If people want to destroy society then ....

About Gurvinder Singh
Post a comment on my website
Engage with Gurvinder Singh

Facebook - Twitter - linkedin - SikhNet - Instagram

Midnight Madness - The Sikhs

My stint at studying Engineering at MIT, Manipal was very enriching educationally, intellectually, socially, emotionally and spiritually, whose fruits I enjoy even today for I continue to learn and evolve so much by my continuing interaction with many amazing college mates.

One of my senior friends was a tall, strong and fearless Khalsa Sikh,  [Ragnath Singh Kooner. Like all Panjabi people he is passionate and witty, only a lot more so. In addition he was an excellent student.

Ragnath Singh Kooner

Initially Ragnath's classmates would joke with him and pull his leg, then by and by it got out of hand. All and sundry, every Ram, Tik and Hari classmate jumped on the bandwagon and the jokes began to get mean and increasingly disrespectful.

Each day at noon they would taunt Ragnath Singh 'Sardar ji ke baraa Bajj gaye' (It's 12 O'clock so beware the Sikhs will go crazy).

At first Ragnath shrugged it off, then he requested them and then he warned them. But no one took notice of the protestations of the gentle giant. 

This phrase 'Sardar ji ke baraa Bajj gaye' was actually a warning issued by Mughal, Afghan and Persian leaders to their own men, out of great fear. Fear of the insanely courageous Khalsa Sikhs, though outnumbered would use high speed guerrilla tactics, to attack, wear down and finally defeat the much larger and more powerful invaders. The Sikhs would appear, almost out of nowhere from the dark, charge, attack and decimate the enemy and melt away into the night.

The invaders grew terrified of the Sikhs and would warn their soldiers to remain alert, for the Sikhs will make insane and brutal attacks in the middle of night, so 'beware of the Sardars'.
Sardar ji is a term used for almost all Khalsa Sikhs which literally means leader.

Not only Indians but many in the entire sub-continent owe their very existence today because of the sacrifices and contribution of the Khalsa Sikhs.
Many acknowledge this fact but some stupid and arrogant people may be forgiven for being ignorant of their own history.

The magnificent Sikhs are a proud and noble people, who will gladly die for friendship and a noble cause but are unlikely to tolerate or forgive injustice, cruelty nor disrespect. Ragnath was no exception and one day he made that point to his classmates.

So one day in 1975, there was a brief lull between lectures as the clock struck 12 at noon, some of Ragnath's classmates started taunting him again chanting in unison 'Sardar ji ke baraa Bajj gaye'. 


Suddenly Ragnath Singh  appeared to have lost his mind. He leapt out from behind his desk, shouting. 

Ragnath started kicking, slapping and punching those class mates, who habitually taunted him.  To each person he assaulted he would bring his palms together in the classical 'Sat Sri Akal' greeting/apology saying 'Please forgive me, I don't know what has possessed me' he would then give the poor chap another tight slap. 

Fearing for their safety, some cowered in the corners of the class room and those who could simply fled the classroom. 

Sat Sri Akal -
Meaning 'God is Truth'

The faces and bodies of all those who had been disrespectful of Ragnath and the Sikhs, were badly bruised, as they crept and crawled out of the classroom.

After 2 minutes, a calm and composed Ragnath sat down. Not surprisingly he was the only student in attendance for the next lecture. 

News of the incident spread like wildfire. Some admiring folks came to congratulate Ragnath and most gave him a wide berth. But none ever disrespected or taunted him nor any of the other Sikhs again as long as we studied there.

_________________

What are the lessons I learnt from the incident. 
1. There is a huge difference between, joking and disrespecting. 
2. Decency is often mistaken as timidity and weakness.
3. We humans will try and bully and torment anyone, even a lion if they feel we can intimidate and dominate them. 
4. The true Sikh respects himself or herself and is therefore respectful towards others and always showing great restraint.
5. Many timid people hide within the mob or group and become emboldened. They begin to behave in a manner unlike what they would dare to do so when alone.. 
6. One should never underestimate the fury of honourable and patient men when pushed to the extreme.


About Gurvinder Singh
Post a comment on my website
Engage with Gurvinder Singh

Facebook - Twitter - linkedin - SikhNet - Instagram

What is Democracy?

'Truthification' - Why they convert a lie into a truth?

J Edgar Hoover

J. Edgar Hoover headed the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of America and its 

predecessor organisation for 48 years (1924 -1972).  

In pursuit of so called, 'National Security', Hoover amassed great personal power by collecting large amounts of compromising and potentially embarrassing information on many powerful people, especially politicians. 

John F Kennedy

When John F Kennedy was campaigning for presidency of the United States (1962) he vowed to replace Hoover on becoming president.  

