St. Patrick Festival , 2007

Saturday17th Mach, 2007 was a very special day for Irish People worldover, and it was even more special to sikh Community in Ireland,

St. Patrick's Festival is Ireland's official celebration for Ireland's national holiday. Saint Patrick is the patron saint and national apostle of Ireland who is credited with bringing christianity to Ireland.Saint Patrick is most known for driving the snakes from Ireland. It is true there are no snakes in Ireland!!

On Saturday around 650,000 people came to streets of Dublin City to watch 4000 performers in the parade.More than 400, media were there to cover the parade! Millions of people around the world watched the parade live on televisions.

Gurvinder Singh & Bhai Jasvir Singh With Festival Banner

This is very first time that Sikh Community in Ireland participated in the Parade.

Kids as young as 5yr old Participated in the Parade.These kids were really a great attaction in the parade.

Gudu Veer Jee & Gurmeet Singh Gill

Both put lot of efforts in training the 30 member Martial Art Team! Two Martial Art group, Baba Deep Singh Gatka Akhara, Dublin and Baba Ajit Singh Gatka Akhara, Uk were involved in the Event.

"Ireland de dharti te Gabro Punjab de"
Kirandeep Singh and Harinderpal Singh, two member of Soul of Punjab Bhangra group. Jagroop Singh and others put a lot of efforts to give the best possible performance!

Bhangra & Giddha Performers Team with all the colours!

Soul of Punjab Bhangra Group, Dublin and Asli Bahaara Punjab Dhiyan, Uk, gave a electric performance!

Gurmeet Singh, Bhai Pirthipal Singh jee, Hardip Singh and Ranjit Singh

Singh With two other Participants!
Singh was in great demand for photo sessions throughout the parade!

Getting ready for Parade to start!

Performing during the parade!

Gatka Demonstration!

Bhai Sukhwinder Singh on Float

Singh is the King Hai!

No less than a celebrity!

Bhangra & Giddha Performers while moving thorugh College Green.
There performance was brilliant! they continued to dance nearly for 2hrs and travelling

After our group reached the finishing point!
Everyone trying to squeeze in to be part of Picture!

Singha Da Roop Niralla!

Educate Together National School, Lucan

Today was Sikhism Week in Educate Together National School Lucan. Sachman Singh Khalsa is student of Junior Infant in the School. Today morning, he gave a small talk on Sikhism and why he ties his Dastaar (Crown) everyday. Then he sang a beautiful poem, 'Mighty mighty Khalsa...We are the Khalsa'.

Bibi Jaskiran Kaur (Bhabi Jee) going to Assembly Hall With Japnitt Singh

Educate Together is the representative organisation of the Educate Together schools and associations throughout the Republic of Ireland. Today there are 41 Schools, 19 of which are in the greater Dublin area

Lining Up for the Assembly.

All the Student holding flags in their hands with a 'Khanda' drawn on it.

Sachman Singh Going to Class after the assembly Talk! Well done Sachman Singh!

Educate Together aims to meet a growing need in Irish society for schools that recognise the developing diversity of Irish life and the modern need for democratic management structures. In particular, Educate Together guarantees children and parents of all faiths and equal respect in the operation and governing of education.

Photo of the Week!

Well! there are quite a few interesting pics in our picture khajana, so we are going to select one of pic (with consent of our members of Khalsa Garh, except one who's pic is going to be live) and post it as photo of the week! ...what do you think ?


"...pag de larh theek kar reha si... na ki sorry mang reha", Bhai Gurpreet Singh (mohali wale)

Post Grad Ireland's Education fair!

Like every year , postgrade ireland organised education fair in RDS on 21 feb.
what's so special about this year?...................nothing except the fact that some Singhs accepted the organisers invitation and decided to visit the fair!

RDS - One of Main Exihibition Centre In Dublin

RDS (Royal Dublin Society) was established in 1731, it's purpose being to promote the development of arts, agriculture, industry and science in Ireland. It moved to it's Ballsbridge site in 1879 and currently the site covers 40 acres. There are 10 multi-purpose exhibition halls, meeting rooms, the RDS stadium, restaurants, bars, and over 2,000 car parking spaces!

Trinity of Singhs!

(From LtoR) Subek Singh, Kirandeep Singh, and Bhai Gurpreet Singh(mohali wale)

Kirandeep is so happy to receive this blue bag from organisers, hope he won't use it for bringing grocery from supermarket!

Subek Singh enquiring about MBA programme at UCD Micheal Smurfit School of Business. Smurfit Business School runs One of best MBA programme in Ireland.

