by blogadmin | Nov 11, 2019 | Blog Post, Media Publishing's, Sikhism, Year 2019
A few months ago, my wife and I decided to do the unthinkable: visit Pakistan.
Before boarding the Philadelphia-Lahore flight last month, I wrote an op-ed for Pakistan’s The Daily Times, but never anticipated the reaction on social media. Some of my fellow Indians — not only Modi devotees — were offended by my positive mentions of Pakistan and Muslims. The Patel community was most upset.
With this uncertain start, how could we believe that our maiden Pakistan visit would be such a joyous experience? From the moment we arrived we were treated like celebrities. Shopkeepers and restaurants would first refuse to accept money.
It is important to mention here that I was in a country and among people I had done my best all these years to avoid.
This side of Punjab has a lot of camels. I also observed rampant pigeon grooming for gambling. In Faisalabad (old Lyallpur), I was awestruck to see its sky blanketed by colourful kites. The city’s Gobind Pura, Nanak Pura and Harcharan Pura show its inseparable Sikh connection.
When we arrived at Lyallpur Khalsa College (now Municipal Degree College) on a late Friday afternoon, the college appeared to be closed. The security guard pointed us towards the principal who was just opening his car door. One of our local companions hurriedly approached the principal. I will never forget the principal’s words: ‘It is their college, their property. They built it. Who am I to give them permission to tour it?’
Pakistani Punjabi has always been endearing to me, even though my friends and I often made it a butt of our jokes. That its speakers found my Punjabi interesting and original was a pleasant surprise.
Outside Lahore’s Defence Raya Golf and Country Club, I was introduced to Lt Gen Zahid Ali Akbar (retd). Although 88 years of age, he seemed fit enough to finish a marathon. ‘What a joy to speak real Punjabi with you. What they speak here isn’t Punjabi. Teach them some before you leave!’ he said, pointing to my hosts.
At the Punjab Club, Lahore’s colonial hangover is unmistakable. Its dress code and no-photo policy are non-negotiable. Thanks to an invitation from Riaz Ahmad Khan, retired chief justice of the Pakistan Supreme Court, and his wife, we were allowed to visit and eat there.
It was a remarkable journey. I have lived in England as a student and visited many European and Central American countries for business and leisure. I have seen more expansive physical beauty and natural diversity, awe-inspiring infrastructure and impeccable systems. However, never before have I seen such hearty hospitality or experienced an abundance of love that so contrasted with a country’s image abroad. No wonder that we frequently asked each other, ‘Are we in Pakistan?’
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This column was published online by the www.tribuneindia.com on November 09, 2019.
by blogadmin | Nov 5, 2019 | Blog Post, Media Publishing's, Sikhism, Year 2019
In an October 5, 2019 column, I wrote about the overwhelming support and love my wife Harpreet Minhas and I received from Delaware’s Pakistani community in America on learning that we were travelling to Pakistan for the first time.
Guru Nanak’s 550th birth anniversary had inspired us to make the trip-one we had previously thought impossible. As it turned out, the eight days I spent in the country so feared by many turned out to be eight of my best.
Our Qatar flight on October 23 had landed almost an hour earlier in Lahore, just past midnight. Immigration and customs were a breeze-a pleasant surprise because getting our Pakistan visas in Washington D.C. had taken us a month.
The airport’s infrastructure and overall condition reminded me of India’s Nagpur airport, which I had visited before coming to America in 1999.
Outside, our trip guide and facilitator, Irfan Raza-our Delaware friend Rubina Malik’s relative and our ride to the Pearl Continental Hotel-had not yet arrived.
Walking around, I started looking and observing and taking pictures of my first glimpses of the Lahore I had read and heard so much about. A Sikh anywhere in the world has a special bond with Lahore for historical, religious, cultural and language reasons.
A bit later, a tall, good-looking man approached me. “Sat Sri Akal Ji.”
“Sat…Sri…Akal,” I mumbled, trying hard to place this familiar face.
Is he one of my wife’s many cousins who live in the Jalandhar belt or a sibling of one of my hometown Patiala friends? His smile and sweet and friendly demeanor provided no clues.
“Sorry, you are…?”
“Irfan, Ji.”His face bloomed even more as he stretched out his right hand. His beautiful wife, Bushra, stood by his side clasping her hands like I do many times when in a gurdwara.
