dawned upon me only lately. Turning 30 is a huge milestone. If I were to approximate human life to approximately 60 years (arguable), I have spent half my life. I am going through my checklist of "things to do" and I realize, there's a lot to catch up to.

So how does FEAR come into picture ?

Even after turning 30, I still have to cope up with FEAR. I fear if I will be able to fulfill my dreams. When I do that, I let my dreams fade away little by little. When I think about saying what I feel frankly, I fear how the other person might react. I fear about giving up something dear to my heart to attain something else. I fear failure, I fear imperfection. I fear to start all over again. I fear to mend the relationships, I fear status, I fear judgements. FEAR is so overpowering.

The moment FEAR becomes too big to handle, I close my eyes, think about the people I love most and God. It gives me immense strength. It gives me courage to fight that doubt. The moment I am certain, my mind becomes clear and I get going once again.

So why does FEAR creep in ?

Because sometimes we forget our philosophy with which we started, the reason why we started upon a journey and the objective that we intended to achieve. I believe, most people and civilizations that started off greatly perished on the way because they forgot the very idea that got them going - the very engine that revved up their progress. This idea, the engine needs a lot of care. If you don't care for the engine but just want to pedal down to success at a lot of MPH, you gonna ruin the engine en-route the journey before the destination is reached. Most of us make this mistake.

Care for the idea, the dream you started out with. Believe in it and it will eventually come your way. Sometimes, it's a good idea to revisit the starting point. Probably that's why, history is an important subject.

As for me, I am going to go after the checklist I made.

Harpreet