I Y my

MUMMY

get it? my mummy?

hahahaha - I mean: mwuahahaha!

lol

Happy Halloween everyone!

A neat little story I've heard a couple of times. Pretty inspirtational.

An old man was picking up objects off the beach and tossing them out into the sea. A young man approached him and saw that the objects were starfish. "Why in the world are you throwing starfish into the water?" he asked.
"If the starfish are still on the beach when the tide goes out and the sun rises high in the sky, they will die," replied the old man.
"That is ridiculous," retorted the young man sceptically. "There are thousands of miles of beach and millions of starfish. You can't really believe that what you're doing could possibly make a difference!"
The wise old man picked up another starfish, tossed it out into the waves, and said thoughtfully,
"It made a difference to that one."

We can do no great things, only small things with great love. ~Mother Teresa

Happy Diwali everyone! Or, for us Sikhs - happy BANDHI CHOHR DIVAS!

If you don't know what Bandhi Chohr is all about, here is one of the stories from the book Sakhian. This one is by Amrita Dhanoa, who is aged 14.


A long time ago, the sixth Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Hargobind Ji, started the celebration of Bandhi Chhor Divas. It all started while he was spreading the teachings of Sikhism. Sikhism was gaining popularity, and Guru Ji’s power was growing amongst the people. In fact, Guru Hargobind Ji was becoming so well known that some people were starting to get jealous. Emperor Jahangir was certainly one of them.
The emperor was a Muslim, and feared that if Sikhism became more popular, it might overpower his own religion. The emperor was also worried that Guru Hargobind Ji himself would conquer him. The same thoughts had worried Emperor Jahangir when Guru Arjan Dev Ji, Guru Hargobind Ji’s father, had been the reigning Guru. At that time, the emperor had had Guru Arjan Dev Ji martyred, thinking that it would stop the spread of Sikhism.
This time, the emperor decided, he would finish the Guru Ji by imprisoning him in the famous fort of Gwalior. Emperor Jahangir succeeded in doing so, and all of the Guru Ji’s beloved Sikhs were very sad. However, Guru Hargobind Ji was not the only person in the jail. Other Hindu rajahs were also kept there as a punishment for annoying or bothering the mighty Jahangir. At first, Jahangir thought that his problem was solved once and for all. However, Emperor Jahangir forgot that Guru Hargobind Ji had earned many people’s respect and friendship.
Guru Ji’s good friend, Hajrat Mian Mir, gave Emperor Jahangir a rude awakening. Hajrat Mian Mir was a very influential and powerful leader. Although he was a Muslim, he thought very highly of GuruHargobind Ji. When Hajrat Mian Mir heard of Guru Ji in jail he wasvery angry! Hajrat Mian Mir told Emperor Jahangir to let the Guru Jifree. Emperor Jahangir had to listen, for it would not be good if such a strong man like Hajrat Mian Mir was upset with him. And so, Emperor Jahangir sent the orders to free Guru Hargobind Ji from the fort of Gwalior.
When Guru Ji heard that he was to be freed he refused to leave. He said that he would only leave the jail if all of the other rajahs could go with him. Emperor Jahangir was frustrated, but remembering Hajrat Mian Mir, he knew he would have to let the Guru have what he wanted - to some extent.
“Let those rajahs be freed who can hold on to the Guru’s coattails and walk out of prison,” he replied.
This was a big mistake; the emperor had thought that perhaps four or five of the rajahs would be able to hold onto the coattails of Guru Hargobind Ji. Little did he know, Guru Ji was having a special coat made with 52 coattails - the same number of rajas there were in the prison! All of the rajas held a coattail and escaped the prison safely. After this, Guru Hargobind Ji became popularly known as ‘Bandhi Chhor’, or ‘Deliverer From Prison’. The day Guru Ji arrived at Har Mandir Sahib, or the Golden Temple, the whole city of Amritsar was illuminated to welcome him.
The day Guru Hargobind Ji reached Amritsar coincides with Diwali. This is why Sikhs and Hindus celebrate on Diwali. Sikhs celebrate ‘Bandhi Chhor Divas,’ meaning ‘Day of Freedom.’ There are religious congregations held in gurdwaras all across the world including the three-day reading of the Guru Granth Sahib Ji. Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji taught us to be kind and help others - another lesson of Sikhism.


