Comments and Feedback on Issue No. 1, June 2002

Editor,

Great site!

The website looks great and I enjoyed all articles. June 2002 issue holds Great Gems such as Tibet travels of Guru Nanak and articles by Sardar Daljeet Singh and of course Preet Mohan Singh. Would love to see Sardar Kapoor Singh's and Gurtej Singh's articles. But keep the strict measure of unadulterated Sikhi concepts only. Please do one more favor and actually make a printed version so that one can buy the printed version for home library etc.(I know I can always print myself). Great work and may Guru's blessing be on thee!!

A.P. Singh
(Address withheld on request)

Dear Rajinder,

I was impressed by the good quality and the global vision of this magazine. Keep it up and do let us know if help is needed. We will circulate this information to our sangat.

Our prayers and well wishes for the future growth of this well founded effort!

Harbhajan Singh
sikh study circle
Texas, USA

Dear Preet Mohan,

Please accept my heartfelt congratulations on launching the new website. The format seems very simple and easy to browse. Reflecting upon your own thought, I am sure the quality of postings will be very illuminating.

Once again with best wishes,

Pritpal Singh Bindra
Winner Akali Phoola Singh Book Award '98
Toronto, Canada

Hello Preet:

Congratulations! Can you link Sikhpoint.com on your site under links.

Thanks and Regards

Bicky Singh
SikhPoint
California, USA

I agree with much of your article, Shaster-Vidya and Self-Delusion regarding the made up techniques taught in gatkha akharas especially by the pseudo nihang groups. I have been privelleged to have spent time over the years with gatkha masters of Tarna Dahl (Harianwelan) and Baba Bidhi Chand jatha of Sursingh and their teaching (which i have on video) is completely different as that taught by these western 'nihang' groups. I'm glad you've put your point across clearly and hope your article reaches other sikh groups on the net.

Could you please let me know where the photo of Guru Sahibs' shaster was taken and if you can email me a larger and sharper image. Thanking you.

Ranjit Singh
London, UK

I would like to know how much it would cost to purchase the private collections in India which would make a start towards a central library/catalogue of recent sikh history. Please contact me if you have further details as I would like to help in the establishment of such a collection.

Ranjit Singh
London, UK

Editor: We request people to provide us with detailed contact information. It will help us in convincing relevant organizations to pursue leads and seek assistance. Thank you.

Amandeep Singh Madra and Jeevan Deol have established a non-commercial organization United Kingdom Punjab Heritage Association. Your support and donations are welcome.

UKPHA
Croyde House
Parkway, Hillingdon
Middx UB10 9JX

Editor,

This is a really good magazine. Please include a section which describe the detail of Darbar Shaib Shalok.

Thanks and all the best.

Chander Sapra

Editor: Thank your for your suggestion. We will consider it.

Editor,

Great job on the website! I'd love to stay updated, and possibly write an article for the site as well.

Jennifer Katial

Editor: For submissions of your articles please read SikhSpectrum.com Writers Guidelines

Editor,

I think this is a very well-written short story. Such stories provide entertainment as well as have a moral ending for kids to think about. I will recommend this story to my two boys who are interested in reading. They will enjoy reading about Rinku's red bike!!

Rakhi Khaitan
GA, USA

Editor,

I've just been browsing through Issue 1, June 2002 of SikhSpectrum.com and found it quite interesting. Some of the articles contain material I'm not interested in at all, but others like 'Guru Nanak in Tibet' are catching. Will SikhSpectrum.com also be focussing on topics like Nam and detailed explanations of select verses from our scriptures?

Paramjit Singh
London, UK

Editor: We will certainly publish articles on Sikh Philosophy. A similar suggestion was made yesterday and we are presently considering it. I will also like to emphasize that we invite our readers to not only suggest but also send us articles. This is a magazine for writers. For the prospective writer we have provided guidelines.

Reading gives pleasure and writing is a gift that all of us have. We just need to begin. In the words of H.G. Wells,

"I write as straight as I can, just as I walk as straight as I can, because that is the best way to get there."

There is a writer in all of us. We encourage you to share your thoughts with the world. This will be your way in making a difference in the lives of people who you may not know in person but are bound by cyber love and respect. Please keep the suggestions coming. SikhSpectrum.com is a community service. We are here to serve you. Help us to serve you better.

Editor,

I enjoyed the article, and I am most interested in the original portrait of Guru Nanak Dev on silk, perhaps now with some Indian official and/or you, S. Preet Singh Ahluwalia jee. I wonder if it is possible to get a copy of this. Any information you can provide will be much appreciated. Thank you most sincerely for your attention to this request. Do you know if any other original portrait of Guru Nanak exists, if so, where, and how can one get a copy of it. Thanks again.

Best wishes

Dr. Walia
LA, USA

Editor: I (Preet Mohan Singh) have not personally seen the painting of Guru Nanak. The motivation for publishing this article is to encourage Sikh organizations worldwide to work together and explore these unknown facts of our glorious history.

