So here we are with new competition for the month of May.
As we have entered into beautiful weather of the year.. Life has come back after long winter. Flower are blooming and green world has come back. Well, its hot summer in India right now but still everything looks really shinny and beautiful in this season and some times unexpected rain makes summer more beautiful..

Then why don't we capture these beautiful and momentous moments of our life... so this is the main reason we have started with our new competition that is
                                    PJ BEST PHOTOGRAPHY 2011!!


GENERAL RULES
1. PJ users are invited to submit their captured pictures for this competition.
2. You can give maximum 10 entries.
3. Participant should have full copyright of its submitted photography. in other words, it should not be stolen one or picture taken by someone else.
4. Materials that are vulgar, obscene, hateful are totally prohibited.
5. Digital adjustments are acceptable like dusting dots, contrast or cropping etc.
6. There is no limitation over theme of pictures. You can capture anything but i think anything related Punjabi Culture on PJ might get advantage.
7. All submitted entries would be added to PJ gallary.

Final Judging- would be done by Good standing PJ users ( with 100 post or more) though their voting.

Deadline- Last date for submission is May 31, 2011

Punjabi Translation- (Punjabi Anuwad)
Appa Nawa Competition shuru kar rahe ha..
                     PJ Best Photography 2011
ihde kujh niyam ne jo tusi dhyan vich rakhne ne

1. PJ memers apne dawara khichi picture di entry de sakde ne
2. Tusi vadho vadh 10 entries de sakde ho.
3. ih tuhadi apni picture honi chahidi hai.. kise hor dwara khichi photo tusi na de sakde
4. picture vich kujh v ashleel ya eerkhpuran  nai hona chahida.
5. thodi bahut cropping teh, digital processing nu kitta ja sakda hai
6. picture kise v vishey nu leke khichi ja sakdi aa par je tusi kujh punjabi virse nu leke submit karwange ohda tuhanu baad vich laabh ho sakda hai.
7. Sarian pictures PJ gallary vich paa ditiyan jaangiya.

  Akhiri Faisla- Jetu da faisla PJ users ( 100 posts teh jyada) di votan toh kitta jawega.

Akhri tareek- Tusi apniya photos May31, 2011 tak jama kar sakde ho.

Challo fer ho jawoji shuru..  :happy:
                                       




 

I work at  aplace where i have many Jewish workmates.  and Sometimes we discuss about our religions and to my surprise , i have come across many similarities with Jews People. These people are really family oriented like us and they are  very religious too.
not just religion we have many Cultural similarities like Arrange marriages.. like they have dating system under supervision too..

They always like to discuss more about Sikhism and always tells me about variety of similarities..

So some of the examples are..

1. Judaism like Sikhism is a householder religion too.. They believe Grasthi Jiwan like us.
2. They also believe in covering their head for prayers with a hat called KIPPAH
3. They have belief of formless God too and They have religious Holy book TORAH too which they cover beautifully with embroidered cloth like Rumala Sahib for Guru Granth Sahibji.
4. After services the Sikhs have a "lenger" - a community meal. The Jews have a "kiddush".
5.Another similarity is that Sikhs place their holy book the Guru Granth Sahib on a ver important stool called a Manji Sahib, Jews also place their holy book The Torah on a very special table.
6. 1)      Both our religions are the victims of genocide and dicrimination. (Sikhs: 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots, Wadda Ghalughara. Jews: Holocaust, Spanish Inquisition).
7.TZEDAKAHh is a religious term - meaning charity, and volunteerism is a part of that, though not a requirement. A requirement is to give actual charity (10% of one's income).And this is very similar to DASWANDH in Sikhism.
8. No Caste System is practiced  in both religions
9. Like we have "Ik Onkar" as Mool Mantra , the same way Jewish Mantra in Hebrew language  "Adonai Ephad" Which has similar meaning that God is one.



will add more if any of you are aware about anything about it, please share..

this was the talk of my work place , today :pagel:

So just wanna share with you too.. My vote is up for Princess Diana's gorgeous gown with 25 feet long train, with lots of pearls and embroidery, long puffed sleeves and deep neck line and beautiful Tiara..

But Comparatively Princess Catherine's dress was very simple, with shorter train (10feet) and was simply followed by her sister Pippa .. even i didn't like her sister's gown that much.. It was sooo simple not that elegant to be worn be duchess..

Would u like to share your views too?



