One cannot frighten the brave.

Since childhood, I have seen Communist Chinese constantly bully and dominate India. The latest Chinese incursions and aggression has received a befitting reply by brave Indian soldiers, supported by firm leadership. It has shocked many and non more than the Chinese People's Liberation Army themselves. 

I am reminded of an incident  in the life of our family where my Uncle, Sardar Manohar Singh ji, effectively took on some bullies, and I can share that experience with you.

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Arriving in India from Burma as refugees in 1965, father and uncle decided to establish  a manufacturing unit in Pune. One day in 1968, when I was a 10 year old boy my brother andI had accompanied my uncle to the factory site where construction of the factory was underway.  

Around noon, a nasty man, accompanied by a handful of men swaggered onto the site. We learnt much later that the man was a notorious local goon. 

The goons manner was extremely aggressive, he demanded to know from my uncle, " Are you the owner?" 

Uncle sensed trouble and cooly replied,  "Yes I am the owner. How can I help you?"

The goon pointed a threatening finger at uncle, "We don't want people like you, here. Pack up and leave. I don't want to see you here from tomorrow." 

Uncle walked slowly towards the bully and glared defiantly at him. The goon jabbed a finger in my uncle's chest and repeated himself now heaping abuses.

The man had no idea who he was dealing with. 

Our father and uncle were World War II survivors. Though civilians, their village in Burma ( now Myanmar) was close to the conflict. between the Japanese and the Allied forces. 

They lost everything they owned in the destruction unleashed by the war. In addition they were often detained, beaten up, bombed, shot at, strafed, and much more. They had witnessed death and torture up close. They had stared at, and evaded certain death by sheer grit, cunning, and good fortune.  Uncle knew what violence, fear and death was, and nothing seemed to faze him, plus he was a Khalsa Sikh jovial, friendly and kind yet insanely fearless.

Like a Cobra, suddenly my Uncle's hand shot out and caught the goon's jugular in a pincer grip. With the other hand he grabbed the goon's testicles and squeezed.

The goon writhed in pain, as his eyes almost popped out. He screamed but no sound could escape his constricted throat. uncle Manohar slowly and torturously edged the goon towards the perimeter of the plot. There he gave him a shove and a kick in his chest. The goon went sprawling and lay still on the road, not daring to move nor say anything. 

Now Uncle pointed his finger at the goon and said, "I don't want to see you here again, the next time you might not be so lucky"

The stooges picked up their leader and fled. That was the end of all kinds of hooliganism. 

Father and uncle built the factory,  and the company prospered,  eventually, employing 5,800 employees by 1996 -1997.

Bullies at heart are cowards. They build their notoriety by beating some weak entities and then let their reputation work on intimidating and frightening their future targets.

They never dare to attack someone strong, lest they receive a bloody nose or even worse a drubbing.  Such an outcome destroys the dastardly reputation they carefully build.

All it takes is courage and the willingness to accept pain and difficulty. 

Once people realise that the goon can be effectively tackled, with firmness, and some guts, the bully is finished, eventually abandoned by all.

'Courage is not the absence of fear, but the belief that, some things are more important than fear.'

This lesson provides a clue on how to possibly handle the bully called China.

This I will cover in my next article.

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Written and Posted: Jun 2020  ~ Gurvinder Singh.

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Interesting Links:
Burma campaign - Wikipedia
Japanese conquest of Burma - Wikipedia

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.

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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.


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Akbar the Moghul Emperor was actually poor

Emperor Akbar (1542 to 1605) is acclaimed to be one of India's wealthiest Mogul emperors.  Was he really that rich? An interesting incident and the emperor's own comments will let you decide.

During the reign of Akbar there also lived a Baba ji, a 'Pir'. In the Sufi path, Pir literally meaning 'old man' is a saint, whose role is to guide and provide spiritual guidance to his disciples.

Many Babas  in India are revered by Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims. Notable Babaji's like Farid ji's teachings are enshrined as one of the fifteen 'Bhagats' (Devotees) within Sikhism and his selected works form part of the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh sacred scripture

Wise emperors often seek spiritual guidance, and so did Akbar. He sometimes visited a certain Baba at his village to seek spiritual guidance.

One day the villagers where Baba ji stayed , asked a favour of him.
They said " Baba ji, the emperor visits you so often can you do us poor villagers a great favour?". "The village has no school nor any in the near vicinity, can you ask the Shehan Shah to build us a school?"

