Latest news with #GuruNanak
Time of India
5 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Pakistan travel suspended, but optimistic SGPC asks devotees to submit passports for Nov pilgrimage
Amritsar: Hoping that India and Pakistan will lift their ongoing travel suspension, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) on Thursday invited devotees to submit their passports for visa processing to travel across the border for the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev in Nov. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now SGPC secretary Partap Singh informed that since Guru Nanak's birth anniversary fell over three and a half months from now, SGPC was hopeful the govt will resume Pakistan travel. "Given that the entire process of collecting passports and applying for visas takes more than two and a half months, we have no choice but to begin preparations now, regardless of whether travel is resumed. If we wait and the travel does reopen, we'll be unprepared. The goal is to ensure we are ready for the pilgrimage in case permission is granted," said the SGPC official. After the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22, in which 26 people were killed, India announced several measures targeting Pakistan, one of which was closing the Attari (India)-Wagah (Pakistan) border and asking all those who went to Pakistan to return by May 1, besides revoking visas of all Pakistanis in India. Owing to the travel suspension, the Indian Sikh jathas couldn't travel to Pakistan to observe the martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev and the death anniversary of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Partap said the SGPC had initiated the visa process and devotees could submit their passports by Aug 4. He added SGPC's plan was to send the jatha to visit historical gurdwaras in the neighbouring country, including Gurdwara Janam Asthan, Nankana Sahib. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The secretary said they had also urged the central govt to resume the suspended day-long pilgrimage to Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan from Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district. He emphasized that in light of the deep religious sentiments of the Sikh community, the govt should permit Sikh jathas to travel to Pakistan via the Attari land border and to visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib through the Kartarpur corridor—the sacred site where Guru Nanak spent the last 18 years of his life.
Indian Express
6 days ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
SGPC plans to send Sikh pilgrims to Pakistan in November for Guru Nanak Jayanti despite diplomatic tensions
Despite the tensions between India and Pakistan following Operation Sindoor and the suspension of the Shimla Agreement, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) Thursday announced plans to send a jatha (group) of Sikh pilgrims to Pakistan in November to mark the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism. In a statement, SGPC Secretary Partap Singh said, 'As in previous years, SGPC will send a jatha for the occasion of Sri Guru Nanak Dev's Parkash Gurpurb to visit various historical Gurdwaras in Pakistan.' He added that devotees wishing to join the pilgrimage must submit their passports and a recommendation from the SGPC member in the area to the SGPC's yatra department by August 4. The pilgrimage includes visits to Gurdwara Janam Asthan Sri Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Guru Nanak Dev, and other sites of religious significance in Pakistan. The arrangements fall under a longstanding framework based on the 1972 Shimla Agreement, which permits Sikh pilgrims to visit Pakistani Gurdwaras four times a year. Partap Singh said, 'Along with the passport, devotees must include a photocopy of an identity proof such as an Aadhaar card or Voter ID.' He appealed to the devotees to complete their documentation in a timely manner to facilitate visa processing. Under the existing pilgrimage arrangement, up to 3,000 Indian Sikh pilgrims are permitted to travel to Pakistan for the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak. The agreement allows 1,000 pilgrims for the martyrdom day of Guru Arjan and 500 for the death anniversary of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. SGPC had earlier decided not to send a jatha to Pakistan in June for the death anniversary of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, founder of the Sikh Empire. That decision followed heightened diplomatic strains, including Pakistan's suspension of the Shimla Agreement in late April after India withdrew from the Indus Waters Treaty. India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), in response to the Pahalgam terror attack in Kashmir in which 26 people were killed on April 22. It escalated into military conflict between India and Pakistan until a ceasefire was declared on May 10.