 

I was just doing bit introspection over my life. then this topic pop up in my mind. I would like to hear all of you guys attitude towards your life too. Like this tactile game of getting ahead. Is it better to approach life with great hope or sense of doom. A glass half full attitude is generally beneficial to your mental, physical and emotional health but stark realism is sometimes tactic . Well, understand, every situation is unique. but What do you think which one is the best one


1. When you expect the best.
2. When you expect the worst
3. or expect the best realistically.
4. or you are more of philosophical...


About me- I always like to start with the worst.. this gives me tension and my urgent need to work over that particular situation, otherwise i don't move, if i am confident about something. Well, this depends on specific situation too.. but  in starting,i am pessimistic most of the time , because when i do fine in that situation then this gives me pleasure.. so i usually expect the worst so that later on if something go wrong i don't feel depressed.


Whats your most commonly used attitude?

Kuldeep manak : Yusuf Zuleikha

HISTORY OF THIS FOLK SONG

From the story of Yusuf and Zulaikha we learn what part beauty plays in the world of love. Yusuf was the youngest son of Jacob, the seer, who was blest with the gift of prophecy as were several among his ancestors. He was thrown into a well by his elder brothers, who were jealous of his beauty and the influence that it had on their father and everyone that met him. 'Not love alone, but beauty also has to pay its forfeit.'

Some merchants traveling that way saw Yusuf in the well as they were drawing water, and took him up and sold him as a slave to a chief of Misr, who, charmed by the beautiful manner of this youth, made him his personal attendant.

Zulaikha, the wife of this chief, grew fonder every day of this handsome youth.
She once invited all her relations and friends, and put into the hands of each of them a lemon and a knife, and told them all to cut the lemons when she should tell them, and then called Yusuf. When he came she told them to cut the lemons, but the eyes of everyone among them were so attracted by the appearance of Yusuf, that many instead of cutting the lemon cut their fingers, thereby stamping on their fingers also the love of Yusuf. 'Beauty takes away from the lover the consciousness of self.'

Zulaikha, blinded by the overwhelming darkness of passion, would not desist, and when he still refused, her passion turned into wrath. She hated him and cursed him and reminded him of his low position as a slave. On this he began to leave the room, and she caught him by the nape of the neck and thus Yusuf's garment was torn. The chief happened to enter the room during this.
Before he asked her anything she complained to him, in order to hide her evident fault, that Yusuf had made an attempt to lay hands upon her, which naturally enraged the chief, and he at once gave orders that Yusuf should be taken to prison for life.

Time, which changes all things, changed the conditions of Yusuf's life. Though he was in prison he had never blamed Zulaikha, by reason of her love, but he became every day more deeply immersed in the thought of her and yet remained firm in his principle, which is the sign of the godly.

After years of pain, Yusuf was released from prison because of his wonderful personality and great power of dreams interpretation.

Once Yusuf, riding with his retinue, happened to pass by the place where Zulaikha in her utter misery was spending her days. On hearing this, Zulaikha desired to look at him once again. When Yusuf saw her he did not recognize her, but he halted, seeing that some woman wished to speak with him. He was moved to see a person in such misery, and asked her, 'What desirest thou of me?' She said, 'Zulaikha has still the same desire, O Yusuf, and it will continue here and in the hereafter. I have desired thee, and thee alone I will desire.' Yusuf became very convinced of her constant love, and was moved by her state of misery. He kissed her on the forehead, and took her in his arms and prayed to God.

Yusuf said to Zulaikha, 'From this day thou becomest my beloved queen.' They were then married and lived in happiness.

Search the World’s Most Accurate Guru Granth Sahib
After 6 long years of work, the launch of the world’s most accurate Guru Granth Sahib search engine called GurbaniDB (which stands for Gurbani Database) in English and 52 other languages is imminent. This plan was  launched on Vaisakhi 2011 in April.
Summary of GurbaniDB’s FeaturesPowered by GurbaniDB.org data, which is the world’s most accurate database of the Guru Granth Sahib

• The world’s first Gurbani database to correctly archive Guru Granth Sahib into all 60 Raags (moods/melodies) with pop-up descriptions of each Author and Melody. Melody data has been kindly provided by an expert in Indian Musicology, Professor Surinder Singh from Raj Academy

• Search the Guru Granth Sahib in English, Gurmukhi and 52 other languages, including 22 transliterations

• Translators can contribute their improvements to the translations by registering an account. All translators are assigned to a specific language and managed by a Project Manager who is an expert in English and a native language e.g. Spanish. The Project managers are responsible for maintaining the quality of their translation language and managing their team.