After becoming President, Kennedy never touched Hoover. On the contrary extended his term and powers as director of the FBI. 


When asked why he kept Hoover on as FBI director, JFK bluntly replied. 

"I would rather have Hoover inside the tent pissing outside, rather than have him outside pissing inside."

What is inside the tent? 
It's called 'The Establishment'. 

Figuratively speaking the establishment consists of all people of significant consequence, i.e. all the politicians, bureaucrats, officials, business people, judges, priests, media persons, and others, even criminals. They are the people in every society who make things happen or stop them from happening.
Figuratively speaking, this establishment which holds effective power is always inside the tent. 

The opposition and the 'want-to-be inside the tent' gang up, and as Kennedy said, piss inside on the establishment.  They hope to derail all initiatives, discredit the establishment and seek for their ouster so that they can occupy and establish themselves inside the tent.

Those inside piss out and those outside keep pissing inside. This pissing match between government and opposition is called domestic politics. Vested interests in the bureaucracy, judiciary, religious organisations, business people, join and indulge in this dirty game to ensure that their preferred choices win and become the establishment. It is usually a 'no holds barred' fight because they believe that the ends justify the means.

To win the match, it is necessary to win the minds of the people by convincing them that the existing establishment and leadership is unfit because of immorality, incompetence, corruption etc.  That the opposition is the best alternative. 

One of the greatest beneficiaries of the pissing match is the media. They are the carriers of the charges and the counter-charges, they make gold from piss. 
By providing entertainment full of drama, mystery, money, sleaze, violence, corruption etc. sprinkled with a few facts, the media becomes enormously wealthy, powerful and influential.

Until now the media was almost the sole life giving and taking agency for politicians and their supporters. Thanks to social media their monopoly is constantly reducing, main stream media remains incredibly powerful.

With power always comes arrogance and corruption. They perceive themselves as makers and true leaders of society. They cannot remain neutral and play favourites.

The media become the shouting agents to smear (damage the reputation by false accusations or slander) entities and philosophies, culture and religions etc. undesirable with as much filth as they can get away with, without crossing a line which will cause the public to react adversely. 

Nancy Pelosi

How does this smear campaign work?
Ms. Nancy Pelosi leader of the Democratic political party and the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, a political veteran, explains how 'The Wrap up Smear' works.

First a politician or an academic or some person from an NGO or civil society will spew out allegations. 

Then one or a couple of  media sources will quote them, then a flood of allegations will be made by the media.
The politicians, will then quote the media and a falsehood becomes a perceived truth in the domestic and international public's mind.

Pinging and ponging, the allegations are bandied about endlessly and the the issue kept alive in the public's eyes and minds. 
In all the smearing and dirty tricks business the truth gets buried under an avalanche of lies. 

The main stream media has played this game too long for anyone's good.
Now Social media allows individuals to verify and provide counter views not from a corrupted press but from other individuals.

Now politicians and groups with vested interests are either conducting their own Social media campaigns or taking the assistance of the same  mainstream media who are taking to Social media themselves (with little impact).

We have to remember there are no truths just perceptions. He who wins the battle of the mind of the people will also win their hearts, and bodies. They will walk away with enormous power, influence and of course, a lot of money.

As a result of their perceived lack of integrity, Main Stream Media is losing ground and influence not only to individuals but also to  technology companies like Facebook, Twitter YouTube etc. 

Contrary to what we may like to believe, no mater who provides us the news, 
We the people are not the beneficiaries of news, we are the pawns and the victims.

____________________________________

About Gurvinder Singh

Post a comment on my website
Engage with Gurvinder Singh

Facebook - Twitter - linkedin - SikhNet - Instagram

Can't you dress like a gentleman?

During a visit to England, an Englishman asked the great Swami Vivekananda ji, who wore traditional Indian clothes,
"Why don't you wear proper clothes to look like a gentleman?"

Swami ji's response was,

"Maybe, here, its the tailor that makes a gentleman, in our country its character"

_____________________

An excess of economic  wealth is as harmful as poverty. Wealthy societies begin to decay because they grow clueless of what to do with their wealth and their time.

Such a society is identified by numerous and elaborate social rituals and an excess focus on political correctness.  This keeps the idle rich and powerful busy and intrigued.

This is nothing new . In ancient Rome, two months in a year would be seen, devoted to exotic and lavish entertainment, this is why the Coliseum was built. It kept the poor enthralled and distracted. 

The greater the disparity in living standards between the rich and the common people, the more complicated, superficial and grandiose the rituals and social standards of the rich become. It also sets the ridiculous standards of success and happiness, to which the poor might aspire.

