tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15266692378761451042024-03-19T14:04:35.475+05:30I am DaarjiThe Story TellerDaarji the Storytellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08712625868606810344noreply@blogger.comBlogger87125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1526669237876145104.post-70558196218858395392019-01-18T14:50:00.004+05:302020-10-02T20:51:06.606+05:30Happy Tails Day<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span face=""verdana" , "sans-serif"" style="color: #999999; font-family: Quicksand; line-height: 16.8667px;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: 149.25pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span face=""verdana" , "sans-serif"" style="color: #999999; font-family: Quicksand; line-height: 16.8667px;">A dog has earned the title of being ‘Man's Best Friend’ for over a century now and possesses a loyalty for their owner that is unwavering and immeasurable. My dogs are my true buddy, they accept me for what I am despite my imperfections, and they stay beside me through thick and thin. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Being pack animals my dogs consider me the leader of their pack; therefore, they are always by our side no matter what the situation maybe..</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: 149.25pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span face=""verdana" , "sans-serif"" style="color: #999999; font-family: Quicksand; line-height: 16.8667px;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Quicksand; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy0OkL7S7tBZidjlbh5m12daZ8oPNsVOQKFJX44k7HbM95Ynx-2L6aho5L_kg0Ln-BSmZWmqs3WAERa6V3PU7K-2hgh72z9SVjyJwXHysQ-NwXfbQKRJaGZ9lfW9qjGbLepCvDakphfEM/w317-h320/Family%2520Dog.gif" width="317" /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Quicksand; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Quicksand; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: 149.25pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Quicksand;"><span face=""verdana" , "sans-serif"" style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: 149.25pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Quicksand;"><span face=""verdana" , "sans-serif"" style="line-height: 16.8667px;"></span><span face=""verdana" , "sans-serif"" style="line-height: 16.8667px;">Dogs have been known to sacrifice their lives to save their owners….I can vouch for that….one day I will tell you that story as well. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The unconditional love and companionship they provide to us, has resulted in them being bona fide members of this family.</span><span face=""verdana" , "sans-serif"" style="line-height: 16.8667px;"></span></span></div>
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<div style="line-height: 18.4px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Quicksand;"><b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span face=""verdana" , "sans-serif"" lang="EN-AU" style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><br /></span></i></b></span></div><div style="line-height: 18.4px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Quicksand;"><b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span face=""verdana" , "sans-serif"" lang="EN-AU" style="line-height: 16.8667px;">"Happy Tails Day”... What a wonderful sound it has...And do you know that Australians celebrate 8<sup>th</sup> October as Happy Tails Day to celebrate our tailed friends.... our animal friends who make our lives better? </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span face=""verdana" , "sans-serif"" style="line-height: 16.8667px;">Animals have always been an integral part our life at the farm and we have been fortunate enough to have many animals who are family to us, they are part of our lives and we have ended up loving them. So with sincerity, I can say that in our family it’s ‘Happy Tails Day’ every day.</span></i></b></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , "sans-serif"" style="color: #999999; font-family: Quicksand; line-height: 16.8667px;">Whether animals are house pets or farm animals, they are very important to us and we need them as much as they need us. People who are not animal lovers would never understand this bonding, and I would go further to say that it would be rather difficult to explain what joy an animal can bring to one’s life. For me, it is incomprehensible as to how people can ignore animals and take them for granted.</span></div><div style="line-height: 18.4px; text-align: justify;"><span face=""verdana" , "sans-serif"" style="color: #999999; font-family: Quicksand; line-height: 16.8667px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Quicksand;"><span face=""verdana" , "sans-serif"" style="line-height: 16.8667px;"> </span></span></div><div style="line-height: 18.4px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Quicksand;"><span face=""verdana" , "sans-serif"" style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 18.4px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Quicksand;"><span face=""verdana" , "sans-serif"" style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 18.4px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Quicksand;"><span face=""verdana" , "sans-serif"" style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 18.4px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Quicksand;"><span face=""verdana" , "sans-serif"" style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 18.4px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Quicksand;"><span face=""verdana" , "sans-serif"" style="line-height: 16.8667px;">Have you ever noticed that even animals have fascinating characteristics, if we look closely, to a certain extent you will find in them traits which are almost human, both that we find disgusting and endearing ….</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 18.4px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Quicksand;"><span face=""verdana" , "sans-serif"" style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEQpiqbcUD74F9I8NBvNVdoW7xNtq57N7KLiX7YIhicz-lE6CA35QxKi_Gh3P6VBs2Jv-CGoud25lN4oXgMTjP8XzVrBI4PqPoJg0wKlxVAvRbmbKylec790cK8tZJckzOw2UNzZcj4VI/s1600/images-6.jpg" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Quicksand;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="309" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEQpiqbcUD74F9I8NBvNVdoW7xNtq57N7KLiX7YIhicz-lE6CA35QxKi_Gh3P6VBs2Jv-CGoud25lN4oXgMTjP8XzVrBI4PqPoJg0wKlxVAvRbmbKylec790cK8tZJckzOw2UNzZcj4VI/w320-h309/images-6.jpg" width="320" /></span></a><span face=""verdana" , "sans-serif"" style="color: #999999; font-family: Quicksand; line-height: 16.8667px;">Did you know about the cruel impulse of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘Killer Whales’!...Well let me tell you, they prey on seals….that’s okay for they are part of the food chain …..But it is atrocious to have them toss the panicked seals into the air before eating them. On the other hand, Chimps groom and embrace each other fondly. Living on the farm I have observed at close proximity that all animal mothers show similar maternal instincts towards their young ones but are perhaps even more protective than human mothers.</span></div><div style="border-color: initial; border-style: none; border-width: medium; line-height: 18.4px; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="border-color: initial; border-style: none; border-width: medium; line-height: 18.4px; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="border-color: initial; border-style: none; border-width: medium; line-height: 18.4px; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="border-color: initial; border-style: none; border-width: medium; line-height: 18.4px; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="border-color: initial; border-style: none; border-width: medium; line-height: 18.4px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Quicksand; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSgiwMCifx8gia9ThujHf3PGnKQPnfHtIyjzbv-nk7NyPBtj60OVmrcgbCQwKTBB9QjdRTYHMhiRwe9nHLvZTKOpmnEvxvdBPg5nidNnxP6HtzX-R9SEriRHBQlqUjyIC_nG0Yq06e7xw/s1600/untitled.bmp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="91" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSgiwMCifx8gia9ThujHf3PGnKQPnfHtIyjzbv-nk7NyPBtj60OVmrcgbCQwKTBB9QjdRTYHMhiRwe9nHLvZTKOpmnEvxvdBPg5nidNnxP6HtzX-R9SEriRHBQlqUjyIC_nG0Yq06e7xw/w200-h91/untitled.bmp" width="200" /></a></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIzRC88Dez9vddN0JmorwSpKFEuiWWVn2B0tXM62cj_6fXz6Val8FBQcfuspAWegbAHRVOODf7DxxDJ20Hk4qbHaGBH73Y69CcrqNOMxyUqF_TWImu6yHXgk4NgaSxv_DugXG2xSzAP8c/s1600/untitled.bmpxx.bmp" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Quicksand;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIzRC88Dez9vddN0JmorwSpKFEuiWWVn2B0tXM62cj_6fXz6Val8FBQcfuspAWegbAHRVOODf7DxxDJ20Hk4qbHaGBH73Y69CcrqNOMxyUqF_TWImu6yHXgk4NgaSxv_DugXG2xSzAP8c/w146-h200/untitled.bmpxx.bmp" width="146" /></span></a><span face=""verdana" , "sans-serif"" style="color: #999999; font-family: Quicksand; line-height: 16.8667px;"><div style="border-color: initial; border-style: none; border-width: medium; line-height: 18.4px; text-align: justify;"><span face=""verdana" , "sans-serif"" style="color: #999999; font-family: Quicksand; line-height: 16.8667px;"><br /></span></div><div style="border-color: initial; border-style: none; border-width: medium; line-height: 18.4px; text-align: justify;"><span face=""verdana" , "sans-serif"" style="color: #999999; font-family: Quicksand; line-height: 16.8667px;"><br /></span></div><div style="border-color: initial; border-style: none; border-width: medium; line-height: 18.4px; text-align: justify;"><span face=""verdana" , "sans-serif"" style="color: #999999; font-family: Quicksand; line-height: 16.8667px;"><br /></span></div><div style="border-color: initial; border-style: none; border-width: medium; line-height: 18.4px; text-align: justify;"><span face=""verdana" , "sans-serif"" style="color: #999999; font-family: Quicksand; line-height: 16.8667px;"><br /></span></div>Have you ever noticed pure joyous whoops of delight in wild animals…...If you have not then you are missing out on small things that make life wondrous ….given an opportunity look at the sea Otters or Seals playfully slide down slippery rocks into the sea…..closer home you can see rabbits chase each other around a field or listen to birds greeting each new day. We tell ourselves that all of these animal reactions are purely instinctual…. But who knows?</span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , "sans-serif"" style="color: #999999; font-family: Quicksand; line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the contrary, they probably wonder what we are all about as well.</span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , "sans-serif"" style="color: #999999; font-family: Quicksand; line-height: 16.8667px;">Even though we often reflect on how well animals understand what we say, we certainly seem to communicate with them on many an emotional level… and these are wide-ranging … curiosity, affection, concern, fear and anger. We seem to evoke the same in them as well.</span></div><div style="line-height: 18.4px; text-align: justify;"><span face=""verdana" , "sans-serif"" style="color: #999999; font-family: Quicksand; line-height: 16.8667px;"><br /></span></div><div style="line-height: 18.4px; text-align: justify;"><span face=""verdana" , "sans-serif"" style="color: #999999; font-family: Quicksand; line-height: 16.8667px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , "sans-serif"" style="color: #999999; font-family: Quicksand; line-height: 16.8667px;">Unlike man, animals seem to be doing a better job of preserving the ecosystem, they do what is basic for survival, their own and that of their offspring. They eat what is healthy for them.They don't succumb to addictions. They don't worry about who has more or better possessions or look down on less fortunate or merely different creatures. They don't hold grudges. All truth about life is simple for them; in contrast, ours are enmeshed in complexities with which we often surround ourselves.</span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , "sans-serif"" style="color: #999999; font-family: Quicksand; line-height: 16.8667px;">Just imagine for a moment what our reaction would be if….. </span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , "sans-serif"" style="color: #999999; font-family: Quicksand; line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All the cows and buffaloes ever went on a ‘no-milk’ strike, </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirA9mW7-ZIbYJOI2tJuXRZl3hIDIl_w0DZdrLYT4N0biwdvcro-69WB2LFjKJnoTLCyRawjMyTEqH6hTkqSdo-dRBpA1YcX3C0xTboPaGrwnghso5RVeqblFFkDABsho8pzx7gJoGm7wE/s1600/2262671403_faf0360acc.jpg" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Quicksand;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirA9mW7-ZIbYJOI2tJuXRZl3hIDIl_w0DZdrLYT4N0biwdvcro-69WB2LFjKJnoTLCyRawjMyTEqH6hTkqSdo-dRBpA1YcX3C0xTboPaGrwnghso5RVeqblFFkDABsho8pzx7gJoGm7wE/w320-h280/2262671403_faf0360acc.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , "sans-serif"" style="color: #999999; font-family: Quicksand; line-height: 16.8667px;">And now how about taking a glance at our feathered friend, the chicken! Just imagine what will happen if the dainty creature resolves not to lay eggs…..No sunny side up…no pastries….no cakes..</span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , "sans-serif"" style="color: #999999; font-family: Quicksand; line-height: 16.8667px;">What would happen if horses formed a ‘labour union’ and opted for ‘chakka jam’…… It would be amazing!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSNy1RNhkfSlmq1oI1dqmRAzKeZOGOtUL6nCgoJ0bGwuwBVK9XNim2WNP7LnPjFZpGrBObQHyhq1IxRJQyY-X13EI-Xl4G4zaexu2nKLwR8R7JbsDcAbLHDfDpmjBEgiRt04Ma1rJ5G7U/s1600/horse-cart.jpg" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Quicksand;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSNy1RNhkfSlmq1oI1dqmRAzKeZOGOtUL6nCgoJ0bGwuwBVK9XNim2WNP7LnPjFZpGrBObQHyhq1IxRJQyY-X13EI-Xl4G4zaexu2nKLwR8R7JbsDcAbLHDfDpmjBEgiRt04Ma1rJ5G7U/w200-h131/horse-cart.jpg" width="200" /></span></a><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Quicksand;"><span face=""verdana" , "sans-serif"" style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><div style="border-color: initial; border-style: none; border-width: medium;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Quicksand;"><span face=""verdana" , "sans-serif"" style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="border-color: initial; border-style: none; border-width: medium;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Quicksand;"><span face=""verdana" , "sans-serif"" style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="border-color: initial; border-style: none; border-width: medium;"><br /></div><div style="border-color: initial; border-style: none; border-width: medium;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Quicksand;"><span face=""verdana" , "sans-serif"" style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="border-color: initial; border-style: none; border-width: medium;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Quicksand;"><span face=""verdana" , "sans-serif"" style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="border-color: initial; border-style: none; border-width: medium;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Quicksand;"><span face=""verdana" , "sans-serif"" style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="border-color: initial; border-style: none; border-width: medium;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Quicksand;"><span face=""verdana" , "sans-serif"" style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="border-color: initial; border-style: none; border-width: medium;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Quicksand;"><span face=""verdana" , "sans-serif"" style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><br /></span></span></div>Horses… even though they are not used as much these days, yet they are actively involved in providing a decent living to some. While passing through certain areas of the city you sometimes come across Victorias or horse-pulled carriages commonly known as ghora gari which are mostly used for transportation. This mode of transportation was widely used when cars were not such a common sight. However, at present, they have solely become objects of tourist attraction. </span><span face=""verdana" , "sans-serif"" style="line-height: 16.8667px;"> In rural areas the horse carriage, Tonga, still remains to be a major source of transportation.</span></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , "sans-serif"" style="color: #999999; font-family: Quicksand; line-height: 16.8667px;">Just think if this ludicrous scenario as reality ……and be thankful that it is an impossibility…at least so far.</span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , "sans-serif"" style="color: #999999; font-family: Quicksand; line-height: 16.8667px;">Next time you come across a headstrong buffalo or a tired horse or an obstinate donkey …….just be thankful to God for their existence.</span></div>
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Daarji the Storytellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08712625868606810344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1526669237876145104.post-71950846027647664612019-01-14T13:01:00.003+05:302021-07-24T20:29:14.047+05:30Kahu Nanak Gur Khoeae Bharam || Eaeko Alahu Paarabreham .....<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #999999; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></span> </div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Nunito Sans; font-size: medium;">The Day Guru Nanak became a Defendant!</span></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE3w3U6yOB4OP7-YmhM610TCQv3oK0qU3FbwAIscVxW3wLDz83h5XTO_8vb6wd-dKGzUGICQWXUHN4kTpxHiZXEY7XVVfpSiM0Jb8y7bebigpdIOoT6qtByfzvbE40RBn0fqrKMmi99ng/s1600/images.jpg+nanak.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="613" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE3w3U6yOB4OP7-YmhM610TCQv3oK0qU3FbwAIscVxW3wLDz83h5XTO_8vb6wd-dKGzUGICQWXUHN4kTpxHiZXEY7XVVfpSiM0Jb8y7bebigpdIOoT6qtByfzvbE40RBn0fqrKMmi99ng/w640-h613/images.jpg+nanak.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Nunito Sans;">My last two stories were pertinent to the life and times at Rai Bhoi di Talwandi and all the more pertinent to us it happens to be the place of birth of Guru Nanak. Blessed was this land on which he walked and blessed were its people……. For Rai Bular Bhatti and generations of Bhattis, he is revered as a father.’</span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: x-small;">Rai Bular Bhatti</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-spacing: 2px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: x-small;">Dr Harpal Singh Professor & Head<br /><br /></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Nunito Sans;">Perchance he met a devout old man, six ft six-inch tall, an imposing personality in a traditional Muslim Punjabi suit and customary turban on his august head… about 70 or so in years. He was a building contractor…. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Nunito Sans;">True to form his welcome was effusive and warm; he stopped all that he was doing to give his undivided attention to his fellow Punjabi brethren from across the border…..</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Nunito Sans;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666;">As usual, all talks in Nankana sahib forever veer </span></span><span style="color: #666666;">towards ‘</span><b style="color: #666666;">Hazrat Baba Nanak’,</b><span style="color: #666666;"> and the ‘Thekedar Sahib’ just could not stop talking of ‘him’ and his divine aura. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Nunito Sans;">It is from him that Dr Singh learnt that his ancestor ‘Bhatti Sardar’ was Rai Bular, a devoted disciple of Baba Nanak. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Nunito Sans;">He who had bequeathed half his estate as he could discern a Kohe-Noor in Nanak even as a child. But that was a long time ago, and five centuries can mask perception. </span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Nunito Sans;">Bhatti clan went through one such aberration in 1988 ….Possibly the devil was at work again 22 years ago in Nankana Sahib…..A seed of discontentment was planted in minds of a few of the clan...</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Nunito Sans;">‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">we are the owners, we hold and have been holding the land for generations of the farm the land but the title is not in our names’.....</i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Nunito Sans;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Nunito Sans;">They deliberated at length, first individually and later collectively. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Nunito Sans;"><span style="color: #666666;">And finally, a </span><span style="color: #666666;">decision was taken to address a plea to the courts.</span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Nunito Sans;"> Though in retrospect the righteous Thekedar felt it was a hasty and faulty move.</span></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Nunito Sans;">A petition was filed at District courts Sheikhupur …..The gist of it was to declare that their grand old ancestor had turned senile in his old age. Based on the above it was their plea to set aside the centuries-old decision of Rai Bular in the bestowing the rights of half of his landed property to a Fakir called Nanak, since, as per inheritance laws, they are the rightful owners. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Nunito Sans;">Moreover, the clan men felt that as they manage and farm the land, its title should be transferred to our names as well.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Nunito Sans;">Like all civil court cases, this took years…… Summons, records search and legal arguments, all of it took four years. …so what if the defendant was Baba Nanak. On the judgment date, the verdict was against the Bhatti clan. The title cannot be transferred and the deed remains in the name of Nanak, to be mutated to legal heir only.</span></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-family: Nunito Sans;">Next, it was a natural progression to Lahore High court, and it took three years. ….Once again lower court verdict was upheld…... the title deed was not transferrable.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Nunito Sans;"><span class="copyright1"><span>Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Nunito Sans;"><span><a href="http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/essays-on-sikhism/769-fact-about-nankana-sahib.html"><span class="copyright1"><span>http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=769</span></span></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Nunito Sans;">The clan was caught off balance by the verdict but was not ready to give up the claim.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Nunito Sans;">At least not as yet. They went on to file an appeal in the Supreme Court in Islamabad. Another three years were lost in hearings and arguments and depositions. </span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Nunito Sans;">Judgment time again, and after much consideration, the Hon’ble Chief Justices invited representatives of the clansmen to the chambers ….this was a conditional offer without the presence of legal aides. The judges contemplated that filing the suit was not an appropriate action and lacked moral principles.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Nunito Sans;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Nunito Sans;">The court was adjourned for an hour and the closed-door meeting began in the chambers. The Justices were very clear that the filing of the petition had been a monumental blunder of divine proportion. Moreover, in the bargain, the legacy of a pious ancestor had been dishonoured by suggesting that he was senile, that apart desecration of the eternal blessings, the very blessing of the ‘Fakir’ whom they had sued to regain the title deed.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Nunito Sans; letter-spacing: 0px;">Hearing this some of the kinfolks had begun to feel deeply mortified, the building ‘Thekedar’ was able to shed light on this, as he was there himself, but the Justices were not done and over with…….</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Nunito Sans;">They went on to explain in great detail the logic of their line of judgment…… </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: georgia;"><span>“</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span>Since Rai Bular gave only half his estate as grant and kept the other half, it goes to show that at the very least he was partially sane in mind …to be exact he was half normal. But the Fakir, that is, Baba Nanak in whose name Rai Bular executed half of his estate's title deed had in all probability lost all his mental faculties and rationale, since he never even bothered to give a second thought to this prime endowment, nor did any his heir ever try to take possession of the land</span></i></span><span>”.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Montserrat;"><i><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span>Such is the way of life the judges philosophically explained….. </span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span>‘</span></span></i></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Montserrat;"><i><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span><br /></span></span></span></i></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><i><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Nobody’s name will remain, forever neither yours nor ours….. </span></span></span></i></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><i><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The fortunate few who keep faith in the name of God…the eternal ‘Naam’ and truth will remain’. </span></span></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Nunito Sans;">The eight men who came in to re-present the case on behalf of the clan sat dumbfounded……and were chastised for perpetuating sacrilege for ten to twelve years and making a mockery out of sentiments.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Nunito Sans;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Did nobody advise you not to sin? </span></span><br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">It would have been better if you hadn’t filed the suit. Though they were not obligated to accept, as it was an out of court suggestion, they were advised to withdraw the appeal.</span></span><br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><b>If the appeal was not withdrawn the Hon'ble Courts would deliver the ruling. </b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">...the delegation of representatives thought. Now they found the reproaches of their inner soul much louder and were unable to meet each other’s eye.</span></span><br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Silence hung so heavy, that abrading of chairs as they were pushed back was enough to jar the nerves. </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-family: Nunito Sans;">Still, contemplative they stepped out to meet the warmth of the setting sun and the waiting kinfolk……and the gist of the riot act read by the judges was given.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Nunito Sans;">Did they have a choice...No, The verdict was preordained. All that was left to decide was to withdraw the appeal or get ready to receive a judgment against it.</span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Nunito Sans;">To date, the devout Thekedar remains shaken by the enormity of the irreverence they had almost committed.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Nunito Sans; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAsHh2E6HJhE8Hy2rsSGOxkRRa4OSO5DmVoSq0aJGksqoBUCSGgRzpVNXHvsO_O1i7qJD5DKJNDgDuBZNVwbior5WYnROLCTGIyfIwAla6MfAjmTQdlH6MTh_gWq2WwOR6iXkyD-ri0Ao/s1600/pd47913.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAsHh2E6HJhE8Hy2rsSGOxkRRa4OSO5DmVoSq0aJGksqoBUCSGgRzpVNXHvsO_O1i7qJD5DKJNDgDuBZNVwbior5WYnROLCTGIyfIwAla6MfAjmTQdlH6MTh_gWq2WwOR6iXkyD-ri0Ao/w496-h640/pd47913.jpg" width="496" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Nunito Sans;"><span><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span><br /></span></i></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span>'Sardar Ji we were saved’,</span></i></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span><span> he reiterated thoughtfully, his mind winging back to that fateful day…</span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span><span style="font-family: Nunito Sans;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span><span style="font-family: Nunito Sans;">’<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sanoo tan Babe ne bachcha leya…. If the appeal weren’t withdrawn we would have lost the appeal, this world and the faith’</i>.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Nunito Sans;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Their firm belief was ‘Hazrat Baba Nanak’ who in the course of the appeal conveyed through the Supreme Court the corrective path…</span></span><br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span>’</span><span>Sadiyaan beet gayiyan, sade te Babe ne kirpa kiti…..ay ta mehar hai.Lakh lakh salaam, he saved our name'.</span></i></span></span></span></div>
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<span><span class="Apple-style-span"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Nunito Sans;"><br /></span></span></i></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Nunito Sans;">So dear friends even today, as per land registry records, Guru Nanak farms these Murabas….he is still the tiller…the records remain unchanged.</span></span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Montserrat;"><br /></span></span></i></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span"><div _ngcontent-angular-starter-c313="" class="content-block row" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 10px -15px; text-align: left;"><div _ngcontent-angular-starter-c313="" class="col-md-12 col-sm-12" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; flex-direction: column; float: left; min-height: 1px; padding-left: 15px; padding-right: 15px; position: relative; width: 1158.04px;"><p _ngcontent-angular-starter-c313="" class="lang1" style="box-sizing: border-box; break-after: auto; break-inside: avoid; color: #333333; font-family: AnmolUniBani; font-size: 20px; margin: 2px 0px; word-break: break-word;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">ਕਹੁ</span> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;">ਨਾਨਕ</span> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;">ਗੁਰਿ</span> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;">ਖੋਏ</span> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;">ਭਰਮ</span> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;">॥</span></p><p _ngcontent-angular-starter-c313="" class="lang2" style="box-sizing: border-box; break-after: auto; break-inside: avoid; color: #06035b; font-family: arial; margin: 2px 0px; word-break: break-word;">Kahu Naanak Gur Khoeae Bharam ||</p><p _ngcontent-angular-starter-c313="" class="lang6" style="box-sizing: border-box; break-after: auto; break-inside: avoid; color: #366732; font-family: arial; margin: 2px 0px; word-break: break-word;">Says Nanak, the Guru has rid me of doubt.</p><div _ngcontent-angular-starter-c313="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p _ngcontent-angular-starter-c313="" class="line_info" style="box-sizing: border-box; break-after: auto; break-inside: avoid; font-style: italic; margin: 2px 0px; word-break: break-word;">ਰਾਮਕਲੀ (ਮਃ ੫) (੪੫) ੫:੩ - ਗੁਰੂ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ ਸਾਹਿਬ : ਅੰਗ ੮੯੭ ਪੰ. ੬<br _ngcontent-angular-starter-c313="" style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Raag Raamkali Guru Arjan Dev</p></div></div><br _ngcontent-angular-starter-c313="" class="clearer" style="box-sizing: border-box;" /></div><div _ngcontent-angular-starter-c313="" class="content-block row" style="background: rgb(255, 236, 236); box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 10px -15px; text-align: left;"><div _ngcontent-angular-starter-c313="" class="col-md-12 col-sm-12" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: flex; flex-direction: column; float: left; min-height: 1px; padding-left: 15px; padding-right: 15px; position: relative; width: 1158.04px;"><p _ngcontent-angular-starter-c313="" class="lang1" style="box-sizing: border-box; break-after: auto; break-inside: avoid; color: #333333; font-family: AnmolUniBani; font-size: 20px; margin: 2px 0px; word-break: break-word;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">ਏਕੋ</span> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;">ਅਲਹੁ</span> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;">ਪਾਰਬ੍ਰਹਮ</span> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;">॥੫॥੩੪॥੪੫॥</span></p><p _ngcontent-angular-starter-c313="" class="lang2" style="box-sizing: border-box; break-after: auto; break-inside: avoid; color: #06035b; font-family: arial; margin: 2px 0px; word-break: break-word;">Eaeko Alahu Paarabreham ||5||34||45||</p><p _ngcontent-angular-starter-c313="" class="lang6" style="box-sizing: border-box; break-after: auto; break-inside: avoid; color: #366732; font-family: arial; margin: 2px 0px; word-break: break-word;">The Muslim God Allah and the Hindu God Paarbrahm are one and the same. ||5||34||45||</p><div _ngcontent-angular-starter-c313="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p _ngcontent-angular-starter-c313="" class="line_info" style="box-sizing: border-box; break-after: auto; break-inside: avoid; font-style: italic; margin: 2px 0px; word-break: break-word;">ਰਾਮਕਲੀ (ਮਃ ੫) (੪੫) ੫:੪ - ਗੁਰੂ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ ਸਾਹਿਬ : ਅੰਗ ੮੯੭ ਪੰ. ੬<br _ngcontent-angular-starter-c313="" style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Raag Raamkali Guru Arjan Dev.</p></div></div></div></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Nunito Sans;">I would appreciate your inputs/comments to further explore the veracity of this narrative…..please.</span></span></div>
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Daarji the Storytellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08712625868606810344noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1526669237876145104.post-2232738817689169152019-01-13T17:47:00.004+05:302020-10-03T12:49:07.653+05:30Journey of Dreams<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Montserrat;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">For men in olive greens…or as we call them the men in ‘OG’, travelling has been a one big added benefit, at least for some of us who are bitten by the travel bug. We get to live all over India and if good fortune comes our way then perhaps we get global deputations or two like I did. The opportunity to see places teaches many valuable things about other cultures and ways of life.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Montserrat;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">But there is a difference between those who travel to gain knowledge about the world and its people and those who travel for pleasure as well…for if you derive personal pleasure then you gain the power to feel the soul of the place and your journey becomes a spiritual odyssey.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Montserrat;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="background-color: white;">As I look back I could say with confidence, and I am sure Bebe will second me on that ,that all our journeys across India in service of the nation have been one of the most rewarding perks of soldiering, and our tour of duty has been one long tour …a cruise through time over many decades .It had been an opportunity for us to get off the beaten track and travel at your own pace and experience</span><span style="background-color: white;"> many mysteries and fascinations which abound in India.</span></span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #999999; font-family: Montserrat;"><span style="background-color: white;"></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">You can say, we are inveterate and addicted travellers…..so our travel plans are forever on the make. I would love to share my ‘Story- maps’ with you as we go along. Story –maps of places are stories with images and words as every place has a story. It could be geological, historical, personal, or inspirational. Just being a casual tourist does not excite me in the least, what excites me is to recreate the place in time </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">… a kind of a bird's-eye view of a moment in time… </span></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #999999; font-family: Montserrat;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/" name="history"></a>Not just seeing History but to understand that place "read the landscape" and see the impact that geography had on the lives of people, not only today but in the years gone by.</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> What an experience it can be to stand at the actual spot - seeing, hearing, smelling, and feeling the energy and aura for yourself. This is where you can really start to have fun.</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #999999; font-family: Montserrat;">Travelling gives me the opportunity of meeting new people; locals especially love talking to you and that really helps me to understand their way of life their language and local delicacies. Being a foodie these flavours add to the background colour of the place.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Montserrat;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">One of the most beautiful things our mind creates is memories…and like most of us, we cherish them<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">….So it’s best to take the camera wherever you go. I take mine and I try and take as many pictures as I can so that I can reminisce over the experience.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #999999; font-family: Montserrat;">But there is a downside to it, this habit of mine drives my friends and family mad because whenever I return from a holiday jaunt, they have to see my photos and hear my accounts …..repeatedly.</span></span></div>
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Daarji the Storytellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08712625868606810344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1526669237876145104.post-29671448853176271612019-01-13T17:26:00.003+05:302020-10-03T13:11:42.752+05:30Looking Back at Life<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Montserrat;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><span><span style="color: red;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></span><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span>The old dictum, ‘y<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">outh is wasted on the young’</i> is one that I seem to be in harmony with these days…Could the reason be<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span> a discord between the spirit of my mind and spirit of my<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span> body….willy-nilly one is slowing down and not keeping pace with the other. </span></span></span></span></div><div style="border-color: initial; border-style: none; border-width: medium; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Montserrat;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div style="border-color: initial; border-style: none; border-width: medium; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Montserrat;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span>When I was young and filled with enthusiasm, I had the youthful energy as the driving force in me to take on new challenges to make the best of all that life offered...The momentum was all fast forward…</span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg91hXnEoonrPYH4BFOnYS4Y53pnqNVXOBUHjzaFCTY5yRUD_7IPcfiVc1LKqu5Np8McafQYnig-52TyKG6uaKvVLvY3WSv7zl0j8D7WMu6Qh24_YEbDEPJfkLYpIHPFZoJFCzHTh7ZgiE/s1600/header_youth.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Montserrat;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg91hXnEoonrPYH4BFOnYS4Y53pnqNVXOBUHjzaFCTY5yRUD_7IPcfiVc1LKqu5Np8McafQYnig-52TyKG6uaKvVLvY3WSv7zl0j8D7WMu6Qh24_YEbDEPJfkLYpIHPFZoJFCzHTh7ZgiE/s640/header_youth.gif" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Montserrat;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span><br /></span></span></span><span>And sure, that's the way it should be….For youth dare where angels fear to tread. </span></span></span></div><div style="border-color: initial; border-style: none; border-width: medium; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Montserrat;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><span>To have taken a pit stop then, to take stock and look back at ‘Life’ was definitely not a choice to be considered. In </span>fact<span>, that was the farthest from my mind.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Montserrat;"><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">It is only now, that I am older and the energies have dipped<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>, that I have begun to sit back and overview the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span> years as<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span> they rolled for us….</span></span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">That is for Bebe and<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span> I….<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Where we've been, what we’ve done and what's still left to be done. …and heaven knows that my bucket list things still to be done is getting longer by the day. </span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-color: initial; border-style: none; border-width: medium; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Montserrat;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">But in retrospect with almost 8 decades behind me, perhaps I am kinder to myself and a trifle more forgiving as well. You can say I am far more reflective than I was when I was 30 or 40 or say at 50. …. Looking back at my life, I feel blessed that I have had a great ride and have no complaints.</span></span></span><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: Montserrat;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span>All the same, I do have a thing or two to say about ‘Time’ ….and that is to reiterate that ‘Time does fly’. I cannot put it in perspective technically as to how it does, but then the way years have sped by, they certainly seem to have got wings, and flown.</span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-color: initial; border-style: none; border-width: medium; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Montserrat;"><span style="color: #666666;">The interim years seem to be a blink and miss of time and space.<br /></span>
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><br /></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;">In all the interim years one of the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span> most significant<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span> lessons I have learnt is that relationships are<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>of supreme importance<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i></span></span></span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></i></span></span><span><span style="line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="color: #444444;"> </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">I have learned, that people will forget what you said, people will also forget what you do or did.... but people will never forget the way you made them feel.</span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: #666666;"><br />
</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><span><span style="line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span></span></span></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;">People matter.</span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-color: initial; border-style: none; border-width: medium; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Montserrat;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;">The emotional quotient in relationships matter. </span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-color: initial; border-style: none; border-width: medium; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Montserrat;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;">Keeping relationships <span style="color: #444444;">matter.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Montserrat;"><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"></span><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span>All these small nuances and values I have been picking up since I was a little boy, from my grandmother as well as my parents. It remains one of my most treasured beliefs that they have made me who I am.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some days I stand on this land…land that has been for generations in my family and kind of look down a long driveway of memories and recollections come tumbling out, perhaps I should chronicle the innocuous happenings that have stood like beacons in my matrix of memories.</span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM2C-z3kBgXLL6-7myP-v7oFtSQZAy3F5Sso2BgVVwdRC8_uzmxs3twyZFTauKOXbBhnILF2Bbg65D7Itwp81YxlwT3AC97rRu36cJROHCxnRmmOWmZ7qk2RcQgm3p7EbW6adUzl28PsE/s1600/Critchfield01.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Montserrat;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="387" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM2C-z3kBgXLL6-7myP-v7oFtSQZAy3F5Sso2BgVVwdRC8_uzmxs3twyZFTauKOXbBhnILF2Bbg65D7Itwp81YxlwT3AC97rRu36cJROHCxnRmmOWmZ7qk2RcQgm3p7EbW6adUzl28PsE/s640/Critchfield01.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Montserrat;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><br /></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;">My Grandmother was one such beacon, an indomitable little woman; she lost her husband, my grandfather quite suddenly of heart attack, I was quite little at that time to make any kind of difference.</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Montserrat;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;">She was the matriarch of the clan…6 sons, 2 daughters and numerous nephews and nieces, but she never once, as far as I can remember, was dependant on anyone in managing the farm. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: Montserrat;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;">Family for her, she always told us, would always be there whenever she needed them. She would always say that if you cannot count the </span><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;">on the family in life, then there is little else you can count on.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXzrqDM0_3q6pQ-20mg2-W0PRzpmGSV8BSVGGKLAAMxWT9xcyJsoxRS7LFR7SMlYZAFlMvhFOimrqNBTJwu5hPAh2MmQnZLuhTegVXbwAz7F3WDo25q07ZVWEYXXiyjWTbYd7ZJX552gE/s1600/imagesCAXQHNBH.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Montserrat;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXzrqDM0_3q6pQ-20mg2-W0PRzpmGSV8BSVGGKLAAMxWT9xcyJsoxRS7LFR7SMlYZAFlMvhFOimrqNBTJwu5hPAh2MmQnZLuhTegVXbwAz7F3WDo25q07ZVWEYXXiyjWTbYd7ZJX552gE/s640/imagesCAXQHNBH.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Montserrat;"><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">The family never let her down…uncles, aunts, cousins, all came together and she was the pivot. Thus get-togethers became a family a jamboree.</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Montserrat;">School holidays were always at the farm…. Waking up at the break of dawn with the smells from the kitchen wafting up to my room …. The smell of the freshly cooking flour in ‘desi ghee’ and sugar was enough to drive anyone out of their deep sleep.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Montserrat;">Stuffing my pyjamas into my boots I would race down the stairs into the kitchen to find my grandmother stirring the ‘kada prashad’ for the daily ‘deg’ I just have to close my eyes and smells surround me again.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWm6y0f0lQmiyqTx24qXzffmEAxkzysVjq4svDKBYJfqdPXsCMZfVCMoNy0HwKI4ytwas6XAFdtvlW33cHNix1c7MxtlkGwjZRfY_ysOkgtKWvPj1EAmo_x6KMXlTOFr_eQwQKQSCiWEM/s1600/Prashad8-400x400.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Montserrat;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="473" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWm6y0f0lQmiyqTx24qXzffmEAxkzysVjq4svDKBYJfqdPXsCMZfVCMoNy0HwKI4ytwas6XAFdtvlW33cHNix1c7MxtlkGwjZRfY_ysOkgtKWvPj1EAmo_x6KMXlTOFr_eQwQKQSCiWEM/s640/Prashad8-400x400.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Montserrat;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">That remains one of my fondest memories of the many summers spent at grandmothers place.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Montserrat;">My grandmother taught me many valuable lessons in those summers about life, including humanity, laughter, strength, and most importantly the importance of family. Looking back at the all too short span of a time I got to spend with my grandmother, she taught me some of the most precious morals that I carry with me still today. One of the toughest lessons that I had to deal with was the death of some of my most loved animal friends.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Montserrat;">I thank God, for letting me spend as much time with my grandmother as he did. A lot of who I am and what I stand for started here on this farm on the outskirts of this village.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 16.8667px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Montserrat;">Today I am able to dwell on many pleasant and unpleasant events with more comfort and confidence. I accepted each event as part of life, regardless of whether it was a good or bad experience. I understand that moments in life transpire even when we are not prepared for it, but more importantly, it is how we deal with circumstances that keep us going forward.</span></span></div><span style="font-family: Montserrat;">
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Montserrat;"><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;">My life has been a journey filled with challenging experience</span><span style="line-height: 16.8667px;">, which includes, leaving home…..and take a cue on the startup line with other young men, cadets to be exact 'Gentleman Cadets' , some of whom have become became friends for life.</span></span></div>
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Daarji the Storytellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08712625868606810344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1526669237876145104.post-25088018748634629082019-01-12T12:51:00.002+05:302020-10-03T13:21:00.020+05:30Story maps & Journeys<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Montserrat;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">For men in olive greens…or as we call them the men in ‘OG’, travelling has been a one big added benefit, at least for some of us who are bitten by the travel bug. We get to live all over India and if good fortune comes our way then perhaps we get global deputations or two like I did.</span></span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> The opportunity to live in different places teaches many valuable things about other cultures and ways of life. Our families travel and so do our pets, it is a complete translocation.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Montserrat;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">But there is a difference between those who travel to gain knowledge about the world and its people and those who travel for pleasure as well…for if you derive personal pleasure then you gain the power to feel the soul of the place and your journey becomes a spiritual odyssey.</span></span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Montserrat;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr2AW4TRZ6U4wfFp8o1rcUVmVRqBcW7eI3PZvFwQwpO8OJW_1fiOhlS0wnRX6XAwMwUiF40tPfZ_oIHDQpHr-Olmvm7U-CokFXTyegdIxyW5VoLxtrQeBfqNyYcH-0zkGTdp7Br4RQ7qA/s1600/JOD_LOGO.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr2AW4TRZ6U4wfFp8o1rcUVmVRqBcW7eI3PZvFwQwpO8OJW_1fiOhlS0wnRX6XAwMwUiF40tPfZ_oIHDQpHr-Olmvm7U-CokFXTyegdIxyW5VoLxtrQeBfqNyYcH-0zkGTdp7Br4RQ7qA/s400/JOD_LOGO.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="text-align: justify;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Montserrat;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="background-color: white;">As I look back I could say with confidence, and I am sure Bebe will second me on that, that all our journeys across India in service of the nation have been one of the most rewarding perks of soldiering, and our tour of duty has been one long tour …a cruise through time over many decades. It had been an opportunity for us to get off the beaten track and travel at your own pace and experience</span><span style="background-color: white;"> many mysteries and fascinations which abound in India.</span></span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Montserrat; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJrnYUeISWnGjCSFwW7JyKlQUgkhCMlubRXkwr1XaJPFE98x6PStXHrd2zMkr4BtTVsOFqPmRXsx-3ZLpS4dl41ARM18IY3A7BKJksNwIi3pgP-FXPnodYN6wsPfs4JpV3PJgrOnn8A_g/s320/india_map.jpg" width="289" /></span></div>
