I closed November before the last night of the 30th. as I did not expect any 'dramas', but I was wrong!

Tuesday 30th Nov. Evening Dinner for the UNESCO International Conference on the introduction of moral values and religion to schools. A very controversial topic because a great many UNESCO delegates are of a 'secular' bent and UNESCO headquarters are based in France! It was an opportunity to give our two cents worth about the banning of head gear and other religious emblems in schools in France, affecting the Sikh 'dastaar' (turban).

We had been invited for the evening dinner's entertainment. We sang a medley of quotes from the SGGS like 'Jagat Jelendha rakh lai' and 'Na Hum Hindu na Musselman' etc. with English translations but it also gave me the platform of reminding UNESCO and especially the French delegates that 'it is wrong, under the guise of secularism, to discriminate against and marginalise religious groups - the last person who did that 60 years ago, was Hitler.' I think the message went down well!!

At the dinner, also, were, happily, four turbanned (fairly colorful) bearded Sikhs, six Sikh ladies with chuunia'n, and five Muslem female students with their headgear. So I think the message went down very well to the consternation of the 'secularists'. Please, all Sikhs worldwide, this trend of some European countries namely France and now Germany and also Belgium, discriminating against religious groups is a dangerous trend and we cannot afford to be complacent about this Nazi-type move. I urge all fellow Sikh brothers and sisters to speak out against this at every opportunity.

...I am heading for India for a well earned rest and vacation and sightseeing and soul uplifting with my two brothers -Rtd. Principal (Civil Service UK) Gurmukh Singh from UK, and Councillor Baldev Singh from Berri, South Australia - with a road trip to Hajur Sahib following in the footsteps of our beloved Dasam Patshah Kalghidhar Pita, Guru Gobind Singh Ji and more such fun! No kirtan this trip. I do not think India is quite ready for us yet!!

I must tell you a story that was sent to me a while ago which made me think about my life and what it means to me. I think, this story illustrates it very well. It goes something like this...

A single mother walks into a music store with her five year old. He makes a beeline for a piano and immediately starts tapping 'twinkle twinkle little star' on it. Mum is very impressed and decides to buy him an organ to play on. She also decides to take him to a grand piano recital which comes up. Mum and smartly dressed little Johny head for the town concert hall and find their seats. Mum sees a friend and tells little Johny that she won't be long. Little Johny being little Johny wanders off. Lights go off as the concert is about to start and to her consternation, frantic Mum finds little Johny gone when she gets back to her seat!!

The stage lights come on and there is little Johny seated at the grand piano on stage tapping out 'twinkle twinkle little star'. Maestro stops dead in his tracks as he enters expecting an applause but instead sees little Johny on his seat, but then recovers and softly walks up behind little Johny and whispers in his ears - 'play on son' and starts tapping out harmonic notes to little Johny's 'twinkle twinkle little star'. Both finish to a thunderous applause. No one remembers what the maestro played that night but everyone remembered little Johny's 'twinkle twinkle little star'!

Moral for me ... if I can get as many Sikh 'little Johnys' in the world singing gurbani with accompanying instruments and enjoying it, my life's meaning will be fulfilled.

'...Kaho Nanak sabh teri vedeyayi, koyi nao na janai mera'.

9^th December. Left Adelaide without a hitch on Saturday 4th. and reached Kuala Lumpur at night for an overnight stay with my friend Menjit Singh. First, the Roti Chanai stall and a Teh Tarik. Roti Chanai a Bengali style pratha (leavened bread), famous in Malaysia and Teh Tarik is 'Tea-by-the-Yard' (because the 'maker' must strain it from one utensil to another giving it a froth).

Saw the 2005 calender produced by sikhpoint.com. Absolutely lovely! It celebrates the works of the Singh (twin) Sisters from England. Some great paintings! A great 'Sikh' gift especially for non-Sikhs.

Left for Delhi on Sunday and after a one and a half hour delay reached Delhi just before midnight. Not a nice time to reach Delhi, in fact, no time is a nice time to reach Delhi, in my opinion! I am not a great India-lover by choice.

Luckily my brothers had sent a 'family' taxi to get me - thank God, as I am not very well yet. Reached Ludhiana overnight at 6am. It is winter and cold. Electricity can go at any time in Ludhiana leaving one without the creature comforts like heating - so one just rugs up. Luckily the days are fine with warm sunshine. The nights are cold.

Three days to 'settle down' and acclimatise before we leave on 10th. heading south from Punjab through Gwalior, Agra, to Hajur Sahib and ... especially Nanded.

The three of us are at home in our ancestral abode in Ludiana, fending for ourselves. Coucillor Baldev Singh is our Chief Cook. I am chief 'cha-maker' and Bai Ji Gurulh Singh is overseer - and general cleaner, handyman etc.

One place where Sri Sahibs and kirpans are the norm! We have them with us at all times.Bai Ji informs me that the Sri Sahib I am carrying, belonging to my father, has been 'used'! I feel the blood of the 'warrior-saint' (more the warrior than the saint!) flowing through my veins!