Gurdwara Guru Dongmar got news coverage in recent years because many Sikhs protested its desecration. Recently Spokesman (Chandigarh) and Sikh Review carried articles to highlight installation of idols of various deities in the presence of Guru Granth Sahib. According to an article by Col. Dr. Devinder Singh Grewal, which was published in The Sikh Review, in 1998 the Indian army had ordered demolition of the Gurdwara. At that time S. Gurcharan Singh Tohra contacted the Indian Defence Minister George Frenandez and got the assurance that the ‘Gurdwara will not be touched.’

Till recently pilgrims have been denied permission to visit Gurdwara Guru Dongmar in Sikkim and also Menchukha Gurdwara in Arunachal Pradesh, which is historically connected to Guru Nanak.

It is our desire to see diaspora Sikhs work together with SGPC and other organizations and request relevant authorities in India to allow Sikhs free access to Gurdwaras across the country.

Editor,

Probably you should consider increasing the size of the 'feedback' link, it is a litttle obscure. The quality of articles is very good - i was wondering whether you should have like a 'notes' section. Just like in magazines they have larger articles and shorter 'notes.' Lesser writers like myself could write a couple of paragraphs there.

Best Wishes,

Chandran
Toronto, Canada

Editor: We can definitely find a way to publish your views. If there is something you would like to share please send it to us. We have provided some guidelines for your assistance.

Editor,

Sat Sri Akal

Wow! Great project, good quality! What else can we ask for? As you know big projects get my juices flowing. I will always read and also try to sometimes contribute. We might use your articles to teach at our school. I need your one time approval for that!

Thank You in advance!

Jagwinder Singh
Principal
Headway School
Edmonton, Canada

Editor: Nothing will give us more pleasure than the knowledge that articles posted on SikhSpectrum.com are of benefit to our readers.

Editor,

Sat Sri Akal

I know that Amandeep Singh Madra is engaged in work that seeks to preserve old Sikh artifacts. I admire that someone has finally realized that old artifacts are priceless treasures of our history.

I write to you because sometime ago I tried to probe the interest of the online Sikh community by seeing if anyone would support a petition, which I wrote to have the SGPC undertake preservation and duplication of the old handwritten Guru Granth Sahib birs.

Unfortunately, no one paid any attention to the proposal. It may be prehaps because I am only an individual and this petition needs the backing of an organization. Please guide me on how to get this petition noticed. My personal feeling is that if a reputable organization hosts this petition, it will ultimately succeed in getting the maximum signatures required.

I am pasting the petition under the e-mail.

Thanks:

M. Singh
USA

Save Sikh Heritage

Respected Members of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee:

We, the undersigned, hereby wish to address our concern for the need to preserve and provide to the public exact duplicate copies of the most valuable of Sikh artifacts - The Old Handwritten Sri Guru Granth Sahib birs ( namely the Kartarpuri Bir, believed to be authored by Guru Arjun Dev, and the Damdami Bir, believed to be a handwritten copy of the origional bir dictated to Bhai Mani Singh by Guru Gobind Singh).

The Undersigned are very concerned that, to date, no steps have been taken to make any exact duplicates of the birs. These birs ensure preservation of the origional content of Sri Guru Granth Sahib and are a document to be keenly studied by scholars of the world. Also, the words of the Gurus should be made available to all to be read in the origional form.

Therefore, we, the Undersigned, request the SGPC to take steps to make available exact duplicates of the aforementioned birs to the world community, so that scholarly work may be undertaken to study the origional birs, to make available to the world the word of the Gurus in their origional format, and to safeguard the origional text from the trials of time.

Sincerely:
The Undersigned

Editor: We will forward your request to Amandeep.

Editor,

The statement under the logo " Truth is high, higher still is truthful living" is against the teachings of our Guru's. Please take it off. Please read the "Darpan" by Prof. Sahib Singh Ji, he makes the meaning of Gurbani quite clear. I can provide the details if needed.

Thanks.

PPSingh MD

Editor: Truth is higher than everything; but higher still is truthful living.(SGGS, p.62:11)

Editor SikhSpectrum.com,

A great debut. Congratulations on your intellectual vision and wide approach. It is refreshing. In his feedback, however, AP Singh Ji has said that you should 'keep to the strict measure of unadulterated Sikhi concepts only.' Quite frankly, I hope you don't. It seems more appropriate to be pluralist and place Sikhi unselfconsciously in a wider world of ideas as you seem to be doing with solid articles like World Bank Funded Health Care: Reality or Deception by Vineeta Gupta and Greed and Social Creation of Wealth by John Fleming. We don't have enough e-sites and discussion groups that are outward-looking and invite non-Sikhs to the party.

Afterall, did Guru Nanak wait for the world to come to him? No, he went to the people and mixed up with their languages, poetry, music, beliefs, problems and customs. Thus we have the grand tradition of inter-linguistic, artistic and inter-faith scriptural dialogue of which Sri Guru Granth Sahib is the sole example in the world. It is not written in 'pure'-Sanskrit, Aramaic Greek or chaste Latin; neither is it 'pure' Pali, Arabic or Hebrew.