Before they left after checking us in the hotel, we discussed how to overcome various uncertainties we may face arising from Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s call for nationwide protests. We decided to mitigate possible risks by visiting destinations outside Lahore first.
As planned, after we had bathed, changed, slept a few hours and eaten, Irfan and Bushra picked us up to go to Gurdwara Janam Asthan in Nankana Sahib. Irfan was driving.
We headed west and soon reached a bridge over a dry riverbed.
“India stopped Ravi’s water,” Irfan said, anticipating my question.
The dehydrated Ravi illustrated the rocks and stones and ravines in India and Pakistan relations. In my heart I asked Guru Nanak, “Will there be a day when these two neighbours will drown their rocks and stones and flow together in peace and harmony?”
After about three hours we reached the gurdwara on the site where 550 years earlier Guru Nanak Dev was born. I entered the compound and continued to walk towards the gurdwara. A man in his sixties, coming from the opposite side, greeted me.
“I am Abdul Rasheed. My elders revered Baba Nanak. Baba Fareed is our saint; he and Nanak are the same, they taught us. Sardarji, you are fortunate that he has summoned you to his darbar.”
Abdul’s wear was simple and his manner rustic, but what he said was divine.
“This is my first time. Do you live here in Nankana Sahib?” I asked.
“No, Samundari, near Lyallpur. This is my first time as well, though I have been intending to visit for decades.”
“Ah! Because it is his 550th, that’s why you came as I did from America?”
“No, I didn’t know it. Bhaiji (Sikh priest) inside, who fed us food, water and tea, told us. Sardarji, you came because he sent for you. I came because he called me, and he called me now. How could I come before?”
With that, he walked away quietly humming something.
When I came out after paying my obeisance, a group of seven non-Sikh men asked me for a picture. Another family requested the same when we were collecting our shoes.
Such requests for pictures by men and women, boys and girls, individuals and families, young and old, on foot or a bike or in a car grew in the days ahead. Why was I such a celebrity? Honestly, I don’t know.
For instance, the next day, before we reached Kartarpur Sahib, a camel owner in Narowal asked me for a picture. On arrival in the compound of the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, we were mobbed by the national and international media present there rafter covering the signing of the agreement between India and Pakistan to operationalise Kartarpur Corridor. In Faisalabad, on Friday, visiting Lyallpur Khalsa College (now Municipal Degree College) was one of our top priorities. When we reached its gate, the college appeared to be closed and the helpless security guard pointed us towards the principal about to leave in his car.
When Aslam from our local host group approached him, I will never forget his reply: “It is their college, their property. They built it. Who am I to give them permission?”
Other than absent bars and wine shops and Urdu street signs, it is difficult to tell the two Punjabs apart. East Punjab doesn’t have a large and developed city like Lahore, soaked in grand history. Its DHA developments may have no match in northern India, while the Packages Mall could be a shopping destination anywhere on the globe.
I have lived in England as a student and visited many European, North, South and Central American countries for business and leisure. Australia and Asia as well. I have seen more expansive physical beauty and natural diversity, awe-inspiring infrastructure and impeccable systems.
However, never before have I seen such hearty hospitality or experienced an abundance of love that so contrasted with a country’s image abroad. No wonder that Harpreet and I frequently asked each other, “Are we in Pakistan?”
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This column was published online by the www.dailytimes.com.pk on November 05, 2019.
by blogadmin | Nov 4, 2019 | Blog Post, Media Publishing's, Sikhism, Year 2019
On 24 October, my wife and I had the good fortune of visiting Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara – before it opens to Indian pilgrims on 8 November.
We travelled from Delaware to Lahore a day before and left for Kartarpur the following morning. There was a lot of construction activity going on, but it was wonderful to get a first look at Darbar Sahib.
What we will cherish most is the kind of hospitality and warmth we received from the Pakistanis, from the security people at the entrance of the gurdwara. We were greeted with warmth and joy everywhere we went. It was a pleasure being at Kartarpur.
We were greeted with a white expanse upon entering the premises. It was amazing to see the commitment of the local and central government in finishing up the work before the inauguration. There was a road being constructed for the pilgrims’ entry, and the library was almost furnished too. The experience was nothing short of surreal.
Construction underway at the gurdwara.
