30 October 2007

Remembrance and Kindness

A Radical Suggestion

A few days ago, this letter came to the Gurmal Learning Zone, a Yahoo! group:


Guru Fateh Khalsa ji,
I am posting this Appeal to all the members in
this forum or group and to all the Sikhs in the World to Come Forward
and Participate in a Kindness Project in the World.
From the Tenth Guru
Nanak Dev ji to Guru Gobind Singh ji,the Life and Blood of Khalsa has
been of Total Kindness till today.

This request is to just let the World know
that Sikhs have been,are and will be in the Forefront when ever
Kindness and Compassion are Spoken of.


Here is a poem summing up Sikhs.
For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.
For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.
For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.
For beautiful hair, let a child run his/her fingers through it once a day.


For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone...
People,even more than things, have to be restored,
renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed;
never throw out anyone.


Remember, if you ever need a helping hand,
you will find one at the end of each of your arms.
As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands;
one for helping yourself, and the other for helping others.


Please Copy and Paste this Link in Your Browser:


http://goaddr.com/g6s

Thanking You in anticipation.
Guru Fateh.
Harjit Singh Bajwa

That, in and of itself is an interesting and useful idea. Let's be kind!


I would like to expand on it a bit.


This coming week is not an easy one for us Sikhs as we remember the horrors of 23 years ago. When this blog was new, I was surprised that anyone had found it and having found it, actually read it. An anonymous reader left a comment I have never forgotten. In part, it said:



... The Sikh people have a very very fragile, tender, wounded part of their
heart.. labelled "1984." They will always, whether in public or private, want
some answers, or share some stories, to lessen the grief, to get some empathy,
to unite for justice.

I have a suggestion to make this time a little less difficult and painful for us. It is a little bit radical and I hope no one is offended by it. I call on every Sikh in every part of the world from 31 October to 7 November to be kind and considerate of every other Sikh. For these few days, let us drop our differences and our divisions and be a big, kind, loving family among ourselves.





  1. Mr. Singh 1. I am well aware that those fools running the gurdwara are making a mess of things and that Mr. Singh 2 is mismanaging the money, but is it really necessary to pull your kirpan on him?

  2. Nihang Ji, I know those fool Nihangs trying to grab power need to be stopped, but is it really necessary to kill your brothers?


  3. Mr. Singh, I realise your wife is annoying - I am a wife myself and an expert at being an annoyance to my husband, but when you raise your hand to strike Mrs. Kaur, will you notice the kara on your wrist and remember what is means?

  4. Mrs. Kaur, your husband is annoying to you, as well - all husbands are from time to time - but would it really be asking too much to overlook his shortcomings for a week? .



Let us for these eight days have no Sikh commit an act of violence, by word or deed, against another Sikh. Let us have one week of kindness, one to the other. Let this be our remembrance, our gift that we give our beloved family members who achieved shaheedi twenty-three years ago. Let us try this experiment in our homes, in our businesses, in our gurdwaras, in all our dealings for just eight days. Let us see how we react to treating others this way and also being treated with kindness and consideration.

Who are we to make such a suggestion to all Sikhs? We are no official group issuing edicts out of Amritsar. We are just three Kaurs, just three daughters of Guru Gobind Singh Ji Maharaj who love our people, just three Khalsa women. But that's enough, eh?

With love, kindness and gentleness to the Saadh Sangat,


Vini, Suni and Mai,


Dharma Kaur Khalsa


Just one word of caution, if you click on SearchBigDaddy, you will have a 'friend' for life.


This is a really nice presentation of Sikhi to show your nonSikh friends. All the pictures are from this site.


WHY TRY TO FIT IN WHEN YOU WERE BORN TO STAND OUT?