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An indian version of jingle bells:

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First Turbaned Sikh Pilot in America

San Antonio, Texas – In March 2008, Arpinder Kaur , 28, was hired by American Airlines Corporation (AMR) as a First Officer. Kaur flies Embraer Jets for American Eagle, a regional airline that is part of AMR and she is now based out of the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport . The Sikh Research Institute is proud to share the news that Kaur is now the first turbaned Sikh pilot to fly for a commercial airline in the United States . "Two of the reasons I did this were: first, my love of flying and, second, to set a precedent for the community so they know you can be in your Sikh appearance and do anything out there; so that my younger brothers and sisters [the rising generation] will pursue their passions while practicing their Sikh faith," Kaur said.

Kaur said that she knew she wanted to be a pilot the very first time she was in an airplane. She was 14 and moving from the Panjab (since 1947 the region is divided between India and Pakistan ) to the United States . The crew let her sit in the cockpit and see everything that they did. "That is the day I found in me this passion for flying," Kaur said.

She lived in Virginia after the move and attended George Mason University (VA) where she graduated with a degree in information systems. She did not forget her dream of flying over the years, though her mother told her that girls should not be pilots because it was too dangerous.

Kaur said it was the love and support of her husband, Pritpal Singh that pushed her forward on the path toward becoming a pilot. Kulbir Singh Sandhu, captain with AMR mentored her throughout her aviation career. From 2003 to 2005 Kaur was trained by Jesse Sherwood in Kansas . "I had the passion for flying but he [sherwood] really instilled the professionalism of flying through the time I was training with him," Kaur said.

In 2005, Kaur moved to San Antonio and spent two more years as a flight instructor at Wright Flyers Aviation at the San Antonio International Airport . In January of 2008 she applied to be a pilot at American Airlines; her application was accepted in March and from 17 March through 7 June 2008, she underwent their pilot training program.

Kaur said that she just recently resolved the issue of her flying turbaned – the American Airlines manual allows "regulation approved hats" – by filling out an Accommodation Form. Kaur received help from The Sikh Coalition (SC), while she was planning the best way to secure an accommodation agreement about her turban. Harsimran Kaur, a staff attorney who consulted with Kaur said that, "the Sikh Coalition appreciates American Eagle's willingness to accommodate Ms. Kaur's religiously- mandated turban consistent with state and federal anti-discrimination law."

Harinder Singh, executive director of the Sikh Research Institute (SikhRI) in San Antonio , Texas said, "This is a great day for the Sikhs in America . Religious accommodation, not assimilation, is what the founders of this great nation envisioned and we are thrilled American Airlines celebrates the rich religious and cultural diversity of all American populations." SikhRI helped Arpinder through the process of becoming a pilot through the use of educational and community building tools. SikhRI facilitates Sikh-Americans in integrating the Sikh Ideals with American values.

Contact Person: Harinder Singh

info@sikhri. org

Video about Bhenji Arpinder Kaur Ji:

Ancient but deadly: the return of shastar vidiya

source: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-...ya-1679002.html

Banned by the Raj, the world's original martial art is being revived by British Asians. Jerome Taylor reports

Nidar Singh Nihang, front, hopes to revive the ancient martial art of shastar vidiya

SUKHA SINGH

Nidar Singh Nihang, front, hopes to revive the ancient martial art of shastar vidiya

* Photos enlarge

In a fluorescent-lit sports gymnasium at a sprawling sixth-form college in Hounslow, west London, three turbaned Sikh warriors are frantically battling each other with razor-sharp swords. Draped in flowing blue robes and sporting chest-length beards, the three men cavort, twist and counter-attack each other in a blur of clashing blades and skilled confusion.

Watched by scores of eagle-eyed students, the two younger combatants use elegant curved swords and small circular shields to attack a taller and older man who is armed with a long double-edged blade and a simple dagger. Each time his opponents bring their weapons down, the lone warrior nimbly dodges the blow by sidestepping away or deflecting it back on to one of his opponents.

After a brief pause the tall man walks forward, runs a hand through his thick beard and announces with a slight hint of a Black Country accent: "The next technique I'll teach you is one that can break both a man's arms in just three moves. In real life of course, once you've broken the first arm your opponent is not getting back up. But when you're practising it's best to learn how to break both."