The Sikh scripture are a selective blend of some of the best words of the age regardless of caste, creed or religion. That is what is unique about the Guru's vision: it does not live on one level, in one language, in one lifetime. It is truly the first and best example of inter-faith dialogue in the world, and that is what Sikhi is about, in my view.

If A.P. Singh can write us an article on what are these 'pure unadulterated Sikh concepts' we will join and discuss them as among most advanced and futuristic ideas on the planet. But one cannot discuss in a vacuum or without wider reference points. We must allow SikhSpectrum.com to reverse the unfortunate trend that Sikhs have developed of not mixing up, not sharing their Guru's legacy and continuing to live in an airless Sikh ghetto.

Let us live in the big world and embrace it with love and service.

Chris Mooney Singh
Singapore

Editor: There may have been some misunderstanding. It was felt that A.P Singh wanted SikhSpectrum.com to be careful while publishing material on Sikhism since it may not be most accurate. We do strive for accuracy. Let me also reiterate that the mission statement of SikhSpectrum.com is:

“To provide a forum where intelligent and insightful views on social, political, cultural, historical and religious issues are presented.”

We welcome all writers, Sikhs and non-Sikhs.

I will also like to inform our readers about Chris Mooney Singh who is involved with the Rabab Revival project. He has found the original Rabab used by Guru Gobind Singh and is now researching music and trying to bring it back into the Sikh tradition. Born in 1956 in Canberra, Chris Mooney is a fourth-generation Australian of Irish descent related to Ned Kelly the 'Robin Hood' of bushranger folklore. He added 'Singh' to his name and became the first Australian to adopt the Sikh Faith in 1989.

Dear Editor,

Sat Sri Akaal ji,

I am very pleased to see SikhSpectrum.com. It is really a sound and attractive approach towards the preach of Sikhism. There should be a programme for awareness of Sikhism in the young generation.

Best Wishes,

Dr. Kartar Keswani

Editor: We are aware of some issues facing the youth. We request our readers to send us their views and suggestions.

Preetmohan singh ji and Rajinder singh ji,

Heartiest congratulations to you on the new launch for the welfare of Sikhs. Preet you have done a lot for Sikhs and may Waheguru give you strength and long life to contribute more to further the message of our Gurus.

We are with you and wish you every success.

Thank you.

Lakhwinder Singh
CA, USA

Dear Editor,

My cousin Amarjit Singh from Delhi forwarded me an email with your Website. I found it very interesting and look forward to good sensible reading.

Good Luck and Best Wishes.

Bhupinder Singh Mac
CA, USA

Editor,

In reference to Shaster-Vidya and Self-Delusion

I am a bit lost in what the author is trying to say about the use of Gukha and shifting hands.

I have both studied Gukha and taught it. I am out of practice as when I came to Australia there was no one with whom I could continue and none of the Sikhs were that interested.

However, I think some of what is written in the article, is wrong either due to a misunderstanding on my part as I was unable to follow the author, or due to the author's lack of understanding of Gukha. Most likely the answer is somewhere between. But let me make a few points.

Firstly when comparing Gukha to fencing are you using the same weapons? I think not. Each weapon has advantages and disadvantages. If someone is highly qualified in one weapon then they can use it to their advantage over the other. It would only be fair to compare them if they both used the same weapon or if the fight was for real. This is not an option and it is the main advantage of a curved sword over a pointed fencing sword. So by comparing different weapons and not allowing the Gukha master to use the benefit of their weapon it would not be a fair challenge.

With regard to use of the fencing sword, same techniques used in Gukha are applied but of a different scale. In Gukha one is taught to use large circles. Whereas in fencing small circles are used. It is the same approach but with a difference. When one masters Gukha, one can use what has been learned and apply it to other weapons but it must be adapted to that weapon.

Secondly, the circular motion is used to build up speed. The author tried to point out that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. This is true and if we were looking at one one strike this could be applied. However, strikes are blocked and there needs to be more than one strike.

If you are making straight strikes you must stop the sword twice, once at the end of the first strike and at the start of the nest. In circular motion one stop is needed. Therefore with repeated strikes a circular motion is needed for maximum speed and to get in before the other person has time to defend the strike. Fencing also uses a circular motion. When deflecting other persons weapon it is most advantageous and is used by the better ones.

Thirdly, you have not applied the curved sword or Gukha to the way it was meant to be used. In old times people did not fight one on one as in the movies.

They fought in a group with large numbers from both sides all mixed up. A large curved motion helps to protect from an attack that may not be seen. Your pointed fencing sword would be of little use in this situation. Also, people had protection against cuts. In some cases they had chain mail and a normal straight sword is not able to cut through this. However, a curved sword is designed to open the chain mail and thereby kill the opponent.

I do not know about the teaching of Hindu practices in Gukha. I have not seen it although someone may misunderstand some of the practices. Just as someone who does not understanding about the Sikh view that God is without form and then sees Sikhs bowing to a book would think they were praying to an idol. It may be that such did happen to you and then the teacher was not right and your opinion on it would be justified. However, that is not what I understand about Gukha.

Humbly,

Ram Ravi Singh Khalsa
Australia