One of the best things ever is to experience a kirtan dream. What is a kirtan dream? Well it’s a dream where while asleep there is kirtan going on and you dream a dream and you hear kirtan in the background within the contents of the dream. Your dream follows kirtan. I myself listen to kirtan while asleep and I have recommended it to anyone I know as well. From having listened to kirtan at night, all night for over 14 years I can tell you that my dreams have been the very best someone can dream and I have never had a scary dream all this time.
As usual I had a really good dream last night. It was about my workplace moving to Langley and getting a really big warehouse with many big machines. Nearby there were other mega warehouses and a huge shopping mall.
So I was there at work at the end of the week and working night shift during a break I went to one of the windows and saw that there were kids in the opposite set of warehouses. I went out to my car and get a pair of roller-skates out and went to the business park adjacent to ours. It was nighttime and there wasn’t anyone about who I would have to report to.
So anyway I go over to where the kids were and when I get there I didn’t see anyone. I went to the back of the buildings and saw that there was a big opening to one of the buildings and when I went in all the kids were there skating, a group of about 5-6. The whole warehouse had a huge tubular track lined with white green and blue tiles with ridges and bumps like it was made just for skating.
So this may sound like I’m a gorafied Punjabi but for the longest time I taught these kids how to do new tricks. I then looked outside and it turned out that there was light coming from the windows and it was way late to go home.
As I went outside and told the kids I had to go home now, through the sidewalk of the building I made my way and one little guy tugs at my shirt and asked me what they should be doing. I told them that its very simple, they should Jaap naam. And like a dam bursting I could hear all the kids do Vaheguru Vaheguru Vaheguru in unison so loud that I thought the neighbors would wake up.
I kept going and the one kid who asked what they should be doing was still with me and i asked him if I’ve seen him before and he said yes he did and that I taught him Punjabi at Khalsa School during the summer, it turned out that it was a fact too I recognized him instantly at that.
When I woke up I was listening to the Bhai Prabhjot Singh Jee Track from Prince George Raensbayee 2005 with the Vaheguru dhunni still going.
Listening to Kirtan during the night pays. One dream too good.
Sunday, September 09, 2007
Sunday, August 05, 2007
A Classic Anecdote
Pressure of atmosphere at sea level : 76 centimeter of mercury column
This anecdote may or may not be authentic (I don't know where it comes from) but it's very amusing and interesting
Some time ago I received a call from a colleague, who asked if I would be the referee on the grading of an examination question. He was about to give a student a zero for his answer to a physics question, while the student claimed he should receive a perfect score and would if the system were not set up against the student. The instructor and the student agreed to an impartial arbiter, and I was selected.
I went to my colleague's office and read the examination question: "Show how it is possible to determine the height of a tall building with the aid of a barometer." The student had answered: "Take the barometer to the top of the building, attach a long rope to it, lower it to the street, and then bring it up, measuring the length of the rope. The length of the rope is the height of the building."
I pointed out that the student really had a strong case for full credit since he had really answered the question completely and correctly. On the other hand, if full credit were given, it could well contribute to a high grade in his physics course. A high grade is supposed to certify competence in physics, but the answer did not confirm this. I suggested that the student have another try at answering the question. I was not surprised that my colleague agreed, but I was surprised when the student did.
I gave the student six minutes to answer the question with the warning that the answer should show some knowledge of physics. At the end of five minutes, he had not written anything. I asked if he wished to give up, but he said no. He had many answers to this problem; he was just thinking of the best one. I excused myself for interrupting him and asked him to please go on. In the next minute, he dashed off his answer which read: "Take the barometer to the top of the building and lean over the edge of the roof. Drop the barometer, timing its fall with a stopwatch. Then, using the formula x =0.5 * a * t2, calculate the height of the building." At this point, I asked my colleague if he would give up. He conceded, and gave the student almost full credit.
In leaving my colleague's office, I recalled that the student had said that he had other answers to the problem, so I asked him what they were.
"Well," said the student. "there are many ways of getting the height of a tall building with the aid of a barometer. For example , you could take the barometer out on a sunny day and measure the height of the barometer, the length of its shadow, and the length of the shadow of the building, and by the use of simple proportion, determine the height of the building."
"Fine," I said, "and others?"
"Yes," said the student. “There is a very basic measurement method you will like. In this method, you take the barometer and begin to walk up the stairs. As you climb the stairs, you mark off the length of the barometer along the wall. You then count the number of marks, and this will give you the height of the building in barometer units.”