It was most touching to see local people from Lahore and its neighbourhood welcoming and helping us, making sure we had a great time.
This visit was something that we had desired and wanted for a long time, but we’d never thought that such a day would come when we’d have the opportunity to visit the holy destination – that too before the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.
We were also lucky to have visited Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Guru Nanak Dev.
Our purpose in coming here has been fulfilled in a joyous and beautiful way.
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This column was published online by the www.thequint.com on November 04, 2019.
by blogadmin | Oct 20, 2019 | Blog Post, Delaware, Media Publishing's, Year 2019
Everyone knows that education is important, but in some parts of the world it is difficult, if not impossible, to come by.
Not many know of two Dover-Camden area Delawareans — Sanjay Kumar and Mahendra Kumar — whose life mission is to change that through a non-profit they started in 2005 aptly named Be Educated!
Like me, the two men (who are not related) were born and educated in India and are in the software industry. I met them nearly 20 years ago when we all lived in Dover’s Woodmill Apartments. I contacted them recently to find out the origin of their educational mission.
Libraries in remote villages
“I was visiting my hometown Lucknow in 2004 where I met Raj Kumar,” recalled Sanjay. “He came along with the vehicle I had hired for my holidays as its driver. He ranted during every single ride about how miserably middle and high school students in rural India do in exams.”
Why? One day, Sanjay finally asked him.
“‘Because the poor and underprivileged in villages can’t afford ‘guides’ (test prep and study materials),” Raj said.
Mahendra’s inspiration was rooted in unfair favoritism and politics. He witnessed blatant and pervasive corruption in the schools. For example, he said, a politician’s son unable to spell his own name was acclaimed over and above other students for academic excellence.
To counter this malaise, Sanjay and Mahendra evolved a simple and economical solution. They opened libraries stocked with study guides in the homes of unpaid, impassioned volunteers in the neediest villages. Each of these $800 libraries was allocated $500 for books and $300 for such necessities as a signboards, cupboards and administration.
The first one was opened in April 2005 in Raj Kumar’s home in Gurubhasganj. The founders were also its sponsors.
By 2007, Be Educated! had opened five libraries in India. Word quickly spread.
Someone in Nepal was very eager to start one there, Raj Kumar reported. That became the sixth library and the first outside India. That same year, another opened in Pakistan.
Today, the nonprofit has more than 80 operational libraries in the three countries. Five libraries each are named after Martin Luther King Jr. and Malala Yousafzai
“How did you choose which villager’s house to open the library in?” I asked.
“We chose those host volunteers who were poor but passionate over the affluent who wanted it as a status symbol,” Mahendra said.
Added Sanjay: “We do ‘Power of One’ fundraisers in Dover. We solicit $1,000 sponsors (the cost has gone up) to open a library in whatever name the sponsor wants. However, the sponsor can’t choose the location. This way we have libraries in Muslim Pakistan sponsored by Hindu Indians and vice-versa. Regardless of how little and humble our endeavor is, we will stay at it to turn the arch rivals into good neighbors.”
Homes for Angels
The program’s success fueled its expansion.
“We started two more projects over the last couple of years,” Mahendra said. “In 2016, we started Home for Angels in Mumbai.”
“Straight from the villages to Mumbai?” I wondered aloud.
Mahendra explained that Kashyap Sanghvi, who lives in Newark, had come from Mumbai. He told them of a couple there who were providing food, shelter, education and everything else to 18 orphans living with them in their two-bedroom apartment — even though they had two children of their own.
“What?” was my reaction
Sanjay picked up the story.
“Exactly! Many of these orphans were children of parents who had died from HIV; some were born HIV positive. This couple, Father Thomas Reji and his wife, took them in because no one else wanted them. They lay discarded on the streets. For help with their education, Kashyap approached us.”
In response the two Delaware men organized a Home for Angels fundraiser in Dover.
“We were clear: only a library isn’t the answer in this case,” Sanjay said. “These kids need space, tutors, desktops, tables and chairs, and, of course, stationery.”
To increase space, the program rented another apartment in the neighborhood and installed video cameras in it. First, only one tutor was hired. A second was added as the number of children gradually grew. They are 32 now, divided into three groups according to age.
“The tutors help two groups with afterschool work every day,” Mahendra said. “The oldest group gets coaching outside, around the corner.”