Practicality is sacrificed at the altar of ridiculous fashion. Character and human values are replaced by gaudy displays of wealth and glamour. So enamoured do we become that we often lose touch with reality. The fake become accepted as valuable and the things of true value are shunned. 

In this world did Swami Vivekananda ji visit when he went to England. He was mobbed by people and seekers of truth. We normally mock the unique because it differs from the collective. The great are nor ashamed of their uniqueness, rather they use into their advantage to attract people to their message and cause.

This also indicates that you can seize all my land and all my resources, but you shall never seize my soul or my beliefs. No wonder Swami Vivekananda ji is the youth icon of India 

Travel, makes us smart ..

Being a restless creature, Man feels compelled to constantly travel, seeking, but knows not what. 

Not all of our travels are physical. We also travel with our minds, hearts and spirit. We travel when we work, play, read, observe, converse, think, contemplate, pray and meditate.

Why does the same activity of travel, have a different impact on different people?
Why is it that, '**Travel, makes smart people wise, and fools worse**'. 

In my experience it has to do with attitude and level of openness, of the mind and heart.  

Smart (not to be confused with cunning) people, know that they know so little and there is so much more to learn and experience. They are open to meet with others, examine and even adopt new ideas, and influences. 

Fools, are people who usually know little or nothing and are easy to identify. Not only are they ignorant, they arrogantly bask  in their ignorance. Fools usually take refuge in 'blind faith or following'. They are smug and usually have closed mind and hearts. In the extreme they are fanatical.

In present day society, which is primarily materialistic, smart people are seen as, those people that have acquired, wealth, power, degrees, rank and position. Fools are seen as those that have failed to acquire in any significant way any of these things. 

Foolishness and smartness manifests irrespective of how much schooling or college they attend, or what their rank and position is in society or how much money they have.

Smartness and foolishness are traits mostly acquired in early childhood, usually at home, by familial influences, teachers and caretakers. 
All travel of the mind during later schooling and in all travels in life, only amplifies this already developed nature. 

We are all born innocent and ignorant. 
Education and travel allows us to shed our ignorance and hence our capacity to think and achieve.
Retaining our innocence provides us the capacity to be happy and experience well being.
Smart people take the most out of travel and engagement with others. On the other hand, fools only seek reinforcement for their biases. The more sense of superiority that they have been pumped with in life, the worse they become.

___________

Smartness and Foolishness can also be identified by the level of open-mindedness.

The open-minded person has a willingness not only to accept new ideas but also from a wide range of sources. He or she seeks to journey outwards, but eventually land up introspecting and looking within themselves. 

Such people come away with a wealth of experiences and learning. This is why travelling usually helps them become wiser.

Many people are closed mind. They have been fed somethings usually fictional, irrelevant and often destructive and since it is all they have, they feel compelled to cling to to it. Such dogmatic and foolish people reach a conclusion before they arrive at it and call themselves believers and followers.

Blind faith without actually experiencing anything, is the path of the taken by the intellectually, and spiritually lazy individual. So travel is wasted on them for all they seek to do is, find selectively traits and so called 'facts' which reinforce their existing rigid idea and concepts. Such people become worse with travel. 

As mentioned earlier not all travel is physical. We can also journey through our minds and hearts. Sharing reading, observing, conversing, working and playing provide great opportunities to travel intellectually and emotionally. 

The dogmatic person and the fool have a closed mind, so it is difficult for them to gain much from an encounter or experience particularly travelling and meeting other people. 

___________

Actually society is mostly filled with open-minded individuals who find themselves trapped within groups in society or families where they have been indoctrinated and conditioned to think only in a particular way and to reject all else.

Such 'middle-minded' people, seek to learn and experience more and publicly they appear conformists and closed but privately they are open.  Such people have the  maximum possibility of intellectual enrichment from travelling and association with others. Their faith is either reaffirmed or completely demolished.

Unfortunately, 'middle-minded' people who travel, experience great stress. They face the great challenge, how do they recalibrate their lives when they return from their travel, to their closed minded indoctrinated society? 

They know, what they are doing is wrong, harmful and negative, yet they cannot live nor can they leave.  For them to go against the majority trend is to court disaster and most choose to live in intellectual and spiritual distress rather than face social isolation.

Values and attitudes are best shaped by parents and by others within and near the home when the child is young. Unfortunately most parents are too preoccupied with themselves and other concerns, so they outsource this most fundamental responsibility to others. 

Servants, caretakers and  professional priests and teachers usually take up the responsibility of opening or closing minds by imposing their individual and group ideas and biases on the virgin minds, of the young.

Eventually children imbibe the nature of the 10 people with whom they spend most of their time. 

Travelling is not just a journey to a destination and back. 
The journey is the destination.

_____________________________________________

Comment on Guru Wonder website