"A very direct method."
"Of course, if you want a more sophisticated method, you can tie the barometer to the end of a string, swing it as a pendulum, and determine the value of g at the street level and at the top of the building. From the difference between the two values of g, the height of the building, in principle, can be calculated. On this same tack, you could take the barometer to the top of the building, attach a long rope to it, lower it to just above the street, and then swing it as a pendulum. You could then calculate the height of the building by the period of the precession".
"Finally," he concluded, "there are many other ways of solving the problem. Probably the best is to take the barometer to the basement and knock on the superintendent's door. When the superintendent answers, you speak to him as follows: 'Mr. Superintendent, here is a fine barometer. If you will tell me the height of the building, I will give you this barometer.'"
At this point, I asked the student if he really did not know the conventional answer to this question. He admitted that he did, but said that he was fed up with high school and college instructors trying to teach him how to think.
The student was Neils Bohr and the arbiter Rutherford...
This anecdote may or may not be authentic (I don't know where it comes from) but it's very amusing and interesting
Some time ago I received a call from a colleague, who asked if I would be the referee on the grading of an examination question. He was about to give a student a zero for his answer to a physics question, while the student claimed he should receive a perfect score and would if the system were not set up against the student. The instructor and the student agreed to an impartial arbiter, and I was selected.
I went to my colleague's office and read the examination question: "Show how it is possible to determine the height of a tall building with the aid of a barometer." The student had answered: "Take the barometer to the top of the building, attach a long rope to it, lower it to the street, and then bring it up, measuring the length of the rope. The length of the rope is the height of the building."
I pointed out that the student really had a strong case for full credit since he had really answered the question completely and correctly. On the other hand, if full credit were given, it could well contribute to a high grade in his physics course. A high grade is supposed to certify competence in physics, but the answer did not confirm this. I suggested that the student have another try at answering the question. I was not surprised that my colleague agreed, but I was surprised when the student did.
I gave the student six minutes to answer the question with the warning that the answer should show some knowledge of physics. At the end of five minutes, he had not written anything. I asked if he wished to give up, but he said no. He had many answers to this problem; he was just thinking of the best one. I excused myself for interrupting him and asked him to please go on. In the next minute, he dashed off his answer which read: "Take the barometer to the top of the building and lean over the edge of the roof. Drop the barometer, timing its fall with a stopwatch. Then, using the formula x =0.5 * a * t2, calculate the height of the building." At this point, I asked my colleague if he would give up. He conceded, and gave the student almost full credit.
In leaving my colleague's office, I recalled that the student had said that he had other answers to the problem, so I asked him what they were.
"Well," said the student. "there are many ways of getting the height of a tall building with the aid of a barometer. For example , you could take the barometer out on a sunny day and measure the height of the barometer, the length of its shadow, and the length of the shadow of the building, and by the use of simple proportion, determine the height of the building."
"Fine," I said, "and others?"
"Yes," said the student. “There is a very basic measurement method you will like. In this method, you take the barometer and begin to walk up the stairs. As you climb the stairs, you mark off the length of the barometer along the wall. You then count the number of marks, and this will give you the height of the building in barometer units.”
"A very direct method."
"Of course, if you want a more sophisticated method, you can tie the barometer to the end of a string, swing it as a pendulum, and determine the value of g at the street level and at the top of the building. From the difference between the two values of g, the height of the building, in principle, can be calculated. On this same tack, you could take the barometer to the top of the building, attach a long rope to it, lower it to just above the street, and then swing it as a pendulum. You could then calculate the height of the building by the period of the precession".
"Finally," he concluded, "there are many other ways of solving the problem. Probably the best is to take the barometer to the basement and knock on the superintendent's door. When the superintendent answers, you speak to him as follows: 'Mr. Superintendent, here is a fine barometer. If you will tell me the height of the building, I will give you this barometer.'"
At this point, I asked the student if he really did not know the conventional answer to this question. He admitted that he did, but said that he was fed up with high school and college instructors trying to teach him how to think.
The student was Neils Bohr and the arbiter Rutherford...
Thursday, June 21, 2007
I'll be
I’ve wanted to address this issue for a long time but just didnt have the chance or time to do so earlier. When i was little I always wanted to become a doctor but didnt know which kind. The main reason was that a doctor can administer injections, and that used to freak me out and when that happened I would just put myself into the shoes of Dr Davinder Singh Jee. Fun times!
