Mehtab Singh

Most people who know me, know that one of my number one pet peeves is when people whine and complain about the "sad state of the panth."

These pessimists and complainers are so stubborn in their views and fail to recognize all of the good news in terms of Sikhi parchaar.

So from now on, I'm going to make a point of hilighting good news.

This past summer, Rochak Malang joined the Khalsa and became Mehtab Singh. Here's a slideshow detailing and describing his journey. (Hat Tip: Davinder Singh)

On a side note, one of my other pet peeves is when people get naively excited about "saving the panth"

I'm Back

I've been busy at school for the past couple of weeks, but on the insistence of my numerous (2 or 3) readers, I decided that I should actually post regularly from now on. Its good to keep a log of things; looking back at my posts from 2 weeks ago, I can remember observations or experiences that I would have otherwise forgotten.

Anyways, I can't really think of any moral dilemmas, interesting experiences or other events that I could or would blog on. So, for today I'll just link to some interesting stories, current and puratan.

How to Rally

Does anyone else get totally annoyed by those angry, irrational, annoying, jobless protestors, who hatefully rant about the most outrageous things? i.e. "Bush is Hitler", etc.

Well, here's how they should be taught to protest. Protests like this might actually produce results:



(This is a picture from earlier today at a rally in Washington, D.C.; raising awareness about the Darfur genocide.)

Missing Work (Sort of)

I almost miss work. I went back for a day today, and I remember all the fun stuff that I miss along with all the bad things.

For example, today I was going through all the cancelled reservations that had taken place earlier in the day and I noticed a cancellation for an arrival incoming today. I went around the front desk area wanting to know who cancelled the reservation. I found the girl who cancelled the reservation and we asked her why she didn't charge a cancellation fee. She said she would have, however, the lady cancelling the reservation claimed that her father had just died. I rolled my eyes and callously lectured her, claiming that she should have asked for a death certificate to be faxed over to us, at the least. Naturally, I was kidding, but I was also almost certain that the lady calling us was lying. In the hotel industry, for those of you who don't know, we have a "cancellation period". For us, our cancellation period is upto 48 hours before check-in. This cancellation policy guards revenue by making sure that there won't be mass-cancellations immediately before arrival.

Anyways, the reason I knew she was lying was because there's another hotel in the village that is often confused with our's. So I got together with everyone that was working, and we called the other hotel in the village to see if someone under the last name of that reservation had just checked into their hotel, and they had. We confirmed the last 4 digits of the credit card number, politely told the lady on the phone to forward them our heart-felt sympathies for their loss and then we slapped a (relatively large) cancellation fee on them for lying.

Moral of the story: If you're nice and honest, things work out better than if you're a hopeless liar.

Priorities

This, is a high priority in our horribly pathetic, socialistic, second-tier country.

Schoooool

School starts tommorow, and any whining that I could come up with right now is too commonplace and widespread for me to repeat.

School MIGHT be interesting this year and it might just also be absolutely catastrophic.

All of my courses this year are history courses. I have a record of doing alright in history classes, however, it completely depends on if, a) The professor is engaging, b) The topic is half-interesting.

This year I'm taking the following courses.

European Social History (full year) - BORING. Hoping to replace this class with 2 classes on American Colonial History as well as early post-colonial history.

History of Germany since 1800 (full year) - Also has the potential to be boring. We'll just have to see.

History of France since 1900 (half year) - I think it should be OK. But again, it totally depends on the professor and the things discussed. If it talks about how much France totally sucks, then the class should be a blast.

History of India since 1800 (full year) - Should be interesting I hope...... I only took this class because I have lots to learn.

The Sikhs (full year) - I'm hoping that the professor doesn't irritate me.

History of pre-modern India until 1300 (half year) - Sounded sort of interesting, and I guess it'd be nice to learn what India was like before the Mughals and Sikhs.

