Arina's musings

Back To Routine

2007-02-04T20:48:00.000+11:00

Alrite... I'm back...

From the time of my last post to now, a lot of things have happened. Had my examz and then a super wonderful holiday back home in Malaysia. Have to thank my lovely circle of friends, who never left me alone at night, and my mom, who never left me alone when the sun was out and not forgetting my baby brother - one person that I hadn't been spending time with the past few years. Thanx for tagging along for our midnight cha sessions. Can't beleive my baby brother's aLL GROWN UP... Without them, there was no way on earth I'd be missing home so much now. OK. I know I kinda sound sad now... But who cares. I'm letting my FEELINGS out... hahahaha

Had a blast at samelan. Learned a lot this year. And it was cool to have a gori around. The attention i got doubled... hahahahaha... Just spoke like a true Leo. What a sucker....

Oh and also loved the mixed reaction I got from people with regards to my new look. I recently had the blessings of adorning my birthright crown - my dastaar. It really entertained me to watch people see me for the first time. Kinda comical really. A mixture of shock, amusement, awe, admiration, joy and of course the look - the 'have-I-gone-completely-mad' look. Hahahaha... was heaps fascinating.

For the past two years that I've been here in Australia, whenever there was a kirtan tour in Malaysia, I would sit here and sulk my weekend away and complain at the absence of tours when I was home. Well, I guess God got a bit fed up of listening to my whinging and yup I went on tour! Details available on Jagjit's Blog. I'm just a little too lazy to post the videos and pictures up here. Repetition ain't my thing. While still on the subject of Jagjit's Blog, please take some time to listen to the "Pick of the week" that's after all the tour pictures. Its a snippet from samelan. PKJ doing simran before the final programme. Its simply amazing.

Anyway, signing off for now. Take care everyone out there. Will try to be more disciplined and update the blog on a regular basis. Especially since, according to my Malaysian friends, "I don't have a life here" ;-)

Jab lag khalsa rahe niara, tab lag tej dio meh sara - Dhan Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji

2006-11-02T00:05:00.000+11:00

As long as the Khalsa remains distinct, So long I will give Him all My Glory. - Dhan Sri Guru Gobind Singh Maharaj

Check out this video from Mr Sikhnet . Its just amazing!!! Apart from that, a lot of things have been going on in my life. Will talk about that at a more appropriate time. Gota go back to study now. Exams are on soon!!

A long long time

2006-10-02T11:58:00.000+10:00

WOW! Just realized... Its been a long long time since I blogged. Almost 2 months! Where and how did time pass?? Only God knows. Since my last update, my Mom had gone back, I finished my rep med term (i.e. no more cervix-es for a long long time...Hopefully) and I've started pediatrics ( welcome to 'high-pitched, tympanic membrane blowing' screaming kids), though I have to admit I've not heard a single crying child as yet. But I suppose I haven't done an ED shift as yet. And on a rather nerve-calming note, I THINK KIDS ACTUALLY LIKE ME!!! Yeah... Laugh all u guys want, but I was seriously scared to face this term. So yup, there it goes...kids aren't that bad after all. I've had my 'paradigm shift'...hahahaha

Oh and I've recently learnt that a lot of things have changed back home. Lots of good stuff's been happening and I can't wait to JUMP onto the (high-hopes) next flight back home... NAH... Still gotta put up with this place for another good nine weeks...No wait... Eight n a half...WOOHOOO! Yeah I do realize I sound sad, but who cares.

OK I shall stop boring u with my pathetic stories... All the winging... Oh and did I mention that I've been dreaming loads about KL in this past one week? Its driving me crazy! I'm the kind who just drops dead... And curse when I have to wake up the next morning...hahaha.... Sound pessimistic, don't I? Rest assured I'm still the same old person. So yeah, to all my friends in KL... STOP BUGGING ME IN MY SLEEP!!! I ENJOY MY CRASH AND BURN NIGHTS!!!!

OK me gtg... coz I don't know what else to crap about. I've managed to procrastinate for another half hour... And I've run out of reasons now... So take care all u people out there... Lots n lots n lots of love from me ...

The Blue Mountains

2006-08-08T15:10:00.000+10:00

Over the weekend, my Mom and I took a daytrip to the blue montains just west of Sydney. The weather was freezing and foggy and we couldn't get much of a view. Nevertheless, it was still beautiful and here are a few pics...