ਅੱਛਾ ਜੀ!!??!? yeah right!!>>???? then if not, what??:"ਪਰ ਜੇ ਰੱਬ ਨਾ ਕਰੇ ਰਹਿ ਰੂਹ ਜਾਏ ਤਾਂ ਵਕੀਲ ਜਾਂ ਇਨਜੀਨੀਅਰ ਬਣ ਈ ਜਾਊ"so if their kid can’t become a doctor then our putt will become an engineer or lawyer.... how many times have i heard that.
I dont think anyones ever heard of a punjabi parent say that they want their kid to decide when they want to do, even though they know what will really happen. Why not just make it that much easier for both parties.
What would the world be like without all the wonderful pieces of art and literature left to us by the greats in the middle ages till today.
Why? Well, my theory is two fold: because most people(jutts) living in a typical village had life very hard and in order to satisfy that psychological burden placed upon themselves by their emigration to
No matter what anyone says, when push comes to shove EVERYONE takes shelter in education and doesnt want to end like just like the next guy on the street.
the amount of people I see at college and when aksed what their major is and what they plan to become in 5 years time most are in the general studies program and have no clue what to declare their major as let alone any aim at getting to become any of the 3 biggies.
so why are we like that? why the false hope and glittering golden dreams to make it look like like. At the end of the tunnel the reality is that we DO NOT need that many doctors and engineers or even lawyers.
All the other things which make us human must be territory the punjabi parent must venture into. NO! not even that what must happen is that one must become confident enough to politely point the finger at the kid and say i dont know what hes going to become, I want him/her to decide when they want to do with their lives.
I really wish this was what most punjabis though about in the 80s if they did perhaps we would have had the Bindi Johal the great hockey player or the dosanjh brothers ARTcorp but no those dreams as well as their parents hopes of engineers, doctors and lawyers seemed to burn away suddenly with time.....
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Sit Down
So when my grade 6 English teacher Mr A. Rahemtula jee asked us to hand in our journals the second week of class for marking he said something which to this day I don’t forget. “You Fool!!!!! I know in whose room I wouldn’t want to set foot in. Yours!” and he hurled another volley of abuse “Man oh man it must be like an earthquake in there.”
After a few smirks and may smiles later when everyone had another gulp of air he said to me how do I know? I was too wounded to respond and he said he’ll tell the class: “your writing is the dirtiest I have ever seen!”
“Why do you write so messy?” asked he.
I today had the same treatment but in the hazoori of Shri Guru Granth Sahib Jee and in a calm filled voice. I learned something which I should have learnt a long time ago. And that is to keep a neat and tidy room, but beyond that your workplace home and even writing.
My writing has improved little since Grade 6 but still I haven’t come across major problems after all these years. (for the record I still think Mr A Rahemtula was one of the best assets khalsa school ever had, never come across such a teacher even after so long) His students know this first hand...
Meet Bhai Shangara Singh Jee:
He’s one of my closest associates, besides this is also my Fuffar Jee and fellow hockey player. So anyway, today I was at their house and after listening to Sehaj Paath and once they were going to start Rehrass Sahib I went out the door and told them that they shall do paath without me since my legs were sore.
Even though I didn’t intend to i said them all: “I’ll do paath on my rollerblades”
HERE IS THE POINT OF THIS POST:
So Fuffar Jee explained that I shouldn’t be doing any paath while walking around or doing something else. Especially Rahrass sahib, since it’s a chaunkee, and it is a must the Sikhs sit down and do paath in the evening time.
I hadn’t thought of that before and so I came to the startling yet basic realization that when you’re doing paath you should have a dedicated time which should be alloted out of out busy schedules. Since Guru Sahib listens to paath it must be a calm atmosphere as well.
Some from point A to point B obviously since Guru Sahib I with me all the time, and becuase i do paath in my room, my room should be neat and tidy. So Mr. Rahemtula’s voice again ringing vibrant and vivid “your room must look like an earthquake has struck”
PS. I will wtite up a sakhi directly endorsing these points when I have more time(next few days)
After a few smirks and may smiles later when everyone had another gulp of air he said to me how do I know? I was too wounded to respond and he said he’ll tell the class: “your writing is the dirtiest I have ever seen!”
“Why do you write so messy?” asked he.
