My guess is that Sarah Palin didn't realize that she met a Sikh...

Like Megatron, "I still function." I haven't been around, but I still function. Hopefully by year's end I'll have a new video project completed with the fine group of gents behind GNE. Time will tell.

So, guess who Gov. Palin met in NY at the annual UN gathering? India's #1, PM Dr. Manmohan Singh.

I bet the isolated Governor, who has no clue to the world outside of Alaska, had no clue that he was a Sikh. Let alone possibly know that he's from India, which is made up so many religions and cultures. I hope she proves me wrong.

But she definitely will remember the new Pakistani President.

Anyways, check out Sarah Palin chillin with Dr. Singh:

"Sorry Sarah, I'm a one woman man. I'm with Sonia. Sorry."

OK. Now time for a quick thank you to Golf Digest. Thanks to some great work from some Panthic organizations, Golf Digest posted an apology in their August 2008 edition due to their debacle on making Guru Arjan Dev Ji. I actually had the pleasure to speak with Jeff Tarde, the Editor in Chief.

He was a kind man and was very sincere saying that the mistake was not intentionally done or with malice. It's always great to see items like this where media based organizations are quick to apologize for a silly mistake that was not meant. Take a look at the statement below for the apology:

Thank you, Golf Digest.

Big ups for my cousin Harjit Singh Sandhar who started it all up. Look him up on Facebook.

And finally, check out my nephew Runvir. He is the true "Singh is King." Big ups to my Bro in Law Harmohan Singh Gabri (he's on Facebook too) for making a great video on his son.

Later. I'm around...

Bhai Sahib Gurdarshan Singh Rules!!!

Happy New Year… and all that good stuff. =)

The end of 2007 was good to me, as I had some time off from work. With this time off, it allowed me to do something that I had been putting off due to wedding planning. I finally got to update the Inspiration section to RestoringThePride.com, which features kirtan and gurmat recordings of Bhai Gurdarshan Singh of Guru Gobind Singh Foundation.

Lovingly referred to as Bhai Sahib here in the DC area, he is true multi-talented individual with skills rarely seen among Sikh Granthis. As a graduate of the Sikh Missionary College, Bhai Sahib is well versed in Sikh history, gurmat, gurbani , and the ability to sing beautiful kirtan. But his one true skill that sets him apart from others is his ability to fluently talk both in Punjabi and English.

Although I'm born and brought up in the States, I have not met any Sikh Granthi, or traveling kirtan jatha, to be able to clearly communicate in both of these languages when sharing the message of Sikhism. Probably this is the case (and I do hope so) for Sikh Diaspora elements in the United Kingdom and Canada, but I haven’t seen this in America. Throughout being raised in the DC area and spending some "sabbatical" at most of the Gurudwaras here, I haven’t seen no other Giani other than Bhai Sahib who has the ability to connect with the Sangat regardless where they are raised (east or west), let alone share Sikhism clearly and concisely to Non-Sikhs (generally Americans who have no idea of the Sikhs at all).

What's best about Bhai Sahib is that when you listen to his recordings, he easily intertwines both Engligh and Punjabi when discussing passages from the Guru Granth Sahib. This ability allows Western based Sikhs (like me) to capture the same message and scope being offered to their parents.

Furthermore, he has a great sense of expressing both his thoughts and emotions to truly show that he is compassionate about his faith of Sikhism, as well as firm believer that he demonstrates with ease. At my wedding, many of my American friends were struck by Bhai Sahib’s frank discussion on the purpose to marriage. However to my delight, they were "upset" at him through his talk. It appears that just when Bhai Sahib was about to make his point when speaking in English, he would switch over to Punjabi leaving them confused yearning for what he was saying.

Bhai Sahib has a great ability to be a Granthi within the Gurudwara and be your friend outside of his profession. This is a talent that must have been hard for him to master, but he has done so wonderfully. If you are ever up to a game of Volleyball, Table Tennis, or to watch a sporting event, Bhai Sahib is a great companion to have tag along… assuming that he does not have a Granthi duty to do which can happen at the spur of the moment.. He has helped me in many ways when I have ever had questions about Sikhi, but more so as a friend.

