Before I write what I want to write, I want to put a disclaimer that I am not an expert, scholar or researcher on the subject. This writeup is purely out of my life experiences, learning and beliefs I have grown up with. I can be right or wrong and honestly I am not bothered. I am just going to express something I strongly feel about.
There has been quite a few times that I have been into discussions with friends over the topic like “Is there something like destiny?”, “Is our fate already written?” and more often than normal group has agreed or semi-agreed that our fate was already written before we were born. I somehow was never convinced either way (whether it was already written or we control it). And this question has always been on mind. I have tried to find logical explanation, tried to find the answer from Gurbani ( you have to understand that my knowledge in Gurbani is limited) but there was never something more convincing than the recent events. Be it event of shooting at Wisconsin temple or shootings at Sandyhook or more tragic gang rape in Delhi (capital of India). When I look at these events, it makes me wonder how can someone go to that level of hate where one not only kills the people he doesn’t know but he also kills himself. That is really deep for me to understand. But what I can make out of all these events is that my Waheguru (your God, Allah, Jesus -whatever name you give) can’t plan/write something like this for anyone. I used to say “I am not the DOER – HE is the doer, God has already planned it, God is the force behind everything” . but not anymore. I can’t worship, pray someone who can write put this as destined plan for anyone. One may argue with me that Life, Death, Good and bad its all in our mind – but I won’t go there. All I know is the ONE upon whom I put my faith is neither the planner nor the doer of such horrific acts. We have to resolve and accept these actions are our own doings. We can’t just play the game of whatever good I do it and whatever bad blame it on God.
I feel sad for the victims, may Waheguru provide them strength to deal with the brutal realities of life.
Few months ago I came across a video that was going viral on internet. I saw countless number of people post the same video on their Facebook and I believe countless people admired it too. A lot of people felt “Wow” watching the video and may be few like me just didn’t like it. The video was unseen footage of Harmandir Sahib and it showed the cleaning process of the diwan(main) hall. This is the cleaning process that is said to be followed every morning. Since it was “unseen footage” I was really curious to see it. But when I saw the video I ended up questioning the process and I couldn’t believe it was happening. Basically part of the process is to clean the hall with Milk. Buckets and buckets full of milk are thrown onto the floor of hall for cleaning all in the name of purity and then floor is cleaned again with water. Thereby making floor pure and holly. The pity is that in a world where so many people die of hunger everyday, there are buckets and buckets of milk drained in the name of holiness, cleanliness and faith. As I watched the video I felt like as if we haven’t really learned to live our Guru’s teachings. As uncomfortable and displeased I was watching the video, I didn’t know what to do about it.
Every now and then when I meet a fellow Sikh person for first time, I get asked “What’s your caste?” and most of the times person asking happens to be our older generation. I have always felt unpleasant talking about it. As a kid, I didn’t like discussing castes because I feared that kids will make fun of my caste as the name sounded funny. But as a grown up man, I find this question more disturbing. More than 500 years ago Guru Nanak Dev Ji started the fight against discrimination, caste-system and gave us the concept of 
As I finish this blog I just hope that WaheGuru gives us enough wisdom and awareness that we can come out of these little differences and follow the path of Guru – away from discrimination and caste system. 
This summer I went to Summer Solstice camp hosted by 3ho Organization in New Mexico.
Yoga and Meditation are the two key ingredients of this camp. At this camp for the first time in my life I let my beard down in public. It was not because I was required to do so but there was no need of any artificial look. And I enjoyed it because it made me feel “This is me“. For the first time in life I didn’t have to spend time fixing it, using hair spray or hair gel so that hairs are tucked in properly. As I look back, it wasn’t just about looking certain way it was more about being acceptable in society. Some call it “being presentable” and others call it “well groomed”. Like anything else this thought process of staying socially acceptable in my looks didn’t come over night, it’s something that developed through my childhood. As I grew so did the fashion industry and the definition of what is acceptable. As for beard there was a time when it was considered as a masculine attribute. In beginning every male kept it, then it became a commodity of holy men and may be later for the men who wanted to feel more masculine. If you look into the 19th century around the world most men wore full beards (even American and European) it was sort of fashion of that era. But this changed slowly after Fashion industry gave birth to the term “Clean Shaven” which cleverly not only planted idea of shaving but also in subtle ways said “You look clean when you shave”. Today in order for you to look clean you should shave and be well groomed and that’s what is socially acceptable. I must mention that I have nothing against people who shave, keep beard up or down or trim – it’s a personal choice and there is no right or wrong to it. I keep it as part of article of faith. For observant Sikhs, the body is a gift to be honored by leaving it in its natural state. Maintaining kesh, or hair, is one of the five articles of faith as ordered by the 10th guru.
