Youngsters to the fore with Guru Nanak’s message

By Vijay Badhwar

Punjabi Sahitik Forum Sydney commemorated Guru Nanak Dev ji’s 550 birth anniversary by organising a seminar in collaboration with the Consulate General of India on October 25 with a message: Oneness in Humanity. The speakers mainly included youngsters from the Sikh community as they are the harbingers of the future of ”˜our culture’, according to one of the main organisers, Manjinder Singh.

Amanpreet Kaur and Angad Raj Singh explained the three simple tenets of Sikh religion: Kirit Karin (honest living), Vand Chakhna (sharing with others) and Naam Japana (remembering God), while Upsanjan Kaur and Jasmine Kaur highlighted the importance Guru Nanak Dev ji gave to empowerment of women five centuries ago.

Manjinder Singh explained the changing times in the 15th century when Columbus discovered America and Galileo trashed the earth-centred misconceptions about the universe. “Also came this forward thinking ”˜Marg Darshak’ Baba Nanak who was the second most travelled person on foot. He went north and south to Sri Lanka and then far west towards Afghanistan, Iraq and Mecca, even to Italy, to carry his message of equanimity and living a simple life of sharing. He spoke for a culture without cast and class and without the intermediaries of priests, mullahs and pujaries,” he said.

Following the talks, Harmohan Singh Walia’s book on poetry, ‘Lachakdaar Paani‘, was launched and reviewed by well-known Sydney poet Rekha Rajvanshi. The poetry is written in Gurmukhi and Mr Walia recited a few poems himself which the audience found having a satirical sting, a hallmark of a budding poet.

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