Just recently there was a new TV program on a Punjabi Channel in India (PTC) called "The ‘Y of Life". This is a program in a mix of Punjabi and English on Kundalini Yoga and Meditation. The first set of episodes were done with Siri Bhrosa Kaur and Gurmukh Kaur (who you might remember being featured in Vanity Fair Magazine).
Below you can watch parts of the first two episodes. If you are in India you can watch the new episodes on PTC. I split the video into individual parts and setup a video playlist so when one finishes the next will start.
Ok, the last video I had already posted on the SikhNet home page about a week ago, so I might as well get caught up in both places. Here is one of the videos (mentioned in the previous blog post) about the Youth Online Film Festival. (I’m not good at holding stuff back that is done. I just want to post it all up. Hahaha)
In case you didn’t guess, this is Sartaj in the video. We took turns filming each other or having the camera on a tripod and filming us both ( we had limited film crew and only a few hours so had to go with what we had)
A couple of weeks ago I was in Washington D.C. for the day staying with my friend Sartaj Singh Dhami. You might know him from some of the videos he has posted online (Gatka Experimentation or Sikh On the Street). Anyways, during my quick visit I thought it would be great to do some short promotional videos to encourage people to make a video for the SikhNet Online Film Festival. We wanted to show that with a simple camera and a little bit of creativity you could do all kinds of fun things. So during that day before I flew back home to New Mexico myself and sartaj recorded about 7-8 different videos. These are things that we did on the spur of the moment. We just had silly/fun ideas and just did it. We didn’t have time for reviewing the video footage or getting things fine tuned. We just brainstormed some ideas, turned on the camera….and started filming. We did some with little digital cameras (in video mode), some with a cell phone (though we didn’t have time to finish it), and some with an average video camera (recording audio through the camera). In other words we didn’t have any special equipment. All that was really required was a unique idea and some effort to put it all together.
Every week I will be posting one of the videos that we made in hope that YOU (yes….I’m talking to you) will make a video for this year’s film festival. Remember anyone any age can submit a video so no excuses!
Here is the first video that we did. It’s a bit embarrassing for me but I’m willing to look silly if it helps encourage you to make a video.
Thanks again to my friend Sartaj who had lots of fun, wacky ideas, and did all the editing/recording for these videos. Ish Amitoj Kaur (Kambdi Kalaai) was also there with us the day before, but had to leave. If she could have stayed, who knows what we would have done? We could have had all all-star cast and film crew?? Hahah… Stay tuned next week for the next one :)
Today my daughter Charanjeet Kaur turned one year old! A few weeks ago she started walking and she is all over the place climbing on everything. It’s so much fun to play with her. It’s especially fun to see her interact with her beloved brother, Narayan. They chase each other and go into laughing fits. Her latest words are: "thocks" (socks), "Da" (Dog), "ta-too" (Thank You), "Momma", "bru-da" (brother), "thalu" (Our dog Kaloo).
In about 6 weeks SikhNet will be hosting the 2nd Jaap Sahib Course here in Espanola, New Mexico (August 5th - 9th, 2007). This is a great opportunity for anyone to have have an awesome experience of Guru Gobind Singh’s Jaap Sahib. Whether you are a Sikh or not, know everything on Sikhi, or know nothing, come join us!
Many people have emailed me expressing their interest in visiting Espanola, New Mexico and meeting the sangat. This is a great chance to come for a visit, make new friends, get inspired, learn, share and become a part of the sangat!
The event is being run on cost basis only in an effort to keep the price down and to get more involvement from the sangat outside of Espanola.
Register by June 30th to receive the Pre-registration price!
Every evening during the week of Summer Solstice camp here in Espanola, NM… there was always different things to do in the evening. With over 1400 people there is are normally at least 4 different things you can do at any given time. One of the evening fun things was to hang out at the "Yogi Tea Cafe". Every night different musicians (and participants of Solstice) would play all different kinds of music. Everyone hangs out, eats snacks and treats and drinks yummy hot yogi tea while listening to the music. Some times it was meditative music, but more often it was something that got you going.
Here is a unique video clip from my little digital camera of Guru Jai Singh, Pritpal Singh and others playing some music. I think it is bluegrass/country music, but I’m not expert in this area. It was quite fun to listen to. The lyrics to most of the songs were related to Sikhs and the 3HO lifestyle so we could all relate to to it.
Well Summer Solstice Sadhana Camp is over and like always it was an awesome experience! Me and my son Narayan, along with over 1500 people were at the camp. Narayan had so much fun and didn’t want to leave. He and his friends would roam wild most of the days having fun and enjoying the freedom. By the end of the day he would crash (sleep) hard and then do it all over again the next day. I had walky-talkies for the first few days to keep track up him, but then the batteries died. Oh well, so much for the high tech gadgets.
One thing which I think is cool about solstice is that everyone from all backgrounds, countries and status all come together to meditate and work on their self spiritually. Everyone takes part in the camp and has a karma seva, so everyone helps with something. Summer Solstice is not an easy "relax" camp at the beach. Everyone camps out in tents and has to deal with the harsh elements of New Mexico. The camp is up in the mountains at around 7,000 feet above sea level and the sun can be quite hot and intense. New Mexico is a dry climate so mixed with the summer heat and being outside in the elements all day for a week can be intense. You have to drink lots of water and electrolytes and stay out of the sun to keep cool. Getting up early in the morning for Sadhana and then many going to sleep late from all the night time fun and activities. By the end of the week one is ready for a vacation. hahaha!
When I was up at camp I remember thinking about how it is such an equalizer being there. Rich, poor, famous, unknown, etc all go through the same thing and have to deal with it all. There is no luxury suite for the unprivileged (unless you bring a maharaja tent with generator, fridge, bed, A/C… Hahaha) . Also because of the environment you have to dress a certain way in order to stay cool and comfortable. Everyone tends to just blend in. The person next to you could be a movie star millionaire and you wouldn’t know it. There are so many people it would be hard to know them all anyway!
In previous years I have taken a lot of pictures and videos, but this year I needed a break from it all so didn’t really capture much. Here are some of the pictures that I did take. The people in the sound booth recorded a bunch of the audio, so when I get the files I’ll post them too.
Well, that time has come where many of us take the week off to go to the Summer Solstice Sadhana event. We go to meditate, be together and work on ourselves. I’ll be up on the mountain with my son Narayan Singh (along with 1,300+ people) for the whole week, so you probably won’t see anything new on this blog till I get back. You can see some of the pictures and videos from last year.
In about 6 weeks SikhNet will be hosting the 2nd Jaap Sahib Course here in Espanola, New Mexico (August 5th - 9th, 2007). This is a great opportunity for anyone to have have an awesome experience of Guru Gobind Singh’s Jaap Sahib. Whether you are a Sikh or not, know everything on Sikhi, or know nothing, come join us!
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