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The martial art that the men are practising is shastar vidiya – a now little-known fighting technique from north India that virtually died out when the British Raj banned it after the final, bloody defeat of the Sikh empire in the mid-19th century.

While Chinese and Japanese fighting forms such as kung fu and ju-jitsu have become national institutions, shastar vidiya has languished alongside many of India's fighting techniques as a forgotten art form.

But one man is determined to bring it back from the brink of extinction. Nidar Singh Nihang is a 41-year-old "gurdev" (master) who has spent 20 years studying the secrets of shastar vidiya in order to pass it on to younger generations. It is a journey that has taken him from being a food packer in a Wolverhampton factory to one of the world's top authorities on ancient Indian fighting styles. Now he is looking for young apprentices willing to devote their life to learning the secrets of an art that he believes risks dying out altogether.

"Most people who practise Indian martial arts nowadays are simply learning the toned down exhibition styles that were allowed by the British," he says. "Unless we start teaching the original fighting styles they will be extinct within 50 years. I want to find two or three sensible, intelligent and tolerant young apprentices who can pass on what I've learned to future generations."

That a British citizen is trying to resurrect shastar vidiya by teaching it to young British Asians is more than a little ironic given the history.

Although shastar vidiya was widely practised across the subcontinent long before the emergence of Sikhism in the mid-16th century, it was the Sikh tribes of the Punjab that came to be the true masters of this particular fighting style.

Surrounded by hostile Hindu and Muslim empires who were opposed to the emergence of a new religion in their midst, the Sikhs quickly turned themselves into an efficient and fearsome warrior race. The most formidable group among them were the Akali Nihangs, a blue-turbaned sect of fighters who became the crack troops and cultural guardians of the Sikh faith. As Britain's modernised colonial armies expanded across the Indian subcontinent, some of the stiffest opposition they faced came from the Sikhs who fought two bloody but ultimately disastrous wars in the 1840s that led to the fall of the Sikh empire and allowed Britain to expand its Indian territories as far as the Khyber Pass.

Astonished by the ferocity and bravery of the Akali Nihangs, the Punjab's new colonial administrators swiftly banned the group and forbade Sikhs from wearing the blue turbans that defined the Akalis.

Sikh warriors were quickly given rifles and drafted into Britain's armies. The practice of shastar vidiya went underground and was nearly forgotten. In its place, the British allowed and encouraged "gatka", a ceremonial and toned-down version of shastar vidiya which is widely displayed during Sikh festivals today. Now Singh Nihang hopes he can make shastar vidiya as widely practised as gatka.

In one corner of the gymnasium where Singh Nihang is teaching his class an array of weaponry has been ceremonially laid out on the floor. Students begin learning how to fight with relatively harmless wooden sticks but those who show a particular finesse and dedication are allowed to practice with the kind of swords that once made the Sikh armies so powerful.

"This is one of my favourite weapons," says Singh Nihang as he picks up an undulating, serrated sword that looks uncannily like a snake. "It's very difficult to learn how to use, but it's also very difficult to fight against. The serrated edge confuses your opponent and allows you to sever muscle tendons in battle. It's a very nasty weapon.

"The key skill shastar vidiya teaches is deception. It's the blows your enemy never sees coming that do the real damage." For followers of shastar vidiya, the martial art is more than just a fighting style. Acolytes are expected to live up to strict religious principles and honour martial codes. The roots of shastar vidiya are not known but there is evidence to suggest that India's martial arts predate those from China and Japan.

Indian monks were the first to export Buddha's new teachings across the Himalayas and according to Chinese legend it was an Indian monk called Bodhidharma who first introduced martial arts to the famous Shaolin Temple in AD 600. Bodhidharma himself is thought to have come from south India where another indigenous fighting style known as Kalaripayattu has also undergone a recent renaissance.

One of Singh Nihang's top students is Iqbal Singh, a 39-year-old businessman from Slough who had spent many years looking for a master who might be able to reconnect him with his culture's fighting past.

"When I was younger I used to head down to the British Library where there are loads of manuscripts and books from the Sikh empire," he recalls. "I kept dreaming about travelling back to the Punjab to find a master and I always imagined he'd be some grizzled old man living in a hut somewhere. Instead, the person who seemed to know the most about these fighting styles was a factory worker from Wolverhampton."

