Thursday 27 December 2007

Year end Eye Bags

I've been rather noticeably absent from action (from Blog-la-land) for a while – December is always hectic and this year especially I think I bit off more than I could chew!
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On one hand I was fully swamped with the Malaysian Annual Samelan 2007, which was quite a bit to handle with preparations having begun months earlier. The thought of housing, feeding, and keeping over 1000 people charged up and in Chardi Kala for one week was enough to cause many sleepless nights!
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To top that, in a moment of insanity (or perhaps it was the persuasive tone of a friend’s voice :p), I also committed to helping out at the Bahadur Bachey (BB) Camp in Singapore, which took place the week just before Samelan.
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The back-to-back camp-a-thon meant that the bags under my eyes were set to become a permanent feature :p
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the few pictures I could lay my hands on... if any of you have more then please email them to me!
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Looking back, I wouldn’t have done it any differently – I am so grateful to Jasbir for his persistent insistence that I should go to Singapore, and how awesome the BB Camp would be – which indeed it was. I enjoyed every moment I spent there and the youth of Singapore are truly magnificent. It was structured, detailed, well thought of, and every activity had clear objectives set out. The amount of love and devotion put into this camp makes me smile – knowing that our young kids have sevadars like these around them is so reassuring! Bahadurro you are the bomb – stay explosive!
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The two unforgettable events for me both coincidentally involve candles. The first was the Candlelight Shower - where the electricity tripped and the older girls stood outside the showers with candles in their hands so that the little ones wouldn’t be afraid. Not having any sisters of my own, I just adored the idea of standing guard to protect a little sister from the demons of her imagination.
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And the second was the Candlelight Procession - where a whole series of unfortunate events led to this lovely idea. Picture this: Night-time at the Vadda Gurdwara, dim lights, shadows dancing with the flames of candles that lined the walkways, soothing simran echoing from the walls and silencing the mind.
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A line of wide-eyed children, coming up the stairs, their little feet taking one anticipatory step at a time, watching, seeing, looking, inhaling everything around them. Walking up to the candle stand, lighting their tea-lights. Heading calmly towards the Guru while delicately balancing the flame in their palms and a little wish in their heads. And at the front, kneeling, presenting the light to the Guru, saying their prayer. Joining the sanggat in meditation whilst enjoying a trance-like sense of peace.
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The kids were completely mesmerised; I don’t think any of them had ever shared such a personal moment with the Guru before. It was simply utterly totally absolutely. Adorable. The memory is making me goosepimply. The whole evening turned out beautifully!
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I’m so proud to wear the Bahadur Bacha stamp on my forehead – this is another addition to my 2007 Treasured Memories Chest.
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And the Samelan? Nothing really needs to be said about that. Mataji took me to my first Samelan when I was 2 months old - she was part of the organising team and so I got packed along and handed over to the babysitting squad. That decision has shaped so much in my life - I have grown up in the Samelan environment, in the cradle of the Malaysian sanggat; and so to me, going for the Samelan is not even a choice, it’s a given :)
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(The above 3 photos were taken from the Samelan 2007 Blog. For more bitsy-bobs on the Samelan, you can follow the Media Crew's work by clicking here)
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And regardless of what happens during the Samelan week – the good, the bad, the ugly, the disastrous, the inspiring, the ridiculous, the humorous, the distressing – all the above ingredients are what make it a Samelan, and our hearts still shed a little tear when Guruji is escorted away from the Samelan grounds on the last day.
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What would my alternative December look like? Mornings that fade into afternoons, craters in the living room sofa, a love-hate relationship with Spanish soaps and tissue boxes, too much chocolate and not enough conversation, days wading in and out as if seamlessly stitched together, too much silence and not enough reflection.
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And I realise that the bags under my eyes, the ones I am so worried about, are in fact laden with happy thoughts, joyous moments, beautiful awakenings, and so much love.
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I’ve decided to embrace the Eye Bags - they symbolise the things that make my little world oh so wonderful.

Can You Feel the Love Tonight?

I had been fixed on the idea of having a little kirtan darbar at our home for a long time – just some friends coming together to celebrate the divine. In London things like this were a lifestyle, there was one every other week in some place or other with all styles of singing/ instruments/ food (!!) and I’ve missed having that environment.
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So over the long weekend during Divali, Hargobind and I invited some of our friends over – and it was just so nice to have the sanggat in our living room, singing Guru’s praises, led by some amazing kirtanis – I’m so thankful to everyone who came; our home is blissed out with all your love!!
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Some pictures from the evening…
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our clan doing kirtan
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the sanggat in the living room

Amrit, Ajeet and Naranjan

candlelight

Belay and Indy

Pitaji leading the Guru Dev Mata, Guru Dev Pita meditation
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The one person who did most of the work but didn’t get captured in any other photos– Mataji! It’s her stressing about the details that made the event :)

the weather was lovely so we served dinner outside

some of the lads from the Redecorating Committee - Boo!

the lovely Harsohela and Gurprakash with our dear Zafar

In hopes of many such darbars in the future…minus the redecorating portion, of course – guys I don’t think my room can handle the trauma of yet another repositioning! Next time I’m going to bolt down anything that can be moved – and position Zafar to guard the door :)
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Spread the love and keep the light shining until we meet again.
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Tav Prasaad – By Thy Grace

Tuesday 30 October 2007

Spread your wings and fly!

