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India's fourteenth Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh is rightly acclaimed as a thinker and a scholar. He is a follower of the Sikh faith and is the first non-Hindu prime minister of India.
He is well regarded for his diligence and his approach to work, as well as his accessibility and his unassuming demeanour.
The first Sikh Indian prime minister, Singh was sworn in on May 22, 2004. He is a native Punjabi speaker. Manmohan Singh is the 14th and current Prime Minister of India, considered to be the "architect of modern India."
He was born on 26 September 1932, in Gah, West Punjab (now in Pakistan) and is a member of the Indian National Congress party.
Singh is an economist by trade, and has formerly served in the International Monetary Fund. His economics education included an undergraduate (1952) and a master's degree (1954) from Punjab University; an undergraduate degree (1957) from Cambridge University (St. John's College); and a doctorate (1962) from Oxford University (Nuffield College). .....More
ASA KI VAR, is the term recorded in the index to the Guru Granth Sahib but this Gurbani is commonly called "Asa di Var". It is found in the Sikh scripture from page 462 line 17 to page 475 line 10.
The composition is by Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhi and is usually sung by kirtania (religious musicians) at Sikh congregations or gatherings as part of the early morning service.
This Var is a heroic ode which describes the brave deeds of a hero. It is generally sung to inspire armies going to battle or to inspire people with martial spirit. The tempo of this bani when sung is very measured and positive inspiring a spirit of chardikala in the congregation.
The kirtan is very melodious and the style as mentioned by Guru Arjan is called "Tunde Asraje ki Dhuni" after the name of the contemporary brave and pious Indian king Asraj. One of the hands of the king was amputated, so he was called 'Tunda' meaning crippled. .....More
- .... that Matha taykna or "Matha take" is the act of bowing down and touching the floor with one’s forehead as a sign of respect for Gurbani. It terms of body language, it is a position of extreme submission and humility.
- .... that in the last two world wars, 83,005 turban wearing Sikh soldiers were killed and 109,045 were wounded....
Once there was no rain in a particular area for an extended period resulting danger to the crops. In some areas, the crops had already been destroyed.
So the local people of that area decided to do Ardas - a prayer or supplication to God so that their crops may be saved. Many hundreds of people gathered together at the designated place for this Ardas.
While this gathering was in progress, a passing Sikh Saint stopped by. He asked one of the crowd why there was such a big crowd gathered and what was the purpose of the gathering. One of them told the Sikh Saint that that they had gathered here to do Ardas because the crops will be destroyed in the absence of rain; they were going to ask God for rain.
The Saint said that was a good thing that they were doing an ardas but he did not see anyone carrying an umbrellas or "barsatie" (rain coats)…. When Waheguru (God) accepted your Ardas then there will be lot of rain. One group leader laughingly said, "But we do not know whether it will rain or not."
The Saint said, "How will your Ardas be accepted when you do not have faith in Waheguru" . He told them all to go home .
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Sikh Taxi driver's story on 9 News
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Watch this video (1.60 mins) on YouTube of the a Sikh cabbie in Australia who has set an example of honesty after he returned 110,000 Australian dollars to passengers who had left the bundle of cash in his taxi. The incident happened in Melbourne recently (October 2013) when the cab driver Lakhwinder Singh Dhillon was doing his routine job of picking and dropping passenger .....Watch, listen, read & ponder...
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| Interesting articles
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The links below are to articles that have a Sikhi message presented in a new and interesting way. Please spent a few minutes reading some of these articles:
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Sikhi on Youtube!
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On the 28th March 2012, a new YouTube channel was launched for the global Sikh community. Basics of Sikhi has released more than 40 videos focusing on spreading the wisdom of the Sikh Gurus. The main philosophy of the channel is to simply teach the basics wisdom of Guru in a way that avoids..... → read more
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Sikhi Helpline: If you have any queries or you have any problems or you require help with any issues relating to Sikhi principles or a more deeper understanding of Sikh values or any other matter connected with this faith, we are happy to help you with any issues that concern you in this respect - just click here.
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