Enquiring about DIT's Research programmes. DIT is the largest third level College in Ireland.
College and universities from all over UK put their info stalls as well.

After the fair, we went to Gurdwara Sahib, which is just five mintues walk from RDS. Being the main exihibition centre, there is always something going on in RDS.

Being a Sikh !

Charles Meacham with friend/translator Shera Singh in Amritsar, India.

Charles "Chad" Meacham is a professional photographer from USA. His website gallary includes pictures plus simple and precise information about various communities. It also have section on 'Being Sikh' & ' Khalsa'.

Check this out http://www.charlesmeacham.com/

Justice after 3years for Balbir Singh Bains UK Feb 07 - See.

India News segment of how Delhi Police falsely implicated and imprisoned Bhai Balbir Singh from UK, and conjured up a case against him.

Sikh Identity - Interesting Video reflecting reality

Sikh who come from India, come to UK with the intentions to make themselves better as an individual. But instead get involved with the wrong crowd and get easily influnced. .....

One Paragraph That Explain Life --------- Interesting!

Taken from Sikhnet Discussion board.........

Arthur Ashe, the legendary Wimbledon player was dying of CANCER. From worldover, he received letters from his fans, one of which conveyed: "Why doesGOD have to select you for such a bad disease"?

To this Arthur Ashe replied: The world over -- 5 crore children start playing tennis, 50 lakh learn to play tennis, 5 lakh learn professional tennis, 50,000 come to the circuit, 5000 reach the grand slam, 50 reach Wimbeldon, 4 to semi final, 2 to the finals, When I was holding a cup I never asked GOD "Why me?". And today in pain I should not be asking GOD "Why me?

Happiness keeps u Sweet,

Trials keep u Strong,

Sorrow keeps u Human,

Failure Keeps u Humble,

Success keeps u Glowing,

But only God Keeps u Going....

Waheguru jee Ka Khalsa
WAHEGURU JI KI FATEH

Gurdwara Visit By John Scottus School Students

On 18th of January, Students of John Scottus School visited the Dublin Gurughar. Students are planning to visit India in near future, so visit was part of their efforts to learn more about sikh community. ISC sevadaars did their best to make their visit a memorable one.

Front of Gurdwara Guru Nanak Darbar Dublin. This is only Gurughar in whole Republic. Students were scheduled to arrive around 12o'clock, but they did arrive even 15mintue earlier. so preparations was done on war footing.

Bhai Gupreet Singh (mohali wale) tying one students scarf.

"Bhaji daikhion mera scarf theek hai ke nahi",

Students were busy covering their head.

It was nice that all the students came one by one and paid their respects to Guru Sahib.

Students sitting on one side after matha tek

Setting up projector.

Students waiting for presentation

Students listening to the presentation.

Gurmeet Singh serving the Karha Parshad to visiting students.

Student were bit hesitant initally to ask for Karha Parshaad 2nd time, but when one of them did ask,then everyone was so pleased to have it second time.

Interestingly We had a tough time explaining them the recipe of Karha Parshaad!!

"Singh Sahib, Waheguru Jee ka Khalsa Waheguru Jee Kee Fateh"

One of tutor decided to practice the Sikh greetings in the Gurdwara.

"Fantastic! we are so happy to be in Gurdwara"

Well Students' overall feedback was very positive during their stay in the Gurdwara.

Students Enjoying Guru Ka Langar, while ISC sevadaars making sure that everyone is being served properly.

Waheguroooo !! It's so delicious!

To our surprise, students made rolls of Parshaade (Chapatian), stuffed it with Chholian di Sabji, te fir ke... Chhak gaye Waheguru Keh Ke...!!

"Baba jee langar tusi aap tyar kita", well that's what girl seemed to ask our beloved baba jee.

With Guru Sahib Kirpa, babajee prepares langar da parshada with great sharda, so normally everyone asks how you prepare it :)

Continued......................!

"We've already finished", Arash and Jonathan. Students really enjoyed Guru Ka Langar!

After serving the langar to students, then they enjoyed display of Gatka (Sikh Martial Art) performed by ISC Volunteers.

Shashtars!

Sukhjinder Singh performing with Soti.

Hardip and Ranjit Singh

Gurmeet Singh (Gill bhaji) performing with two Kirpans. it's quite difficult to perform!

Gill handing over chakkar to hardip singh

Hardip Singh performing while rolling on floor!

Students enjoying the Gakta demonstration!

After seeing the gatka, students left Gurdwara around 2pm, exactly an hour late than their schedule!

Sikhs and Turban - Enjoy!!