My brother has graduated! The family flew over to Langkawi last Friday for his Wings Presentation Ceremony - the graduation involves presenting cadets with their 'wings' that they wear on their left breast pocket - its like a license to fly.
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He’ll probably put up more details on his blog, but since I’m feeling so proud I simply have to glamorise him on mine :) What is it about girls and pilots?!
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Hargobind with his batch mates
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Our parents and grandparents
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All winged-up!

Hargobind, I love you but even more than that, I love all the benefits your flying entitles me too! ;)

With our family

Technically speaking they were not wearing graduation hats - they are actually a part of their uniform - but they couldn't resist!

Before anyone gets any ideas, let me point out that my brother was only there for the photo and did not participate in this tradition :)
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After the ceremony, Hargobind took us around for a tour of the hangar. Here he's showing off some fancy new airplane to Pilot Sr. All I could think off was hmmm... the plane looks cute but I might wreck my heels trying to get in and out of it!

Engineers in action at the hangar

The only sad thing about leaving Langkawi was leaving Artisan's - Hargobind's favourite diner on the island (which is also where we celebrated my birthday earlier this year). This is his expression of pain as he has the last slice in a looooooong time...

Right now he’s back home and alongside wrestling me for the TV remote, he's also training with Malaysia Airlines... with Guru’s grace he’ll officially start flying in a year’s time.

Don't ask him to belanja you yet though, he's still quite broke, but you can always bug me for a treat (until the charm wears off :p)

Sunday 21 October 2007

Piccolo Mondo

Sometimes a series of events takes place that initially sprouts with something completely prosaic, but the result is something unexpectedly beautiful. Not necessarily revelatory or enlightening – sometimes its just a reminder or a sweet something to ponder on – but ultimately it ends with a happy little curling upwards of the lips and a contented sigh (a little like just after you’re finished with a tub of Ben n Jerry’s while lounging on your favourite sofa :)
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My latest experience with this is quite sappy and twee – but I’m going to share it anyway :p. It all started with the Eid weekend and a cousin getting married, which resulted in me missing Surabhi’s singing for Navratri. She was only singing for a couple of minutes, but the guilt stick dangled over my head and made me realise that our dutiful weekly Sunday breakfasts had dwindled to the occasional lunches and emails now and then – a sad fate for friends with the history that we have. I won’t go into the whole story – but the tale starts like this: Well we’ve known each other since we were seven… and blah blah blah :)
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Anyway. Me feeling guilty was coupled with a sudden craving for Italian food, and my wrenching absence from a decent bookstore in a looooong time. In searching for a solution to kill all the birds in the equation with one stone, I stumbled onto success: an Italian place near a bookstore on a day we were both free. It’s amazing what I’ll consider as a success these days – time is slipping slipping falling crashing running dashing darting away ever so quickly.
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The restaurant I found was called Piccolo Mondo.
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Freetranslation.com: Piccolo Mondo is Italian for ‘small world’.
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Flashback: Sitting on the little boat in Disneyland (with Surabhi, no less!) on the ‘It’s a Small World’ ride.
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Recollection: The lyrics to the song that my brother and I played repeatedly when we were kids. Sorry Hargobind, I wouldn’t have dragged you into this but the truths of your past cannot be buried :p
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It's a world of laughter, a world of tears.
It's a world of hopes, and a world of fears.
There's so much that we share,
That it's time we're aware,
It's a small world after all.
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Chorus:
It's a small world after all.
It's a small world after all.
It's a small world after all.
It's a small, small world.
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There is just one moon, and one golden sun.
And a smile means friendship to everyone.
Though the mountains divide,
And the oceans are wide,
It's a small world after all.
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Are you paying attention? Read the lyrics again.
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It’s just a children’s song on a theme park ride with animated dolls depicting cultures and scenes from around the world. Any admittedly, it can get pretty cloying after a while.
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But pause. Think about the depth embedded in its simplicity.
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This song reminds me that it all boils down to Ek. One God, one world, one soul. It’s not only a small world; it’s our world, and our only world. These are things we all already know, but how often do we think, and I mean really think about this? The concept of ‘one’ is so simple and yet so unfathomable.
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‘Modern’ thinking resists; it screams of individualism, independence, uniqueness. It raises walls to guard the entity and protect its distinctiveness. We are programmed to see the differences, but ‘Ek’ calls to us to forget the divergences – those are superficial and physical and man-made. Seek only the essence and the root of everything, for in that there is only one.
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If you believe in Ek Oangkar, then you must believe that you and I are one. Our atma is a part of the same Parmatma; His/Her spirit that lives in me is also in you. As Yogi Bhajan says: if you can’t see God in all, you can’t see God at all.
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This is my Everest. My ego fights back and in my mind there is a perpetual slide show on how to create Maginot lines to preserve my distinction from you. The automatic response is always to judge, to hate, to separate. Tolerance and compassion are slower to act, and oftentimes too late.
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The website I copied the lyrics from ended the page with a note that summed it up for me:
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Repeat ad nauseam until it's permanently etched into your neural synapses.
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Maybe that will help, knowing that “there is just one moon and one golden sun”. And it’s a small, small world.
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How strange. This post began with a cousin’s wedding, transitted at an Italian restaurant (which we ended up not going to, by the way) and ended with a new mantra to live by.
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You see what I mean about random events?