He acknowledges that raising money for this work is challenging. However, “you are blown away by the magnanimity of the individuals and families. Our tax-exempt status helps,” Sanjay said. “The first fundraiser of $10,000 helped us with renting, decorating and initial ‘goodies.”
“We have angels in Delaware as well,” Mahendra said. He recounted how a Dover couple, after learning that there were no beds for the children, immediately wrote a check to cover the entire cost of 16 bunk beds for the 32 orphans.
Future Girlz
These two men’s latest endeavor is directed at helping Indian girls with their educations.
“Future Girlz is our third project, started in 2017,” Mahendra said. “In this, we open libraries in towns and cities exclusively for girls. Also, in these libraries, learning is measured because we employ tutors to teach and test.”
Why tutor-led libraries with a focus on girls?
“One, they are the neediest,” Sanjay explained. “Two, they love to learn. Third, an educated girl means an educated family, a better world.”
He said the first girls’ library opened in Rajkot in the western state of Gujarat inside an existing women’s center. As with all of their projects, growth has come quickly. There are now six libraries for “Girlz,” including two in Nepal.
If you would like to learn more about any of these programs, contact Mahendra Kumar 302-883-1456, or visit their website: www.beeducated.org.
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This column was published online by the www.delawareonline.com on October 18, 2019.
by blogadmin | Oct 5, 2019 | Blog Post, Media Publishing's
While growing up in West Punjab, in India, I cannot recall meeting any Muslim other than the art teacher in the boarding school I attended for five years.
What I knew then about Muslims or Islam was based only on TV, movies, and the printed word-almost nothing.
I could say the same for Pakistan, too, even though my mother was born in Karachi.
While I was doing my undergrad in computer engineering in Maharashtra and Master of Business Administration in vilayat later, I met, or rather came across, many Muslims. Nevertheless, these interactions didn’t change anything much for me. I still had not formed an experienced, a deep opinion about the community.
Until recently, I could never think of visiting Pakistan believing that its leaders and people are far from good and that a non-Muslim is hated and is not safe in the country or among them. A good part of my present 20 years in America only strengthened this belief.
Then, I don’t know why or how, things started to change my perspective and understanding about Muslims and more recently, about Pakistan. I wonder, maybe, if it was celebrating my first Eid in 2013 (the great food should also be given due credit!).
I am an interfaith activist here in the state of Delaware where I live and run the software business I started 20 years ago. From my interactions with local Muslims in interfaith meetings, I started to visit the mosques in the area on invitation during Ramadan or for interfaith meetings called in the wake of attacks against Muslims or any other faith community-locally or abroad. The horrific tragedies of New Zealand and Pittsburgh are two examples.
We in the Sikh community partnered with Vaqar Sharief, his wife, Uzma Vaqar, and other Muslims in 2013 to serve hot meals to the homeless and food-insecure residents of Wilmington, Delaware every fourth Saturday of the month, a tradition of service that continues today.
Over time, the relationship with the local Muslim community blossomed. For the last three years I have hosted an iftar for Delaware Muslims during Ramadan. This year I also participated in four others-three by local mosques and one by the New Castle County leadership.
During Ramadan this year, I shared my experiences with the local Muslim community in an op-ed piece in our local newspaper. I explained why Muslims need to be embraced and not feared or hated. They, I wrote, live, love, work, earn, enjoy and have families just like you and me.
My daughter started college last year in Pennsylvania. Her best friends there are all international students from Pakistan. During the spring break, we loved the experience of hosting one of them whose mother back home is a doctor and her father is in the army.
Unlike many South-Asian peers, I am not a cricket nut. In my school and college days I was a swimmer and hockey player. Nevertheless, as a result of my initiatives more than 13 years ago, Delaware today has two T20 tennis ball cricket leagues. In the season that just ended in September after starting in April, 33 teams competed for the two trophies.
My heart fills with joy and my soul with peace to see men of different professions and backgrounds, with roots in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, playing together on the same team regardless of international politics.
Guru Nanak, no less, inspired the evolution of my views about Pakistan. My wife and I wanted to visit Nankana Sahib and Kartarpur Sahib this year to participate in Guru Sahib’s 550th birth anniversary celebrations.
When the word about our deeply cherished desire spread, everyone around us with a connection to Pakistan came forward offering to take care of all of our arrangements from airport pickup to hosting to serving as tour guides.