• Additional back-end tools and dashboards are provided to all translators and project managers to allow them to co-ordinate translation efforts more easily

• Software developers can access the ‘GurbaniDB Cloud‘ via JSON-RPC requests, allowing them to receive all the latest updates to translations easily and allowing them to develop the next generation of Gurbani software with a verified source of Gurbani data.

You can read more about it here.. http://www.sikher.com/tag/guru-granth-sahib

Here is a link to this new search engine called GurbaniDB:
http://www.sikher.com/guru-granth-sahib/

Indian woman Sarpanch(head person of a village)
Ms.Chaavi Rajwal made an impressive presentation at United Nations as to what can be done with computers and modern technology for upliftment of villages and villagers.

There was a sense of disbelief among the delegates in11th Info-Poverty World Conference held at the United Nations that the jean-clad 30-year-old is the sarpanch of Soda, a village 60 km from Jaipur, in backward Rajasthan. Rajawat is also India's youngest woman sarpanch.
"In three years I will transform my village. I don't want money. I want people and organisations to adopt projects in my village as often projects fail owing to lack of a local connect and that is what I am here to provide by bridging that gap.

"I want the conference to help bring about faster change so that this generation can enjoy that kind of life that I - and you in this audience - take for granted," she said to thunderous cheers from the delegates.
"My business management degree is helping me take care of the village administration and infuse a fresh blood. I am not thinking this as a career but sort of social work," she says.
"My focus is on bringing safe drinking water and increasing job opportunities in the village by involving NGOs," says Rajawat, who works seven days a week for the welfare of her village. "There is so much to be done." She said at conference.

The management graduate quit her high-flying job with Bharti-Tele Ventures to take up the challenging, and low-paying, job of a village head

A desolate courtyard surrounded by fields of mournful graves is all that remains of an ancient shrine to the Sikh faith's founder Guru Nanak inside a sprawling Muslim cemetery in Baghdad.
War, insurgents or looters have wiped any trace of a historical footnote that had preserved the memory of the Indian holy man's 16th-century journey through Arabia and his stay in Baghdad, hailed by Sikhs as an early example of inter-faith dialogue.

"No one visits anymore," lamented Abu Yusef, the lean and bearded Muslim caretaker, standing in the nearly-bare patio where a disorderly stack of broken electric fans and a discarded refrigerator replace the prayer books and articles of Sikh worship that had furnished a shrine whose modesty mirrored the apparent humility of the man it honoured.

"Before the war a few Sikh pilgrims would occasionally arrive," Abu Yusef said, referring to the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled ex-dictator Saddam Hussein and unleashed an unending cycle of violence.

"Once or twice we even had Western tourists. Last year, after a very long time, a Sikh man came from Dubai who who promised to return and rebuild the shrine. But since then, nobody," he said with a resigned shrug of the shoulders.

What is known about the origins of the site, which lies today inside central Baghdad's expansive Sheikh Marouf cemetery that adjoins a disused train station where decaying railroad cars rest frozen on rusted tracks, is gleaned from scant historical sources.

One is a Punjabi hymn by the poet and philosopher Bhai Gurdaas, written several decades after the visit.

That song, part of the holy scriptures of the world's 25 million Sikhs, recounts Nanak's travels with the Muslim minstrel Mardana who was his constant companion, their arrival in Baghdad and lodging outside the city.

In Baghdad, say historical Sikh sources, the pair stayed with Sheikh Bahlool Dana, a renowned Sufi Muslim of the time.

"It is curious that the hymn recording Guru Nanak's visit says that he chose to stay outside Baghdad, which at the time was a wealthy, magnificent city and an important centre of learning," said Abdul Majid Padar, India's learned charge d'affaires in Baghdad.

"That probably means he had reason to stay outside the city," he said. "I believe it was because he knew about Sheikh Bahlool, and went looking for him."

Nanak, an enlightened spiritual thinker who was born a Hindu but gained deep knowledge of Islam as India's other major religion at the time, travelled throughout his homeland and parts of the Middle East, seeking other men of his ilk.

