True Australian Ghost Story

For those of you who love a good ghost story:

This story happened in Brisbane and it's true. John Bradford, a Sydney University student, was on the side of the road hitch hiking on a very dark night and in the midst of a storm. The night was rolling on and no car went by.The storm was so strong he could hardly see a few feet ahead of him. Suddenly he saw a car slowly coming towards him and stopped. John, desperate for shelter and without thinking about it, got in the car and closed the door, just to realize there was nobody behind the wheel and the engine wasn't on! The car started moving slowly. John looked at the road and saw a curve approaching. Scared, he started to pray, begging for his life.Then, just before he hit the curve, a hand appeared through the window and turned the wheel. John, paralysed with terror, watched how the hand appeared every time they came to a curve. John saw the lights of a pub down the road so, gathering strength, jumped out of the car and ran to it. Wet and out of breath, he rushed inside and asked for two shots of tequila.He then started telling everybody about the horrible experience he went through. A silence enveloped everybody when they realized he was crying and....wasn't drunk. About 15 minutes later, two guys walked into the same pub. They were also wet and out of breath. Looking around and seeing John Bradford sobbing at the bar, one said to the other, "Look, Bruce.. there's the idiot that got in the car while we were pushing it."

Bhai Ram Singh Guru Gyan Mission

For the past 2 evenings (7.30-8.30pm), I have been attending a lecture series on Ardas by well known kathavachak, Bhai Ram Singh of the Guru Gyan Mission. It is being held daily until Saturday, 22 Sept, 2007, at Gurdwara Sahib Sungai Besi, KL. Bhai Sahib Ji is presently on a tour of Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand. His detailed programme and topics of discussion can be viewed here. Many of you would have heard this young, talented and well researched speaker at the Cheras Semagam last year. This upcoming and dedicated Parcharak is extremely IT savvy and the talk series is well structured and accompanied by a power point presentation. It is well designed and easy to follow. Even young children are benefitting tremendously. What I find most amazing about Bhai Sahib Ji is his ability to relate even the most difficult of concepts to events that occur in our daily lives. The Power Point presentation is in Romanised version and provides an easy to understand translation into the English Language. Even if you have missed the first 2 sessions, do not despair, as every session starts with a brief recap of the earlier sessions. The talk on Ardas will be followed by a series on Japji Sahib at Gurdwara Sahib Klang from 23-29th Sept, 2007. Do come and encourage others to come as well. Food for the soul is complemented with Guru ka langgar for the body. This programme is brought to us by a few dedicated sewadaars. May Guru Ji bless them with Chardi Kala.

Tabla Maestro Sibu Ji in Malaysia

For all of you tabla lovers out there there will be a tabla workshop/performance in Sabha House. Details are as follows:-
Date: Saturday, September 15, 2007
Time: 5:00pm - 7:00pm
Location: Sabha House Conference Room
71 Jalan Maarof, Bangsar
Contact InfoPhone: 012 339 7281
Email: hargopal@gmail.com
Master Sarbjit Singh (Sibu Ji) will be showcasing his tabla and keyboard playing prowess at this performance. For those of you who were fortunate enough to catch his superb performance with Ghulam Abbas last Saturday, no introduction is necessary. For the rest of you, this show is not to be missed. The guy is truly inspiring.
Fee : RM20 only per person, to cover costs.

Gur Pooray Kirpa Dhari

I was looking forward to Saturday the 1st of September, 2007, for more reasons than one. Most importantly, my Little Darling (my pet name for her), Gurparkash Kaur, was turning 3. This is a picture of her in her ANGRY! pose. Gurparkash was born on the 300th anniversary of the Parkash Dihara of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, which fell on 1st September, 2004. The hukamnama, with which we were blessed at Gurparkash's naming Ardas, was Gur Pooray Kirpa Dhari, Prabh Poori Loch Hamari (The Perfect Guru Has Been Merciful, My Heart's Desires Are Fulfilled). Blessed with this wonderful hukam of the Guru, we decided to name her Gurparkash, a combination of the first word of the hukam and the blessed day of her birth.

So great were the blessings of the True and Perfect Guru, that Gurparkash's birthday celebrations had been intertwined with the Parkash Dihara of her Guru for the rest of her life. We normally celebrate her birthday with an event at the gurdwara. This year was no different. The Akhand Paath, in commemoration of the Parkash Dihara was being held at Tatt Khalsa Gurdwara, KL and we had a small diwan from 2 to 4pm in one of the smaller Darbar Sahib with Sukhmani Sahib recitation and some Kirtan, followed by ardas and hukamnama. After that, some delicious Tosai, samosaas, cake and cha were served to the Sangat. Gurparksh and older sister, Harsohela Kaur, also had fun sharing party packs with other kids present.

Later that day, we had a wonderful evening of Ghazals, Geets, Classical Khayals, Sufi Khayals and a few golden bollywood oldies with Ghulam Abbas Khan. We were truly lucky that a very gifted tabla maestro, Ustad Sarbjit Singh or better known as Sibu Ji, was on hand to accompany Khan saab. Sibu Ji was born without sight and his feat of mastering the tabla at a relatively young age of 28, is nothing short of being truly magnificent. The evening went on until late as Khan saab was flooded with requests of famous Ghazals and Bolloywood oldies which Khan saab readily obliged and delivered beautifully. He is a truly gifted and talented singer. As I watched Sibu Ji masterfully and flawlessly deliver the strokes of the tabla, I couldn't help but think of the irony of being guided through a beautiful world of rhythm and music by someone who is visually challenged. Well, he showed true vision in his performance that evening. This was a Saturday that will be remembered by all for a long long time.