The journey from Singapore to Leh (Ladakh, India) meant going from sea level to 3,505 metres in less than 24 hours. I had not had time to acclimatize and my heart was pumping hard to maximize the intake of every molecule of oxygen in the rarefied air. Early...
Kashmir, the land of shawls, snow and sun, Was being eaten by Afghans like a bun. excerpt from “History of Sikhs (Vol V)” by Hari Ram Gupta A little known fact is that if not for the ambition of Maharajah Ranjit Singh (Lion of Punjab, who ruled from 1799...
A journey across the salt range in Pakistan enabled me to reflect on the tumult of human existence, our daily battles between the realms of spiritual and existential desires! From the abandoned remains of Choa Baba Nanak Gurdwara (left picture), where Nanak spread the message of spiritual love, as...
A white summer cloud once arose, in harmony with heaven and earth, to freely float in the blue sky from horizon to horizon following the breath of the atmosphere. It abandoned himself to the breath of the greater life, allowing it to lead him beyond the farthest horizons to an...
Mind is a stubborn horse. It always does what it is supposed to do, leading naturally to the path of least resistance. This mind horse can however be directed on a constructive path by riding the saddle of self-reflection, holding the reins of patience and balancing on the stirrups of...
In Pakistan at Mansehra, as I peered into the hall of the Mansehra Municipal library, in front of the marble structure in which once the scripture of the Sikhs would be kept, now there were tables placed with newspapers! In the hall where the community would once attentively sit on...
Nanak sang the songs of love to ‘illuminate’ the hearts of mortals! However today, ironically, at a short distance from the Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara in Pakistan where Nanak breathed his last, a barbed wire along the Indo-Pak border remains ‘illuminated’ with high powered lights even during the bright daylight! Nanak’s...
If we all can passionately advocate that this world is a bouquet of coexistence then differentiating words like ‘Kafir’ that breed one-upmanship can hopefully lose relevance? ‘Kafir’, a derogatory word has its origins in the Arabic culture and applies to anyone who holds a different view about the Creator and...
One’s who forget history are destined to relive it! While the past can’t be changed, but it can serve as a rear view mirror to guide us into the future, to not repeat what could have been avoided. At Rawalpindi in Pakistan, with a heavy heart, I gazed into a...
During a visit to Pakistan in October 2014, I had an interesting encounter with a Fakir, who in a moment of smile had said, “Climb the heights of depth!” For years, I was focused on scaling the ‘Heights of Height’, and am now attempting to climb the ‘Heights of Depth’....