Bush-walking

During our bushwalk when we thought we were lost we stumbled upon this cute little waterfall, where we ate our homemade aloo-parontha...yummm....

Fog... cold!!!!!

Grrrrr.....

In a cute liitle tea house..

Daughter of the Khalsa - Shaheed Bibi Harsahran Kaur Ji

2006-08-07T15:15:00.000+10:00

I read this article on Daughters of the Khalsa Blogpage. Its is a very inspiring article on the last Shaheed of the Chamkaur battle. Bibi Harsharan Kaur Ji was a brave daughter of the Khalsa who dutifully carried out her role as a Sikh. I personally give it a five star rating. So please do read it when u have five minutes to spare on learning about our rich Sikh history.

God's art

2006-07-15T13:17:00.000+10:00

Kirtan from Harmandir Sahib

2006-06-22T20:15:00.000+10:00

Today I'm posting a recording that Angad told me to take of tanti saaz being played in darbar sahib on the 17th of June. I'm not sure who is singing, but I think is one of Prof. Kartar Singh's students. So here it goes... Harmandir Sahib Tanti Saaz 17/06/2006. The link will only be available for the next 7 days or 100 downloads...
Also, I will soon be on holidays and will be travelling around Australia with my Mom who joined me here today. So there'll be heaps of pictures coming soon... Till the next post...

Guru Rakha

The Silence

2006-06-11T16:25:00.000+10:00

Yes...I've been silent for a long time now. The reason - too much other work to do. I have exams coming up around the corner, so have busy mugging. And apart from the normality of life, I have been doing a lot of Vichaar with other Gursikhs from around the world and have come to realise a lot things. Firstly, Ive realised that although we all call ourselves Sikhs of the guru, there are so many different views about the religion, about what is acceptable and what is not... And the bottomline is that everyone will have their own thoughts and views in respect to the experiences they've had as individuals in this life. I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with that at all, but I'm glad for all the vichaar that has happened as it has probably made me a bit more wiser. Apart from that, Ive also been trying to learn new shabads to sing at the Gurdwara on Sunday. Haven't really had the time to actually write out notations for any of them to share, but all that will have to wait till after my exams now, i guess.

World Cup has started and that's one more distraction to add to my list. I don't know whether it's a boon or bane that it's in Germany this year, so to watch any of the games I'll have to be up all night. Well, at least its not as enticing to watch a game if its in the day time. Waking up at 1am just to watch football isn't really justifiable, especially when its only the preliminaries.

Also, the link to the notations of the earlier shabad is up again for the next 7 days or 25 downloads. So get your hands on it people!!

Anyway, I'll leave with a beautiful picture of a very colourful bird that was perched on the tree right outside my house one morning. I had meant to post it a long time ago, and forgot about it after a while. So here it goes now...

Till next time... Guru Rakha...

Fateh...

Slacker... slacker.....

2006-05-23T10:06:00.000+10:00

I've been really slack recently... Too lazy to blog, haven't taken any new pics, and don't know what to write. All the excuses that I could come up with. And it doesn't help that school has started once again with long long days at the hospital, and to make matters worse, my phone line had decided to die. There's this new house being built right across the street and somehow it looks like the Telco has messed up. So, to add to the misery, I don't have an internet connection at home as well, which is driving me crazy! I hate using the computers at the hospital.... oh well... I could go on complaining, but what use would that be?? I was supposed to take out notations for more shabads and had promised Angad that I would give him 2 pieces by last saturday, but surprise, surprise... I haven't even started!! Sigh... Luckily he is in India and hasn't bugged me as yet... Hehehehe
I really should get the vaja out, and it doesn't even take me long... but then I tell myself I should really be studying instead... as I said earlier... excuses...
Looks like I might run a bit earlier from the hospital today and write some notations... lol...

Guru Rakha

Notations for a shabad

2006-05-05T23:01:00.000+10:00

Thanx to the encouragement and bugging from my friend Angad Singh, I finally got down to some serious work and wrote out notations for the shabad Ko-oo har saman nahi raja.Its in raag bilawal, in teentaal. To downlaod the notations, just click the link and save it...Simple!! The notation is pretty straightforward and easy to follow. Hopefully with guruji's kirpa and more bugging from Angad, I'll write out more stuff and post it on the blog...
Take care...
Guru Rakha...