Daily diary from 10th to 19th. (Ludhiana to Nanded ,Hajur Sahib and back, by road)

10^th 5.30am start. Cold, foggy as our driver negotiates GT Road from Ludhiana towards Delhi. Delhi - Agra (no stop) - Gwalior, reached by nightfall. Over 700kms. Cheap motel near railway station. I have missed Taj Mahal again!

11^th Got up to a majestic sight of Gwalior Fort overhanging Gwalior City. Gwalior is filthy - fort looks magnificent. Visited Guru Hargobind 'Bendhi Chord' Gurdwara within the fort. Nothing to say about the gurdwara - like 'most' gurdwaras in Northern India - made in marble imported from Rajasthan. Fort is in decay - neglected for the most part, but there is a school - Scindia Secondary, and Man Singh's palace and excavation taking place. One can imagine the splendour of yesteryear, but today, just ruins....

News in papers is about SGPC pulling down the last remnants of the 'wall' and surroundings in which 'shotay sahibzadhays' were put alive into a wall...to make way for (another) marbled gurdwara. Like almost all our 'shrine' gurdwaras. Our Heritage is being destroyed to build marble gurdwaras.

MOST 'SIKH' HERITAGE BUILDINGS HAVE BEEN DESTROYED BY SGPC AND THEIR 'BABAY'S', AND MARBLE GURDWARAS PUT UP. FUTURE GENERATIONS WILL NOT FORGIVE THOSE WHO HAVE DESTROYED OUR SIKH HERITAGE. RESPONSIBLE - SGPC! Thank God, Nankana sahib and Panja Sahib are safe from their hands!!

If I ever visit again it will be to see Gwalior Fort, NOT the gurdwara. There are a few procedures which I find difficult to accept or really understand within these 'shrine' gurdwaras, beside the fact that all of them now look alike and are built of marble..

1. The procedure of 'buying' parshad in pipal leaves which you must take inside the shrine, give half to the sewadhar inside who might add a patasa or two and hands you the pipal leaf bowl. That is your parshad. If you go straight for the pershaad 'bata', after 'metha-tek' without the pipal bowl of pershaad in your hands, the sewadhar gives you a dirty look. It means you have not made a formal 'contribution' to pershaad - what you offer at the golak does not count!

2. Buying of 'seropas'. Taking them to be blessed inside the shrine and put over ones shoulders. Why!!!

3. Depositing ones footwear outside and then being made to walk through a trough of stagnant, dirty water and normally up a flight of marble steps which are already dirty,wet and slippery in your (now) dirty and wet feet. Is this some kind of penance one has to pay to visit our shrines? Then you get your feet even dirtier as one walks and looks around and in the process dirtying the inside of the gurdwara... By the time you get back to your footwear and have passed through the trough of dirty water again, your feet are filthy ... If (God forbid) one has to visit the toilets within the gurdwara prescincts in the process ...

Gwalior to Indore by nightfall, along Highway 7. Great countryside. We stopped at Punjabi 'dhabas' for freshly cooked prathay and cha!

Stayed at another cheap motel in Indore. Also found a cyber-cafe. Nice city.

12^th (Sunday) Indore to Washim. A very scenic route as we head down from the Deccan Plateau towards Nanded through some lovely forest. Washim is about 100 km. from Nanded - Hajur Sahib.

13^th Reached Hajur Sahib (Nanded) by noon. My observations of Nanded and Hajur Sahib. I expected a flourishing 'Sikh' centre. It is not. It is a Sikh ghetto - with some magnificent buildings inside surrounded by a filty city and beggars who sometimes lunge at you as you pass! I expected a gushing Godavari River on whose bank my Guru Ji would have set. No, it is a stagnant oversized drain now used for cremation pyres and for relieving oneself.

Only good thing I saw was some very impressive 'accommodation' for pilgrims including an exclusive NRI - Non-Residential Indians (Not Really Indians?) enclave of 5-Star standards. All built around a Baba Nidhan Singh complex which basically serves langgar. Disapointing to note that the towns 'poor' were being made to sit 'outside' to be served after long waits. The rich/poor divide is alive and well in Hajur Sahib.

At Sach-Khand Hajur Sahib - another marble building just like many others..., the same procedures plus more... I have a picture showing the rates of getting Akhand Paths, sehaj paths done, at different rates on Granth Sahib and Dasam Granth which can be booked. You of course need not attend. Just give in your name and when the path-doing is done the ardaas is done in your name. So Simple. God is thereby appeased!

We visited the supposed spot on the Godavari where Guru Ji met Banda Bahadur. One old 'imli' tree remains of the period ... until it is brought down to make way for a marble gurdwara I guess.

Same procedures of buying parshad and seropas.

The Jathedar is called Head Pujari !!! A very colourful ceremony in the evening starting with kirtan (by the way, extremely good kirtan jatha!). Then 'Head Pujari Ji' makes a grand entrance dressed like a samurai in blue and conducts worship of Guru Ji's weapons (shastr's) with incense, divas, bells - the lot. Aarti is conducted ... DO I BELONG TO THE SAME FAITH, I wonder????

