We are the phrase,
the rhyme, the song,
and we are the singers.
How fortunate of us!
 | Loveszar (@Loveszar) |
"It is easy to believe we are each waves and forget we are also the ocean." ― Jon J. Muth | |
Sikh Group “Vancouver Sangat” Feeds The Homeless In Downtown Vancouver
VANCOUVER – Sikh community charity group “Vancouver Sangat” started food service program for the needy in downtown Vancouver last weekend. After several years of successfully feeding thousands in need, Guru Nanak’s Free Kitchen (GNFK) brought a great deal of respect for the community and much appreciation from those it served. The food was prepared at the New West Gurdwara and the program grew from just a handful of volunteers and limited resources to one that is greeted with a line-up of hungry people waiting for food every Sunday at Main and Hastings. The program set an example and encouraged others to get involved.
Last weekend the Sangat at Khalsa Diwan Society in Vancouver started a food serve program that will provide the same warm and healthy food on Saturdays at the same downtown location. Over 500 people were fed in the cold and pouring rain. Much appreciation was expressed. The volunteers, some of whom were pioneers with GNFK, were thanked for coming out in the bad weather. One individual even expressed that this was his first meal of the day and that too at 2 pm.
Initially, this program will run every two weeks (on the first and middle weekend of each month). The food prep will commence at 9 am Saturdays at the Vancouver Gurdwara and will be served downtown at 1:30 on Hastings and Main St.. This is a collective community effort and everyone is welcomed to help and encouraged to bring items that are easy to serve (small individual juice containers, sandwiches, wraps, nutritional bars, etc.). The next food serve date is December 15.
In last weeks trip to Boston I visited an Afghani restaurant called Helmund on the recommendation of a new friend I met on the plane: Billie Sue, a flight attendant.
I had two colleagues with me who both work with me at our biotech company. I was reminded by a person who is retiring in the next few years that the purpose of life is to sing. His song is to sail.
He told me retiring is not being inactive, it's about being worry free. I like that definition because that's how I define retirement. He wants to sail after he retires to do research on other sailors. He wants to write a book on the history of American Navy. He told me how amazing it was that those guys could sail and navigate without all the modern equipment that exists today.
He sang with humility, gratitude and amazement. His song was sweet. There is so much to learn in this world. There are so many miles to sail. There is so much to sing about.
And, by the way, the food was delicious. None of us had eaten Afghani food before and we all loved it. At the end, our plates were licked clean. I really liked their bread too -- freshly baked in front of us in a wood burning oven. Sitting in front of the oven was warm. Added to the warmth of the conversation.
Me, outside the restaurant
Wanting Sumptuous Heavens - A poem by Robert Bly
No one grumbles among the oyster clans,
And lobsters play their bone guitars all summer.
Only we, with our opposable thumbs, want
Heaven to be, and God to come, again.
There is no end to our grumbling; we want
Comfortable earth and sumptuous Heaven.
But the heron standing on one leg in the bog
Drinks his dark rum all day, and is content.
Are you Grumbling or Singing?
This poem carries a profound message that resonates with Guru Nanak's wisdom of surrendering to the divine will and finding contentment through simplicity. It draws a stark contrast between the human tendency to grumble and yearn for more, symbolized by our opposable thumbs that can create and manipulate, and the creatures of the natural world, who seem content in their simplicity. In Guru Nanak's teachings, the act of singing, or devotional expression, is seen as a way to connect with the divine and find peace in surrendering to the divine will. Bly's portrayal of grumbling as the antithesis of singing underscores the idea that we often choose to complain about our circumstances rather than embracing them.
Bly's poem suggests that, unlike these "lesser" animals, we, as humans, possess the unique ability to ponder the nature of heaven, desire comfort, and seek divine intervention. However, this very capacity can lead to our restlessness and dissatisfaction. The heron in the poem, standing on one leg in the bog and sipping its dark rum, represents the simplicity and contentment that can be found in embracing the present moment and the natural world. In juxtaposing our desires with the heron's contented existence, the poem challenges us to reflect on the wisdom of accepting what is and finding contentment within ourselves, echoing Guru Nanak's message of surrender and devotion as a path to peace and spiritual fulfillment.
The poem also reminds me of what Mirza Ghalib said about Heavens: I know that it is a lie; its just a way to keep the heart happy: Humko Maloom Hai Jannat Ki Haqiqat
Dear Billie Sue:
It was a pleasure meeting you in the plane last week. I went to this afghani restaurant. I loved it and so did my colleagues. I wrote about it in my blog. You can also find links to my music and artist page on this blog:
http://shivsangels.blogspot.com/2012/12/a-sailing-trip-to-helmund-afghani.html?m=1
Keep singing and love to you and your dog!
