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’....
On a dark moonless night, the perfect stillness of the Borneo Forest was being interrupted by the croaks of the aquatic frogs. As we walked through the swamp, our untrained ears were trying hard to locate the direction of the echoes. We finally spotted them, an army of frogs...
On the plateau, Vastness of heaven and earth. None behind, None ahead. Joy and sorrow within, I, the only companion, On the Leh – Kargil road in India, fifteen kilometers east of Fotu La pass, at a height of 11,500 feet lies the Lamayuru monastery....
Elusive, Yet we remain adamant! Is He a figment of our imagination? Among all concepts of His existence, acceptance or rejection, the common thread is that humans are fixated in search for something! For most it is materialistic, while others look for beyond for the subtle. However all...
The British empire under the banner of East India Company, in the early 18th century, controlled the entire Indian sub-continent, except for the “Sikh Empire” under Maharaja Ranjit Singh. The western boundaries of the British Empire ceded at the banks of River Sutlej in Punjab, while the Sikh empire continued...
There are many lakes and mountains around the world, though only a few have an aura and character that can continue to attract people over the ages. In the remote western region of Tibet lies a triad formation of Mount Kailash, Lake Mansarovar and Lake Rakshastal, possessing a unique magnetic...
When destruction prevailed, “Nihangs”, an armed Sikh order, offered their lives to protect the rights of the common man in the North West state of Punjab (India). Today it remains a ceremonial order within the Sikh community but during the period 1699-1849 AD, they were the first line of martial...