Delaware resident Shafqat Bhatti’s nephew in Lahore went even a step further when he said, “We too are Sardars.”
“How is that?” I asked.
“I am Sardar Wasim Ilyas,” with the pride of a lion in his voice.
I look forward to visiting Pakistan, and I know we will experience the same love and warmth we have found here in America.
Insha Allah, I promise to share that with you after the conclusion of my visit.
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This column was published online by the www.dailytimes.com.pk on October 05, 2019.
by blogadmin | Sep 23, 2019 | Blog Post, Delaware, Media Publishing's
On a summer weekend afternoon, Area 1 of Lums Pond State Park is in the throes of a ferocious cricket battle.
The grand climax of a match is at hand. In the right hand of the bowler at the north end is a ball; in the hands of the hunched batsman at the south end is a bat. And he is intently watching the bowler.
It might have been this batsman’s jutting backside that inspired Oscar Wilde to quip, “I never play cricket. It requires one to assume such indecent postures.”
The bowler starts to run as he delivers the last ball of the match. Suddenly there is pin-drop silence all around. Teams and their supporters become still — there isn’t even air moving through their noses.
The batsman’s mind is focused on scoring more than two runs off this ball. Only that will crown his team with a glorious victory, earning them a place in the coveted semifinals.
At least 100 cricket players visit Lums Pond every weekend during the season since two pitches were added in Area 3. It is time Delaware politicians took notice of the need and potential.
There are two cricket leagues at Lums Pond: The Delaware United Cricket League, which has been around for eight years, and the Delaware Premiere League, which is two years old. DUCL has 15 teams; DPL has 18.
DUCL’s season started in mid-April, and it held its semifinal matches last Saturday. On Sept. 21, at 11:30 a.m., the Lums Pond Cricket Club will face off against the Gujarat Lions in the semifinals. DPL’s season ended last weekend, when the Master Blasters defeated the Delaware Super Kings to claim the championship.
New cricket game formats are growing in popularity worldwide. The days of five-day-long test matches that often ended in a draw are long over.
Maybe George Bernard Shaw hastened their sunset when he said, “Baseball has the great advantage over cricket of being sooner ended.”
There’s a reason why cricket seems foreign to many Delawareans, says Paras Tiwari, captain of the DUCL’s defending champion team, the Lums Pond Cricket Club. The greater Philadelphia area has lost the passion for cricket that it had a century ago. These days, many think it is a game for minorities.
“All those who are playing here are those who were born, and also raised in most cases, in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh or Sri Lanka,” Tiwari says.
Cricket was introduced in that part of the world in the 1700s by the British. A distant cousin and forerunner of American baseball, it remains England’s national sport.
Some of Delaware’s cricket-crazy immigrants wish there was more local support in building interest in the sport.
“Why is cricket not introduced in schools?” asks Sunil Prashar, an all-round cricket veteran and DSK’s leading light. “Our own children — forget those who have no cricket in families — can’t learn the game without that.There is no academy in Delaware like in neighboring states. There is no indoor facility in Delaware like New Jersey has. That restricts the game to only a few months in a year.”
Major Minhas, who is one of DUCL’s main organizers, agreed that lack of facilities is a problem.
“We don’t have enough cricket pitches to play,” Minhas said. “One of the reasons why I supported Matt Meyer’s election was he promised one or more cricket pitches (cricket fields) in the county parks. But nothing so far.”
America has a closer history with cricket than you might think. Former President Ronald Reagan, who was “addicted” to cricket, thought it was “Buddhism made visible.” He was fond of using cricketing imagery and lingo.
“He also once said … that the most dangerous thing in the world, after Communism, was a rising ball outside the off-stump,” one former adviser was quoted as saying.
Cricket allowed Reagan to cozy up to Margaret Thatcher — unbeknownst to him, she knew a duck (zero in cricket) about cricket.
If you’re looking for something different, come and take in one of the cricket matches at Lums Pond. Perhaps you’ll even learn some of the sport’s terms that intrigued a former president: silly point, fine leg, short leg, slip, gully, googly, silly mid-on and silly mid-off, just to mention a few.
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This column was published online by the www.delawareonline.com on September 19, 2019.
Also, published in Newspaper on September 21, 2019
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