-Shiv
It was a pleasure meeting you in the plane last week. I went to this afghani restaurant. I loved it and so did my colleagues. I wrote about it in my blog. You can also find links to my music and artist page on this blog:
http://shivsangels.blogspot.com/2012/12/a-sailing-trip-to-helmund-afghani.html?m=1
Keep singing and love to you and your dog!
-Shiv
The following story indicates that humans must have had sex with neanderthals:
A bundle of recent genetic studies have suggested that modern humans had sex with Neanderthals thousands of years ago when the two populations roamed the planet alongside each other. However, the bones left behind by the two species don't bear any obvious traces of interbreeding and a new study of monkeys in Mexico shows why we shouldn't expect them to.
Researchers examined blood samples, hair samples and measurements collected from mantled howler monkeys and black howler monkeys that were live-captured and released in Mexico and Guatemala between 1998 and 2008. The two monkey species splintered off from a common ancestor about 3 million years ago and today they live in mostly separate habitats, except for a "hybrid zone" in the state of Tabasco in southeastern Mexico, where they coexist and interbreed.
Through an analysis of genetic markers, from both mitochondrial and nuclear DNA, the researchers identified 128 hybrid individuals that were likely the product of several generations of interbreeding. But these hybrids shared most of their genome with either one of the two species and were physically indistinguishable from the pure individuals of that species, the team found.
"The implications of these results are that physical features are not always reliable for identifying individuals of hybrid ancestry," Liliana Cortés-Ortiz, an evolutionary biologist and primatologist with the University of Michigan, said in a statement. "Therefore, it is possible that hybridization has been underestimated in the human fossil record."
The work on howler monkeys was part of the doctoral dissertation of Mary Kelaita, now a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Kelaita added that the study "suggests that the lack of strong evidence for hybridization in the fossil record does not negate the role it could have played in shaping early human lineage diversity."
When scientists finally finished sequencing the Neanderthal genome in 2010, they revealed that 1 percent and 4 percent of some modern humans' DNA came from the stocky hominids. This suggested that humans had sex with Neanderthals, picking up some genes, and possibly even an immunity boost, from Neanderthals before the population disappeared about 30,000 years ago. But not all scientists are convinced that the genetic evidence alone proves ancient interbreeding and a study last year found that even if humans and Neanderthals did have sex, those encounters would have been rarely successful in producing offspring.
The scientists of the new study say more work is needed to study interbreeding and the factors governing the expression of physical characteristics in hybrid individuals.
The research was detailed online today (Dec. 7) in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology.
The memories of my love have come
there is a rainstorm in my eyes
Let separations drown in this world
there is a rainstorm in my eyes
In Punjabi:
Yadaan Vichhade Sajjan Diyaan Aaiyaan
Akhiyaan chon Mee Vasda
Shaala muk jaan jag to judaiyaan
Akhiyaan chon Mee Vasda
there is a rainstorm in my eyes
Let separations drown in this world
there is a rainstorm in my eyes
In Punjabi:
Yadaan Vichhade Sajjan Diyaan Aaiyaan
Akhiyaan chon Mee Vasda
Shaala muk jaan jag to judaiyaan
Akhiyaan chon Mee Vasda
Dukh jes gal dal ae yaad khus chaliyeh
rus jaan vaaleya hayaati rus chaliyeh
Savaan aakhiri vee tere naal laiyaan
Kithey jaa ke luk gayon lekhaan deyaan Tareyaa
de gayon judiyan sanu jeundi jaande mareya
ro ro sadraan den duhaiyaan
Mahi de peyaaran walaa chetaa jadon aunda ae
dardaan deyan badalaan to dil ghabraunda ae
gal pae gaiyaan ne gham diyaan khaiyaan
Translation -
Memories of the separated beloved return,
And rain falls from my eyes.
May all separations vanish from this world—
yet rain still falls from my eyes.
It is this sorrow: memory itself has withdrawn,
and life has turned away in estrangement.
My final breaths I have surrendered to you.
Where have you gone, hidden beyond the stars of fate?
You left us divided—alive, yet as good as dead.
My cries rise only as longing and lament.
Whenever the memory of my beloved’s love returns,
the heart trembles beneath gathering clouds of grief;
I have fallen into deep ravines of sorrow.
