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511.The Man in Blue – I am a Sikh The ‘I’ mentioned underneath is not Harjinder Singh – man in blue. The ‘I’ represents Guru’s teachings, which I am trying to follow in my daily life.I am human, I make mistakes, but in spite of my foolishness I receive many blessings. I am not a gora (white) Sikh or a kala (black) Sikh I am not a mazbi Sikh, a jat Sikh or a ramgharia Sikh I am not a doaba Sikh or a malwa Sikh I am not an AKJ Sikh or a Taksali Sikh My Guru is the Guru Granth Sahib, not the Námdhari satguru, not the yogi who called himself the leader of the Sikhs in the western hemisphere, not the Soho Road (Birmingham) spiritual leader of the Sikhs in the UK, nor any other self-appointed holy man, pardhan or jathedar I try to see God in all, regardless of race, faith, nationality or caste/social class I am an initiated (amritdhari) Sikh, but I do not look down on those who are not I wear a turban and keep the 5 Ks, but I do not look down on those who do not I do not drink alcohol, do not smoke tobacco, do not use recreational drugs I do not eat meat, fish, poultry or eggs, but do not condemn those who do I wear ‘bana’, traditional clothes associated with Guru Gobind Singh’s Khalsa, but I know that I will be judged on my behaviour, not on my clothes I do not cut my hair or shave, I wear a kirpan, kachhera, kara and kangha, but do not think that those who do not are bad people |
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Listen to the Man In Blue
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Published on Dec 9, 2012 Cornelis Harjinder Singh Heule was born in 1947 in Roermond in the Netherlands as Cornelis Heule. He is known as Harjinder Singh, names given to him when he became an initiated Sikh in 1996. He followed primary school in his hometown and the first half of his secondary in Heerlen. Harjinder Singh then moved to Amstelveen (near Amsterdam) where he finished secondary school. Harjinder went to University in Amsterdam, but he got caught up in the student movement. He worked for about 25 years in the travel industry, both in Amsterdam, The Netherlands and in Dublin, Ireland. In 1996 Harjinder Singh went to Panjab, India where he stayed for four years. In the first 2½ years of his stay in Panjab he studied Sikhí and its history, and made himself useful in the Harmandar Sahib complex in Amritsar. The last 1½ year in Panjab he stayed mostly in Chandigarh, where he did voluntary work (seva) for the Institute of Sikh Studies. In 2000 he came to West London, UK where he lived until June 2010. He did not have a 'job' but was involved in a number of different organisations as a volunteer and as 'Faith and Cultural Diversity consultant'. Harjinder Singh was a member of the Multi-Faith Chaplaincy team at Heathrow Airport and at Richmond upon Thames College and was involved in a number of Sikh lobby groups and advisory groups to the Police. Mr Singh did diversity training for the Slough Racial Equality Council (REC), and was the National Development Officer of Faith & Belief in Further Education. On June 17 2010 Harjinder Singh moved to Sint Truiden in the Dutch speaking Belgian province of Limburg, where he is trying to make himself useful by using his language skills. Harjinder Singh at present is assisting Sikh families from Afghanistan with their Asylum case in Belgium. He is providing all necessary assistance to one Afghan Sikh family in particular, who are threatened with deportation to Kabul, Afghanistan. He does still write his weekly column (The Man In Blue). He is sixty-five, happy and busy doing seva for the Panth. Harjinder Singh Harjinder Singh Above is one of the Man in Blue columns. It was followed by 6 articles giving an overview of how to 'man in blue' understands and experiences Sikhi. |
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Related Article:
http://www.sikhnet.com/news/man-blue-i-am-sikh
http://www.sikhnet.com/voices/the-man-blue-maya