In fact, it was thanks to the British Raj's obsessive bureaucracy that people like Singh Nihang have been able to reacquaint themselves with their ancestors' past. The physical technique of fighting was taught to him in the Punjab by a septuagenarian gurdev when he was a teenager but the vast records in the British Library and the V&A Museum enabled him to compile a history of the Akali Nihang warriors in a book called In The Master's Presence.

"That's something that has always amused me," laughs Singh Nihang. "It was British colonialism that nearly destroyed shastar vidiya, but it is also colonialism's obsession with book keeping that may save it."

Oh i just wanted to mention, the person who posted those mangalcharans on that website is not a very big fan of sri dasam granth sahib ji, he have the title as : The Dasam Granth, is a creation of dexterous Brahmins, solely concocted to bring Sikhism under the garb of Hinduism.

vah ji vah thanks shaaheediyan for sharing those priceless mangalcharans from sri dasam granth sahib ji

In the past, people have over-emphasized on vikayaran(grammar) of gurbani but clearly as soon as one surti start doing abhyaas in baikhari bani, madhma, pasanti and finally para bani and then anhad shabad. One start getting anubhavi gyan arths of gurbani because surti is directly in touch with the source - dhur ki bani which is anadi, agami, aad, bodh before dhur ki bani was expressed in grammar and after. Gurbani supports meta reality so those anubhavi arths one may get could be relative to each surti's. For eg- One may realize sachkhand being an place like baikhunt where all the gurmukhs meditate on his name more sargun based, or one may realize sachkhand being sarabvyapaki, sun smadhi state based on the surti attune more towards anubhavi agad bodh of nirgun.

Neo Ji the link you gave seems to be on somethingelse rather than on bhavrasamrit also if it has been translated any idea where you can get a copy from UK or Canada?

sorry singh the correct link would be: http://www.sikhawareness.com//index.php?showtopic=8770

Mithar veer, i can get you the source if this is documented but according to singhs who are fond of dr harkirat singh, they said, dr harkirat singh didn't agree with prof sahib singh approach with vikayaran niyams. For eg: Vikaayaran niyam explained by prof sahib singh does not apply to some parts in bhagat bani because some parts in bhagata bani rachna is written in marathi basha in sri guru granth sahib ji, because each language has their own grammar, also sidhant of vikayaran prof sahib used in japj sahib, same sidhant of vikayaran couldn't apply in rehras sahib consistently. There are even diversity within vikayaran interpertation of gurbani as article suggests.

thanks shaheediyan

and curious ji yes i would like some on general topics like vikaar, maya, also on veechar on nirgun/sargun etc..

or if they are any compartive katha on religions

If you looking for some hardcore veevchar on nirgun/sargun. Please click on the link below:

http://www.sikhawareness.com//index.php?showtopic=10557

Either you can download the video or you can see it on google video. Listen to it few times, you will enjoy it and pick up new things each and every time you listen to it.

not really, all these theories, especially the ones that deal with quantum physics, on a basic level are showing the world to be a meta-reality, or even more dumbed down - the world as you perceive it is a reflection of your own inner processes. There is no actual definite reality but instead just instead just subjective perceptions based on beliefs, expectations, etc. I actually think stuff like this is getting researchers to look more deeply into eastern spirituality.

Thanks for your response gsingh veer, very interesting indeed. I will read more on this topic.

If you want to know about vikyaran rules, read - dr harkirat singh's book on vikayaran. But don't consider them as fool proof or gospel truth. Dr Harkirat singh being student of prof sahib singh himself found many faults in prof sahib singh vikayaran rules. He himself claims its hard to bind gurbani with vikayaran rules.

I actually came to conclusion with having vichar with many senior gurmukhs, even though bhramgyani does not need to have vikayaran in mind when explaining tat gyan of certain shabad, naturally it will not go against vikayaran rules created by guru maharaj themselves. It's true that gurbani meaning cannot be bound to just grammar because its dhur ki bani but it also true that dhur ki bani was expressed in form of grammar.