Shivpreet Singh Project: 26016 - Feb 12, 2026
In Punjabi folklore, a crow crowing nearby is supposed to signal the coming of guests, especially a loved one. In this song, the singer has been waiting for a long time for his love and has given up hope. He hears a crow crowing at the porch of his window and asks the crow to not sing and give him false hope.
Aiwain Bol Na Banere Utte Kaavaan
Simple Lyrics (for all the quoted poems see below)
Aiwain Bol Na Banere Utte Kaavaan
Sajjana Nahi Aunaa
Paiyaan Kadon diyaan Sunjiyaan Raavaan
Sajjana Nahi Aunaa
Dil mere noo vad bhadkaaven
Kaanu aiwain boliyan Paaven
Chup kar jaa main tainu samjhaavaan
Naa toon bolee bol banere
Ud Jaa Tarley paavan tere
Naa Joothiyaan de sadaavaan
karke bol nibhaunda koi nai
Ja ke vaapas aanda koi nai
tainu lakh di ik sunaavan
Sadik mud vataneen nahi aayaa
Auna hove te dasse sarnaavan
Simple Translation
Don't crow on my window
My love is not going to come
For a long time this street is empty
My love is not going to come
You are giving hope to my heart
Why are you speaking these lies
Be quiet I am trying to explain
My love is not going to come
Don't speak on my window
I beg you fly away please
Don't make these false prayers
Don't crow on my window
My love is not going to come
For a long time this street is empty
My love is not going to come
You are giving hope to my heart
Why are you speaking these lies
Be quiet I am trying to explain
My love is not going to come
Don't speak on my window
I beg you fly away please
Don't make these false prayers
My love is not going to come
No one keeps their word
No one comes back once gone
Of all things I know, I know this best
My love is not going to come
My love is not going to come
In thoughts my heart trembles
My love will not return home
My love will not return home
If he planned to come he would give me an address
My love is not going to come
Vocabulary
Sarnava (sarnaavan) - Address
Additional antaras (Akram Rahi)
Ud jaa ve kaavan avain boliyan na bol ve
jind saadi ditti maahi rol ve
ve main ro ro ke vakat langhaavan
ve main ro ro ke vakat langhaavan
Assan jide pyaar diyaan kitiyaan abadataan
oh sanu ron diyaan paa gaya e aadataan
hoyian puriyaan na sadiyaan duaavaan
ja ke onnu aakhi dukhi kalle bai ke ronde ni
teriyaan udeekan laake raavan 'ch khalonde ni
jinnu ditiyaan tu lammiyaan sazaavaan
guzre zamane jadoon yaad mainu aande ne
teri hi khayaan sadi akhiyaan ch bhaunde ne
jithe milde saan ron paiyaan thaavaaan
More Lyrics
pardes gayaan pardesi hoyaan
teriaan nitt vatnaan val loran
jogan kamli karke sutt gayaan
baithi kakh galiyan de bhoraan
chaal piya di aisi niraali
jivein pehlaan payiyaan moraan
yaar fareed main kaafir howan
je mukh sajna walon moraan
You went far away, became a stranger
I constantly remember you here
You made me crazy, then threw me away
I can't find anything on the streets
My love walks so beautifully
like a peacock dancing
I would be called an outcast
if I turn away from my love
kook dilan kaddi rabb sunesi
ehna dard mandan diyan aahin
tailan baaj na ballan mashaalan
kitte dardan baaj na aahin
lokan diyan jhokan payiyaan wasdiyan aayiyaan
kaddi saddi vi wasdi aahi
ki hoya tussan bolan chaddeya
assan vekhan chaddna naahi
Someday God will hear my cry
Such are the sorrowful sighs
without oil mashaals don't burn
there are no sighs
so what if you don't talk to me
I won't stop
aa kaaga tainu churiyaan paawan
kaddi sadde vi baith banere
de paigaam koi sajna waala
ve main shagan manaawan tere
aa ke baith banere sadde
shayad aa jaan saajan mere
addiyaan chuk chuk yaar fareeda
raah takkan main shaam savere
come crow, sit on my window sill
I will make you a sweet dessert
give me some message from my love
I will celebrate your coming
come and sit on my window sill
perhaps my love would also come
I am standing on my heels O Fareed
looking for you on the way all day
avein bol na banere utte kaawaan sajna nahi aaona
chete haar shingaar na mainu
bhul gayiyaan sab sakhiyaan
har dam ohdi raahwan vekhan
eh dukhiyaariyaan ankhiyaan
tak tak ohdiyaan sunjhiyaan raahwan
hun nazaran vi ne thakkiyaan
saadik sajna nahi aaona
assi pher vi aasaan rakhiyaan
yaad ohdi vich chham chham raunde nain ne dardan maare
kulli yaad bhulaayan vi na kite lakh main chaare
mukh partaake tur gaya maahi karke jhoothe kaare
saadik rehndiyan dinne udeekan raat nu ginn diyan taare
avein bol na banere utte kaawaan sajna nahi aaona
payiyaan kadon diyan sunjiyaan raahwaan sajna nahi aaona
dil mere nu wad wad khaawe
kaanu evein boliyan paawe
chup kar ja tainu main samjhaawan
sajna nahi aaona
na tu boli bol banere
mud ja tarle paawan tere
na jhoothiyan de sadaawaan
sajna nahi aaona
sochan de vich dil ghabraaya
'Saadik' mud watani nahi aaya
aaona howe te dasse sarnaawa
sajna nahi aaona
(For other translations see: Translations)
Thaat: Marwa
Time: Dawn
Notes (Swaras): Komal Rishabh, both Shuddha and Tivra Madhyam. All other notes are Shuddha.