Buy Sakhian here and help out the Guru Gobind Singh Children's Foundation!

It's Thanksgiving (for us Canadians, anyway) so I, of course, have tracked down some good ol' Thanksgiving... stuff. Enjoy!

SOME THANKSGIVING RECIPES

by: Kindergarten students

Banana Pie: You buy some bananas and crust. Then you mash them up and put them in the pie. Then you eat it.
Turkey: You cut the turkey up and put it in the oven for ten minutes and 300 degrees. You put gravy on it and eat it.
Turkey: You buy the turkey and take the paper off. Then you put it in the refrigerator and take it back out and cut it with a knife and make sure all the wires are out and take out the neck and heart. Then you put it in a big pan and cook it for half an hour at 80 degrees. Then you invite people over and eat.
Pizza: Buy some dough, some cheese and pepperoni. Then you cook it for 10 hours at 5 degrees. Then you eat it.
Applesauce: Go to the store and buy some apples, and then you squish them up. Then you put them in a jar that says, "Applesauce". Then you eat it.
Chocolate Pudding: Buy some chocolate pudding mix. Then you add the milk. Then you add the pudding mix. Then you stir it. Then you put it in the refrigerator and wait for it to get hard. Then you eat it.
Pumpkin Pie: First you buy a pumpkin and smash it. Then it is all done. And you cook it in the oven for 12 minutes and 4 degrees. Then you eat it.

SOME REAL RECIPES

Mmm, mmmm, mmmm....

CLICK <here> for some excellent vegetarian Thanksgiving recipes!

Happy Thanksgiving,

and don't forget to count your blessings today!

If you ever live to be 100, I hope to be 100 minus 1 day, so I never have to live without you."

-Winnie the Pooh

Aaaaw.... who doesn't love Winnie the Pooh?

It's been a busy, busy month - and it's only the first month of school too, yeesh! - but last weekend we (as in me, my friend Tarandeep (TK), and some awesome people at the Guru Gobind Singh Children's Foundation) finally managed to pull off something we have been working tirelessly on for over a year now.

It's called Sakhian, and I'm so incredibly excited about it!!!

Okay, let's start from the beginning. About a year ago I decided that it would be cool if we had an anthology with a bunch of short stories based on events from Sikh history. Sikh history has always been such an inspiration to me, and I think that the stories are so romantic and heroic and amazing that they deserve to be told in a way that does them justice. I also love to read and write stories. And I knew that there must be other youth out there that share my passion SO that's when my friend TK and I started the Sikh Story Writing Contest. The aim was to encourage Sikh kids and youth to write down the stories that they enjoyed most in a creative/imaginative way. And boy did they ever do a good job!

And so, to make a long story short the best short stories have now been compiled into this book: Sakhian. I would say that a book like this is a very rare thing to come across, which makes it so worth all the hard work over the past year. The stories have been written incredibly well, and by all different ages. There's about ten in total, plus a few poems.

Now that's enough of that - check it out for yourself! You can buy the book online for $7.00 (U.S.) or just download it for $1.25. Believe me, it is WORTH IT. Oh, and u should know that we aren't getting any money for it - all the money is for printing/publishing costs. But a dollar from each book sold or downloaded will go to the Guru Gobind Singh Children's Foundation, which is a charity that helps needy families around the world.

SO CHECK IT OUT!!! ---> www.lulu.com/sakhian

I absolutely love this video. I recommend everyone watch this - it's a humorous way to get the truth out about what really goes on in farms these days. You can also check out The Meatrix II: Revolting here: www.meatrix2.com.