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Montserrat;"><span style="background-color: white;"></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">You can say, we are inveterate and addicted travellers…..so our travel plans are forever on the make. I would love to share my ‘Story- maps’ with you as we go along. Story –maps of places are stories with images and words as every place has a story. It could be geological, historical, personal, or inspirational. Just being a casual tourist does not excite me in the least, what excites me is to recreate the place in time </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">… a kind of a bird's-eye view of a moment in time… </span></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Montserrat;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/" name="history"></a>Not just seeing History but to understand that place "read the landscape" and see the impact that geography had on the lives of people, not only today but in the years gone by.</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> What an experience it can be to stand at the actual spot - seeing, hearing, smelling, and feeling the energy and aura for yourself. This is where you can really start to have fun.</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Montserrat;">Travelling gives me the opportunity of meeting new people; locals especially love talking to you and that really helps me to understand their way of life their language and local delicacies. Being a foodie these flavours add to the background colour of the place.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Montserrat;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">One of the most beautiful things our mind creates is memories…and like most of us, we cherish them<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">….So it’s best to take the camera wherever you go. I take mine and I try and take as many pictures as I can so that I can reminisce over the experience.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Montserrat;">But there is a downside to it, this habit of mine drives my friends and family mad because whenever I return from a holiday jaunt, they have to see my photos and hear my accounts …..repeatedly.</span></span></div>
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Daarji the Storytellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08712625868606810344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1526669237876145104.post-85682859892788817042019-01-12T12:13:00.000+05:302019-01-12T15:20:47.142+05:30Walk down the memory Lane<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">The old dictum, ‘y<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">outh is wasted on the young’</i> is one that I seem to be in harmony with these days…Could the reason be<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span> a discord between the spirit of my mind and spirit of my<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span> body….wily-nily one is slowing down and not keeping pace with the other. When I was young and filled with enthusiasm, I had the youthful energy as the driving force in me to take on new challenges to make the best of all that life offered...The momentum was all fast forward…</span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg91hXnEoonrPYH4BFOnYS4Y53pnqNVXOBUHjzaFCTY5yRUD_7IPcfiVc1LKqu5Np8McafQYnig-52TyKG6uaKvVLvY3WSv7zl0j8D7WMu6Qh24_YEbDEPJfkLYpIHPFZoJFCzHTh7ZgiE/s1600/header_youth.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg91hXnEoonrPYH4BFOnYS4Y53pnqNVXOBUHjzaFCTY5yRUD_7IPcfiVc1LKqu5Np8McafQYnig-52TyKG6uaKvVLvY3WSv7zl0j8D7WMu6Qh24_YEbDEPJfkLYpIHPFZoJFCzHTh7ZgiE/s400/header_youth.gif" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><br /></span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">And sure, that's the way it should be….For youth dare where angels fear to tread. To have taken a pit stop then, to take stock and look back at ‘Life’ was definitely not a choice to be considered. In </span>fact<span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">, that was the farthest from my mind.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgSIJ-r2w4qbbFFtyNIgL7-8WDyXHyGdS3WuUiuDBOHdyvDN38O_ILsOe8b2RBU_ktLt029Oe8nsTjo5HwLRdyv2U38-wZg7NsMNinWVVP5gezgcNMvfAkeJHfMfCgBvP-B0RQy-bbPnU/s1600/imagesCAI5FNW3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgSIJ-r2w4qbbFFtyNIgL7-8WDyXHyGdS3WuUiuDBOHdyvDN38O_ILsOe8b2RBU_ktLt029Oe8nsTjo5HwLRdyv2U38-wZg7NsMNinWVVP5gezgcNMvfAkeJHfMfCgBvP-B0RQy-bbPnU/s400/imagesCAI5FNW3.jpg" width="383" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It is only now, that I am older and the energies have dipped<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>, that I have begun to sit back and overview the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span> years as<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span> they rolled for us….</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">That is for Bebe and<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span> I….<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Where we've been, what we’ve done and what's still left to be done. …and heaven knows that my of list things still to be done is getting longer by the day. But in retrospect with almost 8 decades behind me, perhaps I am kinder to myself and a trifle more forgiving as well. You can say I am far more reflective than I was when I was 30 or 40 or say at 50. …. Looking back at my life, I feel blessed that I have had a great ride and have no complaints.</span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPk1c-A6dliAZZqxCffJt2o0HsRofFTQbWB6T3tX_U_l_EHALMAESedGpX_Vd7c9eEft4x_Vj_YquZvJZfEsf7VGhqPXH9KVZlcJWnJjkcanUIDIB6cvsXliTv76pLB9Uyc_IEGHSHWsc/s1600/timeflies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPk1c-A6dliAZZqxCffJt2o0HsRofFTQbWB6T3tX_U_l_EHALMAESedGpX_Vd7c9eEft4x_Vj_YquZvJZfEsf7VGhqPXH9KVZlcJWnJjkcanUIDIB6cvsXliTv76pLB9Uyc_IEGHSHWsc/s400/timeflies.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">All the same, I do have a thing or two to say about ‘Time’ ….and that is to reiterate that ‘Time does fly’. I cannot put it in perspective technically as to how it does, but then the way years have sped by, they certainly seem to have got wings, and flown.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8667px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8667px;">In all the interim years one of the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span> most significant<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span> lessons I have learnt is that relationships are<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>of supreme importance<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8667px;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></i></span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><i style="font-size: 11pt;"> </i><b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>I have learned, that people will forget what you said, people will also forget what you do or did.... but people will never forget the way you made them feel.</i></span></b></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></b></span></span></span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8667px;">People matter.Emotional quotient in relationships matter. Keeping relationships matter.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8667px;"></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">All these small nuances and values I have been picking up since I was a little boy, from my grandmother as well as my parents. It remains one of my most treasured beliefs that they have made me who I am.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some days I stand on this land…land that has been for generations in my family and look down a long driveway of memories and think, perhaps I should chronicle the innocuous happenings that have stood like beacons in my matrix of memories.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8667px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8667px;">My Grandmother was one such beacon, an indomitable little woman; she lost her husband, my grandfather quite suddenly of heart attack, I was quite little at that time. She was the matriarch of the clan…6 sons, 2 daughters and numerous nephews and nieces, but she never once, as far as I can remember, was dependant on anyone in managing the farm. Family for her, she always told us, would always be there whenever she needed them. She would always say that if you cannot count rely</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8667px;"> on the family in life, then there is little else you can count on.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXzrqDM0_3q6pQ-20mg2-W0PRzpmGSV8BSVGGKLAAMxWT9xcyJsoxRS7LFR7SMlYZAFlMvhFOimrqNBTJwu5hPAh2MmQnZLuhTegVXbwAz7F3WDo25q07ZVWEYXXiyjWTbYd7ZJX552gE/s1600/imagesCAXQHNBH.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXzrqDM0_3q6pQ-20mg2-W0PRzpmGSV8BSVGGKLAAMxWT9xcyJsoxRS7LFR7SMlYZAFlMvhFOimrqNBTJwu5hPAh2MmQnZLuhTegVXbwAz7F3WDo25q07ZVWEYXXiyjWTbYd7ZJX552gE/s640/imagesCAXQHNBH.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The family never let her down…uncles, aunts, cousins, all came together and she was the pivot. These get-togethers became a family a jamboree.</span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWm6y0f0lQmiyqTx24qXzffmEAxkzysVjq4svDKBYJfqdPXsCMZfVCMoNy0HwKI4ytwas6XAFdtvlW33cHNix1c7MxtlkGwjZRfY_ysOkgtKWvPj1EAmo_x6KMXlTOFr_eQwQKQSCiWEM/s1600/Prashad8-400x400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">School holidays were always at the farm…. Waking up at the break of dawn with the smells from the kitchen wafting up to my room …. The smell of the freshly cooking flour in ‘desi ghee’ and sugar was enough to drive anyone out of their deep sleep.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Stuffing my pyjamas into my boots I would race down the stairs into the kitchen to find my grandmother stirring the ‘kada prashad’ for the daily ‘deg’ I just have to close my eyes and smells surround me again.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWm6y0f0lQmiyqTx24qXzffmEAxkzysVjq4svDKBYJfqdPXsCMZfVCMoNy0HwKI4ytwas6XAFdtvlW33cHNix1c7MxtlkGwjZRfY_ysOkgtKWvPj1EAmo_x6KMXlTOFr_eQwQKQSCiWEM/s1600/Prashad8-400x400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWm6y0f0lQmiyqTx24qXzffmEAxkzysVjq4svDKBYJfqdPXsCMZfVCMoNy0HwKI4ytwas6XAFdtvlW33cHNix1c7MxtlkGwjZRfY_ysOkgtKWvPj1EAmo_x6KMXlTOFr_eQwQKQSCiWEM/s400/Prashad8-400x400.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">That remains one of my fondest memories of the many summers spent at grandmothers place.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">My grandmother taught me many valuable lessons in those summers about life, including humanity, laughter, strength, and most importantly the importance of family. Looking back at the all too short span of a time I got to spend with my grandmother, she taught me some of the most precious morals that I carry with me still today. One of the toughest lessons that I had to deal with was the death of some of my most loved animal friends.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I thank God for letting me spend as much time with my grandmother as he did. A lot of who I am and what I stand for started here on this farm on the outskirts of this village.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Today I am able to dwell on many pleasant and unpleasant events with more comfort and confidence. I accepted each event as part of life, regardless of whether it was a good or bad experience. I understand that moments in life transpire even when we are not prepared for it, but more importantly, it is how we deal with circumstances that keep us going forward.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8667px;">My life has been a journey filled with challenging experience</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8667px;">, which includes, leaving home…..and take a cue on the startup line with other young men, some of whom became friends for life.</span></span></div>
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Daarji the Storytellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08712625868606810344noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1526669237876145104.post-91203914800069046222017-03-15T16:43:00.003+05:302020-10-04T13:44:42.326+05:30My Story of a Bridge too Far...... <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBUjAC00SuZ6g5HP-dF2JacpNRq2PH7seYb6xuiFQnUE41ylVJHPgHdi5GyTSE9Vm4zRJoFMZ7dEyHS-9xbu6lut3F7krFqbTDKf3WfEkv5x9CkhPxCDj7W16KLTZFTiWhzAy4bD2b1Xs/s1600/Uri-bridge-still-incomplete.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="394" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBUjAC00SuZ6g5HP-dF2JacpNRq2PH7seYb6xuiFQnUE41ylVJHPgHdi5GyTSE9Vm4zRJoFMZ7dEyHS-9xbu6lut3F7krFqbTDKf3WfEkv5x9CkhPxCDj7W16KLTZFTiWhzAy4bD2b1Xs/s640/Uri-bridge-still-incomplete.jpg" width="640" /></a><span class="_4yxp" style="text-align: left;"><i>If</i></span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-style: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Montserrat;">
<span class="_4yxp" style="text-align: left;"><i><span><span style="font-weight: normal;">I</span><b>f one tries to think about history, it seems to me - it's like looking at a range of mountains. </b></span></i></span></span><i style="color: #999999; font-family: Montserrat; text-align: left;"><span><b>And the first time you see them, they look one way. But then time changes, the pattern of light shifts. Maybe you've moved slightly, your perspective has changed. The mountains are the same...</b></span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-style: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Montserrat;"><span><span class="_4yxp" style="text-align: left;"><i><b>but they look very </b></i></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span class="_4yxp" style="text-align: left;"><i><span><b>different.</b></span></i></span><span class="_4yxp" style="text-align: left;"><i><b><span>-</span><span> </span></b></i></span></span><i style="text-align: left;"><span><b>Richard Harris</b></span></i></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Montserrat;">
<span style="text-align: left;">It was in the summer of 1967/68 that my mother and I first came to Kashmir valley. My father </span><span style="font-size: calc(var(--rem) * 1px * 1.0625); text-align: left;">was </span><span style="font-size: calc(var(--rem) * 1px * 1.0625); text-align: left;">stationed at Baramulla, on the banks of Jhelum River, a little outside of Srinagar.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Montserrat;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span>Baramulla was even then, an important military town sitting astride the Uri- Srinagar Road, </span></span></span><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Montserrat; text-align: left;">which along with its travelling companion, the Jhelum river crossed over to POK a little ahead at Uri. </span></div><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Montserrat;">
</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Montserrat;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span>Twenty years ago bloody history of rape and loot had been taken place on this road….</span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Montserrat;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span>But to me the scars of the humanitarian crisis were not perceptible.</span></span></span></div><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Montserrat;">
</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Montserrat;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span>Perhaps my teen years could not perceive.</span></span></span></div><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Montserrat;">
</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Montserrat;"><span style="text-align: left;">Once again it was summer, but it was summer of 1975, and as an adventurous wife of a young </span></span><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Montserrat; text-align: left;">Army Major, I came back again; I was visiting my husband on his tour of duty in J&K. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Montserrat;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Montserrat;"><span style="text-align: left;">It was then, that I began to delve into the story of the scars of land and people after I started reading </span></span><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Montserrat; text-align: left;">the book ‘Slender was the Thread’ by Gen LP Sen. It was about the Kashmir cauldron of </span><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Montserrat; text-align: left;">1947-8 with an unforgettable story to tell.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Montserrat; text-align: left;">Hence my meanders in the valley gathered a </span><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Montserrat; text-align: left;">historical context with places and people. </span></div><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Montserrat;">
</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Montserrat;"><span style="text-align: left;">It may be hard to believe now, but the </span><span style="text-align: left;">Kashmir Valley of the seventies was a wonderful </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Montserrat;"><span style="text-align: left;">& welcoming place and people were sociable- We were their friends. </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Montserrat;"><span style="text-align: left;">I, a young woman in early twenties could </span><span style="font-size: calc(var(--rem) * 1px * 1.0625); text-align: left;">freely travel in colourful state roadways buses with locals and their sheep, goats & hens as </span></span><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Montserrat; text-align: left;">co-passengers to little-known hamlets and glens.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Montserrat; text-align: left;">Unthinkable is it not.</span></div></div><div class="_2cuy _3dgx _2vxa" style="box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px auto 28px; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap; width: 700px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Montserrat;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinJn4QJWZCGwe51g9Bd_ArZEtejYGyDwKLfE6MwUkZzerpQzFmvNEGr47Rj__VOZfIVNymL_PUDaq6rhBQQaC-nQSmhuAjBm3_xvuwDTGTZc-_ID4YobfF6jFM4P9wm2zkbHFhfSZ_KcY/s1600/xx.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinJn4QJWZCGwe51g9Bd_ArZEtejYGyDwKLfE6MwUkZzerpQzFmvNEGr47Rj__VOZfIVNymL_PUDaq6rhBQQaC-nQSmhuAjBm3_xvuwDTGTZc-_ID4YobfF6jFM4P9wm2zkbHFhfSZ_KcY/s640/xx.png" width="640" /></span></a></span></div><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Montserrat;">
<span>The erstwhile road from ‘Srinagar to Muzaffarabad’, was one such journey I wanted to make </span><span>but had strict restrictions, </span><span>as an army spouse. </span><br />
<span>In the Tribal invasion of 1947 was dotted with landmarks like Mahura Power station, </span><br /><span>tNand Singh Bridge, Haji- Pir nullah that had significant perception and strategic value.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span>Many people may not realise it, but before 1947 the most popular route to travel to Kashmir from the plains of north India was mainly on the Srinagar -Muzaffarabad road along River Jhelum. The all-weather road was developed only about 100 years ago.</span></span><br />
<span>On this Jhelum valley road in October 1947, thousands of pro-Pakistan tribal forces staged an invasion of Kashmir, reaching as far as the outskirts of Srinagar</span></span></div><div class="_2cuy _3dgx _2vxa" style="box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px auto 28px; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap; width: 700px;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Montserrat;"><span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span>An airlift of Indian troops saved the Kashmir valley for India and pushed the </span></span></span><br />
<span><span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Raiders, the kabbalis, </span></span></span><span>back down the Jhelum valley. However many brave Indian soldiers and fliers sacrificed their</span><span> lives. I wonder if there is a Martyr’s Memorial built in their memory.</span></span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Montserrat;"><span>The ceasefire that ended that first war over Kashmir led to what
amounted to a partition of the region which snapped the valley road in two. And
it's been closed more-or-less ever since. There are so many ‘ifs’ in the
story…If Nehru had not gone to the UN. If only Nehru had listened to Sardar Patel.
If only more troops had been assigned to the valley…. The long-term narrative
would have changed.</span></span></div><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Montserrat;">
<span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span></span></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnFVhyXZxdzz2sRrtMZG1DVUxtxnh9hU06FIF5vSGp9fL2f6-BlROwPo2Hr0EQg9j3QmCDgOjOBiAA8uQ2FqvMeYIi-3ANQ-pn3RqeezyWSXmrrJ6qZp6njQGl-pYm7wxY6LYV3Kbb8fM/w400-h338/17201132_10155070215147930_7441222583733771623_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" width="400" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Add caption<br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div>
<div class="_2cuy _3dgx _2vxa" style="box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin: 0px auto 28px; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap; width: 700px;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Montserrat;"><span>Thus when my husband talked about a trip
to Line of Control along with a secure composite group of Army officers
families, I jumped at the opportunity. We were permitted to travel on this
Jhelum Valley road through the Uri town up to LOC near around Chakothi in POK.
We were perilously exposed in the Uri bowl to the Pakistani posts sitting atop
the peaks around the bowl. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Montserrat;"><span><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Montserrat;"><span>It was no fancy sightseeing trip…Security concerns necessitated that our luxury
coach is an army 3 Tonner so that we seem to be another routine supply vehicle.
However in deference of being ‘The lady wives’, the truck had gaddas and
bolsters.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Montserrat;"><span>In the previous post, we paid a tribute to Naib Subedar Nand Singh VC, MVC of Sikh Regiment. On 12 December 1947 Nand Singh led his platoon of D Coy in a desperate but successful attack to extricate his battalion from an ambush in the hills SE of Uri in Kashmir. He was mortally injured by a close-quarters machine-gun burst, and posthumously awarded the MVC, the second-highest Indian decoration for battlefield
gallantry. This makes Nand Singh unique in the annals of VC winners.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Montserrat;">
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Montserrat;"><span>The Pakistanis recognised Nand Singh because of his VC ribbon. His body was
taken Muzaffarabad where it was tied spread-eagled on a truck and paraded through
the city with a loudspeaker proclaiming that this would be the fate of every
Indian VC. The soldier’s body was later thrown into a garbage dump and was
never recovered.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Montserrat;"><span>Historic Nand Singh Bridge is located at Haji Pir nullah close to Uri. This is a vital bridge on the Jhelum Valley
</span><span>The road which used to connect the valley with Muzaffarabad now in PoK. Haji Pir is
the famous strategic pass which connects Poonch with Uri. In 1965 war with
Pakistan, our valiant troops had fought and wrested the perilous Haji Pir pass
from the hands of Pakistan. But as a result of the Shimla Agreement, we had to
return it to Pakistan in exchange for some posts elsewhere on Indo-Pak border.
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</span><span style="font-family: Nunito Sans;"><b>Sa</b></span></span><span style="color: #999999;"><b><span style="font-family: Nunito Sans;">dly, such is the political persuasions – What gains soldiers make through blood and </span></b></span></div><div class="_2cuy _3dgx _2vxa" style="box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin: 0px auto 28px; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap; width: 700px;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="font-family: Nunito Sans;"><b>valour on perilous terrains is bartered away sitting across the table.</b></span></span></div><div class="_2cuy _3dgx _2vxa" style="box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px auto 28px; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap; width: 700px;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Montserrat;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sometime in the now.....</span></span></div><div class="_2cuy _3dgx _2vxa" style="box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px auto 28px; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap; width: 700px;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: Montserrat;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiA09baY_iM7CVQZJ6hH1HS4yjknQwS3SVZDbPvMjAWlwpTE0Yq0Q-AadQBIzjhRf7ZRvvY8-3vC-G4rd-hgjQuUSyv0zcIRICdrjjMts7hYlsYc8a8k4PvInLGwtlD36R6tVVd0hUyGw/s960/nandsingh-memorial-uri.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="639" data-original-width="960" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiA09baY_iM7CVQZJ6hH1HS4yjknQwS3SVZDbPvMjAWlwpTE0Yq0Q-AadQBIzjhRf7ZRvvY8-3vC-G4rd-hgjQuUSyv0zcIRICdrjjMts7hYlsYc8a8k4PvInLGwtlD36R6tVVd0hUyGw/w640-h426/nandsingh-memorial-uri.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></span></div>
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Daarji the Storytellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08712625868606810344noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1526669237876145104.post-80091679524702963042017-02-27T17:25:00.003+05:302020-10-04T13:56:39.930+05:30Rebel Queen – A Thorn in the Crown<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Courgette;">The film Rebel Queen tells the remarkable story of the last Sikh ruler of Lahore – a fearless Maharani who waged two wars against British rule in India. She is an inspiring figure for young Asian women today.</span></span><span style="font-family: Courgette;"><br /></span></span>
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<span><span><i><span style="font-family: Fauna One;"><span style="background-color: white; display: inline; float: none;">An Indian woman wearing a crinoline over her traditional clothes, and emeralds and pearls under her bonnet, walks in Kensington Gardens in 1861. She is the last Sikh queen of Lahore, the capital of the Punjab empire, and her name is<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span class="il" style="background-color: white;">Jindan</span><span style="background-color: white; display: inline; float: none;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Kaur. </span></span></i></span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="color: #444444;"><span><span><i><span><span style="background-color: white; display: inline; float: none; font-family: Fauna One;"><br /></span></span></i></span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;"><span><span><i><span><span style="background-color: white; display: inline; float: none;">She died two years later, in 1863, and was buried in west London.</span></span></i></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;">MaharaniJindan Kaur's life – much of which was spent raging against the British empire for cheating her out of Punjab, then a vast country stretching from the Khyber Pass to Kashmir – is the subject of a film called 'The Rebel Queen', which premiered at New York's International Sikh film festival and is set to be shown in the UK in February.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Fauna One; line-height: 115%;"><br />Her revolt began when her husband, the last Maharaja of Punjab, died of a stroke in 1839 and the British tried to wrest the kingdom from the heir to the throne, her infant son, Duleep Singh. During her rule as regent, Jindan waged two disastrous wars against the British that led to the annexation of Punjab. She may have made huge strategic errors due to her military inexperience and young age (she was in her early 20s), but Jindan was a fierce ruler. British historian Peter Bance describes her as a "very gutsy woman". "She stood her ground against the British . . . she actively took charge of Punjab."</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br />Professor Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh of Colby College, Maine, US, says: "She was remarkable in how she discarded satti and purdah, dominant at the time, and led the courts, had meetings with chief ministers and the armies. All of them were taking her counsel."</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Christy Campbell, author of The Maharajah's Box, a book about the Maharani's son, Duleep, says Jindan was "one of the most remarkable characters of 19th-century history, let alone Indian or Sikh history". This is despite the fact that much of what is known about her is "through the words of the British, who regarded her as a threat to their power in India and therefore did their best to make her reputation as bad as possible".</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br />The Maharani was described as "a serious obstacle" to British rule in India. They launched a smear campaign to discredit her, painting her as the "Messalina of the Punjab", a seductress too rebellious to be controlled. She refused to co-operate and the British saw that her influence on Duleep could lead to an uprising among the Punjabi people. They decided to separate mother and son. Nine-year-old Duleep was taken to England where he converted to Christianity, living the life of a typical English gentleman, with Queen Victoria among his friends. The Maharani Jindan, however, was dragged from the court of Lahore by her hair and thrown into the fortress of Sheikhupura and then Chunar Fort in Uttar Pradesh.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br />After being imprisoned, she disguised herself as a servant and escaped the fort. She travelled through 800 miles of forest to reach sanctuary in Nepal, where she wrote a letter boasting to the British that she had escaped by "magic". She never regained the kingdom for her son. But they were reunited years later, which prompted the Maharajah to convert back to Sikhism, undoing the work of the British to "brainwash" him.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One; line-height: 115%;"><br />Her story encouraged American entrepreneur Bicky Singh to fund the production of Rebel Queen with around $25,000 (£15,500). Director Michael Singh, a California-based film-maker, says: "There are a great drama and tragedy in her story. She was a heroic figure and was well-documented by the British. There are not a lot of documented women in Sikh history. [At the same time], her son corresponded with Queen Victoria, which makes the story more relevant to the casual viewer." According to Singh, Jindan is a symbol of indignation and injustice, but also of the failure of the Sikhs to retain their kingdom. "She has an iconic status," he says. "She was the last one to stand up to the British."When I saw the film, I was struck by how little I knew about my heritage.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> Growing up in a Punjabi Sikh household in east London, I looked up to my hard-working and honest parents, but when it came to who I wanted to be, I built a composite from American girl detective Nancy Drew, TV FBI agent Dana Scully and Bruce Springsteen. All of these individuals pushed against barriers into a world of possibility, something I rarely found in my culture. But where were women like Indian Kaur? Jindan was complex, cocky, clever, imperfect and tough, and she connected me to my ancestral past, something Nancy, Dana and Bruce could not. After watching Rebel Queen, I felt like a link to my past that had lain neglected had been rekindled.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br />Numerous south Asian female artists have documented the struggles of British Asian identity, including Gurinder Chadha, Meera Syal and Shazia Mirza. Struggles of displacement need to be documented, but there are not enough stories like Maharani Jindan's, about what had happened before my family had to grapple with being Asian in a white society. Was I supposed to start with my parents' immigration to England in the 1970s? Couldn't the example of Maharani Jindan give me the inspiration to make sense of my present day-to-day life?</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br />In England, there is a prevalence of perceiving South Asian women in the context of "honour" killings, forced marriages, domestic violence and foeticide – all serious issues that need to continue to be fought against. We also have the Asian Women of Achievement awards, but those women do not always permeate the media, art or history books that young girls may be absorbing. In terms of what that leaves young British Punjabi Sikh or South Asian girls as role models, it is not exactly aspirational.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br />Artists Rabindra and Amrit Singh said: "We definitely need to . . . counter the negative stereotyping that so many of us grew up with . . . [This will come] from a piece of better knowledge and pride in who we are, which involves looking to the exemplary, too often hidden figures in our history."</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br />There are other inspirational heroines about whom there is little research. Mai Bhago was a devout warrior saint in the army of Sikhism's 10th prophet, Guru Gobind Singh Ji, in the 1700s, who led men into battle. There is also Bibi Dalair Kaur who rallied 100 women Sikh soldiers to fight the Mughals in the 17th century.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br />Inspiring figures are not limited to Sikhism or Punjabis. In the early days of Islam, Ayesha (Aishah), the prophet Muhammed's wife, rode at the head of an army against Khalif Ali, whom she felt was usurping her late husband's authority. Later, Muslim writers such as Rokeya Hossain also emerged. She wrote a science-fiction story called Sultana's Dream in 1905, about a female utopia in Bangladesh where women dominate the public sphere.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;"><span style="text-align: justify;">Perhaps the most well-known female warrior in India is Lakshmibai of Jhansi, a Hindu queen who also fought British rule. She was a firebrand, recognised in Indian history books, but became better known through the media. One can only hope the same will be said for Jindan Kaur</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Nunito Sans;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;"> <i style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Article by Herpreet Kaur Grewal<br />The Guardian, Friday 31 December 2010<br />Article history</i></span></span></h4>
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Daarji the Storytellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08712625868606810344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1526669237876145104.post-45562929755631763212012-12-24T16:17:00.002+05:302020-10-04T14:00:42.501+05:30 Who is Santa Claus?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="line-height: 24px;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><b>Ho Ho Ho!!!</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 24px;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;">For all the kids’ world over Santa Claus is real…. But let me share a story with you that he was really real…. And this is the true story of Santa Claus.</span></span></div>
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Santa Claus</span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 24px;">, is also known as</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="line-height: 24px;"> Saint Nicholas, is</span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 24px;"> called Kris Kringle as well, or we could simply call him "Santa". He is a</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="line-height: 24px;"> lovable figure</span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 24px;"> in the western world and is said to bring</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="line-height: 24px;"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 24px;">gifts</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="line-height: 24px;"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 24px;">to the homes of the good children on Christmas eve.</span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBETVZAgPSLa0gGQ4J6r0D4DxFgBb8_5Mc9whx3lNlPifse_Jx78hg3MXNNbC74MwxPjlRPp0g5v7FcOA2k4_CJxU-4soM4A3ulBg-tlAMYElnKMn09Pk-L7ToO-575MYg5Aiy_Emczac/s1600/santa-claus-pics-0112.jpg" style="background: transparent; clear: right; display: inline-block; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBETVZAgPSLa0gGQ4J6r0D4DxFgBb8_5Mc9whx3lNlPifse_Jx78hg3MXNNbC74MwxPjlRPp0g5v7FcOA2k4_CJxU-4soM4A3ulBg-tlAMYElnKMn09Pk-L7ToO-575MYg5Aiy_Emczac/s400/santa-claus-pics-0112.jpg" style="border: 0px; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" width="265" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif">By 1920 Santa Claus was generally depicted as a plump, jolly, white-bearded man wearing a red coat with white fur-trimmed collar and cuffs, white-cuffed red trousers, and black leather belt and boots—</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span class="apple-style-span" style="font-family: "Fauna One";"><span style="line-height: 24px;">This is Santa of the 20<span style="line-height: 0; position: relative; top: -0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">th</span> century brought to life by works of popular illustrators….And this how we picture Santa today, living at The North Pole north, in a land of everlasting snow…. With his wife</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: "Fauna One";"><span style="line-height: 24px;"> Mrs Claus</span></span><span class="apple-style-span" style="font-family: "Fauna One";"><span style="line-height: 24px;">, and a large number of</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: "Fauna One";"><span style="line-height: 24px;"> magical elves</span></span><span class="apple-style-span" style="font-family: "Fauna One";"><span style="line-height: 24px;">, and at least eight or nine</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: "Fauna One";"><span style="line-height: 24px;"> reindeers.</span></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3q6wgzcgmZ0mpYMBVBGJYJs_5gPPL2ivvRhoim1ILe-MLbnGE7BXTPhzy7w-xBh5FnxUB-6iZBCIrLeCEnvI_t3oWYQXFLFQIrsXpzX-Kbc8nkTzu4gk-nWVnU_KFbHTKS3O9RMO2jwg/s1600/The-Year-Without-a-Santa-Clause_RankinBass-Productions_jpg.jpg" style="background: transparent; clear: left; display: inline-block; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration-line: none;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><img border="0" height="465" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3q6wgzcgmZ0mpYMBVBGJYJs_5gPPL2ivvRhoim1ILe-MLbnGE7BXTPhzy7w-xBh5FnxUB-6iZBCIrLeCEnvI_t3oWYQXFLFQIrsXpzX-Kbc8nkTzu4gk-nWVnU_KFbHTKS3O9RMO2jwg/s640/The-Year-Without-a-Santa-Clause_RankinBass-Productions_jpg.jpg" style="border: 0px; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Mrs Claus would wake up Santa on Christ</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span>mas </span>Eve<span> and sa</span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">y...Be on your way Santa the children of the world are waiting for you.</span></span></span></div>
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<h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Fauna One;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><b>This is the Santa of today</b>….</span></span></span></span></h3><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;">
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<tr><td style="padding: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5kI9aA2WWJ7Br-ciEjrX-p5yTb0zpyfLik36zzw5drdtaRjQ03rvWUqp93tXRbgEy37QUxR5iORuBTD1Hok0JZAjtceiz5_bhUO2Fe-1es86wiIYQ-805SvyFwImaL7-suVavCmO1vmQ/s1600/elf.jpg" style="background: transparent; display: inline-block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration-line: none;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5kI9aA2WWJ7Br-ciEjrX-p5yTb0zpyfLik36zzw5drdtaRjQ03rvWUqp93tXRbgEy37QUxR5iORuBTD1Hok0JZAjtceiz5_bhUO2Fe-1es86wiIYQ-805SvyFwImaL7-suVavCmO1vmQ/s640/elf.jpg" style="border: 0px; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" width="426" /></span></a></td></tr>
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><b><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Long long ago the true story was different.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="line-height: 24px;"> </span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 24px;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;">Born nearly 2000 years ago, not too long after the days of Jesus Christ, just about 3 centuries you could say, Nicholas was born to wealthy parents in a tiny village ‘Patara’ in Greece but it would be Turkey today.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi35nt2LvR4ZMqFLlcxf3kTASrnPoRMfXAzRaFQvQL6eUZTLYwwhq79aqJz7gBbJd-DetnjUMikLDQVDcrGbYa2YcBDIBoyFkhMpjD-7rps0mygWUSiPZw1rZvPxNpfsp-0wrAC9On5wqY/s1600/1695291.jpg" style="background: transparent; display: inline-block; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"></span></a></div>
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Nicholas' parents died while he was a little boy. He was lost and knew not what to do with himself or the fortune he inherited. He turned to his Bible and read the words that Christ gave to a wealthy man: "</span><i>Sell all thou hath and give it to the poor and follow me".</i></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 24px;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;">Nicholas went to his village priest and expressed the desires of his heart. He wished to become a priest.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="padding: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi35nt2LvR4ZMqFLlcxf3kTASrnPoRMfXAzRaFQvQL6eUZTLYwwhq79aqJz7gBbJd-DetnjUMikLDQVDcrGbYa2YcBDIBoyFkhMpjD-7rps0mygWUSiPZw1rZvPxNpfsp-0wrAC9On5wqY/s1600/1695291.jpg" style="background: transparent; display: inline-block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration-line: none;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi35nt2LvR4ZMqFLlcxf3kTASrnPoRMfXAzRaFQvQL6eUZTLYwwhq79aqJz7gBbJd-DetnjUMikLDQVDcrGbYa2YcBDIBoyFkhMpjD-7rps0mygWUSiPZw1rZvPxNpfsp-0wrAC9On5wqY/s640/1695291.jpg" style="border: 0px; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCG-UYtw9-YDDP1w9CG54wI1Sa3M_fPERtCtzZCaDdvgX69dLx45zkI52kI35JjhNITMqx_h5A5nOozZHN8eOWhpsJAO5z7kUhXkWqgHBpuLM9hpjJ5KOkHou00XXWxbOVQpuTAKxNnVA/s1600/cath-greetings.jpg" style="background: transparent; clear: left; display: inline-block; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration-line: none;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCG-UYtw9-YDDP1w9CG54wI1Sa3M_fPERtCtzZCaDdvgX69dLx45zkI52kI35JjhNITMqx_h5A5nOozZHN8eOWhpsJAO5z7kUhXkWqgHBpuLM9hpjJ5KOkHou00XXWxbOVQpuTAKxNnVA/s320/cath-greetings.jpg" style="border: 0px; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" width="247" /></span></a></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif">Because he was an orphan, the priest took him in. And soon he found that Nicholas was no ordinary boy. Legend tells the story of a young Nicholas visiting the Holy Land with his village priest. On the return voyage, over stormy waters, their ship was cast about and all aboard feared for their lives.</span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 24px;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;">The village priest was fond of Nicholas. But he knew Nicholas lacked the education and the credentials necessary to become a priest. He would need a miracle if it was to happen.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 24px;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"> And a miracle is just what happened.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 24px;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;">In the not too distant city of Myra, the Bishop of the church passed away and the powers that be of the church assembled to consider his replacement.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 24px;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"> The man considered wisest amongst them had a dream and was visited by an angel and he asked him…. "Who should the new Bishop be?”.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif">The angel said that all of you just wait by the door of the church and select the first person named Nicholas to walk through the doors.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="padding: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2FN1uFoBH663GVDZTJzRZj9dGBMtcGYIeToY5Y5GFQUUgZZqxRFSSkaNV-0i0Oov4l-iKzEAd5bnr2NiOvs1Atpr-F0rTeGvb7xG6E3mkJAgIsAB85_Dy0zt8L0N1lDOfQAS0ZXsXzoI/s1600/bethunecard-wmaster.jpg" style="background: transparent; display: inline-block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration-line: none;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2FN1uFoBH663GVDZTJzRZj9dGBMtcGYIeToY5Y5GFQUUgZZqxRFSSkaNV-0i0Oov4l-iKzEAd5bnr2NiOvs1Atpr-F0rTeGvb7xG6E3mkJAgIsAB85_Dy0zt8L0N1lDOfQAS0ZXsXzoI/s640/bethunecard-wmaster.jpg" style="border: 0px; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" width="524" /></span></a></td></tr>
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<span style="line-height: 24px;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;">Nicholas had his miracle and was named the youngest bishop of the church ever on record.</span></span></div>
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif"><span>Nicholas was loved dearly by the people of Myra for his kindness especially</span><span> to children. One such </span>story became<span> a legend that has survived for centuries. In his town where he was Bishop, Nicholas o</span><span>nce gave an anonymous gift to a man with three daughters. The family was destitute of means. The custom of the time was that each daughter would need to be provided with a dowry in marriage. Because they were poor, the father of the three daughters was contemplating selling his children into slavery.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbcBP6lya8PGc0lMLtb80ktRzsb8esRBJXxu2x4VM7ldMCgId3to8NV3xUs-RjtFWW6_S311VQfnX8V3SfKd4jeLdF1bBinJwhmNIqyr2XSmJnRo37yoZnF5vnm6b5FBaLDy-DQSOvdpk/s1600/7_Story_Of_St_Nicholas_Giving_Dowry_To_Three_Poor_Girls_religious_Renaissance_Fra_Angelico.jpg" style="background: transparent; display: inline-block; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><img border="0" height="638" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbcBP6lya8PGc0lMLtb80ktRzsb8esRBJXxu2x4VM7ldMCgId3to8NV3xUs-RjtFWW6_S311VQfnX8V3SfKd4jeLdF1bBinJwhmNIqyr2XSmJnRo37yoZnF5vnm6b5FBaLDy-DQSOvdpk/s640/7_Story_Of_St_Nicholas_Giving_Dowry_To_Three_Poor_Girls_religious_Renaissance_Fra_Angelico.jpg" style="border: 0px; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="line-height: 24px;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif">Nicholas heard of their plight and on a dark night soon after the eldest daughter came to marrying age, he tossed a small bag of gold through an open window …though some say he tossed it down the chimney. As the second daughter came of age he repeated the deed, again doing so anonymously.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 24px;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;">As the third daughter came of age the father waited up nights to catch the gift-giver to express his gratitude. His persistence paid off as he caught Bishop Nicholas in the act.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 24px;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;">This story is told in many lands, although some of the details change from one telling to another.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif"> Some say he tossed them into the chimney where they landed in the hanging stockings or the drying shoes of the unmarried girls.</span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 24px;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"> That is why some, to remember this event, by celebrating Christmas with an orange in the toe of a stocking.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif">Nicholas was known for many such deeds. Miracles were attributed to the Bishop of Myra because of his great faith.</span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 24px;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif">The reputation of Nicholas to spread. He became, over time, the patron saint of children and of innocents.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif">So famous did Nicholas become that no other name in the church, save Jesus and the Virgin Mary were so widely known or respected. More than 2000 churches in the Old World bore the name of Saint Nicholas. And his legend only grew as the centuries passed.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="line-height: 18.4px;">This is just the beginning of the story of Santa Claus. ……from the good Bishop of Myra to a man in red robes, a man with a long beard, and a man known for anonymous giving -- especially to children.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBsDlymayNrM94yji4WgMIDJh2E4VxxJ3dAozlS62zBW1-W3f2wWKm-oAhGn_hG6VZXkPGzsuAzfZnJ-EEDjb7LWg2k3zoyAbb5bjuJk6CJDhB7tlgQ4WwUxp_AVFAsUbqwHpkzu8CFUE/s1600/santa-claus-bag_%257Evl0010b017.jpg" style="background: transparent; display: inline-block; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><img border="0" height="611" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBsDlymayNrM94yji4WgMIDJh2E4VxxJ3dAozlS62zBW1-W3f2wWKm-oAhGn_hG6VZXkPGzsuAzfZnJ-EEDjb7LWg2k3zoyAbb5bjuJk6CJDhB7tlgQ4WwUxp_AVFAsUbqwHpkzu8CFUE/s640/santa-claus-bag_%257Evl0010b017.jpg" style="border: 0px; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif"><span style="line-height: 18.4px;"><br /></span><br /><span style="line-height: 18.4px;">And Ho Ho Ho...Santa comes down the chimney even today bringing gifts for all the kids on his reindeer sleigh.</span><br /><span style="line-height: 18.4px;"><br /></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbSZPHOVPs9MRkdsaDWKyQsMycSR9Ofy3tgh_q8egsG0C8BfsHfTOzVJf-07p1x0wbqteMM-P24LtEU9qjC1n4qlc6nWH1RgdPf5QGjwNhE-sPv9BDfQsf4X7uzNKWiyExxWL8vZCXPHs/s1600/Santa_in_Sleigh_detail.png" style="background: transparent; display: inline-block; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbSZPHOVPs9MRkdsaDWKyQsMycSR9Ofy3tgh_q8egsG0C8BfsHfTOzVJf-07p1x0wbqteMM-P24LtEU9qjC1n4qlc6nWH1RgdPf5QGjwNhE-sPv9BDfQsf4X7uzNKWiyExxWL8vZCXPHs/s640/Santa_in_Sleigh_detail.png" style="border: 0px; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: Fauna One;"><span style="line-height: 18.4px;"><br /></span><br /><span style="line-height: 18.4px;"><i>I would appreciate your feedback...Comments....etc</i></span><br /><span style="line-height: 18.4px;"><i><br /></i></span><br /><span style="line-height: 18.4px;"><i>Thank You & SEASONS GREETINGS</i></span><br /><span style="line-height: 18.4px;"><i><br /></i></span></span><br /><span style="line-height: 18.4px;"><i>DAARJI</i></span></span></div>
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Daarji the Storytellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08712625868606810344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1526669237876145104.post-47472473804017951292012-12-24T16:15:00.002+05:302020-10-04T14:05:32.287+05:30Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;">We all know that Rudolph is the endearing little red-nosed reindeer, with nose shining so bright that he has been guiding Santa’s sleigh through snow and blizzard for many many decades.<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"> Rudolph is the Ninth Reindeer</span>..... The most famous reindeer of all....he was ‘born’ many decades after his eight flying mates.<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">The legend goes that many years ago the Christmas that year would have become a void if Santa had not found a way to guide his sleigh through a fierce blizzard. Fortunately for him, there was Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Rudolph becomes a hero when he guides Santa through the storm with help of his red glowing nose to deliver Christmas presents to children all over the world.</span></span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br /><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;"><b>Who invented Rudolf?<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Fauna One;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">All children like to believe that Rudolph was born at the North Pole.</span></span></div><div style="background: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Fauna One;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><o:p></o:p></span><span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;">Well, I did as a little boy... And that was a long long time ago. I was born in British India, what we popularly call ‘The Raj’..... Christmas was colloquially called ...the Baraah Din. ... The Big day. Christmas spirit was even more evident then ....rather more unmistakable in the ‘Chawni’s....the cantonments’. There was always a picturesque church with stained glass windows ...Christmas bazaars.....Church soirees and so much more with the lilt of Jingle Bells and Rudolf the red-nosed Reindeer being carried on the breeze. Mostly the day was spent in the homes of our family friends...the Matthews, the Clarks or the Alberts, sharing the festive spread....and likewise, Diwali was a resplendent affair at our house.</span></div>