Grafton City

2006-04-29T23:53:00.000+10:00

One of the days when I was in Maclean, Tiffany and I decided to go down to Grafton, which is one of the bigger towns in the Northern Coastal Plains of NSW. Here are a few pics...

One of the streets in Grafton. I just love it how the trees form a canopy...

The trees are just massive... beautiful!!

A flower garden

Woolgoolga

2006-04-26T22:08:00.001+10:00

I had the privilege of stopping over at Woolgoolga Gurdwara Sahib on the way back from Maclean. Woolgoolga is located about 580km north of Sydney and about half an hour away from the resort town of Coffs Harbour. Woolgoolga is famous for its large Sikh community and a majestic gurdwara stands on top of a hill in the town and is the most prominent landmark of that area. Around the turn of the century, a large number of Sikh migrants, attracted by the banana farming had settled there. The Sikhs there today represent about 25% of the population. The gurdwara was built in 1970.

The Third Sikh Holocaust - Genocide of the Sikhs

2006-04-24T23:47:00.000+10:00

I found this video on the net. It talks about how the Indian government tried to wipe out an entire religion, a whole culture but never succeeded. I salute all the Sikhs who were martyred in this genocide. Its a long video, but worth the watch. The first part is a documentary with pictures and facts of the genocide. In the second part of the video, various people who had either witnessed or were victims of the genocide speak and tell us the cruelty of the Indian army. The same Indian army which has a large number of Sikh soldiers. How could any country, any government do such a horrible thing to their own people, and especially those people who had laid their lives to protect the very sovereignty of that country. And what hurts most is this genocide still continues till today. They might not be taking more lives but they're still raping the Sikhs of their land, culture, heritage and religion. And yet, we manage to rise above it all and time and again succeed in holding on to our faith and culture!

Maclean

2006-04-22T22:39:00.000+10:00

I'm back from Maclean and fit enough to start blogging again (I was in a daze yesterday from the super long drive and was talking crap). So its a good thing I didn't post anything. And here are the pics...

Maclean town...Maclean was founded by a Lord Maclean from Scotland, and although most of the people living in Maclean aren't of Scottish descent, they still keep up the Scottish heritage and I was lucky enough to be there during the Highland Gathering which is an anuual event there, in which Highland dancing and pipe band competitions are held.
Highland dancing
One of the pipe bands
Also, because I was in the country, I decided to put my photography skills to test and took some pics during sunrise and sunset. And I have to say I'm quite impressed by the artistic eye I never knew I had. =p
The white stuff is fog that covered most of Maclean that morning. It took a lot for me to get out of bed and get myself to the highest point in Maclean, just to take pics. I thought I was going mad... But then again the satisfaction of actually taking these pics myself was amazingly fulfilling.

The sun coming up on the cane farm. My fav piece of art... hahahaha

A wallaby! This was cool. We were driving back from watching the sunrise when we bumped into a family of three wallabies.

Sunset

Tiffany's home
Annie...

I've got so many more pics to put up but I shall not bore everyone. So that's all from Maclean guys. And one more last pic. Imagine... This was the view I got when doing my Nitnem everyday. I rank this as the most beautiful part of being in the country...

Signing in from the farm

2006-04-19T19:30:00.000+10:00

I've been in Maclean for the past few days, hence the silence. This is a tiny town with a few thousand people on the north coast of New South Wales. Its been kinda fun doing nothing for a few days. I was super duper bored in Newcastle and since it was Easter and my housemate was going back home, I decided to accompany her back to her farm to experience a bit of farm life. And yeah, I don't think I'll be able to ever live in a small town. Just not my kind of life. The photyographs will come as soon as i get back home, which is pretty soon. Till then, I'm gonna enjoy watching beautiful sunrise and sunsets....

The Easter Show Pics

2006-04-13T17:26:00.000+10:00

Thanks Mitchie for the camera !!

The dog show - Best of the Poms
Flowers, flowers and more flowers. I'm not a great fan... This picture was taken with the sole purpose of making my Mom jealous!! Are u jealous yet Mom? Heheheh... This is FUN!!
Sheep dogs doing their job.
Sculptures on display. Created by amateurs
Country music street performers
Choc Banana On A Stick. =p
Polo game

The "Xtreme Korruption"

The Olympic Stadium train station

And the look of our faces by the end of the day was priceless... we looked like we could drop dead anytime...

