Most people I know spend a lot of time playing online games. Not multiplayer games like counterstrike or Quake but smaller ones on websites. I’ve never been a fan of these, even when I did play games. They have too many pop-ups and the usual price you pay in turn for playing 'for free' is them installing malicious software on your machine without your knowledge.
I came across a game today that seems less intrusive than other mainstream ones. And it appears to be unique. The ‘hero’ is actually a patka wearing kid! Too bad it hides his eyes too… This could be the start of something interesting if others follow suit. There are a lot of ‘Singh’ software programmers out there but I don’t think I’ve ever heard of any game designer/programmer. I really wished I had Sikhi based games to play when I was growing up.
This ones pretty basic you need to avoid the bubble basher things and get the ‘Chaibars’ (interesting!) But it’s still better than having nothing. If you’re going to kill time why not kill time being a kid with a patka?
Click here to play
Monday, January 09, 2006
Sunday, January 08, 2006
2nd Class Citizenry
For a long time now I’ve been hearing people around me talk about how unfairly we, the Punjabis get treated even right here in virtual Nova Punjabia-Surrey. People give many supporting examples to back up their assertions. Sadly it looks like they indeed have a valid case here.
A few years ago someone decided to move far far away from the Punjabi dominated area of Newton to another mostly ‘white’ area of Surrey. When asked why he was leaving he said the establishment has made circumstances so severe for Punajbis living in the Punjabi quarter that they’ll continue to be as ‘backward’ as they are now for a many years to come, it’ll never change for the better and the only way to progress is to get away from all this.
Having thought about this a few times over it’s actually beginning to make sense now. Someone I know who lived in the Boundary Park area for a few years told of how the roads there were cleared ‘even before any snow falls’ but the area north of the 64th never gets cleared no matter how much it snows there.
So last month when it snowed I decided to investigate. After a day of snow none of the Boundary Park streets were cleared by city crews. They were the same as any other area, maybe even worse because there’s less traffic there. The only thing that was salted down and without snow were the sidewalks in front of most houses in that area- Gora inhabited ones from the looks of it. During the winter snows it’s impossible to walk on Nova Punjabia sidewalks without slipping over the uncleared ice/snow. I really feel for the kids who have paper routes and have to risk breaking a leg or two because of people being so careless.
Even though things should be fare for all, I still think things are good the way they are. One should defiantly get what one deserves. I hadn’t thought of this before, but couldn’t it be possible that we’re facing this because we deserve it?
Before complaining about anything we should take one look at how things are done in Punjab and find comfort in knowing it’s still ਰਿਸ਼ਵਤਖੋਰੀ(bribe)-free here. And regardless of what people say they have to go through at plaecs like city hall, things usually do get done fast.
If things went our way everywhere, all the time life wouldn’t be exciting at all. Struggling to get things done is fun. This is what makes you stronger. Good to know second class citizenry provides just this...
A few years ago someone decided to move far far away from the Punjabi dominated area of Newton to another mostly ‘white’ area of Surrey. When asked why he was leaving he said the establishment has made circumstances so severe for Punajbis living in the Punjabi quarter that they’ll continue to be as ‘backward’ as they are now for a many years to come, it’ll never change for the better and the only way to progress is to get away from all this.
Having thought about this a few times over it’s actually beginning to make sense now. Someone I know who lived in the Boundary Park area for a few years told of how the roads there were cleared ‘even before any snow falls’ but the area north of the 64th never gets cleared no matter how much it snows there.
So last month when it snowed I decided to investigate. After a day of snow none of the Boundary Park streets were cleared by city crews. They were the same as any other area, maybe even worse because there’s less traffic there. The only thing that was salted down and without snow were the sidewalks in front of most houses in that area- Gora inhabited ones from the looks of it. During the winter snows it’s impossible to walk on Nova Punjabia sidewalks without slipping over the uncleared ice/snow. I really feel for the kids who have paper routes and have to risk breaking a leg or two because of people being so careless.
Even though things should be fare for all, I still think things are good the way they are. One should defiantly get what one deserves. I hadn’t thought of this before, but couldn’t it be possible that we’re facing this because we deserve it?
Before complaining about anything we should take one look at how things are done in Punjab and find comfort in knowing it’s still ਰਿਸ਼ਵਤਖੋਰੀ(bribe)-free here. And regardless of what people say they have to go through at plaecs like city hall, things usually do get done fast.
If things went our way everywhere, all the time life wouldn’t be exciting at all. Struggling to get things done is fun. This is what makes you stronger. Good to know second class citizenry provides just this...
