Friday, April 13, 2007

.:Happy Vaisakhi:.



Vaisakhi is one of the most colorful events in the Sikh calendar. It's a time when Punjabi farmers harvest their crops and most importantly, the day on which the city of Anandpur in Punjab saw the creation of the 'Khalsa' - The Pure Ones.

In 1699 on Vaisakhi (also written Baisakhi) Day, hundreds of thousands of people gathered around the divine temporal seat at Anandpur Sahib. Guru Gobind Singh Ji addressed the congregants with a most stirring oration on his divine mission of restoring their faith and preserving the Sikh religion. He said that every great deed was preceded by equally great sacrifice.

Vaisakhi is the day on which the Sikh Nation - the Khalsa was born and Sikhs were given a clear identity and a code of conduct to live by. The event was led by the last living Guru, Guru Gobind Singh Ji, who baptised the first Sikhs using sweet nectar called Amrit. Around the world at Vaisakhi time, Sikhs reflect on the values taught to them by their Gurus and celebrate the birth of the Khalsa.

The message of Vaisakhi has particular relevance today in a multi-cultural and multi-faith society. Vaisakhi promotes friendship and mutual respect as the way forward. This is consistent with the command of Guru Gobind Singh Ji: Consider the whole of humanity as one, we are all children of the One God.




More:
Turban Day - Nirali Magazine
Turban Day - Sepia Mutiny
Wikipedia
Savory Sikh

Monday, April 09, 2007

Spotlight

I came across some great sites this past week and have decided to summarize them in this blog.

Seva Café is an experiment in the joys of giving and of selfless service. Run mostly by volunteers, our wholesome meals are cooked with love and served with love, offered to you as a genuine gift. To complete the full circle of giving and to sustain this experiment, we leave it to you to pay from your heart. All profits are used to support social service projects.

Project Naad is a charitable organisation committed to producing high quality freely distributable content. Check out their leaflets and presentations.

Search Kindly Search Kindly is a non-profit organization dedicated to the idea of micro-volunteerism. 100% of the advertising revenue generated from this website is donated to charitable organizations.

Sakhi for South Asian Women is a community-based organization in the New York metropolitan area committed to ending violence against women of South Asian origin.

Harvard World Health News is an online news digest from the Center for Health Communication at the Harvard School of Public Health. The site covers critical public health issues from around the world. It is designed to be a resource for an international audience of policy makers and journalists as well as public health researchers, practitioners, and advocates.