The Hindu
01-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
An Afghan-American Muslim and an Indian-American Sikh collaborate to revive the rabab
The earliest-known bowed instrument, rabab, has joined forces with the trumpet, through an unusually refreshing alliance between musicians Qais Essar, an Afghan-American Muslim, and Sonny Singh, an Indian-American Sikh. Together, they are composing an album, Sangat, which harks back to the defining narratives of Bhakti and Sufi movements (two prominent socio-religious movements in Hinduism and Islam). Among its three compositions released so far, one is an iconic Sufi song, 'Lal meri pat', praising the 12th Century mystic Shabaaz Qalandar, and the other two are the renditions of Sikh hymns reimaged on the warm timbre of rabab and accented by the jazzy, raw harmonics of trumpet. The recently released, 'Pavan Guru', is the concluding shlok of Sikh prayer Japji Sahib. It was penned by the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak, who conjures up the unifying cultural phenomenon of Sant Mat Bhakti that drew on both Hinduism and Islam. The third track is called 'Vich Sangat', a 16th Century Sikh devotional poem by the fourth Sikh guru, Guru Ram Das. 'The album will have a few instrumental tracks centred on improvisation and conversation between the rabab and trumpet. There will be two tracks in Farsi, one of which is Qais's original composition of a poem by Amir Khusrau, and the other one is a co-composition of a Farsi shabad by Guru Nanak,' says Sonny about Sangat's upcoming tracks. Identifying sangat He describes the album as a project that is not only a meeting of diverse musical and spiritual traditions, but also a reflection of art as a vehicle for connection, resistance and healing. 'In the Sikh community, we generally refer to the worshippers inside a Gurdwara as sangat (beloved community). In this project, we would like to define sangat as something broader, where our ethnic, national and religious identities are porous,' he shares. 'For Sikhs and Muslims, specifically, this began with the friendship between Guru Nanak and his musical companion Bhai Mardana who played the rabab and was a Muslim. You see this spirit of solidarity and oneness in the Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book of Sikhs, which includes the writings of not only Sikh gurus, but also of Sufi saints such as Sheikh Farid and radical bhakti poet-saints such as Ravidas, Kabir, and Namdev,' he adds. Sonny and Qais started working on Sangat in October 2024, some time after they were introduced to each other by a common friend, Sudanese-American singer-songwriter and ethnomusicologist, Alsarah. 'I was looking for a musician to accompany me on the six-week Revolutionary Love Tour with author-activist Valarie Kaur. The 40-city tour across the US, including a few gurdwaras in California, New York and Wisconsin, was part of my second album Sage Warrior that accompanied Valarie's eponymous book,' says Sonny. Driven by electric guitar, drums, dholki and trumpet, 'Pavan Guru' was featured on Sage Warrior too, but Qais's rabab on tours added a spiritual dimension to the hymn, reinterpreting its musical texture from Nanak and Mardana's travels around South Asia and the Middle East. 'We opened our concerts with 'Pavan Guru' and started our project with the recording of the hymn this February,' Sonny shares. Instruments of peace Recorded mostly in Qais's studio in Payson, Arizona, Sangat will be released in October this year through his indie label and production company Ghost Songs. With five albums and 12 EPs to his credit, Qais's merit in pursuing music through rabab commands attention. He confirms his family's commitment to art, poetry and music — stating that his grandfather played tambour — but, he assures: 'I am the first rabab player in my family'. On rabab, Qais has also composed film music for the BAFTA-nominated short film Yellow and Academy Award-nominated films Three Songs for Benazir and The Breadwinner. 'Rabab allows me to transport my thoughts and feelings to the world. In my years of practise, I have pioneered many techniques and ways of playing the rabab, specifically 'gayaki' (playing in a vocal way), and western concepts of harmony, such as chords. The mixture of the contemporary style firmly rooted in tradition gives the music ancestral power in the modern world,' he says. Rabab is the national instrument of Afghanistan, the country from where Qais's parents migrated to the US in 1982. The instrument, though not banned, is under threat from Taliban's ban on music. So, does Qais see the act of taking up rabab as that of defiance or reverence to its rich cultural history? 