I don't think its right to say that you don't need vikayaran to understand basic teachings of gurbani, its like saying you don't need english grammar to understand poetry of english. It goes hand in hand, the main problem is not vikayaran/grammar but the main problem is in the past, scholars have to tried to bind gurbani with soo called vikayaran rules which were inconsistent with gurbani itself. These so called vikayaran/grammar rules were refuted by many mahapursh ie- sant gurbachan singh ji bhindranwale. The vikayaran set full proof rules are still yet to be discovered, can be only discovered by Guru's grace. In order to discover it, this jiv surti's have to reach the level of guru's state when dhur ki bani was expressed in form of grammar by guru's themselves. Frankly, no one has reached that level nor there is any need to reach that level, one cannot compare themselves with guru's state, that's why many mahapursh don't pay much need to do khoj of vikayaran rules or vikayaran modern rules but rather gives tat gyan of shabad(main thing) to jaigaso so they can reflect on the shabad. I mean main aim of life is to do abhyaas of gurbani. Whilst, we should encourage khoj of gurbani, there is certainly no need for everyone to start psycho analysis gurbani based on individual understanding of vikayaran. In the past people have tried to use vikayaran rules but failed and will continue to fail if they keep using their matt.

hey guys correct me if i am wrong, but isn't this theory go against panj tats/5 elements that we made of ?

Guys, what if author have included sri guru nanak dev ji in this game, would your reaction as positive as it is now? Our sikh sangat would have created petition and send death threats to author via emails over this.

I do have sense of humor but this is stretching bit too far.

Thanks a lot tsingh for your deep vichar on this, i m definitely getting what you are trying to say slowly but surely. I will have to read it few more times to totally grasp it, if i have any question, will reply to this topic.

There is no clear cut answer to this. I think lot of youths been to camps where one simply is taught this is gurmat, this is manmat without looking at the depth of important issues such as dancing. Its quite fine for begineers because pot of mind is not fully developed here, amrit may not stay there in other words mind may wanders around here and there.

Gurbani itself does not decide nitty gritty acts of person as Gurmat or Manmat in this case- dancing because gurbani supports meta reality based on individual surti. As gurbani says: jehri surat tahi rahe jai ||

Main question should not be if bhangra or dancing is manmat but if lyrics one dancing into is manmat??

Dancing on dirty lyrics or anti gurmat lyrics has no place in sikhi like for eg- jatt bakaraie bulandaie brauhhhhhhhh its pure manmat there is no justification in that. However, it all depends on the lyrics, one may think the person who is dancing to lyrics which is dedicated towards other person mostly hindi songs lyrics are romantic meant for dedicated to opposite sex is committing manmat. However person who is dancing to that lyrics may be dancing to express his/her love towards guru maharaj. I cannot even begin to give examples from indian movie lyrics where one can easily interpret, dedicated the song lyrics to their spiritual teacher/guru maharaj ji instead of one's mashoka.

Similarly if you listen or read bulleh shah peotry or rumi sahib poetry or even bhai nand lal poetry for sri guru gobind singh ji, one may doubt they may be referring to lady they fall in love but in fact its dedicated towards allah beautiful creation, In jaap sahib, sri guru gobind singh ji talks about - husan jamal hai. One arrogrant of persian peotry may easily twist it and claim guru maharaj ji may be talking about specific woman but guru maharaj is talking about beauty of akaal purkh transcedent into its creation. I am in no way comparing gurbani with hindi lyrics before someone accuses me of that. I am just trying to prove a point that one's surti may perceives (what joe blow think as) manmat lyrics as Gurmat because of their higher surti and one arrogrance of beautiful poetry of sufi saints or gurbani poetry may perceives them as manmat because of their low surti or low avastha.

Going back to the topic of dancing, dancing in maharaj's darbar out of spiritual intoxication like sufi's do is highly discouraged but its not manmat. The reason its highly discouraged in darbar is because gurmukh supposed to hide his avastha or emotions and stay in sehaj avastha in darbar and stay in sehaj when dealing with normal sangat which may have many begineers. One surti may get soo much of ras on certain lyrics of artist one cannot stop it to express themselves in dancing. Now question one may ask if one has gurbani why others have to listen to other lyrics let alone dancing? again answer to that is not clear cut requires bit of deep vichar.

According to gurbani, no where it talks about do not listen to stuff which are dedicated towards vahiguroo or may be interperted as dedicated towards vahiguroo, if one develops their jevan, at one point they see goodness in everywhere, so individual surti based on avastha get naturally attuned to lyrics which are spiritually attuned or can be perceive spiritually especially sufi qwalis are much appreciated by many mahapursh some of them even include them in their vichars, some lyrics may even seem that its dedicated more towards female or vice versa whether one may understand them it depends on their surti.

