User:Hari singh: Difference between revisions

Hari Singh

My name is Hari Singh. I am a male, married and over 65 years old. I have a background in computers and I have spent much of my adult life, during the mid-70s to late 90s in providing teaching and consultancy services to mainly small local businesses in computerizing their business.

I am based in the UK at a place called Ilford, Essex that is just outside London to the East. Since April 2005, I have been an administrator at SikhiWiki; a free online encyclopaedia on Sikhism based on the Wiki software database system. I am married with 2 children who are in their late 20’s.

I have been a Sikh from birth and took Amrit (was baptised) in about 1973 at Sri Guru Singh Sabha Gurdwara which is located nearby in Barking, Essex. Although my original training was in IT, I find that a little taxing now.

We have 5 Gurdwaras within 30 minutes drive of here. We have a strong Sikh community who cover a broad spectrum of backgrounds and professions. The nearest Gurdwara is Sri Guru Singh Sabha, Seven Kings, Essex which is about 10 minutes walking distance from our home.

Apart from SGGS guidance, I have had the good fortune to share the Gurmat blessings from Pujay Baba Puran Singh, Kericho wala. Baba ji was the most gifted puran Sikh that I have met so far in my life.

He was an inspiration to thousands of Sikhs in East Africa and in UK.

• Email Hari Singh

Wiki Experience

E.A.P.L. & Co Ltd building at Ruiru, Kenya. Click to enlarge -See my dad in the doorway

I started contributing to Wikipedia on 11th March 2004. My contributions to Wikipedia are primarily in connection with my religion, which is Sikhism. I was born as a Sikh and have been ‘practising’ my faith for at least the last 30 years. Sikhism is the fifth largest religion in the world but the youngest of all the present faith systems.

I believe that my religion is unique in that it encompasses and embraces all recognised world religions. A Sikh does not have a monopoly on God – Good people of all faiths can achieve salvation and unity with God. This I believe is a wonderful ideal and a basis for achieving a continuous state of peace in the world.

On about 2 April 2005, I began contributing to SikhiWiki which was a project started by S. Gurumustuk Singh Khalsa and on 21 April 2005 with Guru's kirpa (blessings) I became an administrator of SikhiWiki. The rest, as they say, is history! all recorded faithfully in the history pages of the SikhiWiki system!

What Sikhi means to me

Guru Nanak was the founder of this faith and was an instigator of the primary principles of the religion. A Sikh believes in One God for all beings; this leads to the belief in the equality of all people; to live a life in humility and service to the needy; to live is a continuous state of optimism Chardikala and trust in the Almighty.

To stay detached from the world but yet perform with dedication and involvement all the duties expected of a householder; to accept the will of God; to work honestly and consistently while at all times accepting that this gift of life is due to the blessings of the one Lord. To show love for fellow beings should come easily to a Sikh; to exercise respect for and to accept others, even if you do not agree with them was the message to me from my ninth master, Guru Teg Bahadur; such supreme sacrifices were made by our Gurus, their families and other Gursikhs for the path of righteousness - dare we forget!

Background

You can just about see the Hydro-Electric plant at Wanji (near Fort Hall) Kenya. The person with back to the camera is my brother Jasbir Click to enlarge

I was born in Kenya and my early childhood was spent in East Africa. However, my father was born in Chahal Kalan, Nawanshahr district in India in 1930 while my mother is from Haripur also in Punjab and was born in 1931. They were married at an early age in about 1945 when they were about 14 and 15 years old. Makalava, the occasion when the bride actually goes to live with the groom's family on a permanent basis is believed to have taken place in 1948. Soon after the Makalava, my father travelled to Kenya to seek employment. From 1950 onwards, my parent relocated to Kenya, East Africa.

My father, Gurdev Singh worked in Kenya with various companies until in about 1953 when he was employed by East African Power & Lighting Co Ltd. Due to his employment, the family moved to various different locations in Kenya. Ruiru, Wanji (near Fort Hall) and Nairobi South were locations where the company had power generation plants. The Ruiru Plant used to be a wood-burning power generation plant which was upgraded to a diesel plant probably during the 1950s. Wanji had a large hydroelectric generator and diesel and turbine generation was used at Nairobi South.

Sadly, my Dad passed away October 17, 2008

Part of my family relocated to the UK in the late 1960s soon after Kenya became independent in 1963. As an infant, my family lived in a small town 14 miles from Nairobi called Ruiru. Nairobi is the capital of Kenya. From the age of about 9 years to about 12 years, we moved to a small provincial town which was then called Fort Hall - the name of the town has now changed to Murang'a.

From about 1968 I have been based in the UK and took Amrit at Vaisakhi in about 1973 at the Gurdwara, Sri Guru Singh Sabha, Barking, Essex. I am a graduate from University of London and have since 1975 been working in the various profession in and around London.

I am married to Rajinder, who is a wonderful soul dedicated to the well-being of others. We have two children Jyoti (daughter) and Gurjit (son) who are both over 20 years old. As is the tradition in Sikh culture, we live as an extended family, with all members playing a part in most family decisions.

Most of my working life has been spent in the field of IT (Information Technology]]. I have visited India, various locations in Europe, USA, Canada, West Indies, Turkey, East Africa, etc as part of my business, charity work or for personal reasons.

Sikhi

I have taken part in various Sikh activities globally and that has been the most satisfying undertaking in my life. In about 2005, I began contributing to SikhiWiki. For my sins, I was made an "administrator" (or Sysop) soon afterwards. It has been a pleasure to be involved in this exercise. I hope that one day, SikhiWiki will become the standard reference for Sikh Information.

Other Interests

• Flickr photos

USER has uploaded PDF file

Veer ji, {{WKWF}}

I have added a link to your PDF file [https://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Sikh_Martyrs#Documents Here - under the sub-title '''"Documents"''']. Kindly do the same for the other PDF files that you have uploaded to SikhiWiki, on the relevant pages.

If you have any problems creating the link, kindly post a message on my talk page.

Kind regards,
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Technical links

This is an active SikhiWiki contributor.