Baba ji agreed that he would ask the favour of the emperor on Akbar's next visit to him.
Then he thought for a while and said "This is a noble work, let me not delay it. I myself will travel to Akbar's palace and meet him."

When Baba ji, arrived at Akbar's palace the guards recognised him as he walked up to the palace gates.
They informed him that the emperor had gone to offer his prayers at his private mosque.

Baba ji, walked up the mosque and stood behind the emperor. The prayers were almost complete and Akbar made his ‘fariyad’ (cry for help) God, "Allah!, great, and merciful, give me more power, expand my kingdom's borders and give me more wealth"

On hearing his prayer Baba ji, turned around and immediately left the mosque.

Since it was at the end of his prayer Akbar had sensed that someone had been present behind him. He turned around when he had finished his prayers and saw Baba ji heading towards the palace gate. 

Akbar hurried to Baba ji, bowed to him and asked " Welcome Baba. why have you come and why are you leaving?"

Baba looked at Akbar and said " I came here because I thought you to be rich. I came here to ask you for money to build a school in the village."

He continued " I heard your prayers and realised that you are poor for you are still hungry. It is against my beliefs to ask anything from a poor man."

" Do not worry, I will go to the village and collect some money for you", concluded Baba ji and he strode away.

This incident was not known to anyone except Akbar and Baba ji. It came to light when it was narrated by the emperor himself in '_Akbarnama_' the biography of Akbar He wrote, "On that day I realised how empty and useless I was. I had wasted my whole life in pursuing and acquiring useless things."

Akbar was a benevolent ruler who cared for all his subjects. Yet this incident was a further pivotal point in Akbar's life, for he realised for the first time in his life, that though he had great wealth, he was in fact a poor man.

He is rich who is. He who remains unfulfilled, hungry and thirsty, desiring more and more things, wealth and power is poor.

I thought they were poor.

6th December 1993. It was my noble Father in law Major Mohinder Singh ji's 7th death anniversary. 

Mohini, my gentle hearted wife wanted to do something thoughtful as a tribute to her father. We agreed that it would be nice to provide warm shawls to the poor. So we bought a 100 woolen shawls and distributed some to the cook, maid chauffeur and the watchmen and some underprivileged people in the immediate neighbourhood. 

The problem with the Sikh people is they are a hardworking and therefore a prosperous community.  We therefore had no clue where we would find poor people in Pune so we decided to drive around at night and find homeless people and gift them the remaining 85 shawls. Better still we would take our young sons Mohit (10) and Pavit (8) to accompany us to learn about charity.

We were amazed that we could not find any homeless person. Damn! You can't find beggars when you want them. After about 20 min of cruising around in the cold we eventually saw a man sitting cross legged under a tree wearing only a loin cloth.

Mohini asked the boys to gift the shawls with their own hands. So the boys eagerly grabbed one shawl and ran up to him and said "Namaste! it is very cold, we would like you to have this shawl to keep you warm." The boys were shocked when the man snatched the shawl and flung it in the other direction. He scowled at the boys and they fled back to the car.

We drove towards the railway station, there would certainly be some poor people there. After about half an hour, we finally spotted a man sitting on the pavement with two medium sized plastic shopping bags. He appeared lost in thought. Our sons cautiously walked up to him and handed him a shawl.

He was taken aback. He returned the shawl saying, "I don't need this shawl." The boys pressed him to keep it saying that "Don't worry you don't have to pay for it. It's a gift and it will keep you warm during these cold winter nights."

He replied in a strange tone, "I am already struggling to cope with so many possessions" and he pointed to the two plastic bags. "Please take your shawl back as I have no place to keep it. Thank you for your kindness but I am quite comfortable."

Confused and dejected the boys returned back to the car. They refused to proceed with the charity effort that night.

Mohit said "Really strange, we thought these guys were poor, but they behave like they are very wealthy,  mom do you think they are crazy? He is content with his meagre possessions and no roof over his head." He asked "Dad, mom, how can that be possible?"

We had no answer as we drove back home silently, each of us lost in our thoughts, mulling over what had just transpired. It has been 22 years since that incident but none of us speaks about charity in the same arrogant patronising manner anymore. Much, much later we finally came to realise the meaning of that evening.

• The rich are not those who have much but those that have stopped desiring more.
• By accepting the donation the recipient defines the donor.                                                        

The next day we handed the remaining shawls to the Gurudwara* for distribution to the needy.

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A Gurudwara - is a place of congregation for Sikhs to hold religious discourses. They also feed the needy.