In taksal along with samparda's such rara sahib, there were many mahapursh/bhramgyanis who were maryada purushtam which is quite fine so straight answer to begineer jaigaso that dancing is manmat is quite expected but as surti progress of that jaigaso into spiritual realm and goes back to maryada purshtam mahapursh they now might get different answer all together, it will have depth, not everything is black and white in sikhi especially in mysticism portion of sikhi. Many maryada purushtam mahapursh never engage in such practises but they had no problems interacting with other mahapursh who engage into mastane practices such as dancing, unexpectly clapping their hands, throw stones at people who came, gone naked start running around to prove a point, they had no problem with interacting with them, they have given the acts performed by these mastane fakirs as agami kautak, fakir di ramza. They have consider mastane fakirs in the panth who engaged into activities listed above quite high avastha.

Anyway going back to the topic, in layman terms, there is no question that dancing to dirty lyrics is manmat but if one is dancing to good lyrics which shows goodness in others or somehow remind us of god then no its not manmat.

Also argument of dancing on just pure music based on health reasons is quite good, there are sikhs who engage into sports activity, if one wishes to play maryada game card with people who dances for health reasons same can be argued people playing sports, in both activities there is a work out. However there is one major difference playing a sports requires concentration in that sport which is taking away us from vahiguroo but dancing on just pure music requires no additional concentration, one may go mast in music and concentrates on akaal purkh.. so if people want to play maryada game card too then it appears sports is more manmat than dancing on just pure music because one requires concentration in that act and other one does not...anyway its a long post now i have to go back to see how many times i have used manmat word ..lol

Nanak Satgur Bhetiya Poori Hovaie Jugat |

Hasandaie Khelendiya Pehendiya Kavandaiya Viche Hovaie Mukht ||

[Ang- 522]

In Sikhi, life is celebration. Sikhi Bairaagi marg aside for most part, one does not have to miserable watchdog all the time, try to enjoy life while you pursue bhagti. Generally speaking, there is a limit, the problem is either people follow one extreme of being miserable watchdog or follow another extreme do bhangra on anti-gurmat lyrics and try to justify it. Both are wrong.

Yes veer vah, bhavrasamrit is been translated into english, please check out the link below for more information:

http://www.sikhawareness.com//index.php?showtopic=8770

wow cable packages are expensive down there, I agree i m also looking fwd to twenty20 world cup as well. Even though India is playing, I be still supporting South Africa, because they been unlucky team through out, they are the number one at the moment but they also known as chokers, i want them to win this time so chokers label can be proven wrong. lol

what is the last granth? Should it not be Sarkatavali!

Is it their own translation with viakhiya or are they reading it from a steek?

sorry thats what i meant- sarkatavali...i was way off..lol. From what i understand this singh who spent 5 months in harkhowala dera said they were reading it from the steek. May be he can clarify further, also may i ask tsingh and other knowledgeable singh gives the description on these above granths. I know next to nothing about them besides chankaya granth which pretty much everyone knows.

Good to know about nihang singhs take initiative to do this, its amazing, please keep us updated on their future projects. I will try to install them.

Welcome G.kaur ji, I hope you enjoy your stay here.

Thats a lot freed bhaaji, brotherly puppy on your cheek for doing this for us

I understand this granth is talking about 17 different shabads, but does it talk about what are those 17 different shabadas? is it like ongoing resonance of aum/ong kar?

Any sikhi based programs for symbian s60? I was just browsing allaboutsymbian.com, came across with full quran compatible with s60 phones ie- nokia n/e series/samsung, i m just wondering if we have any gurbani based programs for symbian s60 as well?

just as FYI: Symbian OS controls 49% of cellphone, smart phones market share.

Absolutely marvelous, I personally have been to kirtan darbar where bhai onkar singh ji performed, his awaaz is full of bairaag, just mind blowing.

I will share some of the kirtan sung by him soon.

~Coming soon exclusive on Sikhawareness ~

-Audio Vaikhiya of chankaya granth in Punjabi

- Audio Vaikhiya of Vichar Mala in punjabi

- Audio Vaikhiya of Sarkatavali granth in Punjabi

Audio by Sant Jagjit Singh Ji Harkhowale.