'Playing rabab is an act of defiance and defence of cultural history. We protect that which we revere,' he replies. His words bring to mind 'Free Palestine' inked on Qais's rabab in the video of 'Pavan Guru'. While Qais is reviving rabab with intentional fervour, Sonny, with his trumpet, is pushing the boundaries of conventions that dictate the way kirtan (hymn-singing) is performed. He has the uncanny knack of playing devotional songs and ballads of rebellion with virtuosic ease and intensity. For instance, in his first album, Chardi Kala, he sang hymns like 'Aisee Preet', 'Mitar Pyare Nu' and 'Koi Bol Ram' alongside fiery, anthemic compositions like 'Ghadar Machao'. Cultural paradox On what prompted him to collaborate with Sonny for Sangat, Qais says, 'Music has always been a tool for healing, justice, and unity. This project is my offering to that sacred stream.' He adds, 'Guru Nanak and Bhai Mardana knew then what we know now, that music is the powerful way to deliver a message to your heart.' Interestingly, the conversations on the rabab gathered steam in 2022 when the Akal Takht Jathedar requested the replacement of the harmonium with traditional string instruments such as the dilruba, rabab, and sarangi in kirtan at the Golden Temple. The idea was to revive the tradition of using string instruments in Sikh religious music. 'For centuries, starting with Bhai Mardana in the 1500s, Muslim rababis were a crucial part of the Sikh kirtan tradition. Many master musicians playing at the Golden Temple were Muslims. It is a travesty that they were pushed out. That process began in the early 1900s, and Partition (1947) sealed the deal. In the context of British colonialism, many of our communities became more rigid about their religious identities. The beauty of the oneness or the idea of 'Ik Oankar' (mool mantra) that is central to Sikhism began to be chipped away,' says Sonny. 'When Muslim rababis were expelled, much of the knowledge of the raags of the Guru Granth Sahib as well as the expertise on original instruments, like the rabab, were also lost.' By the time you read this article, Qais and Sonny would have played their first live shows as Sangat in the Bay Area, California. Sonny hopes that this music becomes 'a space for reflection, action for justice and liberation for all.' His words bring to mind 'Free Palestine' inked on Qais's rabab in the video of 'Pavan Guru'. As for Sangat, it continues to pave the way for experimental music, a symphony of a cultural paradox where the rabab and trumpet, old and new, Sikh and Muslim, Afghani and Indian, Guru Nanak and Bhai Mardana and Bhakti and Sufi movements — everything is connected to the sacred chord of humanism.
Indian Express
24-06-2025
- Sport
- Indian Express
Meet Prashant Singh, Indian rugby's ‘Superman, Spiderman, Krish'
'Itnaa badaa andaa!' Like a dragon-egg. So big. The first sighting of a game of rugby at the Oval Maidaan, even if it's just 200 metres away from Mumbai's snobbish yet nurturing Bombay Gymkhana ruggers' paddock fenced on three sides, can evoke a hugely astonished response. Prashant Singh, back when he first watched elder brother Sushant play rugby, was still only a cricketer, who had seen nothing like that rucking, mauling, tackling and crucially, freely-running sport before. But he topped races and relays at his Guru Nanak school in Colaba's Navy Nagar. After his first hour spent running with that oblong, looking for excuses to play rugby, became an addiction. This last week, Prashant picked his first Man of the Match award for Bengaluru Bravehearts in the inaugural Rugby Premier League, albeit for his defensive rigour. He has 11 tackles for a city franchise that he was very happy to be picked for, as it was the same city as his favourite IPL side. It helped that he got to play alongside some fairly well known international names on the 7s circuit, Philip Wokorach, Pol Pla, Liam Poulton and Iowane Teba. But just a few years ago – he had been bogged down by a slew of other jobs that brought in some money, but were creatively never as liberating as running carefree with the 'andaa ball' (egg-ball). A fitness freak, Prashant earned money as a gym instructor, was a food delivery agent and feeling greatly stuck, was a salesman for banking products. Covid had wreaked havoc with his rugby, and his family's well-being. His father used to run a reasonably lucrative newspaper vendor service at Colaba, but the pandemic destroyed that business, and he had to settle for a job as a security supervisor in Navy Nagar. It's when the financial crunch got to the family, and his older brother, who loved rugby equally, quit the sport and took on financial responsibility of the home with two sisters, two brothers and parents. But even at school, the parents had insisted on academics, to help find a secure job and stable salary. 'The sports craze was always there. I mostly played cricket, but after running with the rugby ball, I couldn't stop playing the sport. Problem was we were a very middle class family. My parents said there is no scope in sports. They bitterly opposed cricket, and rugby they didn't even know. I used to fight routinely just to be allowed to play,' he recalls. Eventually after Class 10, he quit for a few years, leaving the Rhino Club run by former international Pritam Roy. But you can't live in South Bombay's nooks and crannies and not get pulled back into sport, rugby or cricket, with Oval and Cross maidaan closeby, watching them on every commute if you have once experienced how much fun they are. For Prashant, it was his former rivals from Magicians who invited him to restart. 