A conspiracy??

2006-04-13T01:06:00.000+10:00

The following video, "Loose Change 2nd Edition", which can be found on Google Video is very intigruing. It's a documentary that discusses the events that led to and followed the 9/11 tragedy, and also the facts that were not revealed or were comouflaged. No doubt its a long video, but do watch it and decide for youself what's becoming of the world.

The description of thr video is as follows:
"Loose Change 2nd Edition" is the follow-up to the most provocative 9-11 documentary on the market today. This film shows direct connection between the attacks of September 11, 2001 and the United States government. Evidence is derived from news footage, scientific fact, and most important, Americans who suffered through that tragic day.

With a Kid that's not human!!

2006-04-12T18:52:00.000+10:00

With Tiffany and a kid at the Royal Easter Show

Fun Time

2006-04-11T21:13:00.000+10:00

Went for the Royal Easter Show in Sydney with my housemate cum friend Tiffany yesterday. It was one long day which started at 5.30 am after I had only slept for 3 hours, no thanks to the hind movie that was playing on TV. And although I had seen that movie a few times, I just had to see it again coz Aussie TV stations hardly ever shows any Hindi movies. So here I was, in for a 20 hour day in front of me, and I was already buggered before it even started. Anyway, had lots of un at the show. Saw the rodeo, with mad people riding mad horses and bulls (that was scary), a polo game, the xtreme korruption with crazy stunt man on their motorbikes and Storms doing stunts that just left me stunned. These guys have guts... Took lots of pics that I'll post asap. And there was this woman who calls herself the Lady Cannonball. She shot out of a cannon 135 feet into the air!! That was cool!! And I got to see loads of farm animals... All the horse, cows, pigs, sheep, goats, dogs, and just plenty of animals lah...
And it was really interesting to see how the sheep dogs do their job... They're really really clever and they do a better and more efficient job then us humans. How I just love dogs. There was this massive photography and art exhibition by amateur photographers and artists which made me think of DP. Some of the work was by school kids, and it just shocked the living daylights out me. Their work was absolutely, mind-blowingly beautiful, and I'm not exaggerating. I'm not very much of an arty person and wouldn't be bothered to look at paintings. So for the fact that I actually bothered to look at everyone of them surprises me as well. By the end of the day the two of us looked like we just had a bull dozer run over us. We were that tired. I guess it didn't help that the show grounds was the Sydney Olympic Stadium which was just massive. But it was one fun day, though I'm not sure if I want to go for it next year again...(I'm saying that now coz my body still hurts from walking all day.... Let's see what happens next year tho'....Only God knows)

A Tribute....

2006-04-07T23:23:00.000+10:00

It was New Year's eve 7 years ago. I was sleeping in, as usual, but not in my own bed. My Mom had woken me up early that morning again, and for reasons only she knows. I grumpily trotted into her room and plopped myself onto her bed and was fast in snoozeland again, and so, that was how I ended up in her bed. The next thing I knew, I felt this soft, fluffy thing on me and I jumped out of bed in excitement. My parents had brought home what I had always wished for since I was a kid. And it took me 15 years to earn my way through to getting it. That was the first time I set my eyes on Tuffy, who would in a few days, totally steal my heart and make him the first love of my life.

Tuffy was so scared the first few days that he was home. I don't blame him though. Must have been pretty hard for him to be in unfamiliar surroundings. But he got adjusted fast, with all the attention that he received from everyone at home. He was basically the life of the house. To us, it felt like as if we had just adopted a kid and treated him that way as well. We trained him, day and night all by ourselves and though it did take some time and lots of patience, I'd say that was when the bond between us grew. I still remember vividly at how overjoyed we all were the first time he barked, his first hand - OK I mean paw-shake and the first time he responded to his name. Those were just moments of bliss.

Tuffy loved to go on car rides. The second we told him "let's go" he'd get super excited and run straight out of the door and stand in front of the car. And if we even took a few minutes to get out of the house he would come running in jumping on us impatiently. Tuffy also had an array of toys, and like a child he had his favorites. There were a few soft toys that weren't in his basket. But him being the kid that he was proclaimed ownership to every soft toy that came into the house. There were a couple of soft toys that were kept as showpieces on top of the TV. He knew that those were not for him. But every now and then he would look up at them demanding to have them in his mouth. And he wouldn't give up till he got them, even if it was for just a few minutes. What a little brat!