I today had the same treatment but in the hazoori of Shri Guru Granth Sahib Jee and in a calm filled voice. I learned something which I should have learnt a long time ago. And that is to keep a neat and tidy room, but beyond that your workplace home and even writing.
My writing has improved little since Grade 6 but still I haven’t come across major problems after all these years. (for the record I still think Mr A Rahemtula was one of the best assets khalsa school ever had, never come across such a teacher even after so long) His students know this first hand...
Meet Bhai Shangara Singh Jee:
Even though I didn’t intend to i said them all: “I’ll do paath on my rollerblades”
HERE IS THE POINT OF THIS POST:
So Fuffar Jee explained that I shouldn’t be doing any paath while walking around or doing something else. Especially Rahrass sahib, since it’s a chaunkee, and it is a must the Sikhs sit down and do paath in the evening time.
I hadn’t thought of that before and so I came to the startling yet basic realization that when you’re doing paath you should have a dedicated time which should be alloted out of out busy schedules. Since Guru Sahib listens to paath it must be a calm atmosphere as well.
Some from point A to point B obviously since Guru Sahib I with me all the time, and becuase i do paath in my room, my room should be neat and tidy. So Mr. Rahemtula’s voice again ringing vibrant and vivid “your room must look like an earthquake has struck”
PS. I will wtite up a sakhi directly endorsing these points when I have more time(next few days)
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Singhs Deer Hunting
ਭੈਰਉਮਹਲਾ੫॥
ਦਸਮਿਰਗੀਸਹਜੇਬੰਧਿਆਨੀ॥
ਪਾਂਚਮਿਰਗਬੇਧੇਸਿਵਕੀਬਾਨੀ॥੧॥
ਸੰਤਸੰਗਿਲੇਚੜਿਓਸਿਕਾਰ॥
ਮ੍ਰਿਗਪਕਰੇਬਿਨੁਘੋਰਹਥੀਆਰ॥੧॥ਰਹਾਉ॥
ਆਖੇਰਬਿਰਤਿਬਾਹਰਿਆਇਓਧਾਇ॥
ਅਹੇਰਾਪਾਇਓਘਰਕੈਗਾਂਇ॥੨॥
ਮ੍ਰਿਗਪਕਰੇਘਰਿਆਣੇਹਾਟਿ॥
ਚੁਖਚੁਖਲੇਗਏਬਾਂਢੇਬਾਟਿ॥੩॥
ਏਹੁਅਹੇਰਾਕੀਨੋਦਾਨੁ॥
ਨਾਨਕਕੈਘਰਿਕੇਵਲਨਾਮੁ॥੪॥੪॥
Loose line-by-line Translation given below:ਦਸਮਿਰਗੀਸਹਜੇਬੰਧਿਆਨੀ॥
ਪਾਂਚਮਿਰਗਬੇਧੇਸਿਵਕੀਬਾਨੀ॥੧॥
ਸੰਤਸੰਗਿਲੇਚੜਿਓਸਿਕਾਰ॥
ਮ੍ਰਿਗਪਕਰੇਬਿਨੁਘੋਰਹਥੀਆਰ॥੧॥ਰਹਾਉ॥
ਆਖੇਰਬਿਰਤਿਬਾਹਰਿਆਇਓਧਾਇ॥
ਅਹੇਰਾਪਾਇਓਘਰਕੈਗਾਂਇ॥੨॥
ਮ੍ਰਿਗਪਕਰੇਘਰਿਆਣੇਹਾਟਿ॥
ਚੁਖਚੁਖਲੇਗਏਬਾਂਢੇਬਾਟਿ॥੩॥
ਏਹੁਅਹੇਰਾਕੀਨੋਦਾਨੁ॥
ਨਾਨਕਕੈਘਰਿਕੇਵਲਨਾਮੁ॥੪॥੪॥
Bhairao mahala Panjma
I have tied up the deer with great ease, and the ten sensory organs along with it.
I have been able to shoot the five desires with the Word of Guru Sahib’s Bani. ||1||
Now I go out with Sants(Enlightened Singhs) to hunt;
And so we captured the deer without horses or weapons of any sort. ||1||Pause||
Once my mind used to hunt about while running around on the outside.
I have now found the game within the home of my body-village. ||2||
I have caught the deer and brought them home.
Dividing them up, I shared them, bit by bit. ||3||
Guru Sahib has given this gift.
Guru Nanak Dev Jee’s home is filled with the Naam, the true Name of the Lord. ||4||4||
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