Mindset developed from the words of Nanak has helped my odysseys. I have cared not for the next breath, motivated only to discover a meaning in what others choose to ignore. The allure of Pakistan is in the adoration of its people. Before I became recognized as an author, I...
“The dancing mystic” at Baba Bullhe Shah’s mausoleum at Kasur (Pakistan) had caught my attention during the visit of year 2014, and meeting him again in 2017, created an opportunity for dialogue.Out of respect, as I slipped a few rupees into his pocket, he smiled and said, “NOTHING IS PLENTY...
WE LOST OUR HERITAGE IN THE CREATION OF PAKISTAN. WE THEN MANIACALLY DESTROYED IT IN INDIA. NOW UNDER THE NAME OF RENOVATION WE ARE DESTROYING WHATEVER LITTLE IS LEFT ACROSS PAKISTAN. My community needs to wake-up. Heritage is valuable source of motivation for future generations. No one has the...
Indus, you once defined the western frontiers of the Indian subcontinent. Indus, you inspired Nanak (15th century) and Farid (13th century) to spread the fragrance of love. Indus, you guided Ranjit Singh (19th century) to expand the Sikh empire beyond the northern and western banks, from the Punjab to Ladakh,...
My travel pursuits across Pakistan to understand the legacy that the Sikh community abandoned in the partition of 1947, has resulted in a state of mind that strives to gain nothing, loose nothing, but only accept the absolute. As I roamed across alleys in search of emotions embedded in the...
Nonetheless, thanks to the Government of Pakistan for having deputed a large security team to protect me closely as I independently researched the Sikh legacy of Pakistan. At a dysfunctional Gurdwara in the Potohar region, as I walked inside the abandoned building, Naimat Ullah from Islamabad Police diligently kept his...
Beauty of Sindh (Pakistan) lies in its inclusiveness of faiths. Hindu temples reflect Hinduism, Sikhism and Sufism inside the same premises. A visit to Bhagnari temple in Karachi, where lies the Guru Granth Sahib (Sikh scripture) in a room adjacent to the Hindu Gods and Goddesses. A girl dressed in...
On 23 Jan, 2017, seven decades after the partition of the Indian sub-continent, this extant village Gurdwara in Pakistan finally received a Sikh visitor. As I stood besides, it whispered, “In 1762 AD, Ahmad Shah Abdali wiped out the entire Sikh population from the plains of the Punjab, but you...
I detest people who deface heritage sites but in reading the graffiti “I lost my everything,” scribbled on the wall of the Kair Bawa Gurdwara, I thought this was so very poignant for our community, who had indeed lost much of the material and spiritual heritage in the partition of...
A dialogue with the falling Mangat Gurdwara, Pakistan I still remember the vibrancy of the community in the pre-partition days. Those were the days! I recall year 1604, when the fifth Nanak (Guru Arjan Dev) deputed Bhai Banno to get the first recension of the Guru Granth Sahib (the Sikh...
