Junked Out
Well…I think I have had enough junk food for the day. The one thing I like about being at my own home is that I can eat healthy food. I guess when you eat very healthy and are used to eating a certain way it can be hard to be satisfied. I can’t handle lots of processed foods. I love good ‘ol simple foods. Rice and beans, daal, salads, etc.. basically fresh wholesome foods. Other stuff just seems to make me tired and suck my energy out. Is it just me? Or have I just become so sensitive to my body? I think most people get so disconnected to their bodies that they don’t notice the difference when they eat things. It’s amazing how your body can tolerate and live off of total junk. I don’t even have caffeine (coffee/tea). If I were to have a cup, I would be wired for the whole day and the next. Unlike some of my friends who laugh… “Hah! I can have coffee and it will put me to sleep!”.
Your body is a temple and should be taken care of as such. I guess that is the ideal, but something to think about and strive towards.
OK… I’m going to go off topic. Someone made a comment on my blog about my “lefty turban” and how it didn’t look as good as my son’s because it looked “odd”. When I learnt to tie a turban when I was young I just started that way…and didn’t think anything of it….Until people started to make comments on how it didn’t look right and asking if I was “lefty”. Come on guys!?
Now for me it is a cool thing. It is great to stand out…and another way to do so. I like to break people’s “boxes” open. It is too easy to just think of things in relation to what you think is right or wrong and make judgments. We as Sikhs and people need to open their minds and stop trying to put something into this right or wrong category. The turban thing is such a small issue..but for me it is a tiny example which shows how people think about things.
Another example is all the comments in regard to some of my friends doing Bhangra dance presentation for a newlywed couple. It is totally ridiculous how people just nit pick at things. It’s no wonder most of the youth don’t want to have anything to do with being a Sikh. I’m not saying that people should just do Bhangra wherever, but you can’t look at things in a black and white way. Did you ever stop and consider also that most of us who do Bhangra don’t even know what the lyrics say?? There are the constant judgments being made based on certain associations (Bhangra = Drinking, partying), which in our case is not the case. Most of our community do Bhangra for fun and exercise and completely “clean”. We don’t have all the same issues that much of the Punjabi community has relating to Bhangra. Sikhs are no longer only from Punjab, so people need to realize that and try to understand that there are big cultural differences.
Also for everyone’s information, everyone in our community is not Amritdhari. Most people assume that all of us are Amritdhari. Most Sikhs in our community (men and women) wear a Turban, whether or not they are Amritdhari. The fact is that even though many are not Amritdhari, Sikhi is a huge part of their everyday lives. It is not a defining factor of being a better or worse Sikh.
Sorry about all this…I get worked up when I see critical thinking and nit picking without even knowing much about the people/situations involved. That’s enough for the night.
Food for thought! hahaha…. (full circle on the topic)
ps. This is just part of all of us getting to know and learning from each other. There are so many differences and things in common that we all have to share.
13 Responses to “Junked Out”
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I did noteven notice that your turban is ‘lefty’ but could not make out why it looked so befittingly nice. You never know – you might have started this trend now quite unintentionally.I agree with your sentiments re amrit etc.Guru loves us all the same. A Sikh must first train him/herself constantly obseving Paths of Naam Japna, wandh Chakna and kirat karni ( pray, share and honest labour) and then seek Guru’s grace or nadar. He Himself will then bestow the gift of Amrit on his Sikh. Therefore, no Sikh should be arrogantly proud of this status.We have to make sure the pot (our body) is absolutely pure to recieve the milk -as gurbani says in Asa Di Vaar.
Please dont take notice of any destructive criticism .You and your community whether they are amritdhari or not are doing a GREAT JOB.
Sat Sri Akal Gurumustak Ji….Just like everyday I was going thru your blog, cos its a pleasure to read everything that you post here. N then I read this particular blog, in my opinion MastakJi you are doing a perfect Sewa by connecting us to people like yourself. The problem with most of us (SIKH’s) is that WE DONT THINK OUT OF THE BOX..whereas that’s just contradictory to our great Guru’s teachings. We just want to stick to one thing, hence that makes us RITUALISTIC SIKH’s. We are more concerned about someone’s looks and overlook the spirit and SEWA BHAV of a person. Just for knowledge of our fellow reader’s our GURU’s were totally against RITUALISM and thats how SIKHISM came into existance. I believe ther’s nothing wrong with doing Bhangra, on the contrary I feel proud that you guys dance to the beats of Bhangra. And agian, we are overlooking the spirit with which it was performed for the newly wed couples.