14^th I spent a few quiet moments beside the remnants of the Godavari to reflect on my Guru Ji, first thing in the morning...

Nanded to Bidar - Nanak Jhira. Worst drive so far - very bad road - 150 kms. Visited gurdwara of Mai Bhago near Bidar where our reverred Mai Bhago breathed her last. Simple gurdwara but the sewadhars are already touting for chanda (contributions) to convert it into a marble building. Why should they be left behind!!!

Nanak Jhira is an imposing complex and clean. The water from the spring which Baba Nanak discovered is clear, drinkable water. Accommodation is good! I was even tempted into taking a bath in the small 'serowar' through which the stream flows. A very pleasing gurdwara and tranquil after the hustle and bustle or Hajur Sahib.

15^th I did a 'naughty' first thing - 1am to be exact! I decided to 'swim' the serovar. No one was around - so I draped myself in a blanket and tiptoes down to the serovar, quickly removed the blanket (of course, I was wearing shorts!) and slipped in to swim across the serovar and back. It is winter and it was c-o-l-d, but what an experience! (It is not a very big serovar but the water coming straight from the spring is crystal clear. Yes, this gurdwara has the tranquility needed to be in touch with oneself.

Early start for Nagpur. We are trying to do a round trip. Great trip to Nagpur along minor roads and finally Highway 3. Accommodation within was too expensive for our budget so we headed on and stayed in a town called Soaner .. heading towards Rajasthan and Jaipur.

16^th Soaner to Beaorda. Stayed there for the night.

17^th Beaorda to Jaipur. Marble, marble everywhere! Even the fences are made of pieces of marble! Good business from SGPC to build gurdwaras!

18^th Few early morning hours in Jaipur. Unfortunately, though Jaipuri is a great city in terms of places to see, it is also very dirty. For example, a great deal of sewerage flows straight into a lake in which one of the maharajahs built a palace in the lake before filling the lake - it is called the 'jal mahal'. It is half submerged in what is now raw sewage!

Through Bikaner to Suratghar (towards Punjab border). Great road trip with sand dunes interpsersed with green fields and camel carts. Camel is the main beast of burden.

19^th Suratghar to Ganga Nagar and into Punjab. First, one last stop, at Muktsar to thank Waheguru for a safe journey - then back to Ludhiana. All in, 4400 kms.

Picked up a few traffic rules pertinent to India.

1.Red light does not mean stop. Similarly green does not mean go. Watch the others carefully.

2.You should NOT have rear mirrors. You worry about the front of you, let the back of you take care of itself. Which also means that if you are turning left to join the flow of traffic from a side road, never make the mistake of looking right! You might be there all day! Anyone coming into the main traffic from the left gets the right of way! Remember, you worry about the front, back is not your problem.

3. Most important item in your vehicle is the horn or a very loud contraption, to let everyone around you know that you are there! It is not considered rude to blow your horn - so do not get riled.

4. Never, EVER take for granted that a pedestrian crossing is for that purpose. I think it is just a decoration on the road or vehicles to run over pedestrians who are foolish enough to cross there.

5. Right of way depends on size of vehicle including beasts of burden including elephants and camels and animal carts.

6. Most lorries and trailers carry a few signs on their rear. Important ones are 'PLEASE HORN' or 'AVAAZ-DHO'. So you can see the importance of your horn! One intriguing one says 'PLEASE WAIT FOR SIDE'. I was enlightened by our driver that it means you wait for the driver of the vehicle in front to indicate that it is safe to overtake and he is 'giving you way (side) to pass'!!

7. DON'T be hesitant. Courage gets you about. If you wait to be given way - be prepared to wait a very long time!!

8. Best advice - do not ever drive in India. Get an Indian to do it!

9. You do NOT have right of way within a roundabout. Right of way depends on size of vehicle and mainly with vehicles on the major road passing through a roundabout.

..AND THEN GOD SPOKE

Sunday 26^th December, last Sunday of the year, is the fateful day on which God 'addressed' the planet in the form of a devastating earthquake and tsunami causing devastation from northern Indonesia (Sumatra) through the northern coastline of Malaysia, western coastline of Thailand, eastern coastline of India, Sri Lanka even as far west as Somalia on the African coast including all islands within.

I flew over the devastated area from Delhi to Kuala Lumpur one day later. Everyone is preoccupied with this disaster including all TV news channels.

YES! I do have one point of praise for India. It has some great TV! I loved the cartoons in Hindi. Are there any in Panjabi?

30^th December - went to Singapore to do Asa Dhi Var with the local youth at the opening ceremony of the exhibition and Akhand Path to celebrate the 15th. anniversary of the Singapore Sikh Education Foundation. Had the opportunity to talk to one of the two Sikh MP's of Singapore - S. Inderjeet Singh Ji. Program was held at the Singh Sabha.

Last day of 2004 - Flew KL to Adelaide.

A very Happy, productive and spiritually progressive 2005 to all readers. Remember, be loving, kind, humble and helpful. The opposite of these virtues only brings misery to those around you and most importantly and inevitably - yourself!