He shunned religious labels, teaching that man is judged by deeds, not the religion he proclaims. His ideas, which later formed the basis of the monotheistic Sikh religion, drew from Hinduism and Islam, but are regarded as much broader than a mere synthesis of the two.

"Guru Nanak's stay with Sheikh Bahlool was an early example of inter-faith dialogue, of a kind that is hard to imagine in Iraq today," said Dr Rajwant Singh of the the Sikh Council on Religion and Education in the United States.
Iraq has been torn by sectarian strife since the fall of Saddam, with Shiites, Sunnis and even the country's small Christian community victims of the bloodshed.
It is in the courtyard of the Muslim Bahlool's own humble tomb that, five centuries ago, the remembrance to Guru Nanak was erected.
"This shrine is very much sacred to the Sikhs as it stands testimony to Guru Nanak's visit and dialogue with the Muslim Sufi sheikh of that place," said Balwant Singh Dhillon, professor of Sikh studies at the Guru Nanak Dev University in India.

Modern accounts of the shrine date back to World War I when the site was rediscovered, after being lost in obscurity for centuries, by a regiment of Indian Sikh soldiers sent to Iraq with the British army.
Dr Kirpal Singh, a Sikh captain in the Indian medical service who travelled to Iraq, described the shrine in a letter dated October 15, 1918.

"It is really a humble looking building and known to very few people except Sikhs," he said in an account quoted by the SikhSpectrum.com online journal.

Other accounts and faded photographs reveal an ancient stone plaque at the entrance, commemorating the building of the memorial, as the centrepiece of the shrine. The plaque was dated 917 on the Islamic calendar, or 1511 A.D.

Pritpal K. Sethi, who visited Baghdad in 1968 with her late husband, in-laws and three children, told AFP she was moved to be standing at the same spot as the holy man.


"I really got a great feeling as I was standing on the same site visited by Guru Nanak Sahib. It was a very emotional feeling," said Sethi, who was 31 at the time and living in neighbouring Kuwait.
"It was a very small, simple structure of about 600 square feet (56 square metres). There was a large courtyard outside. Not many Sikhs used to visit at all," said Sethi, who is now 73 and living in the United States.
"Definitely, the most precious thing at the shrine was the ancient plaque that verified the legitimacy of the site," she said.
Curiously, it was the hymn by Gurdaas that probably led to the rediscovery of the shrine. Subedar Fateh Singh, one of the Sikh soldiers in Iraq during World War I, announced the discovery in 1918.

"I am certain that Fateh Singh knew about the shrine from the hymn, which he must have learned in childhood, and he went looking for it," said Padar, the Indian embassy charge.

The shrine was repaired by Sikh soldiers in the early 1930s, and reportedly again during World War II, when another regiment of Sikh soldiers was stationed in Iraq.But accounts of what happened more recently to the shrine and its contents, including the 16th century plaque precious to Sikhs, are sketchy.

Shortly after the March 20, 2003 invasion of Iraq, Indian media reports variously said the shrine had been damaged or destroyed by US shelling, with other accounts claiming it had been bombed by Islamic extremists.
But a visit to the shrine showed no hint of damage anywhere in or around the shrine, raising the possibility that everything, including the stone plaque, was likely looted.

Abu Yusef, the caretaker, said he had been away at the time of the invasion and did not know what had happened and Padar, the Indian charge, said his own understanding of an attack during the war had come from news reports.
But with the temple gone, the only footsteps of the Sikh holy man's journey through Baghdad remain in the memories of visitors like Sethi.

"It greatly saddens me," she said about the shrine's destruction.
"It signified Guru Nanak's wish to spread his message of peace, love and a rejection of superstitions and rituals in search of the truth," she said.
"He yearned to spread this message throughout the world, and he travelled on foot from India to deliver it."

Abu shareef, Care taker of Guru Nanak Devji's Gurudwara Sahib in Baghdad,Iraq          Other views of this Gurudwara Sahib

Guru Nanak Dev Ji 's Gurdwara in Iraq

ah vekh lawoji.. Fateh stairs kinni speed naal thalle uttarda.. :hehe:

Baby has its own way of getting down the stairs

A very happy birthday to Dear Powerlifterji.. :happy:

I hope lovely surprises are coming ur way
to make your birthday lovely day!!! :smile: :smile:

so We all wishing u miles of smiles in coming years and All the best.

WAHEGURUJI BLESS U!! :D

AND THIS IS POWER AND HIS CAKE :hehe: