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Sikh Personalities   

 
 
SikhsIndia - spreading awareness - in the service to the community & India

please view below about few Sikh personalities, known to us. If you can mail us details of more n more such personalities, we will be pleased to upload about them on our Sikh web portal as well Sikh blog : www.sohnijodi.com as well www.sikhsindia.blogspot.com

 
  Amrit and Rabindra Kaur Singh - Paintings
  Amarjit Singh Bamrah / Jagdish Kaur Bamrah - Tanjore paintings
  Sd. Gulab Singh ji - minare khalsa
  Jaswant singh Jafar : Sikh art mool mantar through oil paintings
  Dr. (Mrs.) Gurdeep Kaur - PHD on Guru Granth Sahib
  Sd. Jatinder singh Shunty - a massiha for the downtrodden
  Sd. Bhupinder singh Kohli - in the service of mankind
  Kanwar Singh Dhillon - art of Punjab
  Fauja Singh, Britain’s most popular Sikh
 

Harbhajan Singh Aulakh : Real Life Super Hero

 

 

     

 

Amrit and Rabindra Kaur Singh

London-born artists whose paintings address contemporary subjects in a detailed, decorative style inspired by the tradition of Indian miniature painting. Bridging the East-West divide, their work explores ideas of cultural heritage and identity.

 

Amarjit Singh Bamrah / Jagdish Kaur Bamrah

A Madurai-based couple, Amarjit Singh Bamrah and Jagdish Kaur Bamrah are on a mission to introduce the ancient art of Tamil Nadu to different historical/ prominent Sikh institutions in Punjab and other States.The exquisite Tanjore paintings will now adorn Sikh Gurudwaras and museums across the country.                  with thanks from sikhnet

 

 

 
     
 

 
     
     
 

Minar-e-Khalsa by Sd. Gulab Singh ji

 
 

Gulab Singh learned to engrave from his father Sardar Santokh Singh and began an independent studio where he would do engraving on industrial moulds. During these years, as the family was religiously inclined, he got involved in local Gurudwara activities and developed his faith in Sikh religion and learned about the history of Sikh gurus and the entire Sikh and Punjabi movement after the 10th guru, Guru Gobind Singh.

He started to dedicate more of his time to religious activities and while working he created few bass-reliefs of Sikh Gurus. Later this religious passion gave him a vision to create his first work Minar-e-Khalsa, which took four years of research, hard work and economic investment to materialize. The project was self financed with little help from the local Sikh community. The bass-relief was inaugurated on Baisakhi of the 300th year celebration of Birth of Khalsa at Hazoor Sahib, Nanded
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Jaswant singh Jafar :

 
 

    Sikh art mool mantar through oil painting

 
 

Posted by Reema : source with thanks : thelangarhall.com

Thematically Sikh paintings are rare. Thus, when I came across the paintings below, I thought I should share. The oil paintings below are the work of Jaswant Singh Zafar. He’s a poet, photographer, and painter in his free time and an engineer in Ludhiana by day. This year, he’s spending his free time creating a series of paintings under the theme of ‘Gurbani.’ The paintings completed thus far weave the mool mantar through various aspects of nature, shapes, and other backgrounds.

At the end of the year, the series will be in an exhibition at the Artmosphere Gallery in Ludhiana. Artmosphere was created to provide a platform for budding artists in Ludhiana and Punjab such as Jaswant Singh Zafar. Such an endeavor cheers me and gives hope that the visual arts scene there is growing.

 
     
   
     
 

 
     
 

Dr. (Mrs.) Gurdeep Kaur

 
 

 
     
 

Dr. (Mrs.) Gurdeep Kaur is an Associate Professor,(reader), in the Department of Political Science, Sri Guru Nanak Dev Khalsa College,University of Delhi, Dev Nagar,Delhi. She has done her PH.D from Dept. of Political Science, Univ. of Delhi, with title of Thesis , The Concept of State in Sikhism with Special Reference to Guru Granth Sahib. Currently She is Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Theology, Katholieke University,Leuven, Belgium.

She already has three popular books to her credit. Out of which two books on Sikhism are Political Ideas of the Sikh Gurus and Political Ethics of Guru Granth Sahib.

Her Recent Publications/Papers/Conferences include : 'State in Sikhism’; 'Khalsa, political Implications', with Sunita Puri in Encyclopedia of Hinduism 1999, Univ. of South Carolin;
'Contribution of Sanskrit to Sikh Scripture; The Nature of Maharaja Ranjit Singh's Kingdom; Relevance of Sikh Scriptures in the present context', presented at World Punjabi Conference,United Kingdom, London, 'Environment and Sikhism' , ‘Welfare State Perspective in Sikhism’ In XIXth IPSA ,World Congress, Durban, South Africa, 'Women in Sikhism’, ; Ethics in Religious Scriptures & its Contemporary Relevance 'presented at International Conf. 'Parliament of the World Religions', Barcelona, Spain.

She also Participated as Delegate in the ‘9th World Punjabi Conference’ at Lahore Pakistan, January30-February 1,2004. In August 09,she is going to Limerick, Ireland to present a paper on Sikhism & Ecological Balance in the International Conf. on Interdisciplinary Theological Perspective on Ecology & Economy.

 
     
 

Sd. Jatinder singh Shunty

 
 

 A massiha for the downtrodden

 
 

 
 

Shaheed Bhagat Singh Seva Dal is a Government Registered social and national voluntary organization founded with the view to serve mankind. Free Cremation to helpless and unclaimed bodies along with Immersion of ashes, Blood donation, Free Ambulance, Free Hearse, Free medicine for T.B. patients, Free Artificial Limbs and Rickshaws for Handicapped ,and a lot more, is being done by this organization.

Jatinder Singh 'Shunty’ is the man behind East Delhi’s biggest social service organization. He say’s, “I request all the men and women, young and old to come forward to implement various programs of the organization vigorously. New suggestions and ideas are welcome. Those who are interested to see the organization working more efficiently can enlighten us with their thoughts, intentions and schemes.” He adds, “We welcome public participation in the country's unity and integrity, to become active member of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Seva Dal and thereby, volunteer in the human service of our great mother india.”

The achievements of this institution are being uploaded with the appeal to cooperate in this noble and national cause and for further progress of this institution having the aim of services to the mankind following the foot prints of mother Teressa and Bhagat Pooram Singh Ji.

 
     
 

Sd. Bhupinder singh Kohli

 
 

in the service of mankind

 
 

 
 

Working for the poor, the downtrodden the needy and the helpless is more than just a hobby for BHUPINDER SINGH KOHLI from Nerul. It is a daily ritual. Apart from his busy schedule as an employee of the State Bank of India at CBD Belapur , Kohli is immersed in social work and constantly attempts to find solutions to the problems of the helpless in his own unique ways.

Kohli’s latest idea has been to convert his own Santro Car to a vehicle for people in distress. Explains Kohli, “Four months back, I happened to see an accident nearUran Phata at around 7 pm. The victim was fatally wounded but he could reach the hospital only after precious time had lapsed, for want of timely ambulance services. This incident made me think of alternative sources to help people in distress. And that very night, I realised that I had one of these sources with me. I could help with my new car which I’d been using sparingly. I decided to use the car in emergencies for shifting patients from or to hospitals, free of cost. “ The very next day, Kohli sprung into action and inscribed ‘FREE HOSPITAL SERVICE WITHIN NAVI MUMBAI DURING THE NIGHT’ on his car. During the next three months, he helped seven patients to reach the hospital during medical emergencies.

As appreciation for his dedication, the local Gurudwara presented Kohli with a second hand ambulance.. Though my car would serve the purpose of dropping patient to the hospital, proper medical equipment is not available inside the car. Now, with the ambulance service available, I’m sure more lives will be saved. This ambulance service too comes at no cost,” he reveals.This devout Sikh has done seven first aid courses in various hospitals across Mumbai and Navi Mumbai.

Says Kohli, “When I was studying, I happened to see many rich patients dumping expensive medicines, which were not past their expiry date, after they recovered from their illness. These medicines would have otherwise served poor patients.” From then on, Kohli started collecting unused and un-expired medicines as well as free samples given by doctors. The medicines collected thus were sent to charitable dispensaries.

Kohli also collects used equipments like walking sticks, saline stands and oxygen cylinders,among others, sterilises them, and gives them to poor patients. He also collects old and usable clothes, utensils, reading materials and toys for needy people in villages. The jewel in the crown of Kohli’s social work is his mammoth compilation of a computerised Blood Group Directory that has a list of around 4,800 donors’ names and addresses, collected individually. This social worker, who is responsible for organising many medical camps, is also a member of Civil Defence, Red Cross Society and Traffic Wardens.

If you want to join Mr. Kohli, Bhai Ghanaiya ji sewa, in the service of mankind, plz contact him at :
BHUPINDER SINGH KOHLI,                                                                        NaviMumbai,                                                                            Cell.09821421058                                                                  
ghanaiyaji@khalsa.com

bhai-ghanaiyaji-sewa.page.tl                                                                                                PRESS ARTICLES - 1                                                                                                                                 PRESS ARTICLES - 2   
 
 

Diwali celebrations pics of Mr. Kohli, his mother & senior citizens with a Spastic society in Mumbai, with keertan, Langer and feeding of the Spastic childs. Really a great sewa by Sd. Bhupinder singh Kohli ji.

 
     
 

Kanwar Singh Dhillon - art of Punjab

 
   
 

Born in Amritsar India, Kanwar Singh Dhillon has been engaged in the process of art making for as long as he can remember. He is influenced by a host of past masters such as Sobha Singh, Caravaggio and J.W Waterhouse.

Growing up in Toronto Canada, Kanwar explored several paths that would allow him to work as a professional artist including animation and book illustration. However, it wasn’t until he started to take an interest in the history of the Sikhs that his art took a definitive turn for the better.

With his painting style Kanwar Singh Dhillon aspires to combine the grace and beauty of Sobha Singh’s portraits with the documentary style of Sikh history painters such as Devender Singh. Punjab’s history is rich with the exploits of heroes and sages from the time of Alexander to Maharaja Ranjit Singh. The spread of the Sikh faith and the rise of the Khalsa have featured heavily in his recent works.

 
     
 

Fauja Singh, Britain’s most popular Sikh

 
     
     
     
  He replaced David Beckham as Adidas’s new poster boy. On the Adidas billboards, spread across London, he was sitting cross-legged; as if cooling his heals after a day’s work out, peeping over Londoners, tired and overworked, telling them the secrets of his unfailing energy.

Fauja Singh, Britain’s most popular Sikh is 98 now, the oldest runner in London Marathon.

He is threatening to break his own world record of 5.40 hours in the 90 plus age bracket that he set previously. While running Marathon races in London, New York and Toronto, he raised thousands of pounds for various charities promoting Sikh culture around the world. He has also raised money for B.L.I.S.S., a charity dedicated to the care for premature babies. He describes it as the ‘oldest running for the youngest.

Fauja’s jogging skills were developed on an Indian farm in Punjab, and then at the magical age of 81, when he moved to the UK, his love for the sport became more “serious”.

Fauja Singh (born April 1, 1911) is a Sikh marathon runner in his nineties from India who is a world-record holder in his age bracket. His current personal best time for the London marathon is 6 hours 2 minutes, and his marathon record, for age 90-plus, is 5 hours 40 minutes.

singh, run, running, running shoes, marathons, runnersFauja Singh shot to fame, when aged 89, he completed the gruelling 26.2 mile distance in 6 hours and 54 minutes. This knocked 58 minutes off the previous world best for anyone in the 90 plus age bracket. The career of this extraordinary Marathon runner is closely supervised by his personal trainer Harminder Singh. He says ‘he can still run for a few more years. And perhaps he might be the oldest man to run a Marathon.

Fauja Singh came to London in 1992 to live with his son after his wife’s death in his village in Jalandhar. He says ‘Sitting at home was really killing. Most elderly people in Britain eat a rich diet, don’t move about and only travel in cars, and that makes them sick’. He wasn’t prepared to go the same way. So he took up jogging initially to beat the boredom of sitting at home.

‘I never thought of running a Marathon then. But slowly it grew.’ What surprises many is that he supports singh, london Marathonhis eight stone and six feet tall body frame with a very simple vegetarian diet. ‘I am very careful about different foods. My diet is simple phulka, dal, green vegetables, yoghurt and milk. I do not touch parathas, pakoras, rice or any other fried food. I take lots of water and tea with ginger’.

And that smile is eternally fixed beneath his silver haired beard. Perhaps that’s the reason behind his strikingly inspiring and positive attitude. ‘I go to bed early taking the name of my Rabba [God] as I don’t want all those negative thoughts crossing my mind.’ Doesn’t he find it difficult to cover 26 miles at this age? ‘The first 20 miles are not difficult. As for last six miles, I run while talking to God.’

Adidas signed him up for its ‘Nothing Is Impossible’ advertising campaign. He won’t reveal how much money the deal involves, but says that a large part of his earnings goes to charity.

Fauja Singh has stated,”I won’t stop running until I die. The next target, God willing, is to be the oldest marathon runner ever.

Fauja Singh hopes to return in 2009 to break the record for the oldest marathon runner - presently held by a 98-year-old Greek athlete.

His profile as found in the face book

Born: 1st April 1911 in India

Former Occupation: Farmer

Running Career: Rediscovered at age of 81

Diet: Ginger Curry

Marathons: London (5), Toronto (1), New York (1)

Marathon Debut: London, 2000 aged 89

London Marathon Personal Best: 6h 2m

London Flora Marathon 2000 6 Hours 54 m

London Flora Marathon 2001 6 Hours 54 m

London Flora Marathon 2002 6 Hours 45 m

Bupa Great North Run (Half Marathon) 2002 2h 39m

London Flora Marathon 2003 6h 2m

Toronto Waterfront Marathon 2003 5h 40m

New York City Marathon 2003 7h 35m

London Flora Marathon 2004 6h 7m

Glasgow City Half Marathon 2004 2h 33m

Capital Radio Help a London Child 10,000m 2004 68m

Toronto Waterfront Half Marathon 2004 2h 29m 59s

PLEASE VIEW THE VIDEO OF SD. FAUJA SINGH JI

 
     
 

Real Life Super Hero: Harbhajan Singh Aulakh

 
 
 

Sports lovers around the world may associate the name ‘Harbhajan Singh' with cricket, but a grand old athlete from Melbourne, Australia, may soon become the more recognizable sports personality with that name!

77-year old Harbhajan Singh Aulakh is competing at the World Masters Games being held in Sydney and is tipped to be one of the more successful veteran athletes in the world.

He has competed in seven events so far and has already won three gold, three silver and one bronze medal. With another six events still to come, who know what the final tally might be!!

Earlier this year in February-March, Harbhajan Singh won six gold medals at the 12th Australian Masters Games held in Geelong (Victoria) and since then, he had his sights set at the upcoming World Masters in Sydney.

At the Australian Masters, he was to compete in 11 events, but unfortunately a muscle pull forced him to withdraw after six events. He says ruefully,"I had to forfeit my pet events because of the muscle pull, otherwise I would have won many more gold medals at the Australian Masters. But as a result of that, I've practiced and trained really hard during the last few months. I know exactly what my competition is and I know how to beat them. So I'm taking part in 13 events at the World Masters in Sydney".

Amazingly, he had won a gold medal in every event that he participated in at the Australian Masters, and even in Sydney, he has kept up the winning streak by winning a medal at every event so far.

He is participating in 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m, 5000m, 5000m Walk, 100m Hurdles, 400m Hurdles, Steeple Chase, Long Jump, Triple Jump and High Jump.

 


Migrating to Australia just over two years ago and proudly displaying the Australian flag at the World Masters tournament, Harbhajan Singh says, "I've made Punjabis and Indians happy all my life; this time round, I want to make the Australians happy by winning medals for them."

Sardar Harbhajan Singh is a simple soul who describes himself as an "illiterate village bumpkin"; but the great spirit and determination that he embodies could as easily be described as essentially Punjabi or quintessentially Australian!

"Nobody has ever paid or sponsored me to compete at any event, whether nationally or internationally. I've done it all at my own expense, because I love competing and I don't want to rely on any one's generosity," he says.

Prior to the Sydney tournament, he had won 68 medals (of which a whopping 43 are gold) in national and international events, including the Asian Games and previous World Masters Games.



An accomplished hockey player in his heyday and a school teacher in the prime of his life, he began participating at veterans events since 1981 and has never looked back since. He has won medals in Malaysia, UK, Australia and many other countries apart from India, always paying his own way to the tournaments.

Born on June 16, 1932 in district Gurdaspur of Punjab, he was involved in sports right from his early childhood years. He recalls that back in the old days when he was a youngster competing at various sporting events around Punjab, the winners weren't presented with medals - instead, they won utensils (pots or pans) made of copper or brass!

With a laugh he told me that his mother was most pleased when he won a competition because he would bring home shiny new pots and pans! As an incentive, she would make special "sweet water" for him - just jaggery mixed in water - and goad him on to win more competitions, so her kitchen would be the envy of every other woman in Punjab!

"I collected many utensils in my younger days, thanks to that ‘sweet water'", laughed Harbhajan Singh.

That's the simplicity of this man, who credits his remarkable success in the track field to two women - his mother and his wife. Deeply grateful to the Almighty for his spectacular success, he is also proud of his Melbourne-based son, who provides him with complete financial support, giving him the ability to compete world wide.

"Its not easy to continue doing this, both personally and financially. But I know that if I want to continue, my son wouldn't hesitate in supporting me", he says.

Young at heart, and youthful in his outlook, Harbhajan Singh prefers the company of youngsters. "I may be 77 years old, but my mind tells me, I'm still very young. When I go to tournaments, I prefer to stay with young athletes rather than with the older coaches. I find that I learn a lot from youngsters, from their technique, as well as from their outlook".

Whether or not he becomes the better known Harbhajan Singh in the world of sport, he may soon be rightfully called Australia's own Fauja Singh. And as his medal tally continues to grow in Sydney, Harbhajan is an inspiration to all - that any one can achieve anything, at any age, at any world stage, as long as they put in the required hard work and have the right attitude in life.


Editor's Note: S. Harbhajan Singh's final tally is 10 medals: 4 gold, 4 silver and 2 bronze. He picked up a gold yesterday and a silver and bronze today, even though he had pulled a muscle during his second-last event. He will not be competing in the final two events that were slated for today. But its a rich harvest of 10 medals, and we congatulate him for it. (Oct 18, 2009)

with thanks : Manpreet kaur singh
 
     
     
 

looking for more such names. plz mail us if u know someone.

 
     
     

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