I can appreciate from your perspective that reading to these kinda comments it does become demoralising, but my brother just believe its a SELFLESS service that you are doing and keep your spirits high always.
May Waheguru be always wid you and shower all his blessings and keep you in Chardi Kala.
Please carry on wid your gud work.
Fateh
Singh brother from Johannesburg
VeerG
I forgot to mention a quote in my earlier posting ” THE EASIEST THING IN THE WORLD IS TO CONDEMN SOMEONE” and I think , thats what has been projected in the blog by our so-called Fanatic SIKH’s. Also one doesnt need much of brain’s or knowledge to pursue the process of condemnation. Thats why you see most of our politican following this path.
Nonthless, please dont get discouraged and keep up with your gud work.
Waheguru bless and direct everyone to the right path!!!
Singh from Johannesburg.
My friend once said, Sikhi is very personal and everyone’s Sikhi is slightly different. But he also said if you feel something takes you away from your Guru, you should try to avoid it.
I feel Bhangra takes me away from my Guru, thats me personally.
Hey everyone it different, we should always try to better ourselves and not belittle others to make ourselves feel better.
But sometimes i feel Gursikhs think its wrong to have fun, where to draw the line – i suppose again its a persoanl issue. All i say is don’t forget to actually enjoy life.
great blog, God Bless
K Singh
I highly respect anyone who has the chutzpah to totally dance and have fun WITHOUT drinking. Somehow, many have grown to think that dancing sober is strange or silly. Bah on that!
ssaji gurmustuk singhji,
what you said was totally right. guess the sikhs have become too critical and unfortunately…are at each others throats most of the time.. i have been observing this now for so long . i mean ..this is a personal exp…i have known most sikh in my life who are not selfless and open minded.. i guess that is what defines a sikh. he is open minded….but than there are others i have met who are devoted and helpful…but i believe this is one prob we must address…and another thiong to what i said before i have been heckled many a times by my own relatives and fellow sikhs….it has totally put me off…..i dread now to approach a sikh…it has left a real bad taste in my mouth….we are too haughty, pretentious, bucolic(at least in pb) and vitriolic….
SSAji,
Finallyyy…thanx for making ur views on the basics of Sikhism public….pls dont get bogged down by the criticicm and keep the good work going…i totally agree with hardie and believe that its about time we Sikhs start thinking Out Of The Box and stop manipulating our Gurus thots by getting fanatical…
God Bless…
Ranjita
SSAji…ur blog is an inspiration, don’t let any critism bog u down. there will always those who see things negatively. keep it up brother in sikhism!
wow i cant believe ppl comment on the appearance and dance styles used by other sikh brothers and sisters and cant see past the outer person to see the inner ppl..how can u comment on anyone u dont know..those girls im sure would be hurt that ppl put down their efforts to create a nice pure and happy form of entertainment they obviously have a passion for…im also a western sikh and dont wear indian clothes and listen to heavy metal music….it doesnt make me any less of a sikh who is raised in punjab and wears traditional indian clothes…its whats in your heart…and i dont think we have the right to judge the character of anyone from a picture or video…God obviously blessed these girls with a talent for dancing..they deserve the chance to perform it…oooooo okay i be quiet now i jus get hurt wen ppl cause upset..we are all SIKH (learners) we only do what is right to the best of our knowledge at any given time.
grasshoppa, you must concentrate on the positive! from now on you must not waste your time and mine(for the love of god!!! :)) by commenting on something silly as these things…UNLESS it’s well thought out and well written.
Also you must REMEMBA, this is the inTAnet you neva know who’s out theya lurking around in the shadooooooows…
peace! and love!
Alright you guys seem very interesting Sikhs! I would like to meet you all someday. Let’s see when this happens :+)
(very serious)
I don’t know the difference between lefty and righty turbans although most men around me wear turbans. I am neither a lefty nor righty. I don’t have a dominant hand. So I am one different/weirdo being of God. I have fun with the hand readers lol
sat sri akal gurumustuk singh ji,my brother.i cant beleive that sombody can comment like that.may be thats why younge generation is going away from sikhi coz we being very strict. any way those gursikh gals dancing with keski looks awesome.
watching those gals with keski i feel to see myself in keski