A documentary films that tells about Sikhs and the Turban. There is no download option for this video. If anybody knows how to download, please let me know

Disadvantages of Eating Meat

This video explains the disadvantages of meat-based diet. The facts given are good eye-opener for switching over to vegetarian diet! A must see video for all.

Why Ireland Has No Snakes?

The fact that there are no snakes in Ireland, gives bit of refief if you go out touring the country side. Back home in India, one of the prime phobia, people used to have was snakephobia! fear of .... rabba kiteh sap na larh jave...used to keep lurking the mind, when people were forced to go out to fields (khet) (at night) to switch on/off tubewells or check water in the fields.

I just came across this article from internet which explains why Ireland has no snacks..including the commonly held myth that St.Patrick drove all the snacks from Ireland!

Legend has it that St. Patrick drove all the snakes from Ireland. Sometime back in the fifth century he stood on a hill, the story goes, and used a staff to herd the slithering creatures into the sea, banishing them for eternity. It's true, aside from zoos and pets, there are no snakes on the emerald isle. In fact, there never were any snakes in Ireland. This state of affairs probably has more to do with the vagaries of geography than any neat tricks performed by St. Patty.

Snakes first evolved from their lizard forebears about 100 million years ago during the late Cretaceous period, about the same time that Tyrannosaurus rex first appeared. Early snakes were small and wormy, resembling modern blindsnakes (suborder Scolecophidia). Ancient snake fossils are found only on southern continents, suggesting that snakes first radiated from Gondwanaland—a former supercontinent comprised of modern-day Antarctica, South America, Africa, India, and Australia. Migrating to Ireland wasn't an option at this time, as the area was completely underwater. The chalky sediments that would eventually become the 700-foot Cliffs of Moher on Ireland's west coast were being laid down at the bottom of the sea.

During the Cenozoic era, beginning 65 million years ago, the world's climate gradually began to dry out, and vast tracts of grasslands and other open habitats came to dominate much of the northern hemisphere. Large dinosaurs went extinct, opening the door to new groups of animals. By the Eocene epoch, 50 to 35 million years ago, the predecessors of boas and pythons (called the basal Macrostomatans) were widespread throughout the northern hemisphere. Explosive radiation of snakes in the suborder Colubroidae, including vipers and cobras, occurred during the Miocene epoch, 25 million years ago. Now snakes are found in deserts, grasslands, forests, mountains, and even oceans virtually everywhere around the world. Everywhere except Ireland, New Zealand, Iceland, Greenland, and Antarctica, that is.

One thing these few snake-less parts of the world have in common is that they are surrounded by water. New Zealand, for instance, split off from Australia and Asia before snakes ever evolved. So far, no serpent has successfully migrated across the open ocean to a new terrestrial home. As the world's oceans have risen and fallen over the millennia, land bridges have come and gone between Ireland, other parts of Great Britain, and the European mainland, allowing animals and early humans to cross. However, any snake that may have slithered it's way to Ireland would have turned into a popsicle when the ice ages hit.

The most recent ice age began about three million years ago and continues into the present. Between warm periods like the current climate, glaciers have advanced and retreated more than 20 times, often completely blanketing Ireland with ice. Snakes, being cold-blooded animals, simply aren't able to survive in areas where the ground is frozen year round. Ireland thawed out for the last time only 15,000 years ago. Since then, 12 miles of icy-cold water in the Northern Channel have separated Ireland from neighboring Scotland, which does harbor a few species of snakes. There are no snakes in Ireland for the simple reason that they can't get there.

Snakes and Myths
So where did the myth of St. Patrick and the snakes come from? Most scholars agree that snakes symbolize paganism, which St. Patrick is also credited for banishing from Ireland. Snakes as symbols of evil are prevalent throughout Judeo-Christian mythology, most notoriously in the Garden of Eden as a tempter of Eve. Other societies have viewed snakes with more favor. Snakes were venerated in ancient Egpyt, and many gods were represented by snakes, such as the cobra goddess Neith, founder of the universe. More recently, Ben Franklin advocated making a rattlesnake the symbol of the United States.

Mythology aside, herpetologists (scientists who study snakes and other reptiles and amphibians) like to point out that snakes play an important role in many ecosystems throughout the world. Snakes benefit humans by controlling rodent populations, and snake venom has been used to treat various diseases, including cancer, heart disease, and hemophilia. Unfortunately, some 200 species of snakes are considered threatened or endangered, the biggest threat being habitat loss resulting from human activities. Unless humans start taking more of an interest in their survival, real-life snakes may find themselves banished from more places than just Ireland.

—Jill Locantore