Saturday, January 07, 2006
'No-Bath' excuse
ਆਸਾ ਦੀ ਵਾਰ ਅੰਗ ੪੭੨ (ਸ਼੍ਰੀ ਮੁੱਖਵਾਕ ਪਾਤਸ਼ਾਹੀ ਪਹਿਲੀ ਧੰਨ ਧੰਨ ਗੁਰੂ ਨਾਨਕ ਦੇਵ ਜੀਓ):
ਸੂਚੇਏਹਿਨਆਖੀਅਹਿਬਹਨਿਜਿਪਿੰਡਾਧੋਇ॥
ਸੂਚੇਸੇਈਨਾਨਕਾਜਿਨਮਨਿਵਸਿਆਸੋਇ॥੨॥
They are not called pure, who sit down after merely washing their bodies.
Only they are pure, O Nanak, within whose minds the Lord abides. 2
------------------------------------------
You now know what to say to someone who asks you to take a bath
ਸੂਚੇਏਹਿਨਆਖੀਅਹਿਬਹਨਿਜਿਪਿੰਡਾਧੋਇ॥
ਸੂਚੇਸੇਈਨਾਨਕਾਜਿਨਮਨਿਵਸਿਆਸੋਇ॥੨॥
They are not called pure, who sit down after merely washing their bodies.
Only they are pure, O Nanak, within whose minds the Lord abides. 2
------------------------------------------
You now know what to say to someone who asks you to take a bath
Friday, January 06, 2006
Punjabi-Cheenai?
A few years ago I went to get an X-ray done at the local clinic on Scott Road. When I got called in there was this Chinese lady there who thought I didn’t know English and started giving instructions in Punjabi. I was shocked! Wasn’t sure if I was really hearing what I was hearing. It was pretty close to ‘paindoo boli.’ So I kept talking to her in Punajbi and finally asked how much she really knew. She said: ਥੋੜੀ ਥੋੜੀ ਆਉਦੀ ਆ।(Just a little bit)The look of confusion, mistrust and awe on the faces of old Punjabi ladies when they hear the Cheeni talk to them in Punjabi is priceless.
I went again yesterday and there was this other Cheena guy who looked just like Dr Nik from the Simpsons. It was hard not to laugh at him- the why he looked and the why he talked. This guy too knew some basic Punjabi.
Instead of teaching these guys Punjabi when it isn’t their mother tongue why not just hire someone who actually ‘knows’ Punjabi well. The times I’ve gone there I don’t think there was ever a single Chinese person going in to get an X-ray done. I sure there are a lot of certified Punajbi speaking X-ray technicians out there. Who knows maybe the Xray chain’s owned by a rich cheena from Hong-Kong who has a no-hindu hiring policy.
Thursday, January 05, 2006
Dastaardhari Liberals
The federal elections were inevitable right from the get go. It was only a matter of when not if they’d be happening. We’ll be going to the polls on the 23rd of this month.
I was going through the list of liberal candidates on the website and I don’t think there’s ever been a team as diverse as this. A lot of Punjabis are running liberal this time. It appears a big chunk of the liberal candidates are ‘non-white’ even more than in the pervious campaigns. Quite a lot of women candidates this time around as well.
Now most liberal-haters will tell you this is a political scheme, but even if this is the case it’s still a reflection of what the liberal party stands for. Doesn’t every party want to reflect mainstreamness and give the appearance they’re tolerant especially in a place like Canada?
Besides Gurbax Singh Malhi and Navdeep Singh Bains who are already in parliament, there are three other candidates who tie a dastaar. Jaswinder Singh Johal from Calgary Northeast, Amarjeet Singh Grewal from Edmonton-Mill Woods-Beaumont and Parmjeet Singh Gill from Winnipeg North.
Whether they’ll be able to win or not, it’s still good to know they’re at least running, and running liberal.
I was going through the list of liberal candidates on the website and I don’t think there’s ever been a team as diverse as this. A lot of Punjabis are running liberal this time. It appears a big chunk of the liberal candidates are ‘non-white’ even more than in the pervious campaigns. Quite a lot of women candidates this time around as well.
Now most liberal-haters will tell you this is a political scheme, but even if this is the case it’s still a reflection of what the liberal party stands for. Doesn’t every party want to reflect mainstreamness and give the appearance they’re tolerant especially in a place like Canada?
Besides Gurbax Singh Malhi and Navdeep Singh Bains who are already in parliament, there are three other candidates who tie a dastaar. Jaswinder Singh Johal from Calgary Northeast, Amarjeet Singh Grewal from Edmonton-Mill Woods-Beaumont and Parmjeet Singh Gill from Winnipeg North.
Whether they’ll be able to win or not, it’s still good to know they’re at least running, and running liberal.
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