All eyes in the operating room were on me. All ears waited. What was I to do? I had exhausted all of my options… all but one! I never thought of praying before this day. Although I had been an acolyte in the Episcopal Church as a youth, I had no interest in religion.
A long time ago in the village of Saheva Guru Gobind Singh Ji predicted Khalsa Raj by using an example of a tiny pipal tree that would surpass a jand tree in which it grows to mark the time Khalsa Raj will begin.
I grimaced and he simply looked away and kept rowing. The terror gripped me like a cold hand over my heart and I swiveled my head slowly toward the right and squinted a peek. There he sat, in all his living yellow and black glory.
Most religions start with a remarkable leader who inspires his followers with the message. This personal belief has to remain the core of any religion but the believers also need to organize themselves into a human institution and that institution can lose touch with the essentials of belief.
The Manurewa Cosmopolitan Club, in Manukau City, faced strong criticism from the Sikh community last year after it banned leader Karnail Singh from entering to attend a function held in his honour. The matter was taken to the Human Rights Commission in January, and the parties agreed to mediation
The 19km trek route was impacted further by some 400-odd shops illegally installed by locals. Their plastic waste had literally filled the whole area. The region's verdant slopes, once a green canvas punctuated with sweet-smelling flowers, were transformed into junkyards through a mindless act of man.
"This is our way of meeting the challenges of dowry, global warming and female foeticide. There has not been a single incident yet of female foeticide or dowry death in our village," he says.
In the run up to the wedding give yourself some time out to think and reflect. Closing one chapter in your life and beginning another is quite an emotional phase. You'll be leaving your family, moving to a new area and home. Make time to share special moments with your loved ones, perhaps discovering what it was like for your mum when she got married and hearing her stories.
Coming to Sikhi from knowing it to be the truth of me instead of from an understanding of the lifestyle or teachings has been a very interesting evolution that has brought about the following consternation.