So as long as I can replace European social history with the two half year American history courses, I should be in pretty good shape. Oh, I'm also really hoping that the Germany class doesn't suck. The 2 India classes, the class on France and the one on Sikhs should be bearable... But I'm pretty certain that almost nothing will turn out as I envision.......

Scandalous

When I first started this blog 5 days ago, I had hopes and dreams of posting unusual experiences, strange sights and unique insights.

Well, I really won't be living up to all of that in this post, but today, as I was leaving our hotel to head back to the city to start school, I remembered that there was a wedding going on in one our meeting rooms.

It was an interracial wedding, a brown guy and a white girl. This wasn't entirely new, a Punjabi guy and a White girl had their wedding group at our hotel last year as well.

So I asked around a bit and learnt that this wedding was actually a fraud. An immigration scam to be more specific.

Anyways, what should be done? Something? Anything? Nothing?

Or is it none of my business?

Nagar Keertans, continued.

The Nagar Keertan was OK.

I'll list out both my negative and positive experiences and observations:

Positive:

- I don't expect much of most people, so whenever I saw someone singing Keertan, wearing proper BaaNaa or doing any sort of Sevaa, I was automatically impressed. NOTE: I'm not someone who gets upset with supposed "Pakhandis" wearing BaaNaa at Nagar Keertans, only because, to me, it shows some level of love for BaaNaa. (Only in the extreme situations of very dark-hearted people do I got offended)

- About 5% of the people actually sat behind the main float and one or two other floats and sung keertan for the majority of the Nagar Keertan. I was especially impressed with the younger people who took part in Keertan for extended periods of time.

- Having noticed that 5% of the sangat was actually taking part in Keertan, I did my part and spent about 5% of my time behind the main float singing keertan as well..... The keertan was really good.

- I saw this car that had big yellow letters glued to the top of its windshield, spelling K H A L I S T A N. I thought that was pretty cool. I saw other sights which were also promising, or at least they weren't depressing. For example, infront of the Punj Pyaaray, they still carried a Khalistan flag. I've heard of other areas where they don't do that anymore.

- I saw this kid from Edmonton, who had just finished moving to Surrey and he told me that he saw my picture on Tapoban.org. First, I thought it was pretty cool for some teenage kid from Edmonton to read Tapoban.org and second, when I asked him if he regularly visits their site, he assumed I meant the Gurdvara instead of the website and answered that no, he had not, however he hoped he could because he thought "all the sarbloh" and other stuff was cool.

Negative:

- A few years ago, when much of the community was partially revitalized after the 300th anniversary of the Khalsa, as well as in response to the "dispute" regarding Tables and Chairs, turnout was noticeably higher. Turnout today was probably half of what it used to be. I say this is negative only because the people who didn't show up, did not stop coming because they thought the atmosphere was too social. They used to come because the atmosphere back then was more powerful, there was a deeper feeling of community unity and also because the Gurdvaras did a much better job of pushing the 300th anniversary of the Khalsa than they did with celebrating the 400th anniversary of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Jee.

- Naturally, if 5% were singing keertan, and if another 5% were doing some other sort of sevaa. 90% of the sangat was doing neither. I'm mostly included in the 90%, so I'm not trying to put down the large majority of people who did neither keertan or sevaa. This isn't an entirely bad thing. There are other purposes for nagar keertans. I met up with some people from my SSA (Sikh Students Association), we discussed events for the upcoming year including the theme for our January conference as well as the idea of having another mini-conference in November to commemorate the November 1984 riots. Keeping contacts with other Sikh Youths in the area is another good thing, you never know when you might need someone.

Nagar Keertans

Tommorow, I'm headed to the Abbotsford Nagar Keertan which is set to celebrate the 400th Anniversary of the installation of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Jee.

Here are a couple of conflicting opinions on the current status and purpose of Nagar Keertans:

Opinion #1: Against Nagar Keertans

Usually, no one does keertan at nagar keertans. The saroop everyone follows is pad-chhed, a lot of girls/guys get dressed up and go for absolutely wrong reasons and give it a bad atmosphere. I dont' see what could be gained by going. I guess it's ok for entertainment purposes, but in terms of Gurmat I'd say it's either neutral at best, or quite possibly even negative.