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</span><div style="background: white; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 18pt 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Fauna One;"><span style="color: #444444;">One of my most memorable memories are of a traditional white Christmas in Shimla...</span><span class="apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">hill stations have stayed behind as some of the most curious monuments to the British colonial presence in India.</span></span></span></div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Since the nineteenth century they have exercised a powerful hold on the imagination of Indians and Britishers alike....and of all of the Indian hill stations, Shimla is the most well-known and the most-frequented.</span></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Fauna One;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Can't remember the last time we had a White Christmas in Shimla in the recent past..... My own memory of a white Christmas goes far back to early 1940s... A sparkling flurry of snowflakes, and then later, pile upon pile of snow as far as the eye could see. Trudging through in our little snow boots over walls of crunchy snow all the way from our cottage to the Mall.</span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpV1E3Z9HKSgw4K1Yr3J7mNa4M6mdq_v7PojOWEqW6SWvrMYEeB19zeSmMBUGZ1hIDot-UdfAY0eH7SKXBYprma-GxGwNszghfRsqsa4lhpUWvh8oE0rcyRMfyZVOG_u_WdlpBZC3ZpvA/s1600/shimla3.jpg" style="background: transparent; display: inline-block; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpV1E3Z9HKSgw4K1Yr3J7mNa4M6mdq_v7PojOWEqW6SWvrMYEeB19zeSmMBUGZ1hIDot-UdfAY0eH7SKXBYprma-GxGwNszghfRsqsa4lhpUWvh8oE0rcyRMfyZVOG_u_WdlpBZC3ZpvA/s640/shimla3.jpg" style="border: 0px; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" width="640" /></span></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW1kdrntTvE8Hej4ExQBnRKNi1GMPApmU1yH78zS-zKJoNn0g9rtAEkqqXxMHCZu8tJN09-aScHc5Nel0cWSYzTNe45VkUyGpU6RwP91zqpZ2-bqqPDHCVMaDq4GrcDimKioYGIW4jZa4/s1600/christ.jpg" style="background: transparent; clear: left; display: inline-block; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Fauna One;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; text-align: left;">And then on to the Christ Church...This church was </span><span class="apple-style-span" face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; text-align: left;">built over a span of 11 years (1846-1857) and I remember the well-tuned old organ... and the Hymns</span></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Fauna One;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">I am told that it is the second oldest church in Northern India. The beauty of the church is enhanced b</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #444444;">y the </span>multi-hued<span style="color: #444444;"> stained glass windows. </span></span></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;"><span class="apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="apple-style-span">It looks even grander in the reflective moon off the pristine snow.....as kids we thought Rudolf with his shiny nose would really swoop in near the church on The Mall...</span><br /><span class="apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="apple-style-span">It was heavenly to sit together toasting chestnuts and drinking hot chocolate waiting for Santa’s sleigh.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUvjj_KrlIgSjb7EIGjt5A0serz1om4D-ZL45jz7g31N_w5eM8MBZky_Mwm5u2Vj05So9SDrHK-U43IpO4s4AegYnvw4eM1Pw7gOoPAb19UbAZKqYr8aFAgqwKcC77NybiZ1HEo-vqQsk/s1600/frosty-the-snowman3.jpg" style="background: transparent; display: inline-block; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;"><img border="0" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUvjj_KrlIgSjb7EIGjt5A0serz1om4D-ZL45jz7g31N_w5eM8MBZky_Mwm5u2Vj05So9SDrHK-U43IpO4s4AegYnvw4eM1Pw7gOoPAb19UbAZKqYr8aFAgqwKcC77NybiZ1HEo-vqQsk/s640/frosty-the-snowman3.jpg" style="border: 0px; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" width="640" /></span></span></a></div>
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">Perhaps there is a story I can tell you..... A story of a very special reindeer at the North Pole.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTzatqPU951_uP5rfyC9H_JxOOjsV8ScoWEMRt0WUqaulRMLYe-CGbzHPoihmJeDMPHX1bm4bSDMo4nR_6LKPX_VVGqVP9pNgp287pcW_Hv_6UwQ_D7Fy1eYZl_UvxeMEXBc2BRraDqGQ/s1600/north-pole.jpg" style="background: transparent; display: inline-block; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTzatqPU951_uP5rfyC9H_JxOOjsV8ScoWEMRt0WUqaulRMLYe-CGbzHPoihmJeDMPHX1bm4bSDMo4nR_6LKPX_VVGqVP9pNgp287pcW_Hv_6UwQ_D7Fy1eYZl_UvxeMEXBc2BRraDqGQ/s320/north-pole.jpg" style="border: 0px; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" width="280" /></span></span></a></div>
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">One Christmas Tens of years ago Rudolph, a little deer, was standing alone and sad...it was the day before Christmas. He watched as the other reindeer ran and played together, they had such fun. Rudolph was small but that wasn't the reason the others didn't ask him to join the reindeer games.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;"> Rudolph had a big, bright red nose. ...It was not a regular reindeer nose at all; it was so bright that it seemed to glow.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;">The other deer teased him, and they laughed about Rudolph's nose. They rolled in the snow with delight as poor Rudolph walked back to the stable, lonely and very, very sad.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;">It wasn’t much fun being alone... Rudolph sighed.<br /><br />Soon the light faded from the day and everyone was scampering to load Santa's sleigh. It was getting darker and darker by the minute, and to top it all fog was making matters worse. The atmosphere was dismal and even the reindeers began to quarrel about who would be the best one to lead the team this evening. Soon all was set and Santa climbed into the sleigh and he set off.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">He was already delayed, and it was so dark he couldn't even see the lead reindeer...... Time was passing and it became clear that no headway was being made. Santa was flying in circles. Santa was Lost!!!<br /><br /> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">What would happen to Christmas?</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;">Santa was quite worried, he didn't even know how to get back to the North Pole, then dimly at first, and he could see a faint red light. Santa moved the sleigh towards the light and it grew steadily stronger and brighter.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;">What could it be he thought?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;">It was ever so bright. ....Carefully Santa brought the sleigh to rest close to the light.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Fauna One; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"><b>And what did Santa find?</b></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyk02pZKs8uT88jf9VCsdqF0Oilgp31iwcgCwemN2vHS3fR_cIvVFNi4zi7m0HuFmdAbYC_WVAq9QOrbseTTPe7WQVVMBCMIacTEd3VoVp9lz39t1LfhVFsJsoMlXr1L-IbwgrNKt80F0/s1600/105.jpg" style="background: transparent; display: inline-block; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyk02pZKs8uT88jf9VCsdqF0Oilgp31iwcgCwemN2vHS3fR_cIvVFNi4zi7m0HuFmdAbYC_WVAq9QOrbseTTPe7WQVVMBCMIacTEd3VoVp9lz39t1LfhVFsJsoMlXr1L-IbwgrNKt80F0/s640/105.jpg" style="border: 0px; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" width="640" /></span></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMnVGZqfoGjg_rX3HZN5456kq3erYjzl8BMhLTtSRVMv_LcteyOZsmp3A8GmAEHe-JZhSzskf52lJUnQQoGddJcYBHbP2n3wmqevMV7a3chxhhgGw2Bkejt2QAv1WFomUCrTiYo0iMKSc/s1600/rudolph-red-nosed-reindeer-003.jpg" style="background: transparent; clear: left; display: inline-block; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;"></span></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;">Santa asked Rudolph if he would mind helping out with the sleigh, that big shiny nose is just what he needed to stay on track...It would be like a ‘headlight’. Rudolph was thrilled and jumped at the chance. The other reindeer knew this would save Christmas and they smiled their approval as Rudolph went to the front of the team. Jingle bells rang out crisply on that dark night as Rudolph and his shiny nose lead Santa and the sleigh full of toys around the world.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMnVGZqfoGjg_rX3HZN5456kq3erYjzl8BMhLTtSRVMv_LcteyOZsmp3A8GmAEHe-JZhSzskf52lJUnQQoGddJcYBHbP2n3wmqevMV7a3chxhhgGw2Bkejt2QAv1WFomUCrTiYo0iMKSc/s1600/rudolph-red-nosed-reindeer-003.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Fauna One;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMnVGZqfoGjg_rX3HZN5456kq3erYjzl8BMhLTtSRVMv_LcteyOZsmp3A8GmAEHe-JZhSzskf52lJUnQQoGddJcYBHbP2n3wmqevMV7a3chxhhgGw2Bkejt2QAv1WFomUCrTiYo0iMKSc/s640/rudolph-red-nosed-reindeer-003.jpg" style="border: 0px; max-width: 100%;" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;">From that day forward Rudolph came to be known as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer ... Santa’s Ninth Reindeer.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;">Coming back to.......Who created Rudolf.....After all, now that I am an old man I know that he was not born at North pole...How did come to be????<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;">There are two versions of the origin of "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" — the "official" one, as told in innumerable news articles over the past 50 years.....and the other which has the popular pathos...It was circulated on and off the Internet since the early 2000s.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background: transparent; display: inline-block; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM7Em2ZYPLPucIqDpuPDQM2zWYpstJVT1dclvxTUJc9pjUQfy0yFTd74inljliheX1QoHDa9i23tFKtLNNaRbGpcbsqjd5dGdD2G78bimoj3yA8VvghLd5X7KTMch9zBAcPuzhFPnYM-0/s1600/Bob-may-rudolf-red-nosed-reindeer.jpeg" style="background: transparent; display: inline-block; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM7Em2ZYPLPucIqDpuPDQM2zWYpstJVT1dclvxTUJc9pjUQfy0yFTd74inljliheX1QoHDa9i23tFKtLNNaRbGpcbsqjd5dGdD2G78bimoj3yA8VvghLd5X7KTMch9zBAcPuzhFPnYM-0/s640/Bob-may-rudolf-red-nosed-reindeer.jpeg" style="border: 0px; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" width="616" /></a></span></span></div>
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;"><br />The main difference between the two is how they explain what prompted Bob May to create the character of Rudolph in the first place. According to the official version he did it at the behest of his supervisor in the catalogue copy department of Montgomery Ward. However, as per the popular version he did so to comfort and console his 4-year-old daughter, Barbara, whose mother was dying of cancer.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Fauna One;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">Rudolph's story begins sometime in 1939. The nation was still in the midst of the Great Depression but that didn't prevent people from celebrating and enjoying the good times of life. Times may have been difficult but that just meant that people had to be more careful with their money.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFsuRRgMsBIPBtyAgEb9O6r8yNb1WQam_AmOCWFMm3zMMC9e9M7mXXyCwsDaAPnKzLj2krYLgzRtp7C1iEpEk8FkzexcBJ_sh2ppm-VWjWeOGNDepwBpm6ot05OI6x7hBJJIYu5JqG2Dg/s1600/Christmas+Toys+Catalog.jpg" style="background: transparent; display: inline-block; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFsuRRgMsBIPBtyAgEb9O6r8yNb1WQam_AmOCWFMm3zMMC9e9M7mXXyCwsDaAPnKzLj2krYLgzRtp7C1iEpEk8FkzexcBJ_sh2ppm-VWjWeOGNDepwBpm6ot05OI6x7hBJJIYu5JqG2Dg/s1600/Christmas+Toys+Catalog.jpg" style="border: 0px; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" /></span></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;">In the Chicago headquarters of department store giant, Montgomery Ward, that summer, executives were making plans for the coming Christmas season.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">n those days cities were more compact and commerce was centred in the downtown. Scattered amongst the big banks and office buildings were the large, multi-storied department stores. During the Christmas season, shoppers would flock downtown and these stores competed fiercely for these people's shopping dollars.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Fauna One;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">To attract customers the stores put up abundant colourful decorations and, in their toy departments, they would create elaborate Christmas kingdom displays with Santa Claus enthroned in the middle. The highlight of the Christmas shopping season for children was a trip downtown with Mom and Dad to visit Santa Claus. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYvmaUMjHcsFB6bkCpYykKP4AOjO_0vPF-D6Zn6RQtE6DK6TIeTQDE7SFTo7xGng6yF6Rya1VRK4YNDZsfvu6EFZO-mtnQXoqJAB_APL9HkOLZ7rsVx0RL0EdZyFk0DyzzKsuib1wk8XU/s1600/Blog_store_Santa.jpg" style="background: transparent; clear: left; display: inline-block; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;"><img border="0" height="570" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYvmaUMjHcsFB6bkCpYykKP4AOjO_0vPF-D6Zn6RQtE6DK6TIeTQDE7SFTo7xGng6yF6Rya1VRK4YNDZsfvu6EFZO-mtnQXoqJAB_APL9HkOLZ7rsVx0RL0EdZyFk0DyzzKsuib1wk8XU/s640/Blog_store_Santa.jpg" style="border: 0px; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" width="640" /></span></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;">They would stand in a line and patiently and when their turn came, would sit on Santa's lap. After assuring Santa that they had been good, or had at least were trying hard to be good, they would tell Santa what they wanted for Christmas. Santa would then assure them that he would do his best to give them the toy they most desired and then, after making their requests and got up to leave, Santa would reach into the big sack next to his chair and, reminding them to be good, give them a little parting gift.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;">For many years Montgomery Ward had filled their Santa's sack with a Christmas colouring book that they had specially printed each year. .....But this year the Montgomery Ward executives wanted something new and different. ....They also wanted to save money. So, instead of calling upon an outside firm to create the new item, as they had done in the past, they decided to have their own advertising department create the new giveaway.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;">Thus it so happened that Robert L. May, a 34-year-old copywriter for Montgomery Ward, found himself charged with coming up with a new gift for their Santa to give to the little children.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;">Bob May went to work on developing a Christmas story for children.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Fauna One;"> As a child, May had always been small for his age and this had brought forth taunts and ridicule from the other children. Drawing upon his experiences of being somewhat different and an outcast, May set about creating a character with similar problems who, in the end, rises above his problems and is transformed.<br /><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Fauna One;"><b>Who was the character?</b> </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAIenUvh-hUa_ngJno-GaxhNogE8SxraeDod-ndSLiLuDNSR2A0VxvL7bNPPj7SdQPsvshFziVW6aVmIm03H-tu6GIDzFemeF30yrytCjb8VhquHWOAio2Q891AirKhyphenhyphennlYFDYoNs8SIk/s1600/rudolph1+%25281%2529.jpg" style="background: transparent; display: inline-block; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;"><img border="0" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAIenUvh-hUa_ngJno-GaxhNogE8SxraeDod-ndSLiLuDNSR2A0VxvL7bNPPj7SdQPsvshFziVW6aVmIm03H-tu6GIDzFemeF30yrytCjb8VhquHWOAio2Q891AirKhyphenhyphennlYFDYoNs8SIk/s640/rudolph1+%25281%2529.jpg" style="border: 0px; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" width="640" /></span></span></a></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;"><b>What was the story all about?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;">The story Bob May created was his own autobiography in fable form. The character he created was a misfit an outcast like hi. ....Himself. He created an animal story with a main character like Ferdinand the Bull....in this he was partly inspired in part by his daughter's fascination with the deer at the local zoo, he invented a tale about an outcast reindeer with a shiny, red nose who dreamed of pulling Santa's sleigh.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;"><i><b>And thus a little reindeer named Rudolph, with a big shiny nose came to being.</b></i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;">In the popular version ... Bob May depressed and broken-hearted sat staring out his apartment window into the chilling December night. His 4-year-old daughter Barbara sat on his lap quietly sobbing. Bobs wife, Evelyn, was dying of cancer. Little Barbara couldn't understand why her mommy could never come home.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;">Barbara looked up into her dad's eyes and asked, "Why isn't Mommy just like everybody else's Mommy?"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;">Her question brought waves of grief, but also of anger. It had been the story of Bob's life. Life always had to be different for Bob. Slight of the build when he was a kid, Bob was often bullied by other boys. He was too little at the time to compete in sports. He was often called names he'd rather not remember.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;">From childhood, Bob was different and never seemed to fit in.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;">Evelyn died just days before Christmas in 1938. Bob struggled to give hope to his child, for whom he couldn't even afford to buy a Christmas gift. But if he couldn't buy a gift, he was determined a make one - a storybook!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;">Bob had created an animal character in his own mind and told the animals story to little Barbara to give her comfort and hope.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;">Bob finished the book just in time to give it to his little girl on Christmas Day. But the story doesn't end there. The general manager of Montgomery Ward caught wind of the little storybook and offered Bob May a nominal fee to purchase the rights to print the book. Wards went on to print, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and distribute it to children visiting Santa Claus in their stores.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;">The booklet given out by the Montgomery Ward was an immediate hit with children and their parents with Montgomery Ward distributing 2.4 million copies the first year. The popularity of the story continued in the years immediately following 1939 but, because of wartime paper shortages, Montgomery Ward was only able to produce and distribute 6 million copies between 1939 and 1946. Because the booklets were simple giveaways for children printed on newspaper stock very few of those original 6 million booklets produced by Montgomery Ward survive to this day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;">Despite the immediate success of his creation, things did not go well for Robert May. His wife died about the time the Rudolph story first came out. The medical expenses of her illness left May deeply in debt. Further, even though May was the author of an immensely popular work he did not benefit financially from it. First of all, it was a giveaway and did not produce any revenue directly..., secondly, Montgomery Ward was the owner of the work since the story was produced as a part of his job at Montgomery Ward.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18.4px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;">Robert May Gets Rights to His Creation and Gene Autry Agrees to Record the Song<o:p></o:p></span></span></h2>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;">In late 1946, the financially strapped May approached Sewell Avery, President of Montgomery Ward and asked for the rights to publish the story commercially. Avery granted his request and in January 1947 the copyright to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was given to May by his employer. May then published the story commercially as a book in 1947 and also authorized the production and release of a nine-minute cartoon version of the story.....May then teamed up with his brother-in-law, songwriter Johnny Marks to turn May's story-poem into a song<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;"><span class="Apple-style-span">May and Marks originally had some difficulty finding a singer for the But finally, Gene Autry, the singer and actor best known for his role in westerns agreed to record the song. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was first sung commercially by Gene Autry in 1949 and instantly became a smash hit and had its place assured in the canon of traditional Christmas music.</span><span class="Apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One; font-size: small;"><i>Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer<br />had a very shiny nose.<br />And if you ever saw him,<br />you would even say it glows.<br /><br />All of the other reindeer<br />used to laugh and call him names.<br />They never let poor Rudolph<br />join in any reindeer games.<br /><br />Then one foggy Christmas Eve<br />Santa came to say:<br />"Rudolph with your nose so bright,<br />won't you guide my sleigh tonight?"<br /><br />Then all the reindeer loved him<br />as they shouted out with glee,<br />Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer,<br />you'll go down in history!<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;">The rest is history.<span style="font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Fauna One;">Rudolph himself turns 73 in January 2012.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #548dd4; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Daarji the Storytellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08712625868606810344noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1526669237876145104.post-74740889441031954192012-11-27T18:50:00.004+05:302020-10-04T14:12:04.813+05:30Guru Nanak - The founder of Sikhism <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-family: Work Sans; font-size: large;">Guru Nanak</span></span></b></h3>
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<b><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-family: Work Sans; font-size: small;">Could we really call Guru Nanak the founder of Sikhism...</span></span></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Work Sans;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">The origin of the word </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">is</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> that a </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">founder</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> originally meant a person who forges steel; similarly, the </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">founder</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> of a company </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">is</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> forging the new entity. Well, he did carry a new message to preach and to foster and found a new entity, in the much distraught world, brought a new message for mankind,</span></span></i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEgXTC8mWTOQaroiimI_ZlyiEmKNJNpgUgNp9YoYa1FZKfZOOt4HNVeMiob6cB5mTRplGht3hhjealC3fCE2dHTbQ8U8iyGA_xdBvOrfZcVfo5RxdBGZuYO1kHsBloPyzVdMQCK5aRfNZ6ceYXXSL1SWxCiWlCbB0wTDrmShVUQsW2sYama-o5Q=" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Work Sans;"><img alt="Guru Nanak" border="0" height="343" src="https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/sikhism/images/gurunanak_lg.jpg" style="border-bottom: 5px solid rgb(204, 51, 0); border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1px;" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Work Sans; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #595959; mso-style-textfill-fill-colortransforms: "lumm=65000 lumo=35000"; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: text1; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 166;">Guru Nanak (1469-1539) was one of the greatest religious innovators of all time and the founder of the Sikh religion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Work Sans; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #595959; mso-style-textfill-fill-colortransforms: "lumm=65000 lumo=35000"; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: text1; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 166;">Guru Nanak's birthday is celebrated by Sikhs on April 14th by the Nanakshahi Calendar. (The date according to the lunar calendar changes annually but is usually in November.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Work Sans; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #595959; mso-style-textfill-fill-colortransforms: "lumm=65000 lumo=35000"; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: text1; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 166;">Nanak's religious ideas draw on both Hindu and Islamic thought but are far more than just a synthesis. Nanak was an original spiritual thinker and expressed his thoughts in extraordinary poetry that forms the basis of Sikh scripture.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Work Sans;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Little is known about the life of Nanak, but Sikh tradition has a much-loved set of stories or <em><span face=""verdana" , "sans-serif"">Janam</span> Sakhi</em></span> which relate various incidents from his life, and include many of his important teachings.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Work Sans; line-height: 150%;">Nanak was born about 40 miles from Lahore (now in Pakistan) in 1469. Sikh traditions teach that his birth and early years were marked with many events that demonstrated that God had marked him out for something special and was keeping an eye on him.</span></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Work Sans; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Work Sans; line-height: 150%;">His family were Hindus, but Nanak soon showed an advanced interest in religion and studied Islam and Hinduism extensively. As a child, he demonstrated great ability as a poet and philosopher.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Work Sans; line-height: 150%;">One famous story about Guru Nanak tells of his rebellion at the age of eleven. At this age, Hindu boys of his caste would start to wear the sacred thread to distinguish them. Nanak refused, saying that people should be distinguished by the things that they did, and their individual qualities, rather than by a thread.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Work Sans;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></span><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Work Sans; line-height: 150%;">Nanak continued to demonstrate a radical spiritual streak - arguing with local holy men and sages, both Hindu and Muslim, that external things like pilgrimages, penances, and poverty were of far less spiritual importance than internal changes to the individual's soul.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Work Sans; line-height: 150%;">He worked for a while as an accountant but while still quite young decided to devote himself to spiritual matters. He was inspired by a powerful spiritual experience that gave him a vision of the true nature and confirmed his idea that the way to spiritual growth was through meditation and through living in a way that reflected the presence of the divine within each human being.</span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Work Sans;">In 1496, although married and having a family, Nanak set out on a set of spiritual journeys through India, Tibet and Arabia that lasted nearly 30 years. He studied and debated with the learned men he met along the way and as his ideas took shape he began to teach a new route to spiritual fulfilment and the good life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Work Sans;">The last part of his life was spent at Kartarpur in the Punjab, where he was joined by many disciples attracted by his teachings.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444; font-family: Work Sans;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The most famous teachings attributed to Guru Nanak are that there is only one God and that all human beings can have direct access to God with no need for rituals or priests. His most radical social teachings denounced the caste system and taught that everyone is equal, regardless of caste or gender</span><span style="line-height: 150%;">.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinPvBTTj6PkEfjZ8qxHkVE_tnrATgOilvfAHg4FEQSB8ObkWyfL5PiGP6BF6IYLc9TtKAaytUSkY6ag9WuKtYS8QCSD7MDdwkBSTLskiYSglIipzHE9j3GRYg7y45iZnxeyAoO9RmoUB8/w300-h400/lohri_fire.jpg" style="border: 0px; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" width="300" /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;"><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 24px;"><strong><span style="font-weight: normal;">Lohri the multifaceted festival,</span></strong></span><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 24px;"><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 24px;"><span class="apple-style-span">is celebrated every year on 13th of January and invariably the time is such that we are caught in the midst of a bone-chilling and cold misty winter. Lohri, I often laughingly talk about it as a festival of defrosting. We could say it is a festival of seasons.</span></span></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;">The history of Lohri, over a period of time, has become quite hybridized that the root and its transition in time are latticed intricately with seasons, element and folklore. The concept is probably as old as that of Indus Valley civilization and Vedic times itself.</span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;">In Punjab, the festival of<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Lohri marks<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>the coming of the end of winter or we could say the coming of spring and the New Year. The bonfires are lit at night and in its warmth, people come together singing lilting folk songs and happy feet dancing to the pulsating beats of the ‘dhol’.It is a great social opportunity for close-knit communities to strengthen the picture of communal harmony.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;">As you can see Lohri is essentially a festival dedicated to fire and the sun god.</span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;"><b>It is a festival to worship fire.</b></span></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;"> Lohri in Punjab is a cultural celebration on the eve of<span class="apple-converted-space"> Winter Solstice as per Bikrami Calendar. </span>On the other hand, Lohri has been twinned with the Hindu winter solstice festival of<span class="apple-converted-space"> Makar Sankranti</span>,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>which relates to the Sun's entry into the new sign, Makar ….that is the Capricorn. Hindus<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>pray to the Hindu Sun God,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravi" style="background: transparent; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Ravi">Ravi</a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>on<span class="apple-converted-space"> Makar Sankranti.</span> In astrological terms, this is referred to as the sun becoming Uttarayan. In this new configuration, the sun begins to move towards the Sun …Hence it is the beginning of the end of the intensity of winter, and it gradually but increasingly starts to bring warmth to the Earth.</span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;">Though there is somewhat some confusion on the true origin of Lohri and culturally in Punjab, they have become blurred….Both Lohri and Makar Sankranti as two festivals with different origins have become linked as they both relate to the winter solstice.</span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4ElclT_W-NA6jV2rC-PitxvNuMUVLelUXIuaJZhkmbi4KcjyIwKDsxy9Of085mFTrRp6FEETKM2-c2ZruD4yOPs74fbnJtJ98ASwf0OT5rGVcdBa8hP7rv3QiTCZg9CDjEXLTIIPFiO4/s1600/winter_solstice_pivato.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4ElclT_W-NA6jV2rC-PitxvNuMUVLelUXIuaJZhkmbi4KcjyIwKDsxy9Of085mFTrRp6FEETKM2-c2ZruD4yOPs74fbnJtJ98ASwf0OT5rGVcdBa8hP7rv3QiTCZg9CDjEXLTIIPFiO4/s640/winter_solstice_pivato.jpg" style="border: 0px; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;">Punjabis, irrespective of their religion, respect the seasons and the natural elements of fire, wind, water and the earth, as they are very significant associates in this agrarian state.</span></div>
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;">Fire is associated with<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>concepts of purifying life and health. Fire, like water, is a symbol of<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>transformation and regeneration.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfStHHEeFK9zZBsaTtNkLAcT-Ylw7t7KTv86Ztg4jAsgLDbqmUlgK3p9vvMMYxdRDynlIaUBJ4vQ_CLSlXtR3s861HKq9GovvSMQRUXOeqyc5Bv9WXlRiFP7wJxVJI3-Uai7koR00eQLs/s1600/a-lohri-a.png" style="background: transparent; display: inline-block; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;"></span></a></div>
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;">It is the envoy of the sun and is thus related, on one hand with rays of light, and on the other with gold. It is capable of stimulating fertility and the growth of corn and wheat fields and the well being of man and animals as well. The fire takes inspiration from the Sun and like magic reassuringly supplies light and heat. It is also an image of energy and spiritual strength. That is why the Lohri fire gets sanctified and is venerated like a deity.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;">On this occasion,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>people offer peanuts, popcorn and sweets<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>made of til- <a href="http://www.lohrifestival.org/lohri-recipes2.html#gajak" style="background: transparent; text-decoration-line: none;">gajak</a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>and revri<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>as Prasad to the fire as a symbol of the Sun god. A prayer is made to Agni, the God of Fire, and Prasad is distributed.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="font-family: Work Sans;"> The prasad comprises of five main things: til, gazak, gur, moongphali (peanuts), and phuliya or popcorn</span><br />
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<span class="mw-headline"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Work Sans;">In Punjab, the festival of Lohri, in turn, becomes a celebration for good Harvest.</span></span></span></h2>
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Lohri is traditionally associated with the harvest of the<span class="apple-converted-space"> Rabi </span>crops. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Another interesting aspect of Lohri is that a Punjabi farmer sees the day after Lohri as the financial New Year.</span></span></div>
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span">The date the concept of Lohri is celebrated throughout the country in different forms, as a harvest festival.</span><span class="mw-headline" style="font-weight: 400;"></span></span></h2>
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<li style="text-align: justify;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>It is called Tai Pongal in the Kerala,</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>Pongal in Tamilnadu</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>Magha Bihu in Assam,</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>Bhogi in Andhra Pradesh</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>Makar Sankranti in the central part of the country.</span></li>
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<span class="Apple-style-span"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans; font-size: small;">The manner and means of celebrating Lohri are different, but the message conveyed by the festival, that of setting aside differences and rejoicing by celebrating the end of the harvest season and the chilly winter is the same.</span></span></h2>
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans; font-size: medium;">LEGENDS in PUNJAB </span></h2>
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-weight: 400;">According to one legend</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><span class="apple-converted-space">Holika </span>an<span style="font-weight: 400;">d Lohri were sisters. While the former perished in the</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-weight: 400;"> Holi </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">fire, the latter survived with</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-weight: 400;"> Prahlad</span></span><span class="mw-headline" style="font-weight: 400;"></span></span></h2>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif"><span>While on legends …some of you may have heard about the legend of </span><b>Dula Bhati associated with Lohri.</b></span><br />
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="background: transparent; color: #666666; display: inline-block; font-family: Work Sans; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAeQWR5Eu0RlE-izydvCZW2Z0AIRgJuCXGDVvHRfOl2bAxrgGEJvZbiu3OLuZH7tXf-7djFmHt2uc9lnn4a33XDXUVWcF7-0yJ6rCKVSqt7xI2COSyQejlRyJZhh0IWt9Q7Bi8gWCTfqE/s1600/2010070708311100000501700000120587.jpg" style="background: transparent; display: inline-block; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAeQWR5Eu0RlE-izydvCZW2Z0AIRgJuCXGDVvHRfOl2bAxrgGEJvZbiu3OLuZH7tXf-7djFmHt2uc9lnn4a33XDXUVWcF7-0yJ6rCKVSqt7xI2COSyQejlRyJZhh0IWt9Q7Bi8gWCTfqE/s640/2010070708311100000501700000120587.jpg" style="border: 0px; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;">Dulla Bhatti was an illustrious legendary Rajput hero of Punjab, who led an uprising against Emperor Akbar. He took up highway robbery in Punjab during the reign of Emperor Akbar. Dulla Bhatti, like Robin Hood, robbed the rich and gave to the poor. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;">The people of the area loved and respected him. He once rescued a girl from kidnappers and adopted her as his daughter. His people would remember their hero every year on Lohri. Groups of children moved from door to door, singing the Dulla Bhatti folk-song:</span></div>
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;"><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b><i>"Dulla Bhatti ho! Dulle ne dhi viyahi ho! Ser shakar pai ho!"</i></b></span></div></div><div style="line-height: 18pt; margin: 4.8pt 0in 6pt;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;">
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(Dulla gave his daughter a kilo of </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">sugar as a marriage gift).</span></span></div>
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></span> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUO4WATHV5nW2Rsm8ddCkydZjplyE5T319nVdci-knWJB7B1VyxUT8ml4Ag-0LuLI9teHzcSP1hIynKqEIqvY5yvq8ry-TuhIzjaCWV-U_cM22t0v0b282ku5VH0igsZX5viv4aIPTle0/s1600/qxwmxqysicdbbig.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUO4WATHV5nW2Rsm8ddCkydZjplyE5T319nVdci-knWJB7B1VyxUT8ml4Ag-0LuLI9teHzcSP1hIynKqEIqvY5yvq8ry-TuhIzjaCWV-U_cM22t0v0b282ku5VH0igsZX5viv4aIPTle0/w400-h300/qxwmxqysicdbbig.jpg" style="border: 0px; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;">He would rescue Hindu girls from being forcibly taken to be sold in the slave market of the Middle East. He arranged their marriages to Hindu boys with Hindu rituals and provided them with dowries. Understandably, though a bandit, he became a hero of all Punjabis. So every other Lohri song has words to express gratitude to Dulla Bhatti.</span></div>
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Dulla Bhatti was born as </span><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span">Rai Abdullah Khaan Bhatti,</span> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""verdana" , sans-serif">in a Punjabi family to mother Ladhi and father Farid Khan in the area of Sandal Baar, near Faisalabad now in Pakistan …..Sandal Bar is also related to the legend of Mirza Sahiba. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;"><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;"><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""verdana" , sans-serif">He belonged to the warrior-like Rajput clan of Bhattis. He followed the footsteps of his father and grandfather and became a rebel He refused to accept the legitimacy of Mughals and refused to pay any tax.</span></span></div>
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Such was the level of resistance put up by the rebels that Akbar had to shift his </span><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"></span></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;">Imperial Capital to Lahore for nearly 20 years and ordered the execution of the rebels. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;">Legend has it that to instil fear into the hearts of the common man, Akbar got their skins stuffed with wheat hay ‘toori’ and hung the dead-bodies on the Main Gates of the city.</span></span></div>
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;"><span face=""verdana" , "sans-serif"" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;">This happened before Dulla was born and for obvious reasons, he was never told of until he was a young man.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;"><span face=""verdana" , "sans-serif"" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;"><span face=""verdana" , "sans-serif"" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"> Another legend has it that Dulla was born at the same time as Akbar’s son Salim ….who would later become Emperor Jahangir, but Salim was a weak child and on doctors’ suggestions Akbar brought in Ladhi ….Dulla’s mother, a strong Rajput woman to his palace in Delhi to breastfeed Salim. So both Dulla and Salim were practically brought up by Ladhi.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;"><span face=""verdana" , "sans-serif"" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;"><span face=""verdana" , "sans-serif"" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;">In youth, these two were good friends…..In time to come, Dulla and his mother went back to their homeland.</span><span></span></span></div>
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans; line-height: 115%;">The story of Dulla has been poetically treated by many and has been written in style known as Saddam quite similar to Mirza. The above incident is thus narrated.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<i><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;"><b>Tera saandal dada maareya, ditta bhore vich paa, Mughlaan puthhiyaan khallaan laah ke bhariyaan naal hawaa.</b></span></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b style="color: #666666; font-family: "Work Sans";"><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b style="color: #666666; font-family: "Work Sans";">Dulle di var</b></div>
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans; line-height: 115%;">There is a kind of folklore an epic in the Punjabi language called<b> Dulle di var, </b>which narrates the battle events of Dulla Bhatti. Even today there is a region in Punjab, Pakistan, called Dulle Di Bar means the forest of Dulla Bhatti. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans; line-height: 115%;">This legendary Punjabi hero is buried at Miani Sahib Qabristan (Graveyard) in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. There is a town Dullewala (Bhakkar District) in the name of legendary Dulla Bhatti where he had a stay with his allies</span></div>
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;">The Lohri bonfires that mark the end of the deep winter and the start of spring</span></div>
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;">The version of Lohri Song that best describes this contribution of Bhatti and the immense respect with which this rebel is held in the eyes of all Punjabis is:</span></div>
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<i><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><b>Sunder mundriye ho!</b></span></i></div>
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b></b></span><br /></span></div>
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><b><i>Tera kaun vicaharaa ho!</i></b></span></div>
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><b><i><i>Dullah bhatti walla ho!</i></i></b></span></div>
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><i> </i><i></i></b></span> </span><br />
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><b><i><i>Dullhe di dhee vyayae ho!</i></i></b></span></div>
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><b><i> </i><i></i></b></span><br />
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><b><i><i>Ser shakkar payee ho!</i></i></b></span></div>
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><b><i> </i><i></i></b></span><br />
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><b><i><i>Kudi da laal pathaka ho!</i></i></b></span></div>
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><b><i><i>Kudi da saalu paatta ho!</i></i></b></span></div>
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><b><i><i>Salu kaun samete!</i></i></b></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><b><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><i><i>Chache choori kutti! zamidara lutti!</i></i></span></b></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><b><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><i><i>Zamindaar sudhaye!</i></i></span></b></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><b><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><i> </i><i></i></span></b></span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;"><b><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><i><i>bade bhole aaye!</i></i></span></b></span></div>
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<i>Ek bhola reh gaya!</i></div>
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<i>Sipahee far ke lai gaya!</i></div>
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<i>Sipahee ne mari eet!</i></div>
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<i>Sanoo de de lohri te teri jeeve jodi!</i>(Cry or howl!)</div>
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<i><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Bhaanvey ro te bhaanvey pit!</span></i></div>
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><b>Translation and nuances of Lyrics</b></span></div>
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">Who will save you poor one</span><i> ...This is to a rescued girl</i></span></div>
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">Dulla Bhatti is here for you<i> </i><i>…(He rescued the girls who were abandoned and rejected after kidnap!)</i></span></div>
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">The Dulla married off his daughter…<i>(</i><i>the rescued girls were adopted by him as his daughter.</i></span></div>
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">He gave a Ser(ser about a kilo)of sugar!</span></div>
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">he girl is wearing bridal red dress!</span></div>
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">But her shawl is torn………….<i>(</i><i>poor and soiled-girl has been kidnapped &raped)</i></span></div>
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">Who will stitch her torn shawl…….(repair her reputation)?!</span></div>
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">The uncle made sweet ghee bread (choori)!<i></i></span></div>
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">The landlords had it…….. (<i>the girl kidnapped by rich moghul landlords</i>!)!<i></i></span></div>
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">He made the landlords eat a lot!<i></i></span></div>
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">Lots of innocent guys came……….. (<i>poor grooms</i>)</span></div>
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">One innocent boy got left behind ……(<i>the poorest of poor</i>!)</span></div>
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">The soldiers arrested him!......... (<i>Indicated that he was in collusion with Bhatti the rebel</i>)</span></div>
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">The soldiers hit him with a brick!........ (<i>tortured him</i>)</span></div>
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">Cry or howl!</span></div>
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">Give us lohri (gifts) ..long liv</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;">e you couple!</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-size: x-small;">"</span></div>