A couple years back, I was approached by one of my good friends who was adamantly stating that a MP3 recorder needs to purchased in order to record all of Bhai Sahib's kirtan records or audio lectures. He, along with several other friends and me, decided to pitch in and get a device to do this duty. However we quickly learned how audio editing can be a pain in the butt. So as time passed, I agreed to do this work and I try to get whatever recordings I have online as fast as I can. But you can see how "fast" I work, as I just uploaded all 2007 recordings at the end of the 2007 year.

So in short if you are looking for good discussions on Sikhism or wish to better understand the message when kirtan is performed, check out the work of Bhai Gurdarshan Singh. The data transfer for all these recordings has been extremely high since I posted it online, which is a good positive sign that people are enjoying the content.

Recently Bhai Sahib just returned from Houston Sikh Youth Camp (he goes every year) and the Campers there were so inspired by his talks, that they created a Facebook group called Bhai Gurdarshan Singh Rules!!!!!!

And I'm quite happy to say that yes, I do agree with this thought. Bhai Gurdarshan Singh my friend, you do rule.

Bhai Sahib Gurdarshan Singh (right), he's one cool dude.

23 years later, the wounds are not healed.

Some wounds though may never heal, especially this one.

In remembrance of 23rd anniversary of the sacrilege, destruction, and desecration of Harimandar Sahib complex.

Artistic painting of the destruction of the Akaal Takhat in June 1984.
My Dad snapped this picture when he visited Toronto two years ago.

For those of you, who don't know what happened 23 years ago, check out the following video below. It's a documentary called Storming the Temple as it was aired on The History Channel some years ago.

Storming The Temple

If you want, you can download the video here.

I was six years old when 1984 happened, and that is the day I woke up and realized who I am.

What about you?

Happy Memorial Day

So here in the United States, every last Monday in the month of May is observed as Memorial Day. I’ve been meaning to post these pictures for some time, and I can’t think of a better day to do it than today.

Sgt. Uday Singh was a member of the United States Army, who unfortunately perished while serving in Iraq in December 2003. I take a trip on his birth and death anniversary every year, per request of his parents, and place flowers on his memorial grave marker at Arlington National Cemetery (ANC).

The United States wished to honor Sgt. Singh since he was the first person of Indian decent to die serving this Nation. He was cremated in Punjab and a ceremonial grave marker was placed at ANC. Since he was a follower of the Sikh faith, a Khanda was etched on his marker. This year my main man, and cousin, Bhavan rolled with me to pay respects.

Sgt. Uday Singh
United States Army
Combat casualty of Operation Iraqi Freedom
1982-2003

My main homey, Bhavan, paying respects to Sgt. Singh and all others at ANC.

While placing flowers, Bhavan and I spent some time looking at the new grave markers placed in front of Sgt. Singh. We came across Sgt. Alessandro Carbonaro of the United States Marine Corps, who was native to the Washington DC area.

Sgt. Alessandro Carbonaro
United States Marine Corps.
Combat casualty of Operation Iraqi Freedom
1978-2006

As seen in the picture below, his Mother left a touching message for her fallen Son.

A Mother's love towards her Heroic Son.

May Waheguru bless Sgt. Singh, Sgt. Carbonaro, and all those who seek your guidance.

Whenever you are visiting in Washington, take some time to see Sgt. Singh’s marker at ANC. Just go to the visitor center and state that you wish to visit his marker. They’ll take care of you from there.

Please welcome Amritsar's Harpreet Singh...

RestoringThePride.com has gained a new entry to its artistic team, Mr. Harpreet Singh from Amritsar. Harpreet is a graphics designer and has made some really neat computer desktop wallpapers showing his talents. Click on the image below to see some of Harpreet Singh's works:

Welcome aboard Harpreet! Hey, anybody else out there that wants to show off their talents? Click here to find out how to get your work posted.

Later.