Some people argue you can do parchaar: but who is listening? Then others say you can inspire others with the way you dress and act: but everyone is dressed up in BaNa that day.

I could be wrong here, but I dont' like modern day "nagar keertan". More like "nagar gup shup" or "nagar social". Does anyone have different views? For those that do go to these, is there somethign to gain? I genuinely am seeking to be corrected if my views are not right.

Opinion #2: For Nagar Keertans

Different things work for different people, guys who are into looking at girls and the other way around will do so not only at Nagar Keertans but also at every other social place. And maybe they'll get something good out of the Nagar Keertan as well? Maybe they'll be inspired by something or someone? It's entirely possible, but pretty unlikely.

This last Nagar Keertan in Surrey, I didn't want to go, but was forced to by my grandmother, we went for an hour just to "look at all the sangat", I wasn't entirely impressed, but my grandmother seemed really happy about the trip. Which brings me back to the point that different people take different things from Nagar Keertans.

Opinion #3: For Nagar Keertans

Hopefully, one day we will be able to have real nagar keertans. But for now, this is what we have. And I don't think that anyone's going to become a manmukh by attending one of these. There may be manmat stuff going on, but that's not the intention of these events. It's not like a club or something. Many people go with shardaa, to celebrate the khalsa and participate in keertan. As far as guys and girls hooking up goes, that happens everywhere. I'm sure it doesn't happen any more at a nagar keertan, as these people can probably find a better place to meet up than in front of tens of thousands of people.

Opinion #4: Against Nagar Keertans (Same person from Opinion #1)

So what do I advocate? I say lets have proper Nagar keertans. It's great to see punj pyaaray. Too bad guru Saahib isn't usually present. Let's have nagar keertans with keertan and punj pyaaray and Satguru jee in the lead (laReedaar saroop). Otherwise I see it not any different than a regular Punjabi gathering. And that's not a good thing. Politicians ranting, egotistical 'leaders' fighting to get on stage, etc. Let's reform the system. But until we start the reform, we shouldn't support the corrupt one by showing our faces and participating in it.

One Last RNC Thought

On Wednesday night I caught only one full speech which lasted about 20 minutes.

The speech was delivered by Zell Miller, a Democratic Senator from Georgia who was supporting President Bush for re-election.

And I was just blown away by this speech!

If someone can speak THAT passionately about politics and for the re-election of someone from a different party than himself, surely Sikhs should be able to produce stronger and more fiery speakers for our Gurdvaras, our youth conferences and other events.

Its actually quite sad. The Christians have so many effective "fire and brimstone" preachers who galvanize hundreds of thousands of youths in large rallies down in America. Even their more mellower "Hippy Preacher" type speakers are really talented as well.

Most of you who might read this blog, should remember Parminder Singh.

Parminder Singh was a really good Gursikh, and the thing that striked me the most about him was his unparalleled ability to motivate and inspire all the youth who he spoke too.

This upcoming year, there are so many conferences, youth events and youth keertans which will be noticeably weaker without his presence.

He was probably the only really talented, and really powerful Sikh Youth speaker that I had ever encountered.

We desperately need someone of his calibre and character in every major Sikh-populated urban centre of North America.

Happy Birthday Kirat

Today's my sister's birthday.

Happy Birthday to you......... (8)..... (The 8 in brackets is the MSN emoticon for music, NOTE: In real life I wouldn't actually sing Happy Birthday to anyone)

A lot of people don't even believe that I HAVE a sister.

Let's hope that those same people don't believe that I'm insane enough to post about an imaginary sister's birthday.

Gurdvara Tapoban Sahib

One of the most cynicizing (if that's even a word) experiences of mines over the past couple of years has been my exposure to the sangat at Gurdvara Tapoban Sahib.