'We used to be cross (rivals) earlier, but they said get a sports certificate and then that might help with a government job,' he laughs. Laughs, because a job, any job, was a painful, ponderous bind for Prashant, that he reckoned conspired to keep him away from rugby. 'I became a delivery agent because I could work on my own terms. At the bank job, they wouldn't allow me to go train or give me leave for rugby. I became a fitness master (instructor certification), and knew I had that option,' he recalls. But the rugby itch was too much. After playing for Magicians, run by the Sheikh brothers and Vijay Dange, Prashant, a hybrid player in 7s and a utility flanker (what he calls 'fast forward') in XVs got picked for Maharashtra 15s. With India's whimsical National Games scheduling, three editions happened in three years. And finishing silver medallists meant he earned cash prize of Rs 5 lakh each time. His family, still disdainful rugby, thought he was joking. 'They were convinced it was a lie till they saw the amount credited into my account. That day was very emotional,' he says. 'Till there is no respect, there is really no value of sport. Supporting family financially is the biggest pressure and greatest joy,' he says, recalling the relief he felt in putting food and remt money on the table. It eased his mind to enjoy the adrenaline that comes with scoring a try. 'But rugby is similar. The pressure when you run with the ball before scoring a try is enormous. If I score, the happiness that me, my team and screaming crowd feel – there's no feeling like that in the world.' Prashant is deservingly proud of his score in modern rugby's 'who's better?' Metric – the Bronco time. It's like cricket's yo-yo score, but obviously considerably higher in intensity given how much ruggers run. It consists of 5 sets of back to back shuttle runs over 20 metres, 40 metres and 60 metres. Gloucester's Seb Atkinson, an English Rugby Union player holds the world record of 4 minutes 8 seconds. Prashant claims he might be India's best with 4 minutes, 38 seconds. A former batsman in cricket, he took greater pride in fielding. 'Fielding was my best skill in cricket. But rugby is much tougher,' he says. He grew up with the nickname Shiv, which is what his teammates call him and is emblazoned on his jersey too. At his club, with the Bravehearts currently third, behind Hyderabad and Chennai, he looks up to Akuila Rokolisoa, but has picked a bunch of nicknames for his athleticism and flying runs. 'Superman, Spiderman and Krish,' he enumerates.
Hindustan Times
14-06-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
GNDU to establish Chair in Sikh studies: VC
Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) is strengthening its global footprint with a series of academic collaborations and initiatives aimed at promoting research on Guru Nanak's teachings and advancing higher education. Vice-chancellor prof Karamjeet Singh, following a recent international tour, announced that the university is set to establish a Chair of Guru Nanak Dev Sikh Studies on the campus, supported by an endowment exceeding ₹3 crore funded primarily by Punjabi NRIs. The Chair will focus on research related to the spiritual and philosophical teachings of Guru Nanak Dev. During his visit to Uzbekistan, Singh signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Samarkand State University to foster academic and cultural collaborations commemorating Guru Nanak Dev. In the United States, the plan for the Sikh Studies Chair took shape alongside scholarship programmes for students. In Canada, GNDU engaged with leading universities in British Columbia to explore joint research, faculty exchanges and innovative academic programmes. 'This visit has marked a significant step toward positioning GNDU as a global leader in integrated and future-ready education,' Singh said, highlighting the university's 'student-first' approach and focus on inclusive academic innovation. Addressing employment challenges faced by Indian graduates, the VC emphasised GNDU's initiatives to equip students with entrepreneurial skills. He said that while approximately 30 lakh students graduate annually in India, only 10 lakh secure jobs. To bridge this gap, GNDU is launching entrepreneurship courses and training programmes to help students create their own ventures. The university has also introduced forward-looking programmes in artificial intelligence, robotics, environmental science, design, journalism and business analytics to prepare students for emerging fields, the VC said. 'A rose garden will be established in the courtyard of the university campus. The fountain chowk will be re-design keeping in view the philosophy of Guru Nanak 's teachings,' the VC added.