Wednesday 12 September 2007

Destination: Rasa

The samelan crew packed their bags again and this time headed for Rasa – a little village tucked away 1-1.5 hours away from KL. We were serving not only Rasa, but some other nearby villages like Kalumpang, Kuala Kubu Baru, Tanjung Malim, and of course, the ultimate village, Ulu Yam (where our family hails from :p)!
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I was sorry to have missed the first day but even just being there on the Sunday was a touching experience. This camp was really special; the kids here have little or no exposure and hence we found our hands full of innocent and perfectly trusting children – a nice relief from the demons of Kuala Lumpur! They were just waiting for us to teach them and guide them and play with them and love them – their manner was truly heartwarming.
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We travelled through all sorts of challenges to get there, just in time for...

... registration on Saturday morning

Nishaan Sahib Selami

Opening Hukumnama

Ice breakers
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Hari Singh had a session with the parents while we were pulling our hair with the kids lols :)
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We were surprised to learn that many of the kids had never heard of/ seen a baana before, so Manpreet had to use what little resources she had at hand to give the children a rough idea so that they could carry on with the Baana Runway competition. Later I received a call asking me to put together some photos of today’s Sikhs in baana to show the kids that they are not just a thing of our past but also the pride of our present.

Our little soldiers all riled up for the Baana Runway competition

The warm sanggat of Rasa and the neighbouring areas – they welcomed us with open hearts and kept our tummies filled!
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Jag guiding a participant to lead the prayer of thanks before langgar

As our crowd was small, everyone sat in a circle in the langgar and ate together. We sevadars enjoyed going round making sure the kids were fed before sitting in our own little circle to have our meal/quick meeting before the next activity.

Sukhsharan with one group of kids…

… while Gurreet and Amit discussed Prashaad with another group…

… and Phobinder and Narin guided the rest through the concept of langgar.
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The Rasa Gurdwara was quite overwhelmed by this sudden landing of 'foreign' sanggat, and we had to squeeze ourselves into any space we could find for sleeping arrangements. Of course one could argue what better resting place can there be than the feet of the Guru :)

Samelans are never just about the kids – I also look forward to them as it gives our sanggat a chance to get together and have a few laughs – something that is becoming rare as our group is slowly leaving uni and walking into the working world. This is a good chance as any for us to bum around and catch up!

Gurreet helping a participant with the ardaas

We scheduled in a light yoga session – I was a little iffy at first as I wasn’t sure how the local sanggat would react to the whole ‘yoga’ part – some communities in Malaysia have very conservative/ orthodox/ whatever-you-want-to-call-it ideas about yoga and Sikhi. It went well though; I explained the various exercises by drawing from examples in the animal world so it probably came off more as exercise with some meditation rather than something revolutionary, and we all enjoyed a good stretch!

Meditating

Amit and Esha enacting a typical scene in our Gurdwaras – two women doing seva and gossiping about the whole wide world. We were trying to show the kids what the reality is, and more importantly, how we can deal with it, what prayers we can say and how to heal the situation. Some of the other scenes we enacted were drug addiction, domestic fighting, and anger – situations that they are sure to face.

Aww those sweet kids :)

As we were leaving, we went round to thank the sanggat one more time for their support, for hosting us and taking care of all the logistics at their end.

And this is one of the strangest experiences I’ve ever had at any camp – women were cornering us one by one to ask for advice on how to raise their kids to be good Sikhs, what they can do at home, how to encourage their children, etc etc etc. There was us, in our twenties, guiding 30 to 40 year old women on motherhood! Needless to say, we were all unqualified to offer any advice, but they were so insistent and sincere in their desire to know I couldn’t just walk away without trying to help. I also talked to them about our annual samelan in December and invited them to come – it would be the perfect avenue to expose their kids to other Sikh children and also for the mothers to meet other mothers and gain guidance from them.

While I was there I found out that this was the first time in the Gurdwara’s 100 year odd history that sanggat had come from KL to spend time with them, something that was difficult for me to digest. It made me realise that these are the areas we should be visiting to spread the love; these places that dot the map of Malaysia and we neglect, overlook and don’t bother with because they are too small, but ultimately that should be the purpose of our seva. And I hope that’s what we’re going to try now – Tav Prasaad - reaching out to the little corners.