Raag Bhatiyar is a morning Raaga. An offshoot of Thaat Marwa, Raag Bhatiyar has a strong emotional undercurrent – something you might not expect from a morning melody. The Raaga begins with all Shuddha notes; Sa-Ma-Pa-Dha-Ni.. all pure just like the morning dew. It almost lulls you back into that tasteful sleep you just woke up from. You sit back enjoying a cup of hot tea with the newpaper lying on the table in your front and that is when Bhatiyar takes a wild turn while on Nishad, skipping the higher Shadja and falling upon Komal Rishibh revealing a deep sorrow that has always been lingering beneath the seemingly serene surface of the pure notes of the Raaga. In the audio clip, focus on the connection between Shuddh Nishad and Komal Rishabh while Mashkoor Ali Khan sings the words ‘…Murata Murari’.
But after that unexpected emotional burst, just when you begin to experience melancholy, Raag Bhatiyar returns to its jovial mood with sequences like (Sa) Dha-Ni-Pa, Pa-Ma-Pa, Ga-Pa-Ga-Re-Sa and brings the smile back on your face.
Raag Bhatiyar is not an easy Raaga to perform what with its intricate and complex tactics. Only an acclaimed artiste can unfold this Raaga for your experience and only an acclaimed artiste can reveal the essence of this Raaga. Raag Bhatiyar is immensely pleasing and peaceful to ears. Raag Bhatiyar possesses healing qualities; it can effectively console an aggrieved mind and calm your soul.
The song of the crow
- Devdutt Pattanaik
Everyone wonders: Why do good things happen to bad people? Why do fortunes never come the way we desire? Why are we unhappy? Why do we have to marry and produce children? From these questions come our understanding of the world.
The word ‘why’ is translated as ka in Sanskrit, the sacred language of Hinduism. Ka is the first consonant of the Sanskrit language. It is both an interrogation as well as an exclamation. It is also one of the earliest names given to God in Hinduism.
During funeral ceremonies, Hindus are encouraged to feed crows. The crow caws, “Ka?! Ka?!” It is the voice of the ancestors who hope that the children they have left behind on earth spend adequate time on the most fundamental question of existence, “Why?! Why?!”
In mythology there is a crow called Kakabhusandi who sits on the branch of Kalpataru, the wish-fulfilling tree. The tree fulfills every wish but is unable to answer Kakabhusandi’s timeless and universal question, “Ka?! Ka?!”
The question need not be why. It can be who. Who is responsible for giving me this life? Or it can be what. What can be responsible for giving me this life? From the root ‘ka’ comes the various interrogatives that are parts of Hindi, a modern Indian language which has Sanskrit as one of its major tributaries: what or kya, who or kaun, why or kyon, how or kaise.
The 19th century European Orientalists presented Hinduism to the world as a religion when they discovered in Vedic scriptures an underlying thought that unified the diversity of Indian customs, hitherto deemed pagan and heathen. But the religions they were exposed to, such as Judaism, Christianity and Islam, tended to be prescriptive, with very clear rules and codes of conduct. Vedic is more reflective than prescriptive. Reflections are timeless and universal while prescriptions are contextual specific to communities of a particular place in a particular period. Many therefore do not like viewing Hinduism as a religion and prefer to see it as a way of life. Reflections begin when we ask the question, ‘why’. There is no hurry to conclude or to cling to a convenient answer. The exploration continues for as long as it takes, until one is satisfied.