Ironically, my exposure to the sangat itself hasn't been cynicizing at all. Its been refreshing, exhilirating and educational. I've learnt so much, and its given me an idea of where I want to go in life.

The thing that has made me cynical, has been the dominant opinion that most people have of the sangat at Tapoban. Predominant opinion seems to be shifting in their favour slightly, yet so many people still irrationally dislike them.

I've seen people go on the deepest hunts to find the smallest flaws so they could discredit the entire sangat and everything that they stand for.

I've seen otherwise rational, seemingly kind-hearted people lose all perspective, while being essentially brainwashed by elites in their sangats to despise not only the principles they supposedly dislike, but also the people behind those principles as well.

I don't know what people find so threatening about them. I've thought long and hard about how their sangat could possibly be offensive or threatening, and I've come up with almost nothing.

The only thing I've come up with is assuming that people are simply threatened by growth, learning something new and having their beliefs and their way of life challenged. I know mines has been challenged, and I pray to god that I can answer that challenge.

UPDATE: Point proven.

RNC - Final Night

I caught only bits and pieces of President Bush's speech. I was working at the hotel and was pretty busy, so I was only able to catch a few minutes every now and then.

Anyways, we have a senior's group in our hotel right now, and all of them are from the southern states. Coincidentally, they walked in right after the president finished their speech and asked me right away what I thought about their president. I quickly said that I thought he was a decent, although definitely not perfect man. An old, bitter lady from Florida corrected me right away and told me he was actually a "decent idiot".

I said "really?, he seems like a good man to me", she replied "No, he's a bad man and an idiot."

She then went on this huge, unsubstantiated rant about how he bought his education and how his father made him governor.

Her husband disagreed with her, but was too afraid to say so. "No, I don't thi...", and then he was talked over by his wife. They were more concerned about their home on the Eastern coast of Florida than they were about politics.

Then I talked to this extraordinarily nice lady from West Virginia. She asked me the same question, I said "Sure I do, he seems like a good man." She agreed. She said that she wasn't enthusiastic about another Bush term, however, she conceded helplessly that no President could be perfect and that the alternative wasn't all that appealing either.

She waited for some of her friends to leave, and then told me that she was voting for Bush.

American guests and particularly American seniors are almost always more courteous and less whiney than their Canadian counterparts. And American seniors who grew up in the south where there was legislated segregation just decades ago, while they themselves were teenagers and young adults seem to be the kindest of them all.

RNC

The RNC (Republican National Convention) is going on right now, and I have no real desire to watch it. I guess most of the reason is because its a gigantic waste of time. I won't learn anything new. I won't be inspired to do anything with purpose. It might be slightly entertaining though, and there's just something interesting in knowing that you're watching history being made.

As everyone who reads this should know, I AM a Conservative. I do hope Republicans and Conservatives win. I like the conservative ideology, and I believe that there is nothing inherently wrong with conservatism itself.

However, I don't really like many conservatives themselves. I walked over to the TV in the lobby where I work, and I turned the channel to CPAC during the day on Monday to catch a glimpse of the RNC when it wasn't in primetime, and my god, the speakers were totally insane. I watched for about 15 mins and most of the speakers I caught were congressional candidates who were totally, and shockingly out of the mainstream. All I kept hearing was that George W. Bush was guided by Jesus Christ and that the Holy Lord would ensure victory for the United States against its enemies.

I don't know, I'm all for religious people holding public office, but there was something intolerant and exclusive in the way that at least some of the speakers spoke.

Happy Gurpurab Everybody

Some interesting thoughts on the Gurpurab here and here.

DAVINDER SINGH

Currently unknown to the rest of the world, Davinder Singh is one of the smartest persons I have ever met.

Smart, but probably a bit eccentric as well.

He started a blog recently as well at the following link http://www.davindersingh.ca

He'll be sharing his thoughts on Gurbani Viyakaran, current events and other random issues.

Should be interesting.

Just started a Blog....

Everyone else was doing it, so I thought I'd give it a shot as well...