Exactly a month ago from today, on the 7th of March, I received a phone call from home that just shattered me. My dad gingerly broke the news that Tuffy had met with an accident that morning. And didn't survive. I was shocked! The first thought that came to my mind was that my parents were just playing a very rude joke on me. But when my dad broke down and started crying, I knew that he wasn't. It was just so unbelievable! Only a couple of days ago had I seen him through the webcam and he was the normal little bubbly puppy of mine who used to take up all the space on my bed leaving me to squeeze in the corner and even sometimes stealing half my pillow! And now he was gone... Forever... It was so difficult to accept the fact that I will never ever see him again. To me, 7 wonderful years with him just wasn't enough. And I guess neither would a whole life time be enough. There's nothing much I can do now except for thanking God for giving me the wonderful opportunity to spend a few years of my life with this wonderful loving soul and my wish is for Tuffy to rest in peace in the arms of the Lord, and I hope he never has to come back to Earth again. We all love u, Tuffy....

After Tuffy's death, we held special prayers in his memory. About a week and a half after his death, my parents held the Asa Di Vaar prayers at home, where Alahniya was read and the final pages of the "sehaj path" that was kept in Tuffy's honor was also read. An ardaas was done thereafter and the hukamnama after that is as follows:

Todee, Fifth Mehla, Fifth House, Du-Padas
todee mehlaa 5 ghar 5 dupday

One Continuous God, Eternal, True, Divine Enlightener, Merciful, GuruÂs Grace.
ik-oNkaar satgur parsaad

Such is the blessing my God has bestowed upon me.
aiso gun mayro parabh jee keen.

He has totally banished the five evils and the illness of egotism from my body. Pause
panch dokh ar ahaN rog ih tan tay sagal door keen. rahaa-o

Breaking my bonds, and releasing me from vice and corruption, He has enshrined the Word of the Guru's Shabad within my heart.
banDhan tor chhor bikhi-aa tay gur ko sabad mayrai hee-arai deen.

The Lord has not considered my beauty or ugliness; instead, He has held me with love. I am drenched with His Love. 1
roop anroop moro kachh na beechaari-o paraym gahi-o mohi har rang bheen. 1

I behold my Beloved, now that the curtain has been torn away. My mind is happy, pleased and satisfied.
paykhi-o laalan paat beech kho-ay anad chitaa harkhay pateen.

My house is His; He is my God. Nanak is obedient to His Lord and Master. 2120
tis hee ko garihu so-ee parabh naanak so thaakur tis hee ko Dheen. 2120

First Post

2006-04-04T22:18:00.000+10:00

Ok... i so can't beleive I'm actually sitting here typing out my first post on my first blog ever. I never ever kept so much as a journal in my life time... ok i did once when i was in secondary school... till my brother sneaked into my room and read the entries and teased about it for ages... and i vowed never to ever keep a journal again... well at least not a personal one... childhood trauma... it just ruins your life... hahahaha

So anyway, here I am, and really i don't know what to write about. I guess I could start with introducing myself. I'm a little girl, trying to make the best out of my life on this realm of God, with the hope that He does the best for me without having a jolly good time. I'm not saying that he shudn't make it interesting tho... just as long as he doesn't make it TOO interesting... i just might not be able to handle that much excitement. Apart from that, I'm trying to graduate from uni so that i can finally start saving lives and stop watching my seniors get their hands dirty while I watch from the sidelines. And then occasionally, ok i actually mean rarely, when one of them feel sorry for me do they let me get messed up. And for those of you who are still in the dark, I've got about 2 years before i can force people to call me Dr. Arina... hahaha... Although i already have some very nice "idiots" teasing me way before its due....Like come on people, juz give me 2 years more of peace before the taunting starts!!!

So yeah... thts about my life in short... oh n i forgot to add that i had to leave the comforts and luxury of my home in Malaysia, and start a whole new life in this sad, slow paced, boring place called Newcastle in Oz land. I guess being here is another reason i signed up for a blog of my own... i NEED to do SOMETHING other then STUDY!!! Anyway, need to go tell people of my successful attempt and the heroic gesture (hahahaha) of starting my own blog....
cheers, &

guru rakha