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Daarji the Storytellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08712625868606810344noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1526669237876145104.post-12445152369840923892011-12-30T14:16:00.001+05:302020-10-05T12:43:31.377+05:30 January 1st was not always the New year....<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #999999; font-family: Courgette; font-size: medium;"><b>Ahh!! . . . here we are. January 1st, 2012…... A brand new month……. A brand new year.</b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk2XUPQfE0JQE_uUVFM7J03BnjD3M4ZPEpEEpvK-2UEVbU5UILYiphfWQ1UQg8YP8osJdnRfKBceXI2WajJx_BKs-ykzOPP0JnFpWWCTiIxr3CGgeRUV94sLHTx9kdobmdZDUXnyxlXok/s1600/new20years20baby.gif" style="background: transparent; display: inline-block; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;"><b><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk2XUPQfE0JQE_uUVFM7J03BnjD3M4ZPEpEEpvK-2UEVbU5UILYiphfWQ1UQg8YP8osJdnRfKBceXI2WajJx_BKs-ykzOPP0JnFpWWCTiIxr3CGgeRUV94sLHTx9kdobmdZDUXnyxlXok/s320/new20years20baby.gif" style="border: 0px; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" width="320" /></b></span></a></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 15.3333px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;">January, the month of new beginnings and is a time to cherish memories. It is the month in which winter weaves her magically festive spell about us with it's cool and crisp days.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 15.3333px;"> This is the month where the temperatures plummet and we gladly look forward to log bonfires and with thick wisps of fog descending around us. And then the New Year descends on us.</span></span><span style="line-height: 15.3333px;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 15.3333px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;">Happy New Year! That is the greeting that we will often hear for the first few weeks of 2012. But do you know that January 1st was not always celebrated as New Year's Day?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 15.3333px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;">In the earliest times, the celebration of the New Year was one of the oldest recorded holidays.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 15.3333px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;"> It was first observed in ancient Babylon about 4000 years ago.</span></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="padding: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzVxhGiy5YJ4fmuEJKzqvcP3t6VcOapheMCewg87zg4STnvbbNdZ1PVsxUMYF2ztDQxBa2mc486Xo2L2Xs75xnjPCDVa01gViQKvIOJU0iERSqfZT8Vla8BCcjK79UO50fmSu1SayvmoE/s1600/babylon.jpg" style="background: transparent; display: inline-block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration-line: none;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;"><b><img border="0" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzVxhGiy5YJ4fmuEJKzqvcP3t6VcOapheMCewg87zg4STnvbbNdZ1PVsxUMYF2ztDQxBa2mc486Xo2L2Xs75xnjPCDVa01gViQKvIOJU0iERSqfZT8Vla8BCcjK79UO50fmSu1SayvmoE/s640/babylon.jpg" style="border: 0px; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" width="640" /></b></span></a></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 15.3333px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In the years around 2000 BC, the Babylonian New Year began with the first </span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 15.3333px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></span></span> <span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 15.3333px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">New </span></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Moon …..That is the first visible crescent after the Vernal Equinox; this was the first day of spring. The beginning of spring is a logical time to start a new year, after all, it is the season of rebirth, a season of regeneration you could say. It was the time for planting of new crops and of blossoming.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF2NsOtl7utAHuc-BQbzGTi9QPBNTNNLrwjB7AheJ4fyjcaJBSpYUJZV4FhPgdB-1papuLuQATXUQuL3y3Cu8bMbTLnlwo6DjJGhZ_eOxUd8Tp1pXwmkTyI84xNIVkij_ZNRbRznDe6lM/s1600/sun_moon_cl_sm.gif" style="background: transparent; clear: left; display: inline-block; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration-line: none;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF2NsOtl7utAHuc-BQbzGTi9QPBNTNNLrwjB7AheJ4fyjcaJBSpYUJZV4FhPgdB-1papuLuQATXUQuL3y3Cu8bMbTLnlwo6DjJGhZ_eOxUd8Tp1pXwmkTyI84xNIVkij_ZNRbRznDe6lM/s640/sun_moon_cl_sm.gif" style="border: 0px; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.7; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans; font-size: small;">Vernal Equinox</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 15.3333px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></span></span> <span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 15.3333px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></span></span> <span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 15.3333px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></span></span> <span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 15.3333px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></span></span> <span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 15.3333px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></span></span> <span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 15.3333px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></span></span> <span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 15.3333px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></span></span> <span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 15.3333px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></span></span> <span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 15.3333px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></span></span> <span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 15.3333px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></span></span> <span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 15.3333px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 15.3333px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 15.3333px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The present-day January 1, on the other hand, has no astronomical or agricultural connotation. It is purely capricious.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 15.3333px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;">The Babylonian New Year celebration was a real carnival true sense. They were a pageant of festivities that lasted for eleven days; each day had its own specific and definitive style and reason of celebration. In comparison, New Year's Eve of present-day festivities pales into insignificance</span></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="padding: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPIcwgfDgMvmDRnMEKjYZs70iaGN9djmiQuoCu401qfkdzDW2muqyiEqYe8PbzWzTxIWfz8SBKqpQbqGqsFK3JRlcVcGmdbuURfsYo21CYst95-4U6sDW59y4o_79FtUtillO5T5ltYTg/s1600/ishtargate.jpg" style="background: transparent; display: inline-block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration-line: none;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;"><b><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPIcwgfDgMvmDRnMEKjYZs70iaGN9djmiQuoCu401qfkdzDW2muqyiEqYe8PbzWzTxIWfz8SBKqpQbqGqsFK3JRlcVcGmdbuURfsYo21CYst95-4U6sDW59y4o_79FtUtillO5T5ltYTg/s640/ishtargate.jpg" style="border: 0px; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" width="462" /></b></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.7; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: small;"><b>Babylon Feast celebrations</b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: small;"><span>Now if we looked at the Romans, they continued to observe<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: small;">e New Year in March, but their calendar was frequently messed about by the various Roman Emperors, the result was that the calendar soon became out of sync with the solar shifts. The early</span><span class="apple-converted-space" face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: small;"> Roman calendar </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: small;">chose March 1 as the New Year and their calendar had just ten months, beginning with March. ….the New Year began with the month of March…Look carefully and will notice it in the names of the designated months </span>septem<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: small;"> is Latin for "seven," </span>octo<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: small;"> is "eight," </span>novem<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: small;"> is "nine," and </span>decem<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: small;"> is "ten."</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="text-align: justify;">But tampering continued with Julius Caesar as well, in 46 BC, he established what has come to be known as the Julian calendar. He introduced a new, solar-based calendar that was a vast improvement on the ancient Roman calendar, which was based on the lunar system that had become wildly inaccurate over the years. Now January 1 was back again as the New Year, but in order to synchronize the calendar with the sun, Caesar had to let the previous year drag on for 445 days.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="text-align: justify;">After this aberration the year was 365 days long, with an additional day added every four years. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span><br /></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Work Sans;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 15.3333px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;">In medieval Europe, however, the celebrations accompanying the New Year</span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 15.3333px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;"> were considered pagan and were considered not Christian, and they abolished </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 15.3333px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;">January 1st as the beginning of the year.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 15.3333px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;"> At various times and in various places throughout medieval Christian Europe, </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 15.3333px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;">the New Year was celebrated on Dec. 25, the birth of Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 15.3333px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;">However, the Julian calendar was not perfect, and was, in turn, replaced by the </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 15.3333px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;">Gregorian calendar in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII. This calendar was accepted </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 15.3333px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;">throughout Europe and eventually the New World.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="padding: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpjRC34ukIvm-lIPcMVFYLQ7xInHbKDOOpMuwY7b7mGuvO41cGWyGRTw3s4eDO3H30VuKxkekuUz07dTS6ZjBjVxlC5C2lALyrixsxagpifSB2XUJ9xr08t333UPAwGwQqQih5OVk9aQs/s1600/images+%25283%2529.jpgvv.jpg" style="background: transparent; display: inline-block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration-line: none;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;"><img border="0" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpjRC34ukIvm-lIPcMVFYLQ7xInHbKDOOpMuwY7b7mGuvO41cGWyGRTw3s4eDO3H30VuKxkekuUz07dTS6ZjBjVxlC5C2lALyrixsxagpifSB2XUJ9xr08t333UPAwGwQqQih5OVk9aQs/s400/images+%25283%2529.jpgvv.jpg" style="border: 0px; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.7; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px;"><span style="line-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Pope Gregory XI1<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="display: inline; text-align: left;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px;"><span style="line-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="line-height: 15.3333px;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="display: inline; text-align: left;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px;"><span style="line-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="line-height: 15.3333px;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="display: inline; text-align: left;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px;"><span style="line-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="line-height: 15.3333px;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="display: inline; text-align: left;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px;"><span style="line-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="line-height: 15.3333px;">Thus in1582 Gregorian calendar </span></span>restored January 1 as the<span class="apple-converted-space"></span><a href="http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/society/A0835506.html" style="background: transparent; text-decoration-line: none;"></a><span style="line-height: 15.3333px;"> New Years day.</span></span></span></span></span></span></div> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: small;"></span></div></span></span></span></span></span></td></tr>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;">While most Catholic countries accepted the Gregorian calendar just about </span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;">straight away, The Protestant countries took time. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 15.3333px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;">The British, for example, did not adopt this calendar until 1752.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 15.3333px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;">From this you can see that The NEW YEAR has had quite a colourful travel through history.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 18.4px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;"><b><br /><span class="Apple-style-span">HAPPY NEW YEAR to all my friends</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;"><b><cite class="user" style="font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/profile/01694302204905278742" style="background: transparent; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; text-decoration-line: none;">mad.monk9</a></cite><span class="icon user" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"></span><span class="datetime secondary-text" style="bottom: 0px; display: inline-block; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin-left: 8px;"><a href="http://iamdaarji.blogspot.com/2010/12/ahh.html?showComment=1325243303833#c1024994253859600598" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; text-decoration-line: none;">December 30, 2011 at 4:38 PM</a></span></b></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;"><b>The article suggests the tantalizing prospect of a New Year's day in March. Happily for us Indians, most regional new years are celebrated during the spring, though by different names: baisakhi, bihu etc.<br />Highly informative & uplifting.</b></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;"><b><img alt="" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/zFdxGE77vvD2w5xHy6jkVuElKv-U9_9qLkRYK8OnbDeJPtjSZ82UPq5w6hJ-SA=s35" style="border-radius: 50%; border: 0px;" /></b></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;"><b><cite class="user" style="font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/profile/08712625868606810344" style="background: transparent; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; text-decoration-line: none;">Chronicles of Daarji.....a travelogue</a></cite><span class="icon user blog-author" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"></span><span class="datetime secondary-text" style="bottom: 0px; display: inline-block; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin-left: 8px;"><a href="http://iamdaarji.blogspot.com/2010/12/ahh.html?showComment=1325321321187#c9129441276355336530" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; text-decoration-line: none;">December 31, 2011 at 2:18 PM</a></span></b></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Work Sans;"><b>Spring is the season of re growth....germination.... Harvesting etc...<br /><br />Such had been the tradition from pagan laws as well</b></span></div>
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Daarji the Storytellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08712625868606810344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1526669237876145104.post-84173976435358544512011-12-21T17:20:00.002+05:302020-10-05T12:46:24.146+05:30A New Mile Stone....<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: #f1c232;"><span style="font-family: Courgette;"><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: large;">Thank You, Friends....each and every one of you.</span><br />
<span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: large;"><b><span>21st December 2011</span></b><span> </span><span>is a new milestone...</span></span></span><br /></span>
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: red; font-size: x-large;">We Celebrate a </span><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #45818e; font-size: x-large;"><b>100,000</b></span><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: red; font-size: x-large;"> page views.<span id="goog_476502493"></span><span id="goog_476502494"></span> </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Quicksand;"><span><span style="background-color: #f8f8f0; line-height: 28px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Quicksand;"><span><span style="background-color: #f8f8f0; line-height: 28px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b><br /></b></span></span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Quicksand;"><span><span style="background-color: #f8f8f0; line-height: 28px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b><br /></b></span></span></span></span></div>T</b>hank you....<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span>s</span></span><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="background-color: #f8f8f0; line-height: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">uch a simple phrase but one that holds so much meaning for me ...Well, today I just wanted to take the time to say 'thank you' to each and every online friend who has become part of my <b>I am Daarji Blogspot. </b>Your visit I valued ..... and your comments even more so.... about me and my blogs</span><br style="background-color: #f8f8f0; line-height: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><br style="background-color: #f8f8f0; line-height: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="background-color: #f8f8f0; line-height: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Well ...what do I write about? I write about this and that, whatever takes my fancy or triggers my imagination ...You could say it is kind of a mixed bag.....I have tried to share what I feel and in the process...I have learned so much. Perhaps we have learned, laughed, teased, progressed, provided comfort ......I hope... <b>:-). </b>I have grown and become more 'me' on this Blog than I ever thought possible. ..... Freedom of expression...... maybe!!!</span></span></span><br />
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<span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="background-color: #f8f8f0; line-height: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">I have met .....and continue to meet some wonderful, amazing and truly beautiful people - who, though we are miles apart, and have never met, I feel like I know them inside and out.</span><br style="background-color: #f8f8f0; line-height: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><br style="background-color: #f8f8f0; line-height: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto;" /><span style="background-color: #f8f8f0; line-height: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">I have made a family on here as much as I have in my real life and I miss you all when I am not around.......And which has been a lot lately - sorry...... so, with this being the season of 'goodwill' I wish you all people !!', .,..........</span></span><br />
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<span><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="background-color: #f8f8f0; line-height: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">I just wanted to say a heartfelt thank you to all my friends, past, present and future.</span></span> </span><br />
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<span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="background-color: #f8f8f0; line-height: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Love you all...Daarji</span></span></span></div>
Daarji the Storytellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08712625868606810344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1526669237876145104.post-66424186423977639402011-12-11T20:59:00.001+05:302020-10-03T20:06:19.006+05:30RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER...Every Child’s Fantasy.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Who was Rudolph?</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We all know that Rudolph is the endearing little red-nosed reindeer, with nose shining so bright that he has been guiding Santa’s sleigh through snow and blizzard for many many decades.<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"> Rudolph is the Ninth Reindeer</span>..... The most famous reindeer of all....he was ‘born’ many decades after his eight flying mates.<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white;">The legend goes that many years ago the Christmas that year would have become a void if Santa had not found a way to guide his sleigh through a fierce blizzard. Fortunately for him, there was Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Rudolph becomes a hero when he guides Santa through the storm with the help of his red glowing nose to deliver Christmas presents to children all over the world.</span></span><span style="background-color: white;"></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Who invented Rudolf?</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">All children like to believe that Rudolph was born at the North Pole.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #45818e;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="color: #666666; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Well, I did as a little boy...And that was a long long time ago. I was born in British India, what we popularly call ‘The Raj’..... Christmas was colloquially called ...the Baraah Din. ... The Big day. Christmas spirit was even more evident then....rather more unmistakable in the ‘Chawni’s....the cantonments’. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #45818e;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="color: #666666; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There was always a picturesque church with stained glass windows ...Christmas bazaars.....Church soirees and so much more with the lilt of Jingle Bells and Rudolf the red-nosed Reindeer being carried on the breeze. Mostly the day was spent in the homes of our family friends...the Mathews, the Clarks or the Bartons, sharing the festive spread....and likewise, Diwali was a resplendent affair at our house.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="color: #666666; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="color: #666666; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="color: #666666; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="color: #666666; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="color: #666666; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="color: #666666; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="color: #666666; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="color: #666666; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="color: #666666; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="color: #666666; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="color: #666666; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="color: #666666; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="color: #666666; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="color: #666666; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One of my most memorable memories are of a traditional white Christmas in Shimla...<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">hill stations have stayed behind as some of the most curious monuments to the British colonial presence in India.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Since the nineteenth century they have exercised a powerful hold on the imagination of Indians and Britishers alike....and of all of the Indian hill stations, Shimla is the most well-known and the most-frequented.</span></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white; color: #45818e; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Can't remember the last time we had a White Christmas in Shimla in the recent past..... My own memory of a white Christmas goes back to the early 1940s... The sparkling flurry of snowflakes, and then later, pile upon pile of snow as far as the eye could see. Trudging through in our little snow boots over walls of crunchy snow all the way from our cottage to the Mall.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #548dd4;"><span class="apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I am told that it is the second oldest church of Northern India. The beauty of the church is enhanced by the multi-hued stained glass windows. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #548dd4;"><span class="apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It looks even grander in the reflective moon off the pristine snow.....as kids we thought Rudolf with his shiny nose would really swoop in near the church on The Mall...</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #548dd4;"><span class="apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It was heavenly to sit together toasting chestnuts and drinking hot chocolate waiting for Santa’s sleigh.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Perhaps there is a story I can tell you..... A story of a very special reindeer at the North Pole.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">One Christmas Tens of years ago Rudolph, a little deer, was standing alone and sad...it was the day before Christmas. He watched as the other reindeer ran and played together, they had such fun. Rudolph was small but that wasn't the reason the others didn't ask him to join the reindeer games.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> Rudolph had a big, bright red nose. ...It was not a regular reindeer nose at all; it was so bright that it seemed to glow. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The other deer teased him, and they laughed about Rudolph's nose. They rolled in the snow with delight as poor Rudolph walked back to the stable, lonely and very, very sad.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">It wasn’t much fun being alone... Rudolph sighed.<br />
<br />Soon the light faded from the day and everyone was scampering to load Santa's sleigh. It was getting darker and darker by the minute, and to top it all fog was making matters worse. The atmosphere was dismal and even the reindeers began to quarrel about who would be the best one to lead the team this evening. Soon all was set and Santa climbed into the sleigh and himself and off they went.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">He was already delayed, and it was so dark he couldn't even see the lead reindeer...... Time was passing and it became clear that no headway was being made. Santa was flying in circles. Santa was Lost!!!<br />
<br /> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What would happen to Christmas?</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Santa was quite worried, he didn't even know how to get back to the North Pole, then dimly at first, and he could see a faint red light. Santa moved the sleigh towards the light and it grew steadily stronger and brighter. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What could it be he thought? </span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">It was ever so bright. ....Carefully Santa brought the sleigh to rest close to the light. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">And what did Santa find?</span><br />
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">He found Rudolph playing by himself trying to enjoy Christmas Eve. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #45818e;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Santa asked Rudolph if he would mind helping out with the sleigh, that big shiny nose is just what he needed to stay on track...It would be like a ‘headlight’. Rudolph was thrilled and jumped at the chance. The other reindeer knew this would save Christmas and they smiled their approval as Rudolph went to the front of the team. Jingle bells rang out crisply on that dark night as Rudolph and his shiny nose lead Santa and the sleigh full of toys around the world.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> From that day forward Rudolph came to be known as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer ... Santa’s Ninth Reindeer.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Coming back to.......Who created Rudolf.....After all, now that I am an old man I know that he was not born at North pole...How did come to be????</span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There are two versions of the origin of "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" — the "official" one, as told in innumerable news articles over the past 50 years.....and the other which has the popular pathos...It was circulated on and off the Internet since the early 2000s.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The main difference between the two is how they explain what prompted Bob May to create the character of Rudolph in the first place. According to the official version he did it at the behest of his supervisor in the catalogue copy department of Montgomery Ward. However, as per the popular version he did so to comfort and console his 4-year-old daughter, Barbara, whose mother was dying of cancer.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Rudolph's story begins sometime in 1939. The nation was still in the midst of the Great Depression but that didn't prevent people from celebrating and enjoying the good times of life. Times may have been difficult but that just meant that people had to be more careful with their money.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In the Chicago headquarters of department store giant, Montgomery Ward, that summer, executives were making plans for the coming Christmas season.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In those days cities were more compact and commerce was centred in the downtown. Scattered amongst the big banks and office buildings were the large, multi-storied department stores. During the Christmas season, shoppers would flock downtown and these stores competed fiercely for these people's shopping dollars.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">To attract customers the stores put up abundant colourful decorations and, in their toy departments, they would create elaborate Christmas kingdom displays with Santa Claus enthroned in the middle. The highlight of the Christmas shopping season for children was a trip downtown with Mom and Dad to visit Santa Claus. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">They would stand in a line and patiently and when their turn came, would sit on Santa's lap. After assuring Santa that they had been good, or had at least we're trying hard to be good, they would tell Santa what they wanted for Christmas. Santa would then assure them that he would do his best to give them the toy they most desired and then, after making their requests and got up to leave, Santa would reach into the big sack next to his chair and, reminding them to be good, give them a little parting gift.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">For many years Montgomery Ward had filled their Santa's sack with a Christmas colouring book that they had specially printed each year. .....But this year the Montgomery Ward executives wanted something new and different. ....They also wanted to save money. So, instead of calling upon an outside firm to create the new item, as they had done in the past, they decided to have their own advertising department create the new giveaway.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Thus it so happened that Robert L. May, a 34-year-old copywriter for Montgomery Ward, found himself charged with coming up with a new gift for their Santa to give to the little children.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Bob May went to work on developing a Christmas story for children.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #548dd4;"> </span><span style="color: #548dd4;">As a child, May had always been small for his age and this had brought forth taunts and ridicule from the other children. Drawing upon his experiences of being somewhat different and an outcast, May set about creating a character with similar problems who, in the end, rises above his problems and is transformed.</span><span style="color: #548dd4;"><br />Who was the character? <span style="color: #548dd4;"></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>What was the story all about?</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The story Bob May created was his own autobiography in fable form. The character he created was a misfit an outcast like him. ....Himself. He created an animal story with a main character like Ferdinand the Bull....in this he was partly inspired in part by his daughter's fascination with the deer at the local zoo, he invented a tale about an outcast reindeer with a shiny, red nose who dreamed of pulling Santa's sleigh.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And thus a little reindeer named Rudolph, with a big shiny nose came to being.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In the popular version ... Bob May depressed and broken-hearted sat staring out his apartment window into the chilling December night. His 4-year-old daughter Barbara sat on his lap quietly sobbing. Bobs wife, Evelyn, was dying of cancer. Little Barbara couldn't understand why her mommy could never come home. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Barbara looked up into her dad's eyes and asked, "Why isn't Mommy just like everybody else's Mommy?"</span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Her question brought waves of grief, but also of anger. It had been the story of Bob's life. Life always had to be different for Bob. Slight of the build when he was a kid, Bob was often bullied by other boys. He was too little at the time to compete in sports. He was often called names he'd rather not remember. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">From childhood, Bob was different and never seemed to fit in.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Evelyn died just days before Christmas in 1938. Bob struggled to give hope to his child, for whom he couldn't even afford to buy a Christmas gift. But if he couldn't buy a gift, he was determined a make one - a storybook! </span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Bob had created an animal character in his own mind and told the animals story to little Barbara to give her comfort and hope.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlsMF8X1eewYQadZu0_YQIWge55Kt8lZiTXD7QyUrp2X_CVgbMS950KiOx6lEoMR09TD-gOIvziSTJvg4Wg-yojVzL3jAn5m1Zh3tc2U4ETpwyKQ8T2xqdSdvHCZSqhPPo7X1GWbMr_fI/s1600/rudolph_the_red_nosed_reind.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlsMF8X1eewYQadZu0_YQIWge55Kt8lZiTXD7QyUrp2X_CVgbMS950KiOx6lEoMR09TD-gOIvziSTJvg4Wg-yojVzL3jAn5m1Zh3tc2U4ETpwyKQ8T2xqdSdvHCZSqhPPo7X1GWbMr_fI/s640/rudolph_the_red_nosed_reind.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Bob finished the book just in time to give it to his little girl on Christmas Day. But the story doesn't end there. The general manager of Montgomery Ward caught wind of the little storybook and offered Bob May a nominal fee to purchase the rights to print the book. Wards went on to print, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and distribute it to children visiting Santa Claus in their stores. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The booklet given out by the Montgomery Ward was an immediate hit with children and their parents with Montgomery Ward distributing 2.4 million copies the first year. The popularity of the story continued in the years immediately following 1939 but, because of wartime paper shortages, Montgomery Ward was only able to produce and distribute 6 million copies between 1939 and 1946. Because the booklets were simple giveaways for children printed on newspaper stock very few of those original 6 million booklets produced by Montgomery Ward survive to this day.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Despite the immediate success of his creation, things did not go well for Robert May. His wife died about the time the Rudolph story first came out. The medical expenses of her illness left May deeply in debt. Further, even though May was the author of an immensely popular work he did not benefit financially from it. First of all, it was a giveaway and did not produce any revenue directly..., secondly, Montgomery Ward was the owner of the work since the story was produced as a part of his job at Montgomery Ward.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfYU4qWURpf2dlw0Py4cZGqos0-iNaWRbqpe5RTCNSxacWfHbphEgWeSYApOuiVN3QY6V2bmfh9lKTRvJtYuufmZ6WpzDhnA3JdHMDMG5MQIYkj9TVNHGCGpvNcvwqodWT5gh7zW6TRWY/s1600/cd-cover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfYU4qWURpf2dlw0Py4cZGqos0-iNaWRbqpe5RTCNSxacWfHbphEgWeSYApOuiVN3QY6V2bmfh9lKTRvJtYuufmZ6WpzDhnA3JdHMDMG5MQIYkj9TVNHGCGpvNcvwqodWT5gh7zW6TRWY/s640/cd-cover.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">Robert May Gets Rights to His Creation and Gene Autry Agrees to Record the Song</span></h2>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In late 1946, the financially strapped May approached Sewell Avery, President of Montgomery Ward and asked for the rights to publish the story commercially. Avery granted his request and in January 1947 the copyright to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was given to May by his employer. May then published the story commercially as a book in 1947 and also authorized the production and release of a nine-minute cartoon version of the story.....May then teamed up with his brother-in-law, songwriter Johnny Marks to turn May's story-poem into a song</span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">May and Marks originally had some difficulty finding a singer for the But finally, Gene Autry, the singer and actor known for his role in westerns agreed to record the song. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was first sung commercially by Gene Autry in 1949 and instantly became a smash hit and had its place assured in the canon of traditional Christmas music.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "comic sans ms"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer<br />had a very shiny nose.<br />And if you ever saw him,<br />you would even say it glows.<br />
<br />All of the other reindeer<br />used to laugh and call him names.<br />They never let poor Rudolph<br />join in any reindeer games.<br />
<br />Then one foggy Christmas Eve<br />Santa came to say:<br />"Rudolph with your nose so bright,<br />won't you guide my sleigh tonight?"<br />
<br />Then all the reindeer loved him<br />as they shouted out with glee,<br />Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer,<br />you'll go down in history!</span></h2>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Rudolph himself turns 73 in January 2012.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #548dd4;"></span></span><br />
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Daarji the Storytellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08712625868606810344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1526669237876145104.post-68437374693374591162011-12-11T13:30:00.000+05:302019-01-18T15:39:50.421+05:30Who is Anna Hazare ?........A personal Experience<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://iamdaarji.blogspot.com/2011/04/who-is-anna-hazare.html?spref=bl">I am Daarji: Who is Anna Hazare ?........A Personal Experience</a>:<br />
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CLICK the Link<br />
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Who is Anna Hazare? 1. Who is Anna Hazare? An ex-army man. Fought 1965 Indo-Pak War 2. What’s so special about him? He built a village...</div>
Daarji the Storytellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08712625868606810344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1526669237876145104.post-36827787632111648042011-11-30T18:52:00.003+05:302020-10-05T12:56:30.512+05:30NEVER GIVE UP !<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><b><i><span style="color: #5f497a;">A winner is not one who never fails...... </span></i></b><span style="color: #5f497a;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><b><i><span style="color: #5f497a;">But one who never quits!</span></i></b><span style="color: #5f497a;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 1pt; border-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 1pt; border-width: 1pt; color: #948a54; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm;">At some point or the other in the various journeys, we embark on in our lives, we get to a part where we feel like giving up. Sometimes we give up before we even start and other times we give up just before we are about to make that huge break-through that we have been putting so much effort in to achieve.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><strong><i><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #403152;">Believe In Your Dreams</span></i></strong><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54;"><br />
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><span style="float: none;">Don’t sell yourself short. In life there are going to be many people who will try to bring you down and tell you what you want to achieve is not possible. Don’t let anyone destroy your dreams.</span></span></span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><i><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #403152;"><b> As Long As You live Anything Is Possible...</b></span></i><i><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #403152;"><br />
</span></i><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54;">The only valid excuse you have to give up is if you are dead. As long as you are alive... and healthy ....and free you have the choice to keep trying until you finally succeed.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><strong><i><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #403152;">Be Realistic</span></i></strong><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54;"><br />The chance of mastering something the first time you do it is almost non-existent. Everything takes time to learn and you will make mistakes. Learn from them.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #948a54;">I have compiled this catalogue of reasons why you should never give up and I hope that you will find it before you give up, so that it can inspire you to keep going!</span></span><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54; font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;">In LIFE, remember that we pass this way only once! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #403152; font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;">These are some Real Life Stories... of real people who never gave up!!<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><b><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54;">A </span></b><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54;">candidate for a news broadcasters post was rejected by officials since his voice was not fit for a news broadcaster. He was also told that with his obnoxiously long name, he would never be famous. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54;">He is </span><b style="color: #948a54;">Amitabh Bachchan. </b></span></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><b><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54;">A</span></b><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54;"> small boy - the fifth amongst seven siblings of a poor father, was selling newspapers in a small village to earn his living. He was not exceptionally smart at school but was fascinated by religion and rockets. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54; font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;">The first rocket he built crashed. A missile that he built crashed multiple times and he was made a butt of ridicule. He is the person to have scripted the Space Odyssey of India single-handedly - <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFwsBaT6o79zKlETBCioklZQjXZFiapSt6cVYSht1Mx0HWfepDPh99oXRUSal9Mg4gPeNf88ABd_qUXgqJZVC2z4b31gAR07jJFfwPlV5Z71i1cz6hu7CAL1I3B_oLANec-BGlHrMdJA4/s1600/abdul_kalam.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFwsBaT6o79zKlETBCioklZQjXZFiapSt6cVYSht1Mx0HWfepDPh99oXRUSal9Mg4gPeNf88ABd_qUXgqJZVC2z4b31gAR07jJFfwPlV5Z71i1cz6hu7CAL1I3B_oLANec-BGlHrMdJA4/s200/abdul_kalam.jpg" width="141" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><b><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54;"> </span></b><b><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54;">Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. </span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><b><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54;">I</span></b><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54;">n 1962, four nervous young musicians played their first record audition for the executives of the Decca Recording Company. The executives were not impressed.While turning down this group of musicians, one executive said, "We don't like their sound. Groups of guitars are on the way out." <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54;"><o:p> </o:p></span><b><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54;">The group was called The Beatles</span></b><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54;">. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><b><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54;">I</span></b><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54;">n<b> </b>1944, Emmeline Snively, director of the Blue Book Modelling Agency told modelling hopeful Norma Jean Baker, "You'd better learn secretarial work or else get married." <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54;"><o:p> </o:p></span><b><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54;">She went on and became... Marilyn Monroe. </span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><b><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54;">I</span></b><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54;">n 1954, Jimmy Denny, manager of the Grand Ole Opry, Fired a singer after one performance. He told him, "You ain't goin' nowhere....son. You ought to go back to drivin' a truck." <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><b><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54;">He went on to become Elvis Presley.</span></b><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54;"> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><b><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54;">W</span></b><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54;">hen <b>Alexander Graham Bell</b> invented the telephone in 1876, it did not ring off the hook with calls from potential backers. After making a demonstration call, President Rutherford Hayes said, "That's an amazing invention, but who would ever want to see one of them?" </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><b><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54;">W</span></b><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54;">hen <b>Thomas Edison</b> invented the light bulb, he tried over 2000 experiments before he got it to work. A young reporter asked him how it felt to fail so many times. He said, "I never failed once. I invented the light bulb. It just happened to be a 2000-step process."</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><b><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54;"><br /></span></b> <b><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54;">I</span></b><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54;">n the 1940s, another young inventor named <b>Chester Carlson</b> took his idea to 20 corporations, including some of the biggest in the country. They all turned him down. In 1947, after 7 long years of rejections, he finally got a tiny company in Rochester, NY, the Haloid company, to purchase the rights to his invention -- an electrostatic paper-copying process. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><b><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54;">Haloid became Xerox Corporation</span></b><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54;">. </span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><b><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54;">A</span></b><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54;"> little girl - the 20th of 22 children, was born prematurely and her survival was doubtful. When she was 4 years old, she contracted double pneumonia and scarlet fever, which left her with a paralysed left leg. At age 9, she removed the metal leg brace she had been dependent on and began to walk without it. </span></span></div>
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<span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54; font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;">By 13 she had developed a rhythmic walk, which doctors said was a miracle. That same year she decided to become a runner. She entered a race and came in last. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54; font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;">For the next few years every race she entered, she came in last. Everyone told her to quit, but she kept on running. One day she actually won a race. And then another. From then on she won every race she entered. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54; font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
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<b><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54; font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;">Eventually, this little girl - Wilma Rudolph, went on to win three Olympic gold medals. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><i><span style="color: #948a54;">A</span></i><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54;"> school teacher scolded a boy for not paying attention to his mathematics and for not being able to solve simple problems. She told him that you would not become anybody in life. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54; font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;">The boy was Albert Einstein. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjSe-JgbSzgfiqLJLYrIghOeg7AjCtWQHteWy-MGfpuOynWkIbJ8U9kkj_gUfGTNVETiXpyB3ye54iLtqQhm40cwhjCrSY2lrnW2WOKs2zfgvNa6MdW76GI6j-IhQWYL7sQhmz09Q2azo/s1600/images.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="191" data-original-width="265" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjSe-JgbSzgfiqLJLYrIghOeg7AjCtWQHteWy-MGfpuOynWkIbJ8U9kkj_gUfGTNVETiXpyB3ye54iLtqQhm40cwhjCrSY2lrnW2WOKs2zfgvNa6MdW76GI6j-IhQWYL7sQhmz09Q2azo/s400/images.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54;"><br /></span> <span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #948a54;"><br /></span> <span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #948a54;"><br /></span> <span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #948a54;">Lance was diagnosed with serious cancer that had spread throughout his entire body. He had cancer cells the size of golf balls in his lungs. Despite all odds, he overcame cancer and set out to win the Tour de France 6 Consecutive years in a row.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqt3HXM7WvKMa4-EO7RUFFCV2So8Q8_i0HYyaeY6yMV5I-aUrI98ELc7n9Sf0aS32hNIDJmuGNASNzeLImavbNUFqkpKy79yeiNvobBZccIwI4jn6PLT9TNCr_vkVgWCCQajhFfekudE4/s1600/Lance-Armstrong.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqt3HXM7WvKMa4-EO7RUFFCV2So8Q8_i0HYyaeY6yMV5I-aUrI98ELc7n9Sf0aS32hNIDJmuGNASNzeLImavbNUFqkpKy79yeiNvobBZccIwI4jn6PLT9TNCr_vkVgWCCQajhFfekudE4/s320/Lance-Armstrong.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<strong><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #948a54; font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;">That is Lance Armstrong</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><b><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #403152;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b><strong style="background-color: white;"><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #948a54;">Lastly but definitely not the least....Nelson Mandela..... He </span></strong><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #948a54;">Campaigned for justice and freedom in his South Africa. Spent 20 years in jail for his opposition to apartheid. On release, he healed the wounds of apartheid by his magnanimous attitude toward his former political enemies.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT9TD2n64NL410jZsTqbjZBJMyQt9rHOF9qYOxvXHzt7bgeUgm8El4dz93q0C_nOR5cPWJrUgWR2RUjo6vXN2O-0w5my5elpMpVF5zztMxQ6JGYIwZ4-i1IErV9uj33jfUhzzSxl83zls/s1600/nelson-mandela+%25281%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT9TD2n64NL410jZsTqbjZBJMyQt9rHOF9qYOxvXHzt7bgeUgm8El4dz93q0C_nOR5cPWJrUgWR2RUjo6vXN2O-0w5my5elpMpVF5zztMxQ6JGYIwZ4-i1IErV9uj33jfUhzzSxl83zls/s320/nelson-mandela+%25281%2529.jpg" width="274" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #403152; font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><b>The Moral of the above Stories: <o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54; font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;">A character cannot be developed in ease and quiet comfort......Only through experiences of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened....... vision cleared.........ambition inspired and success achieved. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54; font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;">We gain strength, experience and confidence by every experience where you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing you cannot do. And remember, the finest steel gets sent through the hottest furnace. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><strong><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54;">Let The Haters Hate</span></strong><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54;"><br />There will always be haters. There will always be plenty of naysayers and people who try to tear us down. Don’t pay attention to them and don’t take what they say to heart. Let the haters hate and you keep believing in yourself.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><strong><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54;">You Deserve To Be Happy</span></strong><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54;"><br />Don’t ever let anybody tell you otherwise. You deserve to be happy and you deserve to have success. Keep that mindset and never give up until you reach your destination!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><strong><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54;"> Inspire Others</span></strong><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54;"><br />Be an inspiration to others by refusing to give up. Who knows what someone else can achieve because you never gave up and in turn inspired them not to give up.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><strong><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54;">You Are So Close</span></strong><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54;"><br />Often when you feel like you want to give up and you are about to give up you are so close to making a huge break-thru. .... at any given time we may be just a heartbeat away from success.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 14.4pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi750AQxA8seaQhHe-vyx_fKTt7hvYnFRpFVb6HEiEDN5KINyo09GVCkdPNPvUYxWjWoqCU4E7_6jMqi97DpeDQrKm9RUD6_o32QCLiXzCC51v0gQ-ZNiZ6kUVeNCCRz1rc6qR-qDNTr4c/s1600/142687522_24b104571b_o.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Quicksand; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi750AQxA8seaQhHe-vyx_fKTt7hvYnFRpFVb6HEiEDN5KINyo09GVCkdPNPvUYxWjWoqCU4E7_6jMqi97DpeDQrKm9RUD6_o32QCLiXzCC51v0gQ-ZNiZ6kUVeNCCRz1rc6qR-qDNTr4c/s400/142687522_24b104571b_o.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54; font-family: Quicksand;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54; font-family: Quicksand;">"</span><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #403152; font-family: Courgette;">Failure is the pillar of success......They are our stepping stone!" </span></span></div>
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<span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="color: #403152; font-family: Courgette; font-size: medium;">"Pick battles big enough to matter, small enough to win."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Daarji the Storytellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08712625868606810344noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1526669237876145104.post-76920768568860476282011-11-28T21:03:00.003+05:302020-10-05T13:14:57.481+05:30Virasat e Khalsa....A Heritage Complex<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><span class="apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: #fbfdff;">It </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Fauna One"; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: #fbfdff;">was </span><span style="background-color: #fbfdff;">in the year </span></span><span class="apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Fauna One"; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: #fbfdff;">1999, the tercentennial year of the Birth of the </span><span style="background-color: #fbfdff;">Khalsa that</span></span><span class="apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Fauna One"; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: #fbfdff;"> th</span><span style="background-color: #fbfdff;">e dream process starts to</span></span><span class="apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Fauna One"; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: #fbfdff;"> build a Khalsa Heritage Complex at Anandpur Sahib to commemorate the epoch-making event.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Fauna One"; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: #fbfdff;"> </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="newwindow" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Fauna One"; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;"><span><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="newwindow" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Fauna One"; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;"><span>The Virasat-e-Khalsa stands at a site that is the birthplace of the Khalsa Panth. </span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Fauna One"; text-align: justify;">It was here in 1699, on Vaisakhi Day, that Guru Gobind Singh, founded the Khalsa Panth.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif"><span class="apple-style-span"><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="background-color: #fbfdff;">Hailed as a "wonder in the making", the Khalsa Heritage complex had been conceived </span></span></span><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span" face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: #fbfdff;">on </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: #fbfdff;">a scale with a global perspective and located amidst rolling hills on a sprawling 100-acre estate</span></span><span> inspired by the nearby Himalayan Mountains</span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: #fbfdff;">. </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: #fbfdff;">In its grandeur, it has no precedent, no comparison.....</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: #fbfdff;"> </span></span><span>Conceived as a repository of the rich heritage of the Khalsa, showcasing the history and culture of Sikhs and their homeland, Punjab, the heritage complex enshrines the eternal message of Guru’s<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #fbfdff; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVDBByuzjn6108DC4bKwqz9rjPTn9RsgkLVb_KXNd04-tzIROSzFOdNP4BeC6J-uCpsD3UEnU8-A-tY9gESK5nYCcT-cpRTEB7suEkJ-Ty84FZWJY2WfjCY5FbeVr7Mnxh-2xGJu-_Jfs/s1600/Virasat1-a.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVDBByuzjn6108DC4bKwqz9rjPTn9RsgkLVb_KXNd04-tzIROSzFOdNP4BeC6J-uCpsD3UEnU8-A-tY9gESK5nYCcT-cpRTEB7suEkJ-Ty84FZWJY2WfjCY5FbeVr7Mnxh-2xGJu-_Jfs/s640/Virasat1-a.png" width="352" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The Heritage complex... <span class="apple-converted-space">Virasat e Khalsa is</span> located in the state of Punjab and is sited overlooking the town. Divided into two sections that straddle a ravine. The memorial is joined by a 540-ft long pedestrian bridge over a network of reflecting pools. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The western side, which is connected directly to the town, features exhibition galleries, a two-level library centred around a grand reading room that overlooks the water gardens, is a facility for storing rare archival materials, and a 400-seat auditorium.</span><br /><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;">The eastern side houses permanent exhibitions presenting Sikh history, religion, and culture. Rising from the cliffs below, the building is clad with locally-sourced sandstone and evokes the fortress cities of Rajasthan, Gwalior, and Punjab.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><br /></span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;">The galleries are arranged in groups of five and reference the Five Virtues of Sikh religion. Themes such as the earth and sky, mass and lightness, and depth and ascension are represented in the museum’s sandstone towers and reflective, dramatic sweeping roofs. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: #fbfdff;">The credit of design and the structural plan goes to Moshe Safdie, the internationally acclaimed Boston-based Israeli architect.</span></span><span></span></span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;">Safdie began designing the museum way back in 1999 and finally saw his efforts come to fruition at the inauguration.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><br /></span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;">A button to unveil the museum’s inaugural plaque as the Viasat<em>-e-Khalsa</em><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>monument rose out of the Shivalik hills of Punjab. </span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;">Nihangs astride horses and on foot along with ‘gatka’ troupes dressed in blue with saffron colour turbans dotted the hillocks, adding to the backdrop.</span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;">Asha Bhosle started the function with a soulful rendition of the Shabad,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em>Mera Sahib, Mera Sahib</em>, followed by Jaspinder Kaur Narula's rendition of ‘<em>Deh Shiva Var Mohe The</em>’.</span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;">A glider then cascaded confetti and flower petals on the thronging crowd.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><span>Born in Haifa, Israel, in 1938, Moshe Safdie must be proud of his creation...</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><span><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><span>Safdie moved to Canada with his family at age 15. He graduated from McGill University in 1961 with a degree in architecture. After apprenticing with Louis I. Kahn in Philadelphia, Safdie returned to Montreal to oversee the master plan for the 1967 World Exhibition and realized Habitat ’67, pioneering example of prefabricated housing and launched the 29-year-old Safdie on his illustrious career.</span><span></span></span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;">In 1970, Safdie established a Jerusalem branch office and was responsible for major segments of the restoration of the Old City of Jerusalem and, the new Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum and the Rabin Memorial Center. During this period, Safdie also became involved in the developing world, working in Senegal, Iran, and Singapore</span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><b><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="background-color: #fbfdff; color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One; font-size: small;">Design Philosophy of the Virasat e Khalsa.</span></b></span></h3>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white;">Moshe Safdie as the leading architect, of the project, embraced a comprehensive and humane design philosophy, guided by a strong set of values and without succumbing to current trends. </span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white;">Safdie philosophy is committed to architecture that supports and enhances a project’s program; that is informed by the geographic, social, and cultural elements that define a place; and that in turn responds to human needs and aspirations of the community.</span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: #fbfdff;"></span></span></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;">—and in conjunction recognize its responsibility to contribute richly to its setting and enduringly contribute to its community.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white;">Contemporary architecture often lacks the qualities of ritual and ceremony that have historically been fundamental to civic, cultural and religious life. ...but this was not so for the Khalsa Heritage Complex. </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white;">Safdie was able to achieve his central objective to create unique spaces and forms that introduce a sense of ceremony appropriate for the Virasat e Khalsa.</span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: #fbfdff;"></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white;">Through his buildings, Moshe Safdie has been especially adept at realizing our aspirations. For us he has created buildings where heritage is forged, memory is enshrined, and identity is created in built form. Few architects would have been able to so fully realize their philosophies in practice and in such diversity of project type and geography. </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: #fbfdff;"></span></span></span><br />
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<h3 style="text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One; line-height: 115%;">Virasat e Khalsa</span></b></h3>
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<span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif"><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: #fbfdff; line-height: 115%;">The two main complexes are joined with a connecting long ceremonial bridge. The canopy on this bridge is an architectural experiment and is situated in the opposite direction of the sun and does not provide any shade.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: #fbfdff; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One; line-height: 115%;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #fbfdff; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">The western complex houses an auditorium with a seating capacity of 400 with temporary exhibition galleries and a library, housing all journals, magazines, books and periodicals on Sikhism.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: #fbfdff;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #fbfdff; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">The eastern complex has the Flower Building and a wing called the Boat Building or the Heritage Section.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #fbfdff; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span style="line-height: 115%;">The experience begins at ‘Panj Pani’ —The Boat Building of the complex houses the largest hand-painted mural in the world, depicting the past and the present of Punjab, as seen in its villages and towns and cities ...It took almost three and a half years to complete the interiors which include paintings, murals and around 400 artists were involved in it including designers.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;">Contrary to the tradition of domes which crown the sacred Sikh sites, the roofs of the Museum are concave-shaped receptors facing the sky. Sheathed in stainless steel, they reflect the sun’s light towards the Gurdwara and the Fort.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0-_7tTnc28YWUtIdfQbh55r2imFQf-_CJwYyv-xZI4xQpgar2GH04MXl9XvIdiN8px8-7obaqnN22guxEI5lxryPrsmlNWDpczLnGGjuinI9oAncrysJTYdYCtavBov_UPia0LOHPYhU/s1600/Khalsa-Heritage-Center-by-Safdie-Architects041.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0-_7tTnc28YWUtIdfQbh55r2imFQf-_CJwYyv-xZI4xQpgar2GH04MXl9XvIdiN8px8-7obaqnN22guxEI5lxryPrsmlNWDpczLnGGjuinI9oAncrysJTYdYCtavBov_UPia0LOHPYhU/s640/Khalsa-Heritage-Center-by-Safdie-Architects041.jpg" width="505" /></a></span></div>
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<span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: #fbfdff; line-height: 115%;">The roof of the Flower Building is shaped in the form of five petals - representing the</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: #fbfdff; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><i><span style="background-color: #fbfdff; line-height: 115%;">Panj Piaras</span></i><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: #fbfdff; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: #fbfdff; line-height: 115%;">. Each petal will house an exhibit tracing the life history of all the Gurus from birth to attaining salvation/ martyrdom. These will be permanent exhibits. The petal at the highest altitude will have information and exhibits on Guru Granth Sahib.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: #fbfdff; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif">The museum is truly Virasat e Khalsa .....Not only will the visitors be impressed by just the majestic structure but the multi-media galleries at the complex as well. They bring alive the Sikh history and culture. Out of the total 25 galleries, 15 are ready to greet the visitors. The rest will be made in the second phase of construction at the complex.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;">For the remaining galleries, visitors will be guided by the auto-trigger audio guides, available in English, Hindi and Punjabi. ‘Auto-trigger’ implies that as you walk into any gallery and the audio guide plays content specific to the area. The voiceover has been rendered by actress Divya Dutta, Surjeet Pattar and Kabir Bedi respectively. The first five galleries depict the spiritual aspects of the Panth by making use of research material, stories and technology.</span></div>
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<span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: #fbfdff; line-height: 115%;">Next, I am told the visitor is greeted with the thought-provoking concept of</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: #fbfdff; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><i><span style="background-color: #fbfdff; line-height: 115%;">Ik Onkar.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></i><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: #fbfdff; line-height: 115%;">The</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-color: #fbfdff; line-height: 115%;"> </span></i></span><i><span style="background-color: #fbfdff; line-height: 115%;">Mool Mantar</span></i><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: #fbfdff; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: #fbfdff; line-height: 115%;">will echo all around this exhibit.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: #fbfdff; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One; line-height: 115%;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #fbfdff; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">This exhibit, with special sound effects, is situated in a drum-like building where lights will create an image of Ik Onkar and an audio message will highlight the core principles of Sikhism.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: #fbfdff;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyh_RrGAdbtutdcrrVizu9pV4WjtBrdR4i1xBxA5aOUAv6lPiB73MTm8rRwmb3Xs6mP0AKomzhDUtb6ENF9YWcSX1O1UZHFdOsJUmGCm0n0BKhfcyfUs07RycSvdRsg3vgI3I86DmzMA4/s1600/19587001.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><img border="0" height="440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyh_RrGAdbtutdcrrVizu9pV4WjtBrdR4i1xBxA5aOUAv6lPiB73MTm8rRwmb3Xs6mP0AKomzhDUtb6ENF9YWcSX1O1UZHFdOsJUmGCm0n0BKhfcyfUs07RycSvdRsg3vgI3I86DmzMA4/s640/19587001.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjopVDWqXjuIQq4LJ0cP0kK1Gp9Slo7ruEJIobkqh6tyuEqIsha1A3_ws0_ciN8NSKKSaLML8o2A3irlhPtJM4rWAt9dP1oBHWL9Ch7bWTtcXPsjNCHDHU-AMHdklVFqNRp5CDsKuSkDis/s1600/Virasat1-c.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"></span></a></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><span style="background-color: #fbfdff;">Then starts a mesmerizing journey into the lives of </span>the </span><span class="apple-style-span" face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: "Fauna One";"><span style="background-color: #fbfdff; line-height: 115%;">first Five Gurus in the five petals of the flower building. These five petals tell tales from Guru Nanak to Guru Arjan.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space" face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: "Fauna One";"><span style="background-color: #fbfdff; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One; line-height: 115%;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #fbfdff; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">The first petal will have the milieu of the times Guru Nanak was born in, tracing his life through the far-flung travels (</span></span><i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #fbfdff; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">udasis</span></i><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #fbfdff; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">) he undertook. Further, there will be galleries depicting the lives and contributions of Guru Angad and Guru Amar Das.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #fbfdff; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"> </span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One; line-height: 115%;"><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #fbfdff; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjopVDWqXjuIQq4LJ0cP0kK1Gp9Slo7ruEJIobkqh6tyuEqIsha1A3_ws0_ciN8NSKKSaLML8o2A3irlhPtJM4rWAt9dP1oBHWL9Ch7bWTtcXPsjNCHDHU-AMHdklVFqNRp5CDsKuSkDis/s1600/Virasat1-c.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjopVDWqXjuIQq4LJ0cP0kK1Gp9Slo7ruEJIobkqh6tyuEqIsha1A3_ws0_ciN8NSKKSaLML8o2A3irlhPtJM4rWAt9dP1oBHWL9Ch7bWTtcXPsjNCHDHU-AMHdklVFqNRp5CDsKuSkDis/s640/Virasat1-c.jpg" width="370" /></a></span></div>
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<span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: #fbfdff;">One of the galleries is divided into two, by recreating a</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #fbfdff; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"> </span></span><i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #fbfdff; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">baoli<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></i><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #fbfdff; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">in the middle, to highlight the latter‘s life work. It will have leather and shadow puppets with painted murals in the background.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #fbfdff; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #fbfdff; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">The gallery in the fourth petal contains exhibits on the contribution of Guru Ram Das, including the construction of the city of Ramdaspur, adding 11 ragas to the existing corpus of Gurbani, and the</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #fbfdff; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"> </span></span><i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #fbfdff; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Laavan</span></i><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #fbfdff; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">. The city of Ramdaspur has been recreated in an embroidered form.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #fbfdff; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #fbfdff; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">The gallery in the fifth petal showcases key events in the history of Sikhism: the construction of Harmandar Sahib, as well as the compilation and investiture of the Adi Granth. A pathway leading to the gallery will have a replica of Harmandar Sahib. The gallery also has an ethereal, glowing representation of the Parkash Sthan - the place of the Adi Granth in the Harmandar, in the centre.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #fbfdff; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"> </span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #fbfdff; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Around this central installation are shown stories related to the Adi Granth. Four doorways around it recreate different scenes describing the life and times of Guru Arjan.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #fbfdff; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"> </span></span></span></span></span></div>
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</span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: #fbfdff; color: #666666; font-family: "Fauna One";">There is another gallery depicting Guru Arjan's martyrdom in the form of a sculpture on the terrace. Here, the events around the martyrdom have been narrated in an evocative manner</span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><span class="apple-style-span" face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="background-color: #fbfdff; line-height: 115%;">There is also an exhibit, which will suggest the coming together of five elements - fire, earth, water, air and space.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space" face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="background-color: #fbfdff; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One; line-height: 115%;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #fbfdff; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">The petals in the crescent building will cover the lifespans of Guru Hargobind, Guru Har Rai, Guru Harkrishan, Guru Teg Bahadar, Guru Gobind Singh and </span></span><i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #fbfdff; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Gurta Gaddi.</span></i></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #fbfdff; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">The galleries at the lower level will chronicle the trials, tribulations and triumphs of the Khalsa, from Banda Singh Bahadar to immediately after Partition, when Sikh dynamism helped revive a trifurcated Punjab with its flamboyant energy and resilience.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #fbfdff; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"> </span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #fbfdff; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">TheVirasat e Khalsa has a great potential to attract a large number of visitors, as the town already attracts millions of pilgrims from around the world to the many historical gurdwaras and Sikh forts in the region.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #fbfdff; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"> </span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #fbfdff; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">The Punjab and Himachal Pradesh Governments have proposed a joint ropeway project from Naina Devi - the site where Guru Gobind Singh first recited "</span></span><i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #fbfdff; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Chandi ki Vaar</span></i><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #fbfdff; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">" - the Ode to the Sword - to Anandpur Sahib. Currently, a survey of the area is underway for this project.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #fbfdff; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"> </span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #fbfdff; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Besides these attractions, the Bhakhra-Nangal project and the Nangal wetland offer perfect features for developing this area as a major tourist hub.</span></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space" face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="background-color: #fbfdff; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span></span></div>
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Daarji the Storytellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08712625868606810344noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1526669237876145104.post-12078755104243444032011-11-09T21:38:00.004+05:302020-10-05T13:45:26.728+05:30Kal Taran Guru Nanak aaya. <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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</span><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Courgette;"><span style="color: #666666;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">"</span>Be pure," said the Guru, "and Truth would reveal itself to thee. Have love of God uppermost in thy heart and hurt not the feelings of His creatures."</b></span></span></h3></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Fauna One";"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; line-height: 115%;">As the teachings of most messiahs, even the beliefs & philosophies of Guru Nanak Dev, the first Guru of Sikhs, were not very popular in the beginning. But, today, it is those very teachings of Guru Nanak that are the basic tenets that guide the lives of Sikhs. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Fauna One";"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Fauna One";"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; line-height: 115%;">The three teachings of Guru Nanak Dev Ji are known as </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><ol><li><span style="font-family: "Fauna One";"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; line-height: 115%;">Nam Simran, </span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: "Fauna One";"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; line-height: 115%;">Kirt Karo,</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: "Fauna One";"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; line-height: 115%;">Wand Chako. </span></span></li></ol></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Fauna One";">The term 'Nam Simran' means to think about God. Kirt Kaara preaches people to lead a normal life by earning their living through hard work and honesty. 'Wand Chhako' means to share whatever spare things you have with poor and needy people.</span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; line-height: 115%;"><br /><b><span style="font-family: Fauna One;">Guru Nanak philosophy & teachings can be summarized as:</span></b></span></div>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-left: 1.2pt;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One; line-height: 115%;">There is only one God, who is known by different names in different religions.</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-left: 1.2pt;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One; line-height: 115%;">Strive hard and make a wholehearted effort to help others, because service to mankind is the biggest service to God.</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-left: 1.2pt;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One; line-height: 115%;">Follow the path of honesty.</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-left: 1.2pt;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One; line-height: 115%;">In the eyes of God, all are equal, irrespective of the caste, age, creed or sex.</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-left: 1.2pt;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One; line-height: 115%;">Be compassionate toward all living beings.</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-left: 1.2pt;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One; line-height: 115%;">Lead a simple life.</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-left: 1.2pt;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One; line-height: 115%;"><span>Don't get scared of anything and just keep performing good deeds.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Fauna One;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; line-height: 115%;">A few weeks ago I read a very succinct and emotive brief essayed by ... Ram Lingam... A non-Sikh by faith yet a true, yet a true Sikh ...a Shishya of Guru </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; line-height: 115%;">Nanak in life...</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN5XhW32bWCQA8tTOMZclMOZ4MmyU_WL6aVuvDHZikNfyJ-L_VTfiMq2ItQJagcNeqpuCwH29gV5surWUdna9EymIGE4FOuaTH6lL6RavVDgbTBy7yc-y08SNk1JPr3_D16IQzu1naYxA/s1600/guru_nanak_greetings.jpg" style="background-color: transparent; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN5XhW32bWCQA8tTOMZclMOZ4MmyU_WL6aVuvDHZikNfyJ-L_VTfiMq2ItQJagcNeqpuCwH29gV5surWUdna9EymIGE4FOuaTH6lL6RavVDgbTBy7yc-y08SNk1JPr3_D16IQzu1naYxA/s640/guru_nanak_greetings.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Fauna One;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; line-height: 115%;">I had to share this with you on my blog... </span></span></div>
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<i><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">This small piece of writing is simply inadequate to do any justice to the standing of Shri Sat Guru Nanak Devji or his teachings. To get to know the life story of this great Guru and his teachings is a journey that helps recognise the trivialities of life and acquire the knowledge of our true divine nature which we seem to miss constantly.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br style="word-spacing: 1px;" /> <br style="word-spacing: 1px;" /> <span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><span style="float: none; word-spacing: 1px;">Though not born into a Sikh family, I was fortunate to discover Guru Nanak Devji’s sublime teachings through a music album called ‘Ashram Bhajanavali’, which is a collection of devotional songs that formed part of the morning and evening prayers at Gandhiji’s ashrams. Of the many bhajans, there was Guru Nanak Devji’s song, </span></span></span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Fauna One"; word-spacing: 1px;">which caught my attention.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Fauna One"; word-spacing: 1px;"> </span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Fauna One"; word-spacing: 1px;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><span style="float: none; word-spacing: 1px;"><span style="font-family: Courgette;"><i>“<span style="font-size: medium;">Kaahe re ban khojan jaai…Sarab nivaasi sadaa alepaa tohi sang samaai” </span></i></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><span style="float: none; word-spacing: 1px;"><span style="font-family: Fauna One;"><i><br /></i></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><i><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><span style="float: none; word-spacing: 1px;"><span style="font-family: Fauna One;">Just reading the translation of this song, I got seriously educated on Guru Nanak Devji’s teachings and also about Sikh faith, which to me became much more than the dress code of the faithful. Even so, the ‘langar’ that I enjoyed in the company of my Sikh friends at the Gurudwara certainly became sanctified.</span></span></span></span><br style="word-spacing: 1px;" /> <br style="word-spacing: 1px;" /> <span class="apple-style-span" style="font-family: "Fauna One";"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><span style="float: none; word-spacing: 1px;">The translation of this transforming song </span></span></span></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Fauna One;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span> </span><span class="apple-style-span"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“<b>Kaahe re ban khojan jaai’</b></span> goes :</span></span><br />
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One; line-height: 115%;"><i>Why do you go looking for God in the forest? </i></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One; line-height: 115%;"><i>Although he is ever detached, he dwells everywhere. He even abides with you. </i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Fauna One;"><i><span class="apple-style-span"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 115%;">Like the fragrance which remains in the flower, and like the reflection in the mirror, the Lord dwells deep within all.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Fauna One;"><i><span class="apple-style-span"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 115%;"> Therefore search for Him within your own heart, O brother. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Fauna One;"><i><span class="apple-style-span"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 115%;">The Guru has imparted this wisdom: outside the body and inside the body, know that there is only the One Lord pervading everywhere. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_oxwQW9XBpyH9qrzv6Yy-UKdpx0PbXqN-xQdF-ZKwTjpTFvkehOE1nAUVJAlNGsfjx0uOGgXtoWD9mKF09O1XlBhK2WM370Xu70KWkG7CuZ7a8dMawShgBumMQUxnOfFM8uP4M5G7PYU/s1600/images.jpgvv.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><i><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"></span></i></a><span style="font-family: Fauna One;"><i><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">O servant Nanak, without </span></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #666666;">realizing one’s own True Self, the moss of doubt i.e. ignorance of one's True Nature or Essential Being, etc, cannot be eradicated from the mind.”</span></i><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_oxwQW9XBpyH9qrzv6Yy-UKdpx0PbXqN-xQdF-ZKwTjpTFvkehOE1nAUVJAlNGsfjx0uOGgXtoWD9mKF09O1XlBhK2WM370Xu70KWkG7CuZ7a8dMawShgBumMQUxnOfFM8uP4M5G7PYU/s1600/images.jpgvv.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Fauna One;"><img border="0" height="532" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_oxwQW9XBpyH9qrzv6Yy-UKdpx0PbXqN-xQdF-ZKwTjpTFvkehOE1nAUVJAlNGsfjx0uOGgXtoWD9mKF09O1XlBhK2WM370Xu70KWkG7CuZ7a8dMawShgBumMQUxnOfFM8uP4M5G7PYU/s640/images.jpgvv.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="float: none; word-spacing: 1px;"><br /></span></span></span></span> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; word-spacing: 1px;">Guru Nanak Devji taught the absolute unity of God; everything is God, and everything is dependent on the will of God. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Fauna One;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; word-spacing: 1px;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Fauna One;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; word-spacing: 1px;">The Guru’s life story is full of saintly actions and divine events that teach us to lead a pure life, to be a ‘Sikh’, a sincere disciple and to receive the grace of the Guru for self-unfoldment. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; word-spacing: 1px;"><br /></span> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; word-spacing: 1px;">The word ‘Sikh’ means ‘disciple’ or student. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term ‘Sisya’ meaning "disciple, student" or ‘</span>siksa<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; word-spacing: 1px;">’ meaning "instruction" according to the ‘The Illustrated </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; word-spacing: 1px;">History of the Sikhs’ by Khushwant Singh. The word ‘Sikh’ means ‘disciple’ and they are the disciples of God who follow the writings and teachings of the 10 Sikh Gurus.</span></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: Fauna One; line-height: 115%;"> <br style="word-spacing: 1px;" /> <span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><span style="float: none; word-spacing: 1px;">The origins of Sikhism lie in the spiritual and social teachings of Guru Nanak Devji, which can be found in the Sikh scripture Guru Granth Sahib, a vast collection of revelatory verses recorded in Gurmukhi. Guru Nanak Devji taught that the way to connect with the Supreme is not through the mind or through rituals, but through Guru’s grace and direct personal experience. Therefore, he emphasised meditation on the Name (Naam) and Presence of God.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"> </span></span></span><br style="word-spacing: 1px;" /> <br style="word-spacing: 1px;" /> <span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><span style="float: none; word-spacing: 1px;">Guru Nanak Devji has given a beautiful summary of his teachings in one of his hymns where he says: </span></span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: Fauna One; line-height: 115%;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><span style="float: none; word-spacing: 1px;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One; line-height: 115%;">“<b>Love the saints of every faith: Put away thy pride. </b></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One; line-height: 115%;"><b>Remember the essence of religion is meekness and sympathy, not fine clothes,</b></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One; line-height: 115%;"><b> not the Yogi’s garb and ashes, </b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One; line-height: 115%;"><b>not the blowing of the horns, </b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One; line-height: 115%;"><b>not the shaven head, </b></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One; line-height: 115%;"><b>not long prayers, </b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One; line-height: 115%;"><b>not recitations and torturings, </b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One; line-height: 115%;"><b>not the ascetic way, </b></span></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><b>but a life of goodness and purity, amid the world’s temptations.</b>”</span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br style="word-spacing: 1px;" /> <br style="word-spacing: 1px;" /> </span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="float: none; word-spacing: 1px;">Here are given some famous sayings of Guru Nanak Devji</span>:</span><span style="background-color: white;"></span></span></span></div>
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</span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white;">• "There is but One God, His name is Truth, He is the Creator, He fears none, He is without hate, He never dies, He is beyond the cycle of births and death, He is self-illuminated, He is realised by the kindness of the True Guru…" (Japji)</span></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><span style="float: none; word-spacing: 1px;">• Even Kings and emperors with heaps of wealth and vast dominion cannot compare with an ant filled with the love of God.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><span style="float: none; word-spacing: 1px;">• God is one, but he has innumerable forms. He is the creator of all and He himself takes the human form.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><span style="float: none; word-spacing: 1px;">• I am neither a child, a young man, nor an ancient; nor am I of any caste.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><span style="float: none; word-spacing: 1px;">• I am not the born; how can there be either birth or death for me?</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><span style="float: none; word-spacing: 1px;">• I bow at His Feet constantly, and pray to Him, the Guru, the True Guru, has shown me the Way.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><span style="float: none; word-spacing: 1px;">• Let no man in the world live in delusion. Without a Guru none can cross over to the other shore.</span></span></span><br style="word-spacing: 1px;" /> </span><span><br style="word-spacing: 1px;" /> <span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><span style="float: none; word-spacing: 1px;">Tenth of November 2011 marks the birthday anniversary of the Shri Guru Nanak Devji (1469 – 1539 CE) and is known as GURPURAB. </span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">Guru Nanak Devji was born to Mehta Kalyan Das Bedi and Tripta Devi in 1469, in the village of Talwandi also known as Nankana Sahib. This village is near Lahore in present-day Pakistan.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: Fauna One;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">The life of a Guru or a Prophet is a blessing to the disciple and becomes a message in itself. As the word (baani) of a Prophet becomes a scripture for the followers, so did the words of Guru Nanak Devji, the Adi Guru of the Sikh Panth, got immortalized in the Shri Guru Granth Sahib – the scripture of the Guru’s followers.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br />
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Writing about Guru Nanak Devji, Swami Vivekananda wrote: </span></span></span></b></span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="apple-style-span" face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">“<i>Guru Nanak was born in the sacred land of India. He gave a message of love and peace of the whole world and preached the same through his teachings. He was full of affection for everyone and his arms were always outstretched as if to embrace the whole world...”</i></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space" face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><i> </i></span></span><span style="color: #666666;"><br />
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<span class="apple-style-span" face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">On an auspicious day like Guru Nanak Devji’s birth anniversary, the Guru’s teachings need sincere listening to and contemplation upon, in order to commemorate the blessing of his birth - because a Guru is ultimately known for his teachings. A spiritual opportunity would be missed if the Guru’s words are not fully understood and just ritualistically chanted.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space" face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"> </span></span><br />
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<span class="apple-style-span" face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">The origins of the Sikh tradition lie in the spiritual and social teachings of Guru Nanak Devji who taught that the union with God is through Guru’s grace and direct personal experience and he emphasized meditation on the God’s name (Naam), to live with an inner awakening of God and an outer service by righteous means.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space" face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"> </span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Fauna One;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Fauna One";"><b>he Shri Guru Granth Sahib</b></span></h3><span style="font-family: Fauna One;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"><span>The Shri Guru Granth Sahib the scripture of the Guru’s followers has 5894 hymns </span>of </span></span></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #666666;">which 976 hymns (17%) are composed by Guru Nanak Devji. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Fauna One;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #666666;">Of the many teachings through his hymns, the “Japji” revered as the ‘Japji Sahib’ appears at the very beginning of the Shri Guru Granth Sahib.</span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One; line-height: 115%;"><span class="apple-style-span" face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><b>The “Japji Sahib</b></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One; line-height: 115%;"><span class="apple-style-span" face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One; line-height: 115%;"><span class="apple-style-span" face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">The “Japji Sahib” is recited every morning by the Sikh-faithful and is considered as a concise summary of his teachings. The compilation of Japji Sahib consists of the famous Mool mantra - The symbol of ‘Ik-Onkar’ is also an emblem for Sikhs and is found on Gurdwaras. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One; line-height: 115%;"><span class="apple-style-span" face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">The Mool mantra ‘Ik-Onkar’ is the first series of truth-affirmations and is considered the essence and basis of Sikh Panth.</span></span><br />
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<span class="apple-style-span" face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">All religious scriptures in the East have “Mool mantras” which hold the essence of the entire scripture. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One; line-height: 115%;"><span class="apple-style-span" face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One; line-height: 115%;"><span class="apple-style-span" face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Explaining the concept of ‘Mool mantra’, the Vedanta teacher Swami Swaroopananda says: </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One; line-height: 115%;"><i><span class="apple-style-span" face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">“In the term mool mantra, mool means ‘root’. Every tree has roots without which it cannot exist. The tree is sustained and nourished through these roots. They constitute the very foundation of the tree from which it grows and expands. In the same way, mool mantra means ‘that mantra in which lies the very essence of the Scripture’, the entire Scripture being an elaboration, expansion or explanation of that mantra”.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space" face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"> </span></span><br /></i>
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<span class="apple-style-span" face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Explaining about the mool mantra for Sikhs, in his book ‘Ik Onkar’ he remarks... </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Fauna One; line-height: 115%;"><span class="apple-style-span" face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #666666; line-height: 115%;"><span class="apple-style-span" face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><span style="font-family: Courgette; font-size: medium;">“Ik-Onkar Sat-Naam Kartaa-Purakh Nirbhau Nirvair Akaal-Moorat Ajuni Saibangh Gurparsaad” i</span><span style="font-family: Fauna One;">s considered to be the mool mantra of the “Granth Sahib”.</span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #666666; line-height: 115%;"><span class="apple-style-span" face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><span style="font-family: Fauna One;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #666666; line-height: 115%;"><span class="apple-style-span" face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><span style="font-family: Fauna One;"> Revealing and expounding on the Truth enshrined in this mantra is the entire “Japji Sahib”, and the elaboration of the “Japji Sahib” is the entire “Granth Sahib”.</span></span></span><br />
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<span class="apple-style-span" face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-family: "Fauna One";"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">The translation of the Mool Mantra ~ Ik-Onkar with the instruction ‘Jap’ at the end which means ‘repeat and contemplate’ is as:</span></span><br />
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<b style="font-family: "Fauna One";"><span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Ik Onkar: The One, the Reality, Only one.</span></span><br />
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Sat Naam: Of Name ever True and Eternal</span></span><br />
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Kartaa Purakh: The Prime doer, the Creator</span></span><br />
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Nirbhau: Fearless</span></span><br />
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Nirvair: Without enmity</span></span><br />
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Akaal Moorat: Of Eternal Form</span></span><br />
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Ajuni: Without birth, Uncaused</span></span><br />
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Saibangh: </span></span></span></b></span><b style="color: #666666; font-family: "Fauna One";"><span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Self-existent and Self-illuminating</span></span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #666666; line-height: 115%;"><b style="font-family: "Fauna One";"><span>
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Gurparsaad: Known by the Grace of the Enlightened Teacher</span></span></span></b> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #666666; line-height: 115%;"><br />
<span class="apple-style-span" face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-family: "Fauna One";"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Jap: Constantly repeat (This word is not part of the mool mantra, but can be taken as the instruction of the Teacher to constantly repeat and contemplate on the mantra).</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space" face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-family: "Fauna One";"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"> </span></span><br />
<br /><span class="apple-style-span" face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-family: "Fauna One";"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Many commentaries are written expounding the meaning of each word of Guru Nanak Devji’s Mool mantra. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #666666; line-height: 115%;"><span class="apple-style-span" face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-family: "Fauna One";"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #666666; line-height: 115%;"><span class="apple-style-span" face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-family: "Fauna One";"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Later in the Shri Guru Granth Sahib, the importance of this mool mantra is re-emphasized as </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #666666; line-height: 115%;"><span class="apple-style-span" face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-family: "Fauna One";"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">“<b>a-ukhadh mantar mool man aykai man bisvaas parabh dhaari-aa</b>“ meaning “The Mool Mantra, the Root Mantra, is the only cure for the mind; I have installed faith in God in my mind.” - SGGS -675(1).</span></span><br />
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<span class="apple-style-span" face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-family: "Fauna One";"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">May Guru Nanak Devji’s teachings be contemplated upon till we get the true import and direct experience of his teachings.</span></span><br />
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Daarji the Storytellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08712625868606810344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1526669237876145104.post-67142550410783257902011-10-28T19:44:00.003+05:302019-01-12T14:30:59.501+05:30The Battle of Saragarhi....One of the world’s most courageous actions in the annals of military history.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">"</span>Be pure," said the Guru, "and Truth would reveal itself to thee. Have love of God uppermost in thy heart and hurt not the feelings of His creatures."........</b></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">As the teachings of most messiahs, even the beliefs & philosophies of Guru Nanak Dev, the first Guru of Sikhs, were not very popular in the beginning. But, today, it is those very teachings of Guru Nanak that are the basic tenets that guide the lives of Sikhs. The three teachings of Guru Nanak Dev Ji are known as nam simran, kirt karo, and wand chako. The term 'Nam Simran' means to think about God. Kirt Kaara preaches people to lead a normal life by earning their living through hard work and honesty. 'Wand Chhako' means to share whatever spare things you have with poor and needy people.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /><b>Guru Nanak philosophy & teachings can be summarized as:</b><i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-right: 1.2pt;"><i><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">There is only one God, who is known by different names in different religions.<o:p></o:p></span></i></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-right: 1.2pt;"><i><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Strive hard and make a whole-hearted effort to help others, because service to mankind is the biggest service to God.<o:p></o:p></span></i></li>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-right: 1.2pt;"><i><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In the eyes of God, all are equal, irrespective of the caste, age, creed or sex.<o:p></o:p></span></i></li>
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<i><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">A few weeks ago I read a very succinct and emotive brief essayed by ... Ram Lingam... A non-Sikh by faith yet a true, yet a true Sikh ...a shishya of Guru </span></i><br />
<i><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Nanak in life...</span></i><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN5XhW32bWCQA8tTOMZclMOZ4MmyU_WL6aVuvDHZikNfyJ-L_VTfiMq2ItQJagcNeqpuCwH29gV5surWUdna9EymIGE4FOuaTH6lL6RavVDgbTBy7yc-y08SNk1JPr3_D16IQzu1naYxA/s1600/guru_nanak_greetings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: transparent; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN5XhW32bWCQA8tTOMZclMOZ4MmyU_WL6aVuvDHZikNfyJ-L_VTfiMq2ItQJagcNeqpuCwH29gV5surWUdna9EymIGE4FOuaTH6lL6RavVDgbTBy7yc-y08SNk1JPr3_D16IQzu1naYxA/s640/guru_nanak_greetings.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<i><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></i> <i><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></i> <i><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I had to share this with you on my blog... <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">This small piece of writing is simply inadequate to do any justice to the standing of Shri Sat Guru Nanak Devji or his teachings. To get to know the life story of this great Guru and his teachings is a journey that helps recognise the trivialities of life and acquire the knowledge of our true divine nature which we seem to miss constantly.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br style="word-spacing: 1px;" /> <br style="word-spacing: 1px;" /> <span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><span style="float: none; word-spacing: 1px;">Though not born into a Sikh family, I was fortunate to discover Guru Nanak Devji’s sublime teachings through a music album called ‘Ashram Bhajanavali’, which is a collection of devotional songs that formed part of the morning and evening prayers at Gandhiji’s ashrams. Of the many bhajans, there was Guru Nanak Devji’s song “<i>Kaahe re ban khojan jaai…Sarab nivaasi sadaa alepaa tohi sang samaai”</i> which caught my attention. Just reading the translation of this song, I got seriously educated on Guru Nanak Devji’s teachings and also about Sikh faith, which to me became much more than the dress code of the faithful. Even so the ‘langar’ that I enjoyed in the company of my Sikh friends at the Gurudwara certainly became sanctified.</span></span></span><br style="word-spacing: 1px;" /> <br style="word-spacing: 1px;" /> <span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><span style="float: none; word-spacing: 1px;">The translation of this transforming song <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></i></span> <span class="apple-style-span"><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“<b>Kaahe re ban khojan jaai’</b> goes :<o:p></o:p></span></i></span><br />
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Why do you go looking for God in the forest? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Although he is ever detached, he dwells everywhere. He even abides with you. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Like the fragrance which remains in the flower, and like the reflection in the mirror, the Lord dwells deep within all.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> Therefore search for Him within your own heart, O brother. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The Guru has imparted this wisdom: outside the body and inside the body, know that there is only the One Lord pervading everywhere. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_oxwQW9XBpyH9qrzv6Yy-UKdpx0PbXqN-xQdF-ZKwTjpTFvkehOE1nAUVJAlNGsfjx0uOGgXtoWD9mKF09O1XlBhK2WM370Xu70KWkG7CuZ7a8dMawShgBumMQUxnOfFM8uP4M5G7PYU/s1600/images.jpgvv.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span></a><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">O servant Nanak, without </span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">realizing one’s own True Self, the moss of doubt i.e. ignorance of one's True Nature or Essential Being, etc, cannot be eradicated from the mind.”</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="float: none; word-spacing: 1px;"><br /></span></span></span></span> <span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; word-spacing: 1px;">Guru Nanak Devji taught the absolute unity of God; everything is God, and everything is dependent on the will of God. The Guru’s life story is full of saintly actions and divine events that teach us to lead a pure life, to be a ‘Sikh’, a sincere disciple and to receive the grace of the Guru for self-unfoldment. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; word-spacing: 1px;"><br /></span> <span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; word-spacing: 1px;">The word ‘Sikh’ means ‘disciple’ or student. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term ‘Sisya’ meaning "disciple, student" or ‘</span>siksa<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; word-spacing: 1px;">’ meaning "instruction" according to the ‘The Illustrated </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; word-spacing: 1px;">History of the Sikhs’ by Khushwant Singh. The word ‘Sikh’ means ‘disciple’ and they are the disciples of God who follow the writings and teachings of the 10 Sikh Gurus.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> <br style="word-spacing: 1px;" /> <span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><span style="float: none; word-spacing: 1px;">The origins of Sikhism lie in the spiritual and social teachings of Guru Nanak Devji, which can be found in the Sikh scripture Guru Granth Sahib, a vast collection of revelatory verses recorded in Gurmukhi. Guru Nanak Devji taught that the way to connect with the Supreme is not through the mind or through rituals, but through Guru’s grace and direct personal experience. Therefore, he emphasised meditation on the Name (Naam) and Presence of God.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"> </span></span></span><br style="word-spacing: 1px;" /> <br style="word-spacing: 1px;" /> <span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><span style="float: none; word-spacing: 1px;">Guru Nanak Devji has given a beautiful summary of his teachings in one of his hymns where he says: <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“<b>Love the saints of every faith: Put away thy pride. <o:p></o:p></b></span></i></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Remember the essence of religion is meekness and sympathy, not fine clothes,<o:p></o:p></b></span></i></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><b> not the Yogi’s garb and ashes, not the blowing of the horns, not the shaven head, <o:p></o:p></b></span></i></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>not long prayers, not recitations and torturings, not the ascetic way, <o:p></o:p></b></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span class="apple-style-span"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>but a life of goodness and purity, amid the world’s temptations.</b>”</span></i></span><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br style="word-spacing: 1px;" /> <br style="word-spacing: 1px;" /> </span></i><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="float: none; word-spacing: 1px;">Here are given some famous sayings of Guru Nanak Devji</span>:</span><span style="background-color: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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</span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt;">• "There is but One God, His name is Truth, He is the Creator, He fears none, He is without hate, He never dies, He is beyond the cycle of births and death, He is self-illuminated, He is realised by the kindness of the True Guru…" (Japji)</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><span style="float: none; word-spacing: 1px;">• Even Kings and emperors with heaps of wealth and vast dominion cannot compare with an ant filled with the love of God.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><span style="float: none; word-spacing: 1px;">• God is one, but he has innumerable forms. He is the creator of all and He himself takes the human form.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><span style="float: none; word-spacing: 1px;">• I am neither a child, a young man, nor an ancient; nor am I of any caste.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><span style="float: none; word-spacing: 1px;">• I am not the born; how can there be either birth or death for me?</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><span style="float: none; word-spacing: 1px;">• I bow at His Feet constantly, and pray to Him, the Guru, the True Guru, has shown me the Way.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><span style="float: none; word-spacing: 1px;">• Let no man in the world live in delusion. Without a Guru none can cross over to the other shore.</span></span></span><br style="word-spacing: 1px;" /> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br style="word-spacing: 1px;" /> <span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><span style="float: none; word-spacing: 1px;">Tenth of November 2011 marks the birthday anniversary of the Shri Guru Nanak Devji (1469 – 1539 CE) and is known as GURPURAB. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Guru Nanak Devji was born to Mehta Kalyan Das Bedi and Tripta Devi in 1469, in the village of Talwandi also known as Nankana Sahib. This village is near Lahore in present-day Pakistan.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The life of a Guru or a Prophet is a blessing to the disciple and becomes a message in itself. As the word (baani) of a Prophet becomes a scripture for the followers, so did the words of Guru Nanak Devji, the Adi Guru of the Sikh Panth, got immortalized in the Shri Guru Granth Sahib – the scripture of the Guru’s followers.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><b>Writing about Guru Nanak Devji, Swami Vivekananda wrote: </b></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><i>“Guru Nanak was born in the sacred land of India. He gave a message of love and peace of the whole world and preached the same through his teachings. He was full of affection for everyone and his arms were always outstretched as if to embrace the whole world...”</i></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"> </span></i></span><i style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
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<span class="apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">On an auspicious day like Guru Nanak Devji’s birth anniversary, the Guru’s teachings need sincere listening to and contemplation upon, in order to commemorate the blessing of his birth - because a Guru is ultimately known for his teachings. A spiritual opportunity would be missed if the Guru’s words are not fully understood and just ritualistically chanted.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"> </span></span><br />
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<span class="apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">The origins of the Sikh tradition lie in the spiritual and social teachings of Guru Nanak Devji who taught that the union with God is through Guru’s grace and direct personal experience and he emphasized meditation on the God’s name (Naam), to live with an inner awakening of God and an outer service by righteous means.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"> </span></span><br />
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The Shri Guru Granth Sahib the scripture of the Guru’s followers has 5894 hymns </span>of </span></span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">which 976 hymns (17%) are composed by Guru Nanak Devji. Of the many teachings through his hymns, the “Japji” revered as the ‘Japji Sahib’ appears at the very beginning of the Shri Guru Granth Sahib.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">The “Japji Sahib” is recited every morning by the Sikh-faithful and is considered as a concise summary of his teachings. The compilation of Japji Sahib consists of the famous Mool mantra - The symbol of ‘Ik-Onkar’ is also an emblem for Sikhs and is found on Gurdwaras. The Mool mantra ‘Ik-Onkar’ is the first series of truth-affirmations and is considered the essence and basis of Sikh Panth.</span></span><br />
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<span class="apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">All religious scriptures in the East have “Mool mantras” which hold the essence of the entire scripture. Explaining the concept of ‘Mool mantra’, the Vedanta teacher Swami Swaroopananda says: “In the term mool mantra, mool means ‘root’. Every tree has roots without which it cannot exist. The tree is sustained and nourished through these roots. They constitute the very foundation of the tree from which it grows and expands. In the same way, mool mantra means ‘that mantra in which lies the very essence of the Scripture’, the entire Scripture being an elaboration, expansion or explanation of that mantra”.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"> </span></span><br />
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<span class="apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Explaining about the mool mantra for Sikhs, in his book ‘Ik Onkar’ he remarks “Ik-Onkar Sat-Naam Kartaa-Purakh Nirbhau Nirvair Akaal-Moorat Ajuni Saibangh Gurparsaad” is considered to be the mool mantra of the “Granth Sahib”. Revealing and expounding on the Truth enshrined in this mantra is the entire “Japji Sahib”, and the elaboration of the “Japji Sahib” is the entire “Granth Sahib”.</span></span><br />
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<span class="apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">The translation of the Mool Mantra ~ Ik-Onkar with the instruction ‘Jap’ at the end which means ‘repeat and contemplate’ is as:</span></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span class="apple-style-span"><i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Ik Onkar: The One, the Reality, Om</span></i></span><i><br />
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Sat Naam: Of Name ever True and Eternal</span></span><br />
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Kartaa Purakh: The Prime doer, the Creator</span></span><br />
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Nirbhau: Fearless</span></span><br />
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Nirvair: Without enmity</span></span><br />
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Akaal Moorat: Of Eternal Form</span></span><br />
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Ajuni: Without birth, Uncaused</span></span><br />
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Saibangh: Self-existent and Self-illuminating</span></span><br />
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Gurparsaad: Known by the Grace of the Enlightened Teacher</span></span></i></span></b> <br />
<span class="apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Jap: Constantly repeat (This word is not part of the mool mantra, but can be taken as the instruction of the Teacher to constantly repeat and contemplate on the mantra).</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"> </span></span><br />
<br /><span class="apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Many commentaries are written expounding the meaning of eacj word of Guru Nanak Devji’s Mool mantra. Later in the Shri Guru Granth Sahib , the importance of this mool mantra is re-emphasized as <i>“a-ukhadh mantar mool man aykai man bisvaas parabh dhaari-aa“ meaning “The Mool Mantra, the Root Mantra, is the only cure for the mind; I have installed faith in God in my mind.</i>” - SGGS -675(1).</span></span><br />
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<span class="apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">May Guru Nanak Devji’s teachings be contemplated upon till we get the true import and direct experience of his teachings.</span></span><br />
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<span class="apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Happy GURPURAB…!!</span></span><br />
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Daarji the Storytellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08712625868606810344noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1526669237876145104.post-2143801289953154932011-09-10T19:36:00.002+05:302020-10-05T14:01:12.691+05:30EVEN THIS WILL PASS AWAY<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: #666666;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span style="font-family: Raleway;">This is a beautiful story that the poet Theodore Tilton has very emotively expressed in the stanzas.</span>..</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span"><i><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Raleway;">Who upon a signet ring<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Raleway;"><i><u1:p></u1:p> </i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span"><i><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Raleway;">Carved a maxim strange and wise,<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Raleway;"><i><u1:p></u1:p> </i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span"><i><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Raleway;">When held before his eyes,<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Raleway;"><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u1:p></u1:p></span></span> </i></span><br />
</span><div align="center" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span"><i><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Raleway;">Gave him counsel at a glance,<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Raleway;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span"><i><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u1:p></u1:p></span></span> </span></i></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><i><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: Raleway;">Fit for every change and chance:<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Raleway;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span"><i> <span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u1:p></u1:p></span></span> </span></i></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><i><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: Raleway;">Solemn words and these were they:<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Raleway;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span"><i> <span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u1:p></u1:p></span></span> </span><div align="center" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<b><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">'EVEN THIS WILL PASS AWAY."</span></b><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><i><div align="center" style="display: inline; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm; text-align: center;">
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Trains, of camel through the sand</div>
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</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><i><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u1:p></u1:p></span></span> <div align="center" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: center;">
Brought him gems from Samarcand;<o:p></o:p></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u1:p></u1:p></span></span> <div align="center" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: center;">
Fleets of galleys over the seas<o:p></o:p></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u1:p></u1:p></span></span> <div align="center" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: center;">
Brought him pearls to rival these,<o:p></o:p></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u1:p></u1:p></span></span> <div align="center" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: center;">
But he counted little gain,<o:p></o:p></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u1:p></u1:p></span></span> <div align="center" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: center;">
Treasures of the mine or main;<o:p></o:p></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u1:p></u1:p></span></span> <div align="center" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: center;">
'What is wealth?' the king would say<o:p></o:p></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u1:p></u1:p></span></span> <div align="center" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<b>"EVEN THIS WILL PASS AWAY."</b><o:p></o:p><br />
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<b><br /></b></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u1:p></u1:p></span></span> <div align="center" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: center;">
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</i></span><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i>'Mid the pleasures of his court</i><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u1:p></u1:p></span></span> <div align="center" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: center;">
the zenith of their sport,<o:p></o:p></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u1:p></u1:p></span></span> <div align="center" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: center;">
When the palms of all his guests<o:p></o:p></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u1:p></u1:p></span></span> <div align="center" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: center;">
Burned with clapping at his jests,<o:p></o:p></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u1:p></u1:p></span></span> <div align="center" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: center;">
Seated midst the figs and wine,<o:p></o:p></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u1:p></u1:p></span></span> <div align="center" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: center;">
Said the king: 'Ah, friends of mine,'<o:p></o:p></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u1:p></u1:p></span></span> <div align="center" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: center;">
Pleasure comes but not to stay,<o:p></o:p></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u1:p></u1:p></span></span> <div align="center" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<b>"EVEN THIS WILL PASS AWAY."</b><o:p></o:p><br />
<b><br /></b></div>
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Woman, fairest ever seen<o:p></o:p></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u1:p></u1:p></span></span> <div align="center" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: center;">
Was the bride he crowned as queen,<o:p></o:p></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u1:p></u1:p></span></span> <div align="center" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: center;">
Pillowed on the marriage-bed<o:p></o:p></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u1:p></u1:p></span></span> <div align="center" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: center;">
Whispering to his soul, he said<o:p></o:p></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u1:p></u1:p></span></span> <div align="center" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: center;">
"Though no monarch ever pressed<o:p></o:p></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u1:p></u1:p></span></span> <div align="center" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: center;">
Fairer bosom to his breast,<o:p></o:p></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u1:p></u1:p></span></span> <div align="center" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: center;">
Mortal flesh is only clay!<o:p></o:p></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u1:p></u1:p></span></span> <div align="center" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<b>'EVEN THIS WILL PASS AWAY."</b><o:p></o:p><br />
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</i></span><i><div align="center" style="display: inline; margin: 0cm; text-align: center;">
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Fighting on the furious field,</div>
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</i><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u1:p></u1:p></span></span> <div align="center" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: center;">
Once a javelin pierced his shield,<o:p></o:p></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u1:p></u1:p></span></span> <div align="center" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: center;">
Soldiers with a loud lament<o:p></o:p></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u1:p></u1:p></span></span> <div align="center" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: center;">
Bore him bleeding to his tortured side,<o:p></o:p></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u1:p></u1:p></span></span> <div align="center" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: center;">
'Pain is hard to bear," he cried,<o:p></o:p></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u1:p></u1:p></span></span> <div align="center" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: center;">
But with patience, day by day,<o:p></o:p></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u1:p></u1:p></span></span> <div align="center" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<b>"EVEN THIS WILL PASS AWAY.'</b><o:p></o:p><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u1:p></u1:p></span></span> <div align="center" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: center;">
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Towering in a public square</div>
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</span></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><i><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u1:p></u1:p></span></span> </span><div align="center" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Forty cubits in the air,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u1:p></u1:p></span></span> </span><div align="center" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">And the king disguised, unknown,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u1:p></u1:p></span></span> </span><div align="center" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Gazed upon his sculptured name,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u1:p></u1:p></span></span> </span><div align="center" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">And he pondered, "What is fame?'<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u1:p></u1:p></span></span> </span><div align="center" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Fame is but a slow decay!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u1:p></u1:p></span></span> </span><div align="center" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">"EVEN THIS WILL PASS AWAY."</span></b><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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Struck with palsy, sore and old,</div>
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</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i><span face="Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u1:p></u1:p></span></span> </span><div align="center" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span face="Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Waiting at the gates of gold,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span face="Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u1:p></u1:p></span></span> </span><div align="center" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span face="Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Said he with his dying breath<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span face="Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u1:p></u1:p></span></span> </span><div align="center" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span face="Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">'Life is done, but what is Death?"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span face="Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u1:p></u1:p></span></span> </span><div align="center" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span face="Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Then as answer to the king<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span face="Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u1:p></u1:p></span></span> </span><div align="center" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span face="Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Fell a sunbeam on his ring;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span face="Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u1:p></u1:p></span></span> </span><div align="center" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span face="Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Showing by a heavenly ray,</span><span face="verdana, sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u1:p></u1:p></span></span> <div align="center" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: center;">
<b>"EVEN THIS WILL PASS AWAY."</b><o:p></o:p></div>
</i></span></span><br />
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Raleway;"><b>Life is a challenge. ....We all agree</b></span></span></span></h3>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Raleway;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white;">Life does have its ups and downs.... its trials and tribulations, but the saving grace is no one is exempt from these things.No matters</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"> how fortunate, successful, rich, pampered, admired, or loved we are, some days will be better than others. .....Some days will be bad ....Some days we will crash against unrelenting stone walls, which we can't dig under or climb over.</span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Raleway;">In the world of high finance and Wall Street, it has been said that what goes up will go down as if it were a see-saw. Now if we look at this topsy turvy world.... the spirituality of ups and downs will get clarity.... it is a matter of seeing what you previously didn't see. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Raleway;">In other words, if learn to adapt the belief that change is a way of life ...and this too shall pass. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Raleway;">Such a way of life will prevent the dramatic rise in elated feeling when things are going well and the depressed feeling when the roof appears to be caving in. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Raleway;"><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span>Theodore Tilton was an intense</span><span> Poet</span><span> perhaps came to terms with vagaries of life, when he penned the poem...</span></span><br /><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span>He was a young, handsome, religious </span><span>journalist, an editor, a novelist, an orator and was a supporter of social reforms, including woman suffrage. </span><span>The talented Tilton edited a New York daily, called 'The Independent', dedicated to emancipation. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Raleway;"><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Raleway;"><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span>When businessmen Bowen bought the Independent in 1860, he named his pastor, Henry Ward Beecher, as editor and his fellow parishioner, Theodore Tilton, as an editorial assistant. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Raleway;"><span>The two men became devoted colleagues and friends. "There were also practical reasons why Henry Ward [Beecher] found young Tilton so valuable a friend. Tilton was well known in newspaper offices, and no one better than Henry Ward Beecher knew the importance of publicity.</span><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Raleway;"><span>Despite these successes, Tilton's professional and personal lives headed for a crisis. Tilton "liked to go off on long, strenuous lecture tours, leaving Liz and the children behind. Liz, a former Sunday-school teacher, worshipped ardently at Dr Beecher's church, and during Theodore's long absences Beecher also ministered privately to her," </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Raleway;"><span><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Raleway;"><span>Tilton subsequently charged Beecher with seducing his wife. The resulting scandal was aired in a courtroom and in church pews. It involved a complex myriad of charges, countercharges, retractions and reassertions. It was an unholy mess.</span><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Raleway;"><span><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Raleway;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">In a notorious 1874 sex scandal, he sued his friend and mentor, Henry Ward Beecher, for alleged adultery with Mrs Tilton, nee Elizabeth M. Richards. The trial resulted in a hung jury. His popularity waned after the trial. In 1883 he exiled himself to Paris. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Raleway;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Raleway;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">He died there and was buried at Barbizon.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Raleway;">How we deal with things we can't control determines our quality of life. We all know of celebrities who destroy themselves because they see no reason to live, and cancer patients who continue to live and love and laugh and make the most of every moment they have left. Our character and attitude will make us or break us.</span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: #fcf9f2; font-family: georgia; font-size: small;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><b>A great man, Abraham Lincoln, understood change. </b></span></i></span></span></h3><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: #fcf9f2; font-family: georgia; font-size: small;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><b>At the memorial ceremony for Tim Russert, Maria Shriver told this story about a possible "Meet the Press" with Tim Russert and President Lincoln. </b></span></i></span></span><i style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><b> </b></span></i></h3><h3 style="text-align: left;"><i style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><b>Mr Russert asks President Lincoln, "How could you change your position?" President Lincoln replied, "I'd like to think that my changing positions is an indication that I have grown smarter." </b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666;"> </span></i></h3>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Raleway;"><span><b>"The only constant is change</b></span><span style="background-color: white;"><b>."</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Raleway;"><span style="background-color: white;">Whenever I hear this quote from Heraclitus, the Greek philosopher, I get the distinct feeling that he must have been looking through a crystal ball at my life! ......</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Raleway;"><span style="background-color: white;">Well .come to think of it you will agree that it is definitely true of all life in the universe..... the only constant</span><span> changes<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Raleway;">Does it not seem at times this makes us feel like we are dancing on shifting sand.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Raleway;"><span><a href="http://www.choosing-life-my-way.com/free-life-coaching-consultation.html"></a></span><span style="background-color: white;">Just when you think you know which foot to move in which direction, suddenly the terrain has altered, and the ground rules change, and you have to re-think your next step. While this can be bewildering, and at times downright stressful, by accepting the fact that we never know what is going to happen next, we can learn to approach life as the great adventure that it can be.</span><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Raleway;">Sometimes in life, it is best that we throw away the map that we have created and just take the steps intuitively as a steer...</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Raleway;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Raleway;"> We may just stumble and see the path that is forming in front of us.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Raleway;">There are times in our lives when we seem to experience even more change than usual. At times change may be difficult and unsettling...I agree, but let us see in them an opportunity for great personal growth.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Raleway;">Can you see your life on a uni-planar level??<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-family: Raleway;">Realizing that the ebb and flow of life circumstances will not follow the path that we may want them to follow, the best way to cope with a life of constant change is to learn to flow with those changes, rather than trying to fight against them.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #948a54;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Daarji the Storytellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08712625868606810344noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1526669237876145104.post-13972601428812981092011-08-31T20:40:00.001+05:302019-01-18T13:02:30.889+05:30Religion as a social influence....<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">RELIGION AND SOCIAL RECONSTRUCTION</span></b><b><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Today the world order is changing…..<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">The societal ship has already steamed out of the sheltered bays of established tradition and dogmas of religiosity and has begun its cruise upon the high seas of evolutionary destiny; our </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;">soul</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> is<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"> carefully searching morality painstakingly, to observe the compass of religious guidance in the multi-faith world. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><b>What is the paramount mission of religion as a social influence?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">It is to stabilize the ideals of mankind during these dangerous times of transition from one phase of civilization to another, from one level of culture to another. Religion has no new duties to perform, but it is urgently called upon to function as a wise guide and experienced counselor in all of these new and rapidly changing human situations. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">This new and oncoming social order will not settle down at desirous comfort levels for a millennium or so. The human race will have to become reconciled to a procession of changes, adjustments, and readjustments. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Mankind is on the march toward a new and unrevealed planetary destiny.....This can happen only through real knowledge...A soul Search<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.6pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span> <span style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.6pt; line-height: 115%;"> <u>Knowledge</u></span><span style="background-color: #f9eed1; letter-spacing: 0.6pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><b>The Prophet said</b>: “There will be a time when knowledge is absent.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><b>Ziad son of Labid said</b>: “How knowledge could become absent, when we repeat the Koran, and teach it to our children, and they will teach it to their children, until the day of requital?”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="color: #999999;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><b>The Messenger answered:</b> “You amaze me, Ziad, for I thought that you were the chief of the learned of Medina. Do the Jews and the Christians not read the Torah and the Gospels without understanding anything of their real meaning?”</span></i></div>
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"> <span style="line-height: 115%;"> <span style="background-color: #f9eed1;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background-color: #f9eed1; line-height: 115%;">(</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Caravan-Dreams-Idries-Shah/dp/0863040438/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1296771309&sr=8-4" target="_blank"><i><span style="color: #7f7f7f; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Caravan of Dream<span style="background-color: white;">s</span></span></i></a></span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> by Sayed Idries Shah).</span><span style="background-color: #f9eed1; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">Religion has to become a forceful influence for moral stability and spiritual progression ...and in the process function dynamically in the midst of ever-changing conditions and never-ending economic adjustments.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Religion must act as the celestial salt which prevents the tumultuous turbulence arising out of this transitional progression of mankind from destroying the cultural flavour of civilization. These new social relations and economic upheavals can result in lasting brotherhood only by the ministry of religion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Religions of the World today and its followers<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html#Christianity" target="_blank">Christianity</a>: 2.1 billion<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html#Islam" target="_blank">Islam</a>: 1.5 billion<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html#Nonreligious" target="_blank">Secular/Nonreligious/Agnostic/<wbr></wbr>Atheist</a>: 1.1 billion<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html#Hinduism" target="_blank">Hinduism</a>: 900 million<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html#Chinese" target="_blank">Chinese traditional religion</a>: 394 million<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html#Buddhism" target="_blank">Buddhism</a>: 376 million<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html#primal" target="_blank">primal-indigenous</a>: 300 million<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html#African" target="_blank">African Traditional & Diasporic</a>: 100 million<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html#Sikhism" target="_blank">Sikhism</a>: 23 million<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.adherents.com/largecom/Juche.html" target="_blank">Juche</a>: 19 million<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html#Spiritism" target="_blank">Spiritism</a>: 15 million<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html#Judaism" target="_blank">Judaism</a>: 14 million<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html#Baha'i" target="_blank">Baha'i</a>: 7 million<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html#Jainism" target="_blank">Jainism</a>: 4.2 million<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html#Shinto" target="_blank">Shinto</a>: 4 million<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html#CaoDai" target="_blank">Cao Dai</a>: 4 million<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html#Zoroastrianism" target="_blank">Zoroastrianism</a>: 2.6 million<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html#Tenrikyo" target="_blank">Tenrikyo</a>: 2 million<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html#Neo-Paganism" target="_blank">Neo-Paganism</a>: 1 million<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html#Unitarian" target="_blank">Unitarian-Universalism</a>: 800 thousand<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html#Rastafarianism" target="_blank">Rastafarianism</a>: 600 thousand<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><a href="http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html#Scientology" target="_blank">Scientology</a>: 500 thousand</span><span style="background-color: #feffc1;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></li>
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<b><span style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; line-height: 115%;"></span></span>We live in this large multi-faith world order linked in new social relations, thus it becomes imperative for us to understand people, their faith the commonalities and differences.</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span">It is Eid today... And what better day to delve into the past, the centuries-old historical context of Islam and Coming of the Prophet.....and how did it impact Sikhism.</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx_nQKmbKCzgatsWgfo1uWF31lBXtAnMyjmPhPALVItm6vK93O8e-sua3UN19lSYPWYrLqAANM_goKnYx1s0_Q_DtrKXxLMVIN9ilsE3hl9hWpw-Is__Rr6cv8X2m_bPbrddaRl3T9nmA/s1600/Gurus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx_nQKmbKCzgatsWgfo1uWF31lBXtAnMyjmPhPALVItm6vK93O8e-sua3UN19lSYPWYrLqAANM_goKnYx1s0_Q_DtrKXxLMVIN9ilsE3hl9hWpw-Is__Rr6cv8X2m_bPbrddaRl3T9nmA/s640/Gurus.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><b>Perhaps you may ask why Sikhism.....Well, I am an adherent of Sikhism. The spirituality of Sikhism is what our Guru’s have bequeathed to us centuries ago, and my search for the meeting point in all religions intrigue me.</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Sikhism originated in the Punjab region of northwest India, where it drew on elements from Bhakti Hinduism and Islamic Sufism to develop into a distinct religious tradition in its own right<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">The term Sikh is derived from the Sanskrit word for "disciple" or "learner." Sikhs are those who are disciples to the Guru. Sikhs believe that liberation from the karmic cycle of rebirths occurs in the merging of the human spirit with the all-embracing spirit of God. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Guru Nanak (1469-1539 C.E.) was the first of Sikhism's 10 Gurus, a lineage of holy teachers of divine grace that continued until the end of the 17th century. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Guru Granth Sahib</span></td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">The compilation of the Sikh scriptures, the Adi Granth, was begun in 1604 by the Fifth Guru. The last of the ten Gurus, Guru Gobind Singh, announced that he would be the last persona of a Guru and that thereafter, Sikhs were to regard the Adi Granth ….Guru Granth Sahib as their teacher. This sacred book is considered the living embodiment of all ten Gurus and is, therefore, the melting pot of all teachings in form of Gur bani……and is worshipped in all Sikh temples/ gurudwaras.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"> The Guru Granth Sahib, though never claimed to be a divine revelation scripture, unlike Quran, comprises of three main parts: a long poem by Nanak summing up the elements of Sikhism, a collection of Ragas, or songs composed by the first five Gurus, and a mixed collection of commentaries elaborating on the Ragas together with hymns of many Hindu saints and Sufi mystics, most prominent Muslim contributors of them all are Sant Kabeer, Sheikh Farid and Sheikh Bhikan. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjxhfl64BOCBfnxZi0YjWJzI1m9PMQ1on55t-4UtymXeFjzyaAl3F7cb6gX46FPXQCVW-oGAiPELG48-l5-kfbi7qFsfG9ErXU1Cun2_DO2Rim281f9GUljjHuxJZyYQ6dFJKyFPE_aUg/s1600/kabir.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjxhfl64BOCBfnxZi0YjWJzI1m9PMQ1on55t-4UtymXeFjzyaAl3F7cb6gX46FPXQCVW-oGAiPELG48-l5-kfbi7qFsfG9ErXU1Cun2_DO2Rim281f9GUljjHuxJZyYQ6dFJKyFPE_aUg/s400/kabir.jpg" width="346" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Sant Kabir</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #999999;">There a</span><span style="color: #999999;">re 292 hymns associated with Kabir in Adi Granth. Kabir ….1398 to 1495…was probably born to a Brahmin mother and raised by a Muslim stepmother. He lived as a Sufi saint, abhorred the caste system and all religious rituals.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje7P2cj5yg_vo3b_3d3sNcaQx7s3mnx33HBhSMv1l84r0PxJLnmQfi-CA1u1yzbvZM5bQ0b-fCyCb9S9KQ35rNJPTvU6yFXPWcGyMek2xslRS0JWvdIqsoiHgmI-NRs-gVWkHsiyxzhmA/s1600/BABA+FARID+JI.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje7P2cj5yg_vo3b_3d3sNcaQx7s3mnx33HBhSMv1l84r0PxJLnmQfi-CA1u1yzbvZM5bQ0b-fCyCb9S9KQ35rNJPTvU6yFXPWcGyMek2xslRS0JWvdIqsoiHgmI-NRs-gVWkHsiyxzhmA/s400/BABA+FARID+JI.png" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Sheikh Farid has 4 hymns and 130 shlokas by his name. Sheikh Farid (1175 to 1265) was also a Muslim Sufi saint of great piety. He is considered the father of Punjabi poetry. Sheikh Bhikan has 2 hymns. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbm4cschPn8hzNPkRMzKyxlB867LuTUgVwutTcx3XL5h9nB1kFqxM-B4HbUlMJJw9-OvRfL62FdECFMtygLfu0P3RfjBCP2uEEmPiodZXY6Iu8C9cOc9-kCQYPhLhSlVsw13FonsV3ctM/s1600/Bhikhan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbm4cschPn8hzNPkRMzKyxlB867LuTUgVwutTcx3XL5h9nB1kFqxM-B4HbUlMJJw9-OvRfL62FdECFMtygLfu0P3RfjBCP2uEEmPiodZXY6Iu8C9cOc9-kCQYPhLhSlVsw13FonsV3ctM/s400/Bhikhan.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">A Muslim Sufi scholar saint Sheikh Bhikan died in the early part of Akbar's reign. He was one of the most learned men of his time. He believed that only God's name can heal a diseased mind and body.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">With contributions from such learned souls, the reference to Islam and its ideals, are too many to miss. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Though there is a common misconception among some that Gurbani is a derivative of Islam and its practices. ...in support of this conjecture, they present some quotes from Gurbani. .....perhaps such a intent is only due to mistranslation and misunderstanding arising out of context quote . Let us dig into this a little deeper.... and understand the real truth that the Guru’s were hinting at.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">When The Guru’s preached <i>Gurmat</i>, there were two major religions in the country, Hinduism and Islam. Guru Sahib rejected both and revealed a new path and preached it in a language commonly understood by the masses. To make it easier for the people to understand the divine message, Guru Sahib used many of the commonly known words in His preaching. ....For illustrative exemplification , He used words like <i>Allah, Khudah, Raam, Gobind, Kareem, Khalak, Vasudev, Hari</i> etc. to relate to one almighty God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Use of such words in no way is advocating Hinduism or Islam. Guru Sahib preached that there is only one God who has many different names and can be remembered by different people with different names. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Here is just one example in which Guru Sahib used words from both religions to convey <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">His message:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #4c1130; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਕਾਰਨ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਕਰਨ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਕਰੀਮ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">॥</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਸਰਬ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਪ੍ਰਤਿਪਾਲ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਰਹੀਮ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">॥</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਅਲਹ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਅਲਖ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਅਪਾਰ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">॥</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਖੁਦਿ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਖੁਦਾਇ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਵਡ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਬੇਸੁਮਾਰ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">॥</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">੧॥</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਓਂ</span></b><b><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਨਮੋ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਭਗਵੰਤ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਗੁਸਾਈ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">॥</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਖਾਲਕੁ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਰਵਿ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਰਹਿਆ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਸਰਬ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਠਾਈ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">॥</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">੧॥</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਰਹਾਉ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">॥</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਜਗੰਨਾਥ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਜਗਜੀਵਨ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਮਾਧੋ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">॥</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਭਉ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਭੰਜਨ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਰਿਦ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਮਾਹਿ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਅਰਾਧੋ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">॥</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਰਿਖੀਕੇਸ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਗੋਪਾਲ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਗੋ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">̮</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਵਿੰਦ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">॥</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਪੂਰਨ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਸਰਬਤ੍ਰ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਮੁਕੰਦ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">॥</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">੨॥</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਮਿਹਰਵਾਨ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਮਉਲਾ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਤੂਹੀ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਏਕ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">॥</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਪੀਰ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਪੈਕਾਂਬਰ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਸੇਖ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">॥</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਦਿਲਾ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਕਾ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਮਾਲਕੁ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਕਰੇ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਹਾਕੁ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">॥</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਕੁਰਾਨ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਕਤੇਬ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਤੇ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਪਾਕੁ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">॥</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">੩॥</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਨਾਰਾਇਣ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਨਰਹਰ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਦਇਆਲ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">॥</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਰਮਤ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਰਾਮ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਘਟ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਘਟ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਆਧਾਰ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">॥</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਬਾਸੁਦੇਵ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਬਸਤ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਸਭ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਠਾਇ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">॥</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਲੀਲਾ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਕਿਛੁ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਲਖੀ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਨ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਜਾਇ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">॥</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">੪॥</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਮਿਹਰ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਦਇਆ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਕਰਿ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਕਰਨੈਹਾਰ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">॥</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਭਗਤਿ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਬੰਦਗੀ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਦੇਹਿ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਸਿਰਜਣਹਾਰ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">॥</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਕਹੁ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਨਾਨਕ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਗੁਰਿ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਖੋਏ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਭਰਮ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">॥</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਏਕੋ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਅਲਹੁ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ਪਾਰਬ੍ਰਹਮ</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">॥</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">੫॥੩੪॥੪੫</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">॥</span></b><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #4c1130; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><b><i><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">kaaran karan kareem ||sarab prathipaal reheem || aleh alakh apaar || khudh khudhaae vadd baesumaar ||1|| ou(n) namo bhagava(n)th gusaaee || khaalak rav rehiaa sarab t(h)aaee ||1|| rehaao || jaga(n)naathh jagajeevan maadhho || bho bha(n)jan ridh maahi araadhho || rikheekaes gopaal guovi(n)dh || pooran sarabathr muka(n)dh ||2|| miharavaan moulaa thoohee eaek || peer paikaa(n)bar saekh || dhilaa kaa maalak karae haak || kuraan kathaeb thae paak ||3|| naaraaein narehar dhaeiaal || ramath raam ghatt ghatt aadhhaar || baasudhaev basath sabh t(h)aae || leelaa kishh lakhee n jaae ||4|| mihar dhaeiaa kar karanaihaar || bhagath ba(n)dhagee dhaehi sirajanehaar || </span></i></b><b><i><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">kahu naanak gur khoeae bharam ||eaeko alahu paarabreham</span></i></b><b><i><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> ||5||34||45||<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c1130; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%;">He is the Doer, the Cause of causes, the bountiful Lord. The merciful Lord cherishes all. The Lord is unseen and infinite. God is great and endless.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b><br />
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<span style="color: #4c1130; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b><i><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> ||1|| I humbly pray to invoke</span></i></b><b><i><span style="line-height: 115%;"> <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">the Universal Lord God, the Lord of the World</span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">. The Creator Lord is all-pervading, everywhere.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #4c1130; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b><i><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> ||1||Pause|| He is the</span></i></b><b><i><span style="line-height: 115%;"> <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Lord of the Universe</span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">, the Life of the World. Within your heart, worship and adore the Destroyer of fear. The Master Rishi of the senses, Lord of the World, Lord of the Universe. He is perfect, ever-present everywhere, the Liberator. <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #4c1130; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b><i><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">||2||</span></i></b><b><i><span style="line-height: 115%;"> <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">You are the One and only merciful Master</span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">, spiritual teacher, prophet, religious teacher. Master of hearts, Dispenser of justice,</span> <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">more sacred than the Koran and the Bible</span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">. <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></b></span><br />
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<b><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c1130; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%;">||3|| The Lord is powerful and merciful. The all-pervading Lord is the support of each and every heart. The luminous Lord dwells everywhere. His play cannot be known. <o:p></o:p></span></i></b><br />
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<span style="color: #4c1130; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b><i><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">||4|| Be kind and compassionate to me, O Creator Lord. Bless me with devotion and meditation, O Lord Creator</span></i></b><b><i><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">. Says Nanak, the Guru has rid me of doubt.</span></i></b><b><i><span style="line-height: 115%;"> <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">The Muslim God Allah and the Hindu God Paarbrahm are one and the same</span></span></i></b><b><i><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">.</span></i></b><b><i><span style="line-height: 115%;"> <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">||5||34||45||</span></span></i></b><b><span style="line-height: 115%;"> <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">(Ang 896)<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Notice that words from both religions are used collectively. This way Guru Sahib made it clear that God of the west ...Islam and east ...Hinduism are not two different Gods but He is the same. There is only one God who creates, sustains and destroys the creation. He loves everyone without hatred, gives salvation and is beyond death and birth. Hence, it is clear that words from Islam and Hinduism were utilized as tools to explain the revealed message of Gurmat. <b>Ek Onkar</b> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdz82PsA07-lB6y7Qaq0OzAf3b9ik_R51O2ie2azUCVliqxyHL8Z0sC_PUOR7Bs8OonoQHjPe3g2ZHaixn88_ESbivjdEy5QOxyYJ-F-m4wVdGew6c3pbj2tzyybqFSm8fJA54XDnt8Vk/s1600/eid+mubarak+gold.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><img border="0" height="372" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdz82PsA07-lB6y7Qaq0OzAf3b9ik_R51O2ie2azUCVliqxyHL8Z0sC_PUOR7Bs8OonoQHjPe3g2ZHaixn88_ESbivjdEy5QOxyYJ-F-m4wVdGew6c3pbj2tzyybqFSm8fJA54XDnt8Vk/s640/eid+mubarak+gold.gif" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 15px;">With this in mind, Let us joyously celebrate Eid with our Muslim brethren...</span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">In</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> Arabic</span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">,</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><em><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">Eid</span></em><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></i></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">means “festival,” and</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><em><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">Fitr</span></em><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></i></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">means “breaking the fast,” so</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><span class="yellowfade"><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">Eid</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><span class="yellowfade"><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">ul-Fitr</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">is literally a festival for breaking the fast. After the intense religious introspection and fasting of Ramadan, Muslims take</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><span class="yellowfade"><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">Eid</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">as an opportunity to have fun, celebrate their faith, and enjoy the company of friends and family. The festival may also get quite chaotic, with fireworks, and distributions of presents to friends and neighbours, along with music and dancing.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">At many mosques during Ramadan, about one thirtieth of the Qur'an is recited each night in prayers known as</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> <i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">tarawih</span></i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">. In this way, by the end of the month, the complete scripture will have been recited.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">Musims believe that during the month of Ramadan, Allah revealed the first verses of the Qur'an, the holy book of Islam.</span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">According to the legends, Prophet Mohammad while meditating was visited by the messenger of God, Gabriel. It was Gabriel who taught Mohammad the holy verses of sacred Quran – which contains a set of code of conduct that Allah wants His people to follow on the earth.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiq30HTAHZhPL2c8bMu1_Kr4zTsHG7CMYu4KRZl-81DvqlvR9XN6AVQI55RE7ba9khylQZVV61ZHiznOLvjUQ-PCUYnblYxMVUXt78MvIu6u4ZzYROZMqSEnEL5kmyWrMmVA4UnEHPWN8/s1600/the_white_angel_gabriel_serbia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiq30HTAHZhPL2c8bMu1_Kr4zTsHG7CMYu4KRZl-81DvqlvR9XN6AVQI55RE7ba9khylQZVV61ZHiznOLvjUQ-PCUYnblYxMVUXt78MvIu6u4ZzYROZMqSEnEL5kmyWrMmVA4UnEHPWN8/s400/the_white_angel_gabriel_serbia.jpg" width="290" /></a></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">One day, when he was about forty years old, Mohammad was alone in the cave when suddenly a man in a white dress appeared to him. Mohammad himself described what happened: </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><em><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;">“Then he took me and squeezed me vehemently and then let me go and repeated the order ‘Recite.’ ‘I cannot recite' said I, and once again he squeezed me and let me go till I was exhausted. Then he said, ‘Recite.' I said, ‘I cannot recite.’ He squeezed me for a third time in Arabic and then let me go and said:</span></em><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><em style="color: #999999;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;">‘Recite in the name of your lord who created –</span></em><span class="apple-converted-space" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><em><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">From an embryo created the human.</span></em></span></i></span></div>
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<em style="color: #999999;"><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Recite your lord is all-giving</span></em></div>
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><em><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Who taught by the pen</span></em></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><em><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Taught the human what he did not know before</span></em></span></i></i></span></div>
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<em style="color: #999999;"><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">The human being is a tyrant</span></em></div>
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><em><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">He thinks his possessions make him secure</span></em></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><em><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">To your lord is the return of everything’ </span></em><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></i><em><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;">Qur’an: 96:1-8</span></em></i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">To express his gratitude to Allah, Mohammad asked all the Muslims to spend the month of Ramadan with strict discipline and fasting. The first day of the following month is observed as Eid –ul–Fitr, th</span><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">e </span>fast breaking<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> ceremony aiming to promote, contemplation of soul, brotherhood, love and bringing on</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">eself back to normal chores of everyday life.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">It was the angel Gabriel, who told Muhammad he had been chosen to receive the word of Allah. In the days that followed, Muhammad found himself speaking the verses that would be transcribed as the</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> Qur’an<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">As I mentioned earlier on this blog post....That religion can prevent the tumultuous turbulence arising out of transitional progression of mankind which can destroy the cultural flavour of civilization. ...Most conflicts of minds come from darkness.....Lack of knowledge and shrouded truth...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Open up our minds to the unknown factors....Meet people...in real world ...in cyber world encourage the cultural exchange of ideas and negate the hypothetical conflicts of religious beliefs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Let me share an interesting excerpt from Book of Urantia.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="color: #999999; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">ISLAM</b></div>
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><b>The Religion of Submission to God</b></span><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_3-YwEZL0J7FVLbu-4saTWeaWhT5r_LdQr9mNYZewI20KyG8VMLkmkyN4AZDL-QLs6iTyj6NYZJH9BtjUAE201ZlMxHkiT9xPqv71LizbW-mkrJITh-1qhfUezh-Lo_QXYLjNCgWcllE/s1600/islam_016.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_3-YwEZL0J7FVLbu-4saTWeaWhT5r_LdQr9mNYZewI20KyG8VMLkmkyN4AZDL-QLs6iTyj6NYZJH9BtjUAE201ZlMxHkiT9xPqv71LizbW-mkrJITh-1qhfUezh-Lo_QXYLjNCgWcllE/s1600/islam_016.jpg" /></span></a></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Islam is the youngest of the major religions of the world. It is the dominant religion of the third-world nations of the Middle East and Africa and the second largest of the world's religions with 589,143,400 followers. Muslim philosophy is a blend of Arabic, Jewish, and Christian elements and one of the simplest and least complicated of the world's religions.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">The basic belief of Islam is that there is only one God, Allah, who is the sole and sovereign ruler of the universe. Allah has made himself known through other prophets at other times; but his best and final revelation was to the prophet Muhammad in the seventh century. The central demand of Muslims (submitters) is submission to the will of Allah.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg48y8dVhoIpal-0QWKsijzsU9MH6zQdtJeDw7b9CRCZsBDF0bHyk8QBkkbsCMTs7nnqahSjnqm-gpJw6rOgKzA88zReALIXIWwYOBE33hVT4Py0Bviv4FwFFyxIF3FMdW5nwhWCvHJx6g/s1600/bible-archeology-exodus-moabites-moabite-stone-stela-of-mesha.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg48y8dVhoIpal-0QWKsijzsU9MH6zQdtJeDw7b9CRCZsBDF0bHyk8QBkkbsCMTs7nnqahSjnqm-gpJw6rOgKzA88zReALIXIWwYOBE33hVT4Py0Bviv4FwFFyxIF3FMdW5nwhWCvHJx6g/s200/bible-archeology-exodus-moabites-moabite-stone-stela-of-mesha.jpg" width="150" /></span></a></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Pre-Islamic Arab religion was an animistic polytheism. Images to these gods were carved and cherished and blood sacrifices were made to them. They recognized one supreme high god whom they called Allah (the God). They venerated a black meteoric stone at Mecca. Legend says the stone fell from heaven during the time of Adam and Eve and that Abraham and Ishmael built the Kaaba around it.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Muhammad was born around 570 A. D. at Mecca. His father died before he was born and his mother died before he was six years old. He was reared by an uncle and had no opportunity for any kind of formal education. He was an illiterate caravan worker and camel driver. In his travels he met Christians, Jews, and perhaps Zoroastrians. Around the age of twenty-five he married a wealthy widow caravan owner, Khadija. During their twenty-five years of marriage she bore him two sons and four daughters; but only one daughter, Fatima, survived him.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1r-i4eRYJcK4_yklI6CWARdNNp5Eo09Pd67bVwjwOlh4CoLVLZdC2m4QAwUzusXC80cNgSL5BCMbWFkVhIWkPsPnheKWY3q_2CjDhyqPRpDwnSZFDDxF454ofpeB5HHTeXnXlH_Z-QZg/s1600/Hira%252C+the+cave+where+the+angel+Gabriel+is+said+to+have+first+visited+Muhammad++%2528s.a.w%2529..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1r-i4eRYJcK4_yklI6CWARdNNp5Eo09Pd67bVwjwOlh4CoLVLZdC2m4QAwUzusXC80cNgSL5BCMbWFkVhIWkPsPnheKWY3q_2CjDhyqPRpDwnSZFDDxF454ofpeB5HHTeXnXlH_Z-QZg/s400/Hira%252C+the+cave+where+the+angel+Gabriel+is+said+to+have+first+visited+Muhammad++%2528s.a.w%2529..jpg" width="347" /></a></span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">In the years following his marriage he began to go into the hills surrounding Mecca to contemplate the fate of his people. Muhammad entered a period of spiritual stress. He was concerned about the idolatry of his people and their fate on the judgment day at the end of the world. As time passed he became. agitated with the thought that the Last Day and Last Judgment might be near at hand. According to Muslim tradition he visited a cave near the base of Mt. Hira north of Mecca for days at a time. Here one night when he was around the age of forty the archangel Gabriel appeared to him. After a series of revelations extending over many years Muhammad became convinced that there was only one God, Allah; and that he was the last and the greatest in a series of prophets (28) of this God--which included Abraham, Moses, and Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Muhammad began to preach but was met with rejection and hostility. His first converts were from the younger and poorer classes in Mecca. As opposition mounted Muhammad received protection from his uncle; however, some of his followers took refuge in Abyssinia. In 619 both his wife and his uncle died. Muhammad tried to move out of Mecca to a nearby town but was rejected.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">A fortuitous event took place in 620. Men from Yathrib (Medina) came to seek Muhammad as an impartial judge to settle disputes within the city. It was 622 before Muhammad could leave Mecca. A group of assassins had pledged to kill him but finally Muhammad and his friend and successor, Abu Bakr, escaped to a cave on Mt. Thaur and thence to Medina. The Hijrah (migration) normally took eleven days but they made it in eight. Muslims date their calendars from the Hijrah (A.H.)<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">At Medina Muhammad set up a theocracy and directed Muslims to pray toward Jerusalem but when he was opposed by the Jews he commanded his followers to pray toward Mecca. The final break with the Jews came when a Jewess, Zainab invited the Prophet and his friends to dinner and fed them poisoned lamb. The Jewish tribes were either expelled from Muslim territory or offered the choice of conversion or death.</span></i></span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Although Muhammad greatly improved the treatment of women, they were still under the rulership of men. Muslims were allowed four wives if all of them were treated the same. A man could divorce his wife by repeating three times, "I divorce you." Muhammad, through special dispensation married eleven wives. When he married his cousin, Zaynab, who had been the wife of his adopted son, Zayd, he was not criticized so much for taking another man's wife as for marrying a cousin which was considered incestuous in the Arab culture.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Muhammad launched military campaigns to consolidate their position. At the battle of Badr in 624 the Muslims defeated the Meccans. In another battle the following year the Muslims lost more men than the Meccans. A force of 10,000 Meccans attacked Medina in 627 but no decisive battles were fought and the Meccans withdrew. A peace treaty was worked out which allowed Muslims to make the pilgrimage to Mecca. In 630 Muhammad entered Mecca with an army of 10,000 men as its complete conqueror. He went to the Kaaba and destroyed all of the idols and images. With this symbolic act the Prophet became the sole leader of the Arabian people. At the age of sixty-two in 632 Muhammad led another pilgrimage to Mecca. When he returned he gave a farewell message to Muslims and died in the arms of his wife Aishah. His last words were, "Lord grant me pardon! Join me to the companionship on high! Eternity in Paradise! Pardon! The blessed companionship on high!" Muhammad was a man of unquestioned religious experience, a man of prayer, one utterly devoted to the religious ideal as he saw it. He was an attractive leader and an efficient organizer. At times he was vindictive and autocratic; yet he could say, "There is no compulsion in religion."<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Muhammad made no provision for succession. The first four caliphs (deputys) were chosen by election and are often referred to as the "orthodox caliphs" because they were selected from the circle of the friends of the Prophet. Alip the last of the orthodox caliphs, had the caliphate usurped by those who formed the Umayyad dynasty in 661. The Umayyad caliphs ruled from Damascus, Syria from 661 to 750. They were succeeded by the Abbasid dynasty which ruled from Baghdad, Persia between 750 and 1258. This was the golden age of Islam. The Abbasids were replaced by the Mamelukan Turks who ruled from Egyp. They were succeeded in the sixteenth century by the Ottoman Turks who made the caliph title synonymous with that of the sultan of Turkey. When the Ottoman-Empire was broken up after World War I the caliphate ceased to be.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Islam is not a temple-oriented religion; however, Muhammad decreed that Muslims were required to pray together at a mosque on Friday. There an iman leads in prayer; the iman is not a priest but a pious man. The scripture of Islam is the Quran (reading) which is made up of 114 surahs (chapters) arranged according to the length of the surah. The Quran is the Word of God; it is eternal, absolute, and irrevocable. Muhammad acted only as a stenographer for Allah. Probably no scripture has influenced its people more than the Quran. It is dutifully read by Muslims and memorized in its entirety by many. The Quran has twenty-five references to Jesus Christ and represents Jesus as predicting the coming of the founder of Islam.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Essential beliefs of Islam include: (1) The one God, Allah, who is the omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient creator and ruler of the universe. He has ninety-nine names which are suggestive of his infinite nature. Allah in referring to himself uses a plural pronoun, "we," like the Hebrew plural "Elohim." (2) Angels of various kinds which are both good and evil. The leader of the demons is Iblis (devil) who was responsible for the fall of Adam and Eve. (3) The Quran and other books such as the Hebrew Law and Psalms and the Evangel to Jesus, (4) Prophets of Allah-- twenty-eight are mentioned in the Quran and Muhammad is the last and the greatest of the prophets. (5) Judgment, Paradise, and Hell--the Islamic Paradise has abundant pleasures such as beautiful gardens with flowing water, large-eyed maidens, and wine with no headaches. Hell is a horrid place filled with scalding winds, black smoke, and brackish water. (6) Divine decrees-things are predestined by the will of Allah. This emphasis gives Islam an atmosphere of fatalism. The most frequent statement among devout Muslims is "if God wills it."<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Every Muslim must perform "the five pillars of Islam:" (1) Repeat the creed, "There is no God but Allah; and Muhammad is the Prophet of Allah." (2) Prayer--the Quran says three times a day but in later years it was raised to five times each day. The muezzins climb the minarets of mosques five times a day to cry out that it is time for prayer. The Muslim must cleanse himself and face Mecca in a prostrate position for prayer. (3) Almsgiving--a Muslim is expected to share his possessions with the poor of his community. Later almsgiving became obligatory and was assessed as a tax amounting to two or three percent of one's wealth. (4) Fasting is required during the month of Ramadan. Between daylight and dark Muslims are expected to abstain from all food, drink, smoking, and sexual relations. Exceptions are made for those who are sick, nursing mothers, small children, and those who are traveling. Pork, wine, and gambling are also forbidden to Muslims. (5) Pilgrimage (hajj)--once in a lifetime every Muslim is expected to make a pilgrimage to Mecca. Wearing seamless white garments, they will make seven trips around the Kaaba and kiss the sacred black stone. On the tenth day of the hajj they will sacrifice a sheep or goat. They may also visit Medina and perhaps Jerusalem. When the pilgrim returns home he may have the title "hajj" attached to his name.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Islam became the unifying force for Arab people. It conquered all of the Middle East and moved into India, China, Indonesia, and some of the Pacific Islands. In 711 the Muslims entered Spain where they were dominant for the next seven centuries. Europe was saved from further conquest by Charles Martel in 732 at the Battle of Tours. Muslims made real contributions to philosophic thinking during the early Middle Ages. They translated and discussed Plato, Aristotle, and other Greek thinkers and helped preserve this literature during the Dark Ages. Toward the end of the nineteenth-century missionary activity began to spread into Africa.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Islam in the modern era has been characterized by extreme conservatism. The Wahhabi movement founded in 1744 opposed all forms of change. They suppressed the Sufis and others who were seeking to grow in the modern world. The isolation of the Muslim world came to an end in the early part of the twentieth century due to involvement in World War I and the need for Arab oil. They achieved wealth and political power almost overnight. This revolutionary upheaval preempting evolutionary development is causing many problems in the Middle East<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Like all religious movements Islam is divided into various sects. Around eighty-five percent of all Muslims are classified as Sunnis (traditionalists). They practice their religion exactly as it was established by the Prophet. Certain Quran instructions have presented problems--all thieves, for instance, are to have their hands cut off. To wrestle with these difficulties four schools of thought have developed within the Sunnis group which differ in the interpretations of the life of Islam.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">The Shi'ite sect constitutes the second largest group in Islam, making up around fourteen percent of the Muslim world. The Shi'ites live mostly in Iran and Iraq. They believe the descendants of Ali, who was murdered by those establishing the Umayyad dynasty, are the only true claimants to the caliphate. The twelve descendants of Ali are called Imans. The twelfth Iman disappeared in 878 and Shi'ites believe he will return again to lead Islam into a golden age. This messianic figure is called Mahdi. There are many minor sects among the Shi'ites. One group of interest founded by Hasan ibn-al-Sabbah used hashish to psych up followers and while thus intoxicated they were sent out to murder selected victims. They became known as Assassins, and this word was eventually added to the European languages.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Islam, like Judaism, has always been a "this worldly" religion; nevertheless there have always been some Muslim mystics. They are known as Sufis (wool-wearers). They became an organized movement around the ninth century and have produced some of the finest mystic literature of the world. At times the Sufi movement has gone underground and taught its more unorthodox beliefs in secret. During the twelfth century the Sufis began to organize themselves into monastic orders. When a convert came to join the order he was known as a fakir or a dervish (poor man). Sufi monastic practices emphasize discipline, poverty, abstinence, and sometimes celibacy. Some dervishes gained notoriety for their whirling about in ecstasy. Other Sufis became known for their practice of walking on live coals and similar feats. The important contribution of the Sufi movement to religious thought is that union with God may be an authentic inner experience.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Some of the reform efforts in Islam have been syncretistic such as the Baha'i movement. Baha'i began as a sect of Islam but is now a separate religion. The central themes of Baha'i are that all religions of the world spring from the same source, that there is a basic unity in all religious truth, and that all the prophets have had a partial message of this one God. They believe religion must work in harmony with science and education to build a peaceful world order.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b><i>Even though some beliefs can be similar, Sikhism has nothing to do with the beliefs of other faiths including Hinduism and Islam. <o:p></o:p></i></b></span></span></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;">One can find great similarities in Christianity and Islam. Does that mean Islam came from Christianity? </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i><span class="apple-style-span"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;">Absolutely Not! Many similarities can be found in other religions as well but it does not mean that one faith is derived from the other.</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><b style="background-color: white;"><i>Bismillah of the Quran and the Mul Mantra of the Guru Granth Sahib are both dedicated to One Merciful God and are placed at the beginning of every new chapter. In both, the nature of God transcends all concepts of time.<o:p></o:p></i></b></span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><b style="background-color: white;">"<span class="Apple-style-span">God is one. His name is True. He is the Creator. His is without fear. He is inimical to none. His existence is unlimited by time. He is beyond the cycles of birth and death, self-existent and can be realized through the grace of the Guru</span>." (Guru Nanak)</b></span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: #e6e6e6; color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Daarji the Storytellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08712625868606810344noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1526669237876145104.post-57379688835797587482011-08-26T12:16:00.000+05:302019-01-18T13:05:59.501+05:30Sikhism...And the Changing World Order<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> <span class="Apple-style-span">What do the role of Sikhism and the present day Anna Hazare people movement have in common....resistance to coercion and repression.....Our Gurus lead us to a belief system that stood firm on the charter of human rights </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="color: #999999;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Sikhism represents a belief that every Indian can be proud to be a part of. The Sikh Gurus </span>are held<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> in high esteem and sacrosanct not only by Sikhs but </span>by all<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> supporters of independence in general as role models.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Sikh Gurus have motivated us to be a better being in an era that was perhaps the most challenging chapter of our history. One cannot forget the contributions of Sikh Gurus and their selfless sacrifices to strengthen the societal framework.... giving them direction and provide leadership to overthrow the rule of invaders.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The medieval era represents the darkest phase of our society in Punjab. Internally we were being eroded by termites of casteism...... gender discrimination..... And overt ritualism emanating from Vedas.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> And externally, we were being butchered by ethnic groups of the most uncivilized tribes of West Asia – the Ghaznis, Khiljis, Mughals, Slaves, Tughlaqs etc.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Sikh gurus, in these turbulent times, lit the lamp of divine wisdom and steered the society towards the original and </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">deep-rooted </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">tenets of our culture.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Gurus did what the radical Bhaktas could not: create a society outside the caste-based society, the democratic Sikh...free ...classless Panth...... where everyone stood equally in every respect.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Gurus laid stress on social service ....Sewa. In my last post, I shared ...some words about the relevance of Sewa & Satsang in our life...<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47; font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://iamdaarji.blogspot.com/2011/08/sewa-satsang-amazing-concept.html">http://iamdaarji.blogspot.com/2011/08/sewa-satsang-amazing-concept.html</a></span><span style="background-color: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> Guru Nanak, after his travels around the world, took to farming, from where he would send the grain to the common kitchen.....The Langar.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> Guru Arjan Dev established a leper asylum at Tarn Taran, which runs even to this day.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But change is not easy.....for it means flowing against the current. Resistance we encounter is variable with time and place. Buddhism and Jainism shun the use of force , They stay clear from it.....and Brahmanism sanctioned it only for "upholding the caste order".<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As per the Sikh tenets, A sikh views armed resistance to tyranny as a religious duty. Guru Gobind Singh "institutionalised his ideal of defending dharma by creating the Khalsa".<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Sikh Gurus condemned idol worship, ceremonialism and ritualism. What was needed was a separate identity, for the Gurus realised that "it was imperative to build a social system and organise the people outside the caste-society". The instrument of the Khalsa was created to "capture political power for a plebeian mission".....<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Historian Hari Ram Gupta writes about the persecution of the Sikhs at the hands of the Mughals: "Majha, the homeland of the Sikhs was completely ruined. A wonderful and terrible trial indeed, from which the weak came out strong, from which the strong came out sublime." The masses joined the revolution because the Sikh Gurus were always in the forefront making supreme sacrifices for the right cause.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It has been said that the Sikh movement was...... perhaps on matters of eminence alone is probably the greatest social revolution.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Sikh revolution is comparable with the revolutions in France and America, ...But in those countries changes took a long time coming ...In France the class interests and in the US the racial aversion and even longer to be banished there.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Quite at divergence with them the Sikhs’ had a surgical transformation of its followers on the grounds of fraternity, liberty and equality. Also, the times were bad and the Sikh revolution took place at a difficult time, in a caste-ridden society and under a fanatical foreign rule.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Can we say that the Sikh Revolution was social and political in nature, secular in kind and driven by religious inspiration?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> Had there been no Guru Gobind Singh and his call to arms, Sufi saint Bulleh Shah writes that the entire population would have been either circumcised or converted.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Historians agree unanimously that the French Revolution was a watershed event that changed Europe forever, following in the footsteps of the American Revolution, which had occurred just a decade earlier.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The causes of the French Revolution, though, are difficult to pin down: based on the historical evidence that exists, a fairly compelling argument could be made regarding any number of factors. Internationally speaking, a number of major wars had taken place in the forty years leading up to the Revolution, and France had participated, to some degree, in most of them.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> The Seven Years’ War in Europe and the American Revolution across the ocean had a profound effect on the French psyche and made the Western world a volatile one.. The costs of waging war, supporting allies, and maintaining the French army quickly depleted a French bank that was already weakened from royal extravagance.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> Finally, in a time of highly secularized Enlightenment, the idea that King Louis XVI had absolute power due to divine right—the idea that he had been handpicked by God—didn’t hold nearly as much water as in the past few decades.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">We mentioned above .....No one factor was directly responsible for the French Revolution. Years of feudal oppression and fiscal mismanagement contributed to a French society that was ripe for revolt.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 18px;">Noting a downward economic spiral in the late 1700s, King Louis XVI brought in a number of financial advisors to review the weakened French treasury. Each advisor reached the same conclusion—that France needed a radical change in the way it taxed the public—</span><span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 18px;">so he appointed a new controller general of finance.....He suggested that, among other things, France should begin taxing the previously exempt nobility. The nobility refused, even after controller general pleaded with them during the Assembly of Notables in 1787.</span><span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 18px;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Financial ruin thus seemed imminent.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In a final act of desperation, Louis XVI decided in 1789 to convene the Estates-General, an ancient assembly consisting of three different estates that each represented a portion of the French population...The clergy...The nobility ...and the common man.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> If the Estates-General could agree on a tax solution, it would be implemented. However, since two of the three estates—the clergy and the nobility—were tax-exempt, the attainment of any such solution was unlikely.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Feuds quickly broke out over this disparity and would prove to be irreconcilable. Realizing that its numbers gave it an automatic advantage, the Third Estate declared itself the sovereign National Assembly. Within days of the announcement, many members of the other two estates had switched allegiances over to this revolutionary new assembly.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Shortly after the National Assembly formed, its members took the Tennis Court Oath,..... swearing that they would not relent in their efforts until a new constitution had been agreed upon.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The National Assembly’s revolutionary spirit galvanized France, manifesting in a number of different ways...<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Shortly thereafter, the assembly released the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, which established a proper judicial code and the autonomy of the French people.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="color: #948a54;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The French revolution paved the way for the secular system of governance that we now see governing most of the countries of the world. From the perspective of freeing the people from unjust monarchist regimes that committed all sorts of crimes under the banner of religion, it can be seen as a successful and valiant effort on the part of the people.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Anna Hazare is a simple man ....</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJZJCdwKuk3HdLcP4iZ6GzwwG9DACZUY_V5X02q2Vsv4Np-hGP9Sn7v8qf9Vcg8q8J3wLknCOqW9TB_RzzRcadzU-3eBrvKhXdvMrM24_zSm2686j6veMOweTBS7JfM9BY2xe5o3YjTu4/s1600/DSCN4625.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJZJCdwKuk3HdLcP4iZ6GzwwG9DACZUY_V5X02q2Vsv4Np-hGP9Sn7v8qf9Vcg8q8J3wLknCOqW9TB_RzzRcadzU-3eBrvKhXdvMrM24_zSm2686j6veMOweTBS7JfM9BY2xe5o3YjTu4/s200/DSCN4625.JPG" width="200" /></span></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In real terms, he is Lal Bahadur Shastri's... Jai Jawan Jai Kisan... From 1962 his soul and.... heart cried for India and sung for India..... To see that India is mired in rampant corruption in everyday life pained him.....To see what the hapless Indian citizen confronts when dealing with any part of a monolithic state apparatus. What has been compounded by a cynical realisation is that almost all the major pillars of a burgeoning democracy are now tainted with institutional turpitude.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Anna Hazare saw that individual greed and naked opportunism has been tacitly encouraged by an unholy politico-bureaucratic nexus that encompasses different kinds of mafia groups -- the builders lobby, the kerosene and petrol adulterators, road building robbers, private education empires, black money </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">tycoons.The </span>Commonwealth<span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">scandal and the 2G scam are the proverbial </span>tips<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> of a very murky iceberg.</span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span id="midArticle_12"></span><span id="midArticle_13"></span><span id="midArticle_14"></span><span id="midArticle_15"></span>This complex eco-system that had its genesi</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">s in corrupt Polity and Mafiosi...and the dalals...</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">These dubious links have been captured evocatively by Bollywood ..... for that matter you have to see the hypothetical Anna film Dabangg poster... Anna in Salman Khan avatar.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb-v4N-rlk9BzO7phe_Fl3OBrFgtB9DPogFBFM4EsabADU_G07z8kKDyCYkyLvtEy9Yqn0CcDbKxDrcf8ZJj2Uf1Z9fZmSZOKoybDIrbUV74CDyxzAOTog4pPIHcqZE3vzaNM3yUH8vqE/s1600/anna-hazare-dabangg-look.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb-v4N-rlk9BzO7phe_Fl3OBrFgtB9DPogFBFM4EsabADU_G07z8kKDyCYkyLvtEy9Yqn0CcDbKxDrcf8ZJj2Uf1Z9fZmSZOKoybDIrbUV74CDyxzAOTog4pPIHcqZE3vzaNM3yUH8vqE/s320/anna-hazare-dabangg-look.jpg" width="220" /></span></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span id="midArticle_0"></span><span id="midArticle_1"></span><span id="midArticle_2"></span><span id="midArticle_3"></span>The world’s largest democracy has the dubious distinction of having the largest number of legislators with a criminal record and some state governments are brazenly admitting notorious individuals into the party-fold for electoral considerations.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Anna wants to change the way of governance...not the Government.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I read an article in by The Deccan Chronicle and thought I would share it with you all on the blog<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">Written by...</span><span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 18px;"> Lt Gen S.K. Sinha, a retired lieutenant-general, was Vice-Chief of Army Staff and has served as governor of Assam and Jammu and Kashmir.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 36px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Democracy arrested</span></span></h3>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 18px;">T</span><span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e;">he architecture of the Indian Constitution is based on the spirit of liberty, equality and fraternity, as espoused in the French Revolution; on the concept of the rule of the people, by the people and for the people, as articulated by Abraham Lincoln in his Gettysburg address; and on the format of parliamentary democracy as developed in Britain, the mother of democracy.</span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar, the architect of our Constitution, while urging its adoption by the Constituent Assembly, stated, “However good a Constitution may be, it is sure to turn out bad if those who are called to work it happen to be a bad lot.” We need to ask ourselves whether our generation has lived up to the hopes of the founding fathers of our Constitution. The answer is an emphatic no. We have been persistently debasing our democracy.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> Parliamentary or presidential, democracy is at variance with people’s democracy. The latter provides for one-party rule and for the supremacy of the party over government functioning. We got a close glimpse of that during the visit of Khrushchev and Bulganin to India in 1955. The first secretary of the Soviet Communist Party mattered more than the Soviet PM. A similar equation has developed in India. The distinction required in a parliamentary democracy between the government and the ruling party has been obliterated. Self-glorifying advertisements at tax-payers’ expense are put out with pictures of the party president and PM. The former now often inaugurates major government projects. This does not happen in any parliamentary democracy, nor did it happen earlier in India.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> Those who advocate keeping the PM above the jurisdiction of the Lokpal are not bothered about the PM being made to play second fiddle to the party president. Like the Politburo in a Communist state, we now have an extra-constitutional body in the National Advisory Council, a super-Cabinet for formulating government policy. Dynastic rule is anathema in a democracy, but this prevails at the Centre and has been avidly adopted by regional parties in states.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So far, the BJP and the Left parties have not followed suit.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> Jawaharlal Nehru was initially hesitant in promoting his daughter in politics but towards the end he made her party president, setting her on course to become PM. However, he did not project her as his successor. Indira Gandhi had no inhibitions. She openly projected one son as her successor and, on his tragic death, her other son was made heir-apparent. That tradition continues. </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The present crown prince inaugurated the Guru Tegh Bahadur Memorial at a Delhi government function.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> The courtiers hailed the first crown prince as a man of genius, comparing him with Vivekananda and Emperor Akbar. They are doing the same now with the current heir apparent. We have also been creating a new feudalism under the garb of promoting youth in politics. The progeny of old loyalists have been inducted in government. A feudal outlook has permeated our public life. Everyone wants a flag and red light on his car.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> In the colonial period only the Viceroy, the governors of provinces and senior military commanders were so authorised. This practice is still followed in Western democracies. Our bureaucracy is shedding its neutral character and getting increasingly committed. The “lick up and kick down” approach is now in vogue. The common man visiting government offices encounters the arrogance of power.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 18px;"> Vote-bank politics is </span><span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 18px;">rampant, with little consideration for probity and national security. In the Nehru era, iftar parties at public expense were not held. Now it has become common practice for people in power to do so. If the state has to fund a religious function or subsidise a pilgrimage, let it be for all religions, not just one.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> Illegal migration from Bangladesh is being promoted to build vote banks without considering national security or a state’s demographic structure. For a PM to assert that a particular religious community should be the first priority for his government violates the spirit of the Constitution. The poor, irrespective of community, should be the government’s first concern.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> And now we have the monstrosity of the Communal and Targeted Violence Bill, drafted by the National Advisory Council. It violates the fundamental principle of equality enshrined in our Constitution which is the bedrock of our legal system. The murderer has to be tried under the Indian Penal Code on the basis of his crime, and not whether he is from the majority or minority community. </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Communal riots in our country are almost always confined to a district or a city. The Gujarat, anti-Sikh and post-Ayodhya riots were exceptions. There are many districts in which the majority in that state is in a minority. Thus the yardstick for this atrocious bill should have been the district, and not the state. If the administration is not effective in dealing with communal violence, it should be made effective instead of enacting a new law promoting divisiveness and violating natural justice.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> The most debilitating factor today is the rampant corruption. Such corruption, involving the highest echelons of government, has never taken place in the history of any worthy democracy. Having succeeded in brazening it out in the Bofors affair, the bizarre attempts of the government to do so again in these numerous scams are counter-productive. There is now a national upsurge against corruption. JP led a crusade against corruption and for the restoration of democracy. He succeeded but the leaders he installed in power squabbled among themselves and fell prey to the same evil. V.P. Singh used the Bofors card to come to power but his short tenure was futile. Corruption during these two movements was peanuts compared to that today.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e;"> Anna Hazare’s movement has generated a national upsurge which needs to be channelled through constitutional means, or else it may become a loose cannon. The Indian people must act to ensure this, or else our debased democracy may</span></span><span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e;">become a lost democracy</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #948a54;">.</span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">What is the role of modern-day revolution?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Revolution is a reaction by the people to the current state of affairs in the country or the world for that matter that has reached a certain critical mass large and powerful enough to spark off a social movement that takes action towards the change, for better or worse, of the form of government or the people in the government or the very principles of Governance...</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Modern democracy is also a reaction of the people to their realisation that the old model of monarchy or absolute autocracy or aristocracy does not work anymore.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Yet The reality check is </span>that there<span style="background-color: white;"> is no such thing as a perfect political system.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We are witnessing today an Arab people's revolution<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We are in the midst of a brave new world.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The uprisings raging from Tunisia to Egypt to Yemen are heralding a new Arab, post-Islamist revolution.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Today's events across Egypt illustrate the futility of a dictatorial Mubarak regime seeking to push back the tides of history with mere repression and brutality. They will not succeed.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">President Hosni Mubarak's days, like those of deposed Tunisian President Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali, are numbered. The effects on the region were, until today, unthinkable.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="color: #948a54;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"> And Tripoli has fallen ousting the most powerful Libyan regime of Gadaffi.</span></o:p></span></h1>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="color: #948a54;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">THE WORLD ORDER IS CHANGING.....</span></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 14px;">Source URL:</span><span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 14px;"> <a href="http://www.deccanchronicle.com/editorial/dc-comment/democracy-arrested-365">http://www.deccanchronicle.com/editorial/dc-comment/democracy-arrested-365</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span lang="EN-IN" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Percussions of History</span></span><span lang="EN-IN" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">..........<span class="apple-style-span">Jagjit Singh.</span></span><span lang="EN-IN" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: papayawhip; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span lang="EN-IN" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">The greatest social revolution</span></span><span lang="EN-IN" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">.......<span class="apple-style-span">Himmat Singh Gill</span></span><span lang="EN-IN" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: papayawhip; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Daarji the Storytellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08712625868606810344noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1526669237876145104.post-21390226527438651162011-08-26T00:54:00.006+05:302019-01-18T15:41:18.527+05:30Revolution is a reaction by the people to the current state of affairs in the country....<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white; color: #948a54; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Sikhism represents a belief that every Indian can be proud to be a part of. The Sikh Gurus are held in high esteem and sacrosanct not only by Sikhs but by all supporters of independence in general as role models.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white; color: #948a54; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The Sikh Gurus have motivated us to be a better being in an era that was perhaps the most challenging chapter of our history. One cannot forget the contributions of Sikh Gurus and their selfless sacrifices to strengthen the societal framework.... giving them direction and provide leadership to overthrow the rule of invaders.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white; color: #948a54; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The medieval era represents the darkest phase of our society in Punjab. Internally we were being eroded by termites of casteism...... gender discrimination..... And overt ritualism emanating from Vedas.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white; color: #948a54; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> And externally, we were being butchered by ethnic groups of the most uncivilized tribes of West Asia – the Ghaznis, Khiljis, Mughals, Slaves, Tughlaqs etc.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white; color: #948a54; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br />The Sikh gurus, in these turbulent times, lit the lamp of divine wisdom and steered the society towards the original and deep rooted tenets of our culture.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white; color: #948a54;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The Gurus did what the radical Bhaktas could not: create a society outside the caste-based society, the democratic Sikh...free ...classless Panth...... where everyone stood equal in every respect.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white; color: #948a54;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The Gurus laid stress on social service ....Sewa. In my last post I shared ...some words about the relevance of Sewa & Satsang in our life...<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47; font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://iamdaarji.blogspot.com/2011/08/sewa-satsang-amazing-concept.html">http://iamdaarji.blogspot.com/2011/08/sewa-satsang-amazing-concept.html</a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #948a54;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white; color: #948a54;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Guru Nanak, after his travels around the world, took to farming, from where he would send the grain to the common kitchen.....The Langar.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white; color: #948a54;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Guru Arjan Dev established a leper asylum at Tarn Taran, which runs even to this day. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white; color: #948a54;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But change is not easy.....for it means flowing against the current. Resistance we encounter is variable with time and place. Buddhism and Jainism shun the use of force , They stay clear from it.....and Brahmanism sanctioned it only for "upholding the caste order".<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white; color: #948a54;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But under the Sikh thesis, armed resistance to tyranny was a religious duty. Guru Gobind Singh "institutionalised his ideal of defending dharma by creating the Khalsa". <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white; color: #948a54;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The Sikh Gurus condemned idol worship, ceremonialism and ritualism. What was needed was a separate identity, for the Gurus realised that "it was imperative to build a social system and organise the people outside the caste-society". The instrument of the Khalsa was created to "capture political power for a plebeian mission"..... <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white; color: #948a54;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Historian Hari Ram Gupta writes about the persecution of the Sikhs at the hands of the Mughals: "Majha, the homeland of the Sikhs was completely ruined. A wonderful and terrible trial indeed, from which the weak came out strong, from which the strong came out sublime." The masses joined the revolution because the Sikh Gurus were always in the forefront making supreme sacrifices for the right cause.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white; color: #948a54;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It has been said that the Sikh movement was...... perhaps on matters of eminence alone is probably the greatest social revolution.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white; color: #948a54;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The Sikh revolution is comparable with the revolutions in France and America, ...But in those countries changes took a long time coming ...In France the class interests and in US the racial aversion and even longer to be banished there.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white; color: #948a54;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Quite at divergence with them the Sikhs’ had a surgical transformation of its followers on the grounds of fraternity, liberty and equality. Also, the times were bad and the Sikh revolution took place at a difficult time, in a caste-ridden society and under a fanatical foreign rule. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white; color: #948a54;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Can we say that the Sikh Revolution was social and political in nature, secular in kind and driven by religious inspiration?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white; color: #948a54;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Had there been no Guru Gobind Singh and his call to arms, Sufi saint Bulleh Shah writes that the entire population would have been either circumcised or converted.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="color: #948a54; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Historians agree unanimously that the French Revolution was a watershed event that changed Europe forever, following in the footsteps of the American Revolution, which had occurred just a decade earlier. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="color: #948a54; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The causes of the French Revolution, though, are difficult to pin down: based on the historical evidence that exists, a fairly compelling argument could be made regarding any number of factors. Internationally speaking, a number of major wars had taken place in the forty years leading up to the Revolution, and France had participated, to some degree, in most of them.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="color: #948a54; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> The Seven Years’ War in Europe and the American Revolution across the ocean had a profound effect on the French psyche and made the Western world a volatile one.. The costs of waging war, supporting allies, and maintaining the French army quickly depleted a French bank that was already weakened from royal extravagance.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="color: #948a54; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Finally, in a time of highly secularized Enlightenment, the idea that King Louis XVI had absolute power due to divine right—the idea that he had been handpicked by God—didn’t hold nearly as much water as in the past few decades.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #948a54; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">We mentioned above .....No one factor was directly responsible for the French Revolution. Years of feudal oppression and fiscal mismanagement contributed to a French society that was ripe for revolt.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-IN" style="color: #948a54; line-height: 115%;">Noting a downward economic spiral in the late 1700s, King <b>Louis XVI </b>brought in a number of financial advisors to review the weakened French treasury. Each advisor reached the same conclusion—that France needed a radical change in the way it taxed the public—</span><span lang="EN-IN" style="color: #948a54; line-height: 115%;">so he appointed a new controller general of finance.....He suggested that, among other things, France should begin taxing the previously exempt nobility. The nobility refused, even after controller general pleaded with them during the <b>Assembly of Notables</b> in 1787. </span><span lang="EN-IN" style="color: #948a54; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="color: #948a54; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Financial ruin thus seemed imminent. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="color: #948a54; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In a final act of desperation, Louis XVI decided in 1789 to convene the <b>Estates-General</b>, an ancient assembly consisting of three different <b>estates </b>that each represented a portion of the French population....The clergy....The nobility ...and the common man.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="color: #948a54; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> If the Estates-General could agree on a tax solution, it would be implemented. However, since two of the three estates—the <b>clergy </b>and the <b>nobility</b>—were tax-exempt, the attainment of any such solution was unlikely.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="color: #948a54; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Feuds quickly broke out over this disparity and would prove to be irreconcilable. Realizing that its numbers gave it an automatic advantage, the Third Estate declared itself the sovereign <b>National Assembly</b>. Within days of the announcement, many members of the other two estates had switched allegiances over to this revolutionary new assembly. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="color: #948a54; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Shortly after the National Assembly formed, its members took the <b>Tennis Court Oath</b>,..... swearing that they would not relent in their efforts until a new constitution had been agreed upon. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="color: #948a54; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The National Assembly’s revolutionary spirit galvanized France, manifesting in a number of different ways...<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #948a54; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 115%;">From here </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">onward</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 115%;"> began the civil </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">disobedience</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 115%;"> that would eventually pave the way for the revolutionary regime to get noticed and put the changes in effect. The </span></span><b style="color: #948a54; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">storming of the Bastille prison</b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #948a54; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 115%;"> in the East of Paris on the 14th of July is regarded as being the landmark event that led to the social disorder. This was done in the attempt to gain arms and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">ammunition's</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 115%;"> from the prison. Inspired by this event the peasants revolted against there feudal lords eventually freeing themselves of the unfair contracts that they were signed into</span></span></span><span lang="EN-IN" style="color: #948a54; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #948a54; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"> Shortly thereafter, the assembly released the <b>Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen</b>, which established a proper judicial code and the autonomy of the French people.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="color: #948a54;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The French revolution paved the way for the secular system of governance that we now see governing most of the countries of the world. From the perspective of freeing the people from unjust monarchist regimes that committed all sorts of crimes under the banner of religion it can be seen as a successful and valiant effort on the part of the people.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white; color: #948a54;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Anna Hazare is a simple man ....</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white; color: #948a54;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In real terms he is Lal Bahadur Shastri's.... Jai Jawan Jai Kisan.... From 1962 his soul and.... heart cried for India and sung for India..... To see that India is mired in rampant corruption in everyday life pained him.....To see what the hapless Indian citizen confronts when dealing with any part of a monolithic state apparatus . What has has been compounded by a cynical realisation is that almost all the major pillars of a burgeoning democracy are now tainted with institutional turpitude.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white; color: #948a54;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span id="midArticle_12"></span><span id="midArticle_13"></span><span id="midArticle_14"></span><span id="midArticle_15"></span>This complex eco-system that had its genesis in corrupt Polity and mafiosi...and the dalals....</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white; color: #948a54;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">These dubious links have been captured evocatively by Bollywood ..... for that matter you have to see the hypothetical Anna film Dabangg poster... Anna in Salman Khan avatar.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white; color: #948a54;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span id="midArticle_0"></span><span id="midArticle_1"></span><span id="midArticle_2"></span><span id="midArticle_3"></span>The world’s largest democracy has the dubious distinction of having the largest number of legislators with a criminal record and some state governments are brazenly admitting notorious individuals into the party-fold for electoral considerations. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white; color: #948a54;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Anna wants to change the way of governance...not the Government.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white; color: #948a54;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I read an article in by The Deccan Chronicle and thought I would share it with you all on the blog <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white; color: #948a54; line-height: 115%;">Written by...</span><span lang="EN-IN" style="color: #948a54; line-height: 115%;"> Lt Gen S.K. Sinha , a retired lieutenant-general, was Vice-Chief of Army Staff and has served as governor of Assam and Jammu and Kashmir.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="color: #948a54; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Democracy arrested<o:p></o:p></span></span></h1>
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-IN" style="color: #948a54; line-height: 115%;">T</span><span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e;">he architecture of the Indian Constitution is based on the spirit of liberty, equality and fraternity, as espoused in the French Revolution; on the concept of the rule of the people, by the people and for the people, as articulated by Abraham Lincoln in his Gettysburg address; and on the format of parliamentary democracy as developed in Britain, the mother of democracy.</span></span></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar, the architect of our Constitution, while urging its adoption by the Constituent Assembly, stated, “However good a Constitution may be, it is sure to turn out bad if those who are called to work it happen to be a bad lot.” We need to ask ourselves whether our generation has lived up to the hopes of the founding fathers of our Constitution. The answer is an emphatic no. We have been persistently debasing our democracy.</span></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Parliamentary, or presidential, democracy is at variance with people’s democracy. The latter provides for one-party rule and for the supremacy of the party over government functioning. We got a close glimpse of that during the visit of Khrushchev and Bulganin to India in 1955. The first secretary of the Soviet Communist Party mattered more than the Soviet PM. A similar equation has developed in India. The distinction required in a parliamentary democracy between the government and the ruling party has been obliterated. Self-glorifying advertisements at tax-payers’ expense are put out with pictures of the party president and PM. The former now often inaugurates major government projects. This does not happen in any parliamentary democracy, nor did it happen earlier in India.</span></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Those who advocate keeping the PM above the jurisdiction of the Lokpal are not bothered about the PM being made to play second fiddle to the party president. Like the politburo in a Communist state, we now have an extra-constitutional body in the National Advisory Council, a super-Cabinet for formulating government policy. Dynastic rule is anathema in a democracy, but this prevails at the Centre and has been avidly adopted by regional parties in states.</span></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So far, the BJP and the Left parties have not followed suit.</span></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Jawaharlal Nehru was initially hesitant in promoting his daughter in politics but towards the end he made her party president, setting her on course to become PM. However, he did not project her as his successor. Indira Gandhi had no inhibitions. She openly projected one son as her successor and, on his tragic death, her other son was made heir-apparent. That tradition continues. </span></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Sanjay Gandhi inaugurated the Anglo-Sikh War Memorial at Ferozepore, at a function organised by the government, with much fanfare.</span></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> The present crown prince inaugurated the Guru Tegh Bahadur Memorial at a Delhi government function.</span></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> The courtiers hailed the first crown prince as a man of genius, comparing him with Vivekananda and Emperor Akbar. They are doing the same now with the current heir apparent. We have also been creating a new feudalism under the garb of promoting youth in politics. The progeny of old loyalists have been inducted in government. A feudal outlook has permeated our public life. Everyone wants a flag and red light on his car.</span></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> In the colonial period only the Viceroy, the governors of provinces and senior military commanders were so authorised. This practice is still followed in Western democracies. Our bureaucracy is shedding its neutral character and getting increasingly committed. The “lick up and kick down” approach is now in vogue. The common man visiting government offices encounters the arrogance of power.</span></span></i></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i><span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"> Vote-bank politics is </span></i><i><span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;">rampant, with little consideration for probity and national security. In the Nehru era, iftar parties at public expense were not held. Now it has become common practice for people in power to do so. If the state has to fund a religious function or subsidise a pilgrimage, let it be for all religions, not just one.</span></i></span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Illegal migration from Bangladesh is being promoted to build vote banks without considering national security or a state’s demographic structure. For a PM to assert that a particular religious community should be the first priority for his government violates the spirit of the Constitution. The poor, irrespective of community, should be the government’s first concern.</span></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> And now we have the monstrosity of the Communal and Targeted Violence Bill, drafted by the National Advisory Council. It violates the fundamental principle of equality enshrined in our Constitution which is the bedrock of our legal system. The murderer has to be tried under the Indian Penal Code on the basis of his crime, and not whether he is from the majority or minority community. </span></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Communal riots in our country are almost always confined to a district or a city. The Gujarat, anti-Sikh and post-Ayodhya riots were exceptions. There are many districts in which the majority in that state is in a minority. Thus the yardstick for this atrocious bill should have been the district, and not the state. If the administration is not effective in dealing with communal violence, it should be made effective instead of enacting a new law promoting divisiveness and violating natural justice.</span></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> The most debilitating factor today is the rampant corruption. Such corruption, involving the highest echelons of government, has never taken place in the history of any worthy democracy. Having succeeded in brazening it out in the Bofors affair, the bizarre attempts of the government to do so again in these numerous scams are counter-productive. There is now a national upsurge against corruption. JP led a crusade against corruption and for the restoration of democracy. He succeeded but the leaders he installed in power squabbled among themselves and fell prey to the same evil. V.P. Singh used the Bofors card to come to power but his short tenure was futile. Corruption during these two movements was peanuts compared to that today.</span></span></i></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white; color: #948a54; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">What is the role of modern day revolution?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white; color: #948a54; line-height: 115%;">Revolution is a reaction by the people to the current state of affairs in the country or the world for that matter that has reached a certain critical mass large and powerful enough to spark off a social movement that takes action towards the change, for better or worse, of the form of government or the people in the government or the very principles of Governance...</span></span><span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white; color: #948a54; line-height: 115%;"><br />
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<span class="apple-style-span">Yet The reality check is that there is no such thing as a perfect political system.</span></span><b><span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white; color: #948a54; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white; color: #948a54; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We are witnessing today an Arab people's revolution<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white; color: #948a54;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We are in the midst of a brave new world.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white; color: #948a54;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The uprisings raging from Tunisia to Egypt to Yemen are heralding a new Arab, post-Islamist revolution.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white; color: #948a54;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Today's events across Egypt illustrate the futility of a dictatorial Mubarak regime seeking to push back the tides of history with mere repression and brutality. They will not succeed.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="background-color: white; color: #948a54;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">President Hosni Mubarak's days, like those of deposed Tunisian President Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali, are numbered. The effects on the region were, until today, unthinkable.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="color: #948a54;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"> And Tripoli has fallen ousting the most powerful Libyan regime of Gadaffi.</span></o:p></span></h1>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="color: #948a54;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">THE WORLD ORDER IS CHANGING.....</span></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-small;"><strong><span lang="EN-IN" style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Source URL:</span></strong><span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"> <a href="http://www.deccanchronicle.com/editorial/dc-comment/democracy-arrested-365">http://www.deccanchronicle.com/editorial/dc-comment/democracy-arrested-365</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-small;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span lang="EN-IN" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Percussions of History</span></span><span lang="EN-IN" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">..........<span class="apple-style-span">Jagjit Singh.</span></span><span lang="EN-IN" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: papayawhip; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Daarji the Storytellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08712625868606810344noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1526669237876145104.post-86941053783891151952011-08-21T21:02:00.000+05:302019-01-18T13:10:21.011+05:30Sewa. & Satsang... An Amazing Concept....<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: left;">Mankind throughout the ages has helped one another to go through problems and difficulties without accepting anything in return. It is one of the reasons we are here today.</span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> <br />What is Sewa? It is the selfless service of others without expecting anything in return and to put the needs of others before yourself. Our Guru’s have made it one of the fundamental basis of Sikhi.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">Sewa and Satsang – Like a banyan tree form the vital mainstay of Sikhi... Both are an important aspect of the purpose of human and spiritual existence. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">For me being a Sikh ....doing Sewa and Satsang are intrinsically linked to each other...And Sangat and its composition is a divine interpolation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"> Sewa, or voluntary selfless service, emanates from Naam Simran...It prevents one from developing a haumaai, e.g. ego. In true terms, one should not hear a person as saying, “I am doing Sewa.” What should be heard in humility, is: “Grace of God is giving me the opportunity to do such Sewa.” There is a vast difference in both the responses. While one reeks of ME ’ness-in self and ego, the latter emits the fragrance of humility and the notion of God’s hand in every deed, he is making us do, basically..... that makes us the divine instrument.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">One comes across the word sewa countless times in the Guru Granth Sahib, often as a phrase ‘Gur ki sewa’. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"> Had the Guru been in physical form, then it would be very easy to comprehend as to how to be in sewa. But for Sikhs, the physical body is no longer the paramount symbol of Guru...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">Now...how do we integrate this SEWA in our way of life...How do we do the sewa?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">If we step back in time to 500 years and try to create in our mind the times of our Gurus.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">And if we imagine our self sitting in the congregation of Guru Nanak, with Mardana’s fingers smoothly playing the notes on rabab, .......Guru Nanak’s melodious, hypnotic voice and words wafting through the ambient settings...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">, </span><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">“Gur ki sewa sabd bichaar, haumaai maarey karni saar</span></i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">” …. [SGGS: p 223]. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">Guruji is telling us, you contemplate on the words, which I am singing,...This is the sewa I want from all of you present in the Sangat.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">So that means the words of Guru’s, which are relayed as ‘dhur ki baani’, is greater than even the physical embodiment of Guru who espouses the words.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"> Mere reading without understanding becomes a ritual. If one does not mull over and reflect on the depth of the words and the message that lies therein.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"> Sewa is always of two types – <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">One is physical, involving the bodily movements, and the other is mental ......The meditation – involving the mind and the spirit <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"> It is purely a mental exercise in which our focus and concentration, is totally turned inwards towards the shabad... The word..... its essence whereby our mind’s hunger is satiated.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;"><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">“<b>Munn peevaai sunn sabd bichara</b></span></i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"><b>….” [SGGS: p102, M-5].<o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">Is ‘Satgur ki sewa’ easy?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"> No...Indeed No !!! It is very difficult. Had it been easy then there would not be 1430 pages of the Guru Granth...Mantras in Geeta.....and Testaments of Bible and teachings of Koran all bring back to life century after century the significance of Word...The Baani...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">Guru Amardas ji says,...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"> <b>“</b></span><b><i><span style="color: #4c1130; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">Satgur ki sewa gaakhree, sirr deejaai aap gavaaey</span></i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: #4c1130;">”…[SGGS: p 27]. </span><span style="color: #666666;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">Gakhree literally means difficult. It is not easy because it involves surrendering of the mind to the Guru which consequently leads to submission of the ego. Ego arises only when one listens to one’s own physical mind...The munnmatt....In contradiction to our superior subconscious....The Gurmat.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">Sattsang and Gur ki sewa can liberate a person from the clutches of the five Dreadful vices – </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"><b style="background-color: white; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #4c1130;">kaam, krodh, lobh, moh and <span class="">ahankaa</span>r.</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Guru Amardas </span>ji<span style="font-size: 10pt;"> says....,</span></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"><b><span style="color: #4c1130;">Sabdeh mileh ta hari milaai, sewa pavaai sabh thaaee. Paaras parseeaai paaras hoe joti jot samaaey</span></b> <span style="color: #666666;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;"><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">S</span></i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">abdeh mileh.... implies that being in association with the Word ...The truth...... Only then complete merging of our thoughts, speech and action with that of the Param Atma...The waheguru is achieved.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">This is often referred to as ‘experiencing God’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Guru Nanak Dev </span>ji<span style="font-size: 10pt;"> says, ...</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;"><b><i><span style="color: #4c1130; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">Gur bheytei paaras bhaey , joti jot milaey</span></i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: #4c1130;"> </span><span style="color: #666666;">….[SGGS: p 421].<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"><b> ....</b></span><b><span style="color: #4c1130;"><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">Gur paaras hum loh</span></i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">… [SGGS: p-1114]. <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">The metaphor of paaras and iron metal is used to convey the essence. Merging with the Guru’s Words transforms us into paaras. Once we become paaras then the very same properties of the paras....which turns iron into gold..... and is imbibed by us, thereby creating a human chain whereby whosoever comes into contact will also be dramatically transformed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"> Bhai Lehna when he came into communion with Guru Nanak became a paaras to become ...Guru Angad: and likewise Baba Amar Das when he came into contact with Guru Angad became a paaras and so on. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">Our Holy Granth, being the Shabad Guru, is a paaras and whosoever comes into holy communion with it is bound to be transformed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">After all, spirituality is not simple...It is not our morning cup of tea....that can be taken by all at whim and fancy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">Guru Ram Das ji says, ....</span><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">Gobind satsangati melaaey</span></i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">.....[SGGS: p 164]. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">Satsang with an ‘attained one’ opens the doors of our closed minds, thereby creating a<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">mirror before us whereby one sees the false persona that we have created around our true self.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">The real self remains hidden under this personality mask. Satsang facilitates in uncovering this mask and realizing the true potential of ‘Gobind Milan’. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"><b>Guru Nanak said, </b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;"><i><span style="color: #4c1130; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"><b style="background-color: white;">Satsangat kaisee janeeaai, jithaai eko naam vakhaniey</b></span></i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"><b style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #4c1130;"> [SGGS: p 72].</span></b><span style="color: #666666;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">A natural consequence to Gur ki sewa is jann ki sewa.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"> <b>Guru Ram Das ji says, </b><b>.</b>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: #4c1130;"><b>Jann ki sewa uttam kaama, jo har kee har katha sunaavaai, so jann hamrey munn chitt bhaavai. Jannpag raen vadbhaagee paavai, sant jana siou preet bann aaee” … [SGGS: p 164]. </b></span><span style="color: #666666;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"> Because one begins to see the Divine Light in each and every being irrespective of caste, creed, religion, race or colour. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">“</span><i><span style="color: #4c1130; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"><b>Awal allah noor upaiah, kudrat key sabh bandey</b></span></i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: #4c1130;"><b>”…. [SGGS: p 1349]. </b></span><span style="color: #666666;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">In due course of time one also forgets to differentiate whether the beneficiary is a Sikh or a non-Sikh.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">The humane voluntary sewa is thus a natural outcome of doing ...Gur ki sewa and Jann ki sewa... When a voice arises from within ...stirring us on to do whatsoever we can and attain realization of the true purpose of human birth –<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: #666666;"> </span><b><span style="color: #4c1130;">‘</span></b></span><i><span style="color: #4c1130; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"><b>Avarey kaaj tayerai kittey na kaam, mil saadh sangati bhaj kewal naam’</b></span></i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"><b><span style="color: #4c1130;">… [SGGS, p 378* & 12*, M-5].</span></b><span style="color: #666666;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Satsang without community sewa or, wand chhakna, becomes meaningless.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">Satsang is a Sanskrit word combining "Satya" meaning "truth" and "sangha" meaning "group. " It describes a gathering of people for the purpose of spiritual truth. Satsang is often used when referring to a meeting with a guru or a spiritual mentor. During Satsang, participants read inspiring words, discuss its teachings, meditate, and find ways to bring this awareness into daily life.</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="color: #666666;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span" style="font-size: 10pt;">While attending services or spiritual study groups can be thought of as participating in Satsangs, this practice can also apply to any group of people that are gathered to inspire one another and express the truth free from judgment. A Satsang can be a group of people that are gathered to sing, play, or listen to music. All that needs to be there is the intention to inspire one another and tell the truth.</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-size: 10pt;"> </span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 115%;"><i>So SATSANG is the company of truth.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 115%;"><i>Being in the presence of truth.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 115%;"><i>Satsang is the company of the SATGURU. <o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 115%;"><i>The Satguru is one who has REALIZED the truth and not someone who gives out theory. <o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 115%;"><i>If the Satguru is not realized then there is no Satsang - it is a mere gathering of people to listen to an intellectual talk.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">Everyone has THEORIES.</span></i></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"> <b>Sri Ramakrishna </b>was sitting when a disciple passed by carrying a book. Ramakrishna called him over. "What is this book you are carrying?" he asked. "It is a book about water, it is a complete study of water." replied the disciple. "Then squeeze the pages of the book and let us see how many drops of water ooze out." Said Ramakrishna. If you squeeze the pages of the book there will not be a single drop of water because the book is about theory. It is not the water itself. </span></i></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">In the same way, talking ABOUT God is not the same as REALIZING God. You can know lots of theory but it will not help you. You need to drop all your so-called knowledge and be in the company of a realized being. <o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">That is Satsang.<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"><b>The MIND is a barrier to truth. </b></span></span></h3>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">Why? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">Because it is full of concepts and concepts are not the truth. All concepts are barriers to truth. The mind wants to know - it is hungry for knowledge - it wants to gather all the theories and understand God or Truth. This cannot happen because there is nothing to understand. God, Truth or Enlightenment is not a theory that you can understand. It requires you to drop all your thinking and stop trying to be "right."<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"><b>You have to be OPEN and RECEPTIVE if you want to experience Truth. </b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">Your mind must stop struggling to be right. You simply let go and surrender in the company of an Enlightened Master. That is the way. It does not matter what the Master does - it is all Satsang. He can be silent or he can speak - He can sing, dance, shout, pull faces at you or anything else. You simply accept what is happening. This can only happen if you are in love. If you are not - then it will not happen to you because you will be too busy judging and you will not be open. Why is love essential? Because only in love will you surrender automatically.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">In short,</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"> </span></span><span class="emtext"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">Satsang</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">refers to an environment which is conducive for experiencing the presence of God<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">The real meaning of Satsang is the company of the Satguru. Anything else is not satsang - but just a theoretical talk. In order to realise truth you need to drop all your knowledge and in a theoretical satsang you will go on collecting more knowledge. You will become a scholar of sant mat. You will be able to give great talks and guide others. However, you yourself will remain in darkness and your guidance will actually be mis-guidance because unless you realize the truth for yourself - you will only mis-lead others.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c1130; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"><b>KABIR says: </b></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c1130;"><b>mein Kaita hu ankei dekhei tu kaitha hu kagaz ki likeh</b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">I speak what I have seen with my own eyes - you speak what is written in scriptures.--<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">Without good fortune, the</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"> <i>Satsang</i> ,is not came upon; without this<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666;"><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">Sangat</span></i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">, people are stained with the filth (of</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"> <i>Bikaars </i>or negative )<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="background-color: white;">(sggs 95).</span><span style="background-color: papayawhip;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;"><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">Satsang</span></i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"> is the first step in the spiritual life. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">But, seemingly, it sounds paradoxical that without ....good fortune one cannot come across the</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"> <i>Satsang</i>, and, as a consequent of this, one ends up collecting nothing but inner debris and flotsam in life, and mind remains stained with <i>Bikaars</i>! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">Furthermore, Baabaa Nanak in the following verse indicates that it's only the good deeds (<i>Karma</i>) of the past that bestows</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"> <i>Naam</i> (the Lord's Name) upon one.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #4c1130;"><b><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt;">ਬਿਨੁ</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt;">ਭਾਗਾ</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt;">ਸਤਸੰਗੁ</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt;">ਨ</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt;">ਪਾਈਐ</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt;">ਕਰਮਿ</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt;">ਮਿਲੈ</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt;">ਹਰਿ</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt;">ਨਾਮੁ</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt;">ਹਰੀ</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "mangal" , serif; font-size: 10pt;">॥</span></i></b></span><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #4c1130;"><b>: </b></span><span style="color: #666666;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></span></li>
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<i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #4c1130;"><b>Bin bhaagaa satasang na paaeeai karam milai har naam haree: </b></span><span style="color: #666666;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Without good fortune, the</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> <i>Satsangat</i> is not obtained. By one's (good) Karma, the Lord's Name is received (sggs 1171).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></span> <span style="background-color: white; color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">With regard to the</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"> <i>Satsangat</i>, Guru Nanak in a verse of <i>Sri Raaga</i> specifies a strict condition for it, in which he defines as to what the real <i>Satsangat</i> is. Although congregational worship is important, but as indicated in the following verse, not every congregation can necessarily be called <i>Satsangat</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="color: #4c1130;"><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt;">ਸਤਸੰਗਤਿ</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt;">ਕੈਸੀ</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt;">ਜਾਣੀਐ</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "mangal" , serif; font-size: 10pt;">॥</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt;">ਜਿਥੈ</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt;">ਏਕੋ</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt;">ਨਾਮੁ</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt;">ਵਖਾਣੀਐ</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "mangal" , serif; font-size: 10pt;">॥</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt;">ਏਕੋ</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt;">ਨਾਮੁ</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt;">ਹੁਕਮੁ</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt;">ਹੈ</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt;">ਨਾਨਕ</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt;">ਸਤਿਗੁਰਿ</span></i></span></b><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><b><span style="color: #4c1130;">: Satsangati kaisee jaaneeyai. Jithai eko naam vakhaaneeyai. Eko naam hukam hai Nanak satgur deeaa bujhaai jeeou: </span></b><span style="color: #666666;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></span></li>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">How is the Satsangat to be known? There, God's One Name is chanted. The One Name is the Hukam The Will of God; O Nanak, the True Guru has given me this understanding (sggs 71).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c1130;"><b><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt;">ਖਿ</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt;">ਸਜਣੁ</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt;">ਜੇ</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt;">ਮਿਲੈ</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt;">ਮੈ</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt;">ਦਸੇ</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt;">ਪ੍ਰਭੁ</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt;">ਗੁਣਤਾਸੁ</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "mangal" , serif; font-size: 10pt;">॥</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">: <o:p></o:p></span></i></b></span></li>
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<i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><b><span style="color: #4c1130;">Koee gurmukh sajan je milai mai dasse prabh gunataas:</span></b><span style="color: #666666;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> If I meet the Gurmukh, my spiritual Friend, he will show me God, the Treasure of Excellence (sggs 40).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c1130;"><b><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt;">ਕਾਮੁ</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt;">ਕ੍ਰੋਧੁ</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt;">ਲੋਭੁ</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt;">ਮੋਹੁ</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt;">ਜਣ</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt;">ਜਣ</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt;">ਸਿਉ</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt;">ਛਾਡੁ</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt;">ਧੋਹੁ</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt;">ਹਉਮੈ</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt;">ਕਾ</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt;">ਫੰਧੁ</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt;">ਕਾਟੁ</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt;">ਸਾਧਸੰਗਿ</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt;">ਰਤਿ</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt;">ਜੀਉ</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "mangal" , serif; font-size: 10pt;">॥</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">: <o:p></o:p></span></i></b></span></li>
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<i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"><b><span style="color: #4c1130;">Kaam krodh lobh mohu jan jan siou shaad dhohu houmai kaa fandh kaat saadhasa(n)g rati jeeou: </span></b><span style="color: #666666;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">Renounce lust, anger, greed and attachment (i.e. all evil passions); give up your games of deception. Snap the noose of egotism, and let yourself be at home in the Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy (sggs 1403).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #4c1130;"><b><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">ਸਾਧਸੰਗਤਿ</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">ਸਚੁ</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">ਖੰਡ</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">ਹੈ</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">ਵਾਸਾ</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "raavi"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">ਨਿਰੰਕਾਰੇ</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "mangal" , serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">॥</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">: <o:p></o:p></span></i></b></span></li>
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<i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"><b><span style="color: #4c1130;">Saadhasangat sach khand hai vaasaa nirankaare: </span></b><span style="color: #666666;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">aadh Sangat is the abode of Truth, the formless Lord abides there (Vaar Bhai Gurdaas Jee, 34).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">All of see the same picture....we hear the same words.....But each of us will understand only as much as the capacity of our wisdom will allow.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"><b>Let me narrate a story to you.....<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"><b>What did Big Bird Say</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">Once five people were going through the forest. One was a Moslem, one a Hindu, one a Christian, one a politician and one a peasant farmer. This marvellous combination of people travelled for some time together. As they went through the forest they came across an enormous bird, which suddenly called out.<o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-cvSxpD3ByuN34_hRj7h8OSTuSW5yhE9EgTC3Va1PG6mU75YSlo1TXASa2fbCNhy16i3zIgLCREUGCs3bHI9b_culXf5142apDTwfwhDW4aNnuRFnzGi1_G0w7efvimlGzCpwavweP8Y/s1600/work.4815909.1.flat%252C550x550%252C075%252Cf.toucan-bird-wildlife-amazon-jungle-rainforest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666;"><img border="0" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-cvSxpD3ByuN34_hRj7h8OSTuSW5yhE9EgTC3Va1PG6mU75YSlo1TXASa2fbCNhy16i3zIgLCREUGCs3bHI9b_culXf5142apDTwfwhDW4aNnuRFnzGi1_G0w7efvimlGzCpwavweP8Y/s320/work.4815909.1.flat%252C550x550%252C075%252Cf.toucan-bird-wildlife-amazon-jungle-rainforest.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">Since they were idle they stopped to argue about what the bird had told them. You can guess that they all had completely different interpretations about what kind of natural ‘signs’ are given to people through the voice of that big bird. </span></i><br />
<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></i> <i><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">The Hindu spoke first: “The bird said we should believe in Rama, Lakshman and Dasharat. You heard him say clearly, ‘Ram Lakshman Dasharat.’”<o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
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<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">“You don’t know anything!” the Moslem said angrily. “First you must understand the language of animals if you want to interpret their speech. This bird said loud and clear, ‘Allah, Mohammed, Hadjarat…’ ”<o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
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<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">“No, of course not!” he was contradicted by the Christian. “We are on Christian land and this bird knows nothing of Islam or Hinduism. The bird said clearly, ‘Father, Son and Holy Spirit.’”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></i> <i><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">“You are all religious fanatics and only hear what you like!” said the politician, crossing his arms and smiling arrogantly. “You must begin to use your minds. Didn’t you hear the bird eloquently say, ‘Replace the government now! Replace the government now!’”<o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
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<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">“You people all live in the city and have no idea what nature is,” said the farmer. “The bird told me that the carrots are ripe and then it said that it’s past time for me to harvest them because the rabbits are going to eat them all.”<o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
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<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">We do not know what the bird said, but there were as many ideas about it as there were brains. And even we, here at this Satsang, we have the same situation: I am here, one in front of you, and there are hundreds of you watching me with your eyes and understanding me in a variety of ways. And each of you will understand me only as much as the capacity of your wisdom will allow.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;">However you understand me though, I’ll tell you this: when you fulfil your dharma, your duty to others, you will successfully pass through the delusion as well.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-size: xx-small;">Inspired by an article by spired Dimpy Gurvinder Singh@Associate Editor, The Sikh Review. Email: dimpygs@yahoo.co.uk / rajenter2003@yahoo.co.in</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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Daarji the Storytellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08712625868606810344noreply@blogger.com3