In India, the answer offered for the circumstances over which one has no control is karma. Actions in our past lives determine the fortunes and misfortunes of this life. We thus are made responsible for our bodies and our families. Actions performed in this life will determine our body and our family in our next life.
Is this true? No one knows. But the consequences of believing it are far-reaching.
Belief in rebirth puts the responsibility of our life squarely on our shoulders. For actions that we committed we have been given the life that we are living. We may not remember those past actions, but we are responsible for the present moment, nevertheless.
Mandavya one day found himself being arrested and brutally punished by the king’s guard for a crime he did not commit. “Why?” he asked Yama, the god of death. Yama looked at the book of karma and replied, “As a child you tortured insects. This is the reaction of that action. What seems unfair in one lifetime, becomes fair when one considers several lifetimes.”
Who then is responsible for my life and my fortunes and misfortunes? I am. This means I cannot blame anyone for my misfortune, not my parents, not my circumstances, not my DNA, not even God.
Karma is loosely translated as fate.
Only humans can ask these questions and reflect on life. Ka ?! Because humans have an evolutionary advantage. We are blessed with the neo-frontal cortex, the part of the brain behind the forehead. This is the human brain located on top of the animal brain. It allows us to do what no other creature can do: it allows us to imagine!
Hindus smear their forehead with ash or sandal paste or red kumkum powder. It is the dot known as bindi on the forehead of women. It is the vertical and upwardly directed line known as tilak on the forehead of men. It is a ritual through which voiceless ancestors are telling the children they left behind on earth: use this unique organ behind your forehead. It is what makes you human!
Only humans can imagine a world that is distinct from reality. We can compare reality with an imagined reality and therefore wonder why reality is the way it is. We can imagine being born in another family and wonder: why was I born in this one? We can imagine being born with a taller or shorter, fairer or darker, body and wonder: why was I born with this one? Imagination propels us towards the question: Ka?!
Imagination is translated as manas. Humans possess manas. Therefore the human race is the race of Manavas, those who can imagine. The leader of the human race becomes Manu. Manas also means the mind, the mind which can take flight like a bird or slither like a serpent, and look at the world both broadly and narrowly, reflect on things here and not here, exist both here and now and also over there in the past and over here in the future.
While the human brain enjoys imagination, it does not enjoy introspection. Pondering on questions and seeking answers needs a lot of energy in the form of glucose. Glucose is a precious body fuel. The body would rather conserve this energy for moments of crisis. Naturally, though humans are the only creatures with the wherewithal to introspect, human physiology is geared to block this process. It takes a great amount of will to overpower this block and introspect and seek the answer to Ka. In a way, this is very similar to exercise. It demands huge will power. Few indulge in this quest. Fewer still are naturally inclined for it. The one who indulges in this quest is called a brahmana.
The word brahmana is derived from the Sanskrit root ‘brh’ meaning ‘to grow’ and ‘manas’. All living creatures grow physically after birth. But there is a limit to this physical growth. Humans are the only creatures capable of limitless growth. Why? Because of manas. The possibilities offered by imagination and introspection are infinite. The one who uses these infinite possibilities to discover Ka therefore becomes brahmana, the one with expanded imagination.
From the root ‘brh’ also comes the name of God. Not one, but two. One is Brahma. The other is brahmn. Notice the difference in spelling and the use of capitals. Brahma is pronounced by laying stress to the latter vowel; brahmn is pronounced laying stree to no vowel; brahmana is produced by laying stress to the first vowel and the last consonant. Brahma is a proper noun, brahmn is not considered a noun while brahmana is a common noun. Brahma is a finite personality, brahmn is an infinite abstract notion. The brahmana is the one who seeks to move from the finite to the infinite, from the form to the formless, from Brahma to brahmn.
Every human being is a Brahma. The day he seeks to decipher the puzzle of Ka, the song of the crow, he becomes a brahmana. Every human being has the wherewithal to realize Ka, hence brahmn. Brahma is who we are while brahmn is who we can become. One transforms from Brahma to brahmn, from finiteness to infiniteness, from restlessness to repose, from anxiety to self-assurance, by using the neo-frontal context to imagine and introspect. Bowing to deities in temples and fellow human beings is to remind those before us of the Vedic maxim, “Tat Tvam Asi,” meaning ‘that’s what you are’, you are Brahma who is capable of realizing brahmn. That’s what I am too, hence “Aham Brahmasmi.”
SHIVPREET SINGH
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