Click Here for Episode 7- An outside special

Sat Sri Akal (God is Truth)

Welcome to Episode 7
Over the weeks we have tried to post a new Episode of Sikhwithin every 2 weeks. This week we're a bit late on posting the latest episode. It is immediately available if you subscribe to this podcast through i-tunes.

For Episode 7 we have developed an outside broadcast special, keeping to the same format : Meanings, a translation, history/story and ending with Inspirational music.

This episode was recorded in Southall on 21st May. We travelled to different Gurdwaras. To give a visual insight, we have posted below some photographs from our evening tour. Also in this episode we are grateful for our audio support from Rohin Singh.

We visited Gurdwaras in Havlock Road, Park Avenue and Oswald Road.Each has its own interesting story.

Some of the early settlers of United Kingdom, in the late 1950s arrived in Southall, West London.

First Stop: Havlock Road Gurdwara
The first photograph shows the Havlock Road Gurdwara. It is one of the newest of Gurdwaras in West London (UK),costing I believe an estmated £17M. Its early foundation was a converted dairy back in the mid to late 1960s.

In the meanings section we talk about some of the important the themes of Sikhism for example, Equality of men and women and the importance of Human Rights. My thanks to Bhupinder Singh of http://www.sikhspirit.com. Back in 1999 during the Tricentenniel celebrations of the Khalsa they produced an excellent publication called Millennium Khalsa.



The second photograph shows us parked on the corner of one of the side road's off Havlock Road. It shows the wonderful Golden dome of the Gurdwara from a distance.


Second Stop: Park Avenue Gurdwara
We then proceeded to Park Avenue Gurdwara. I remember this Gurdwara building was originally a supermarket. It was set-up and enhanced while the Havlock Road Gurdwara was being built. It still remains as a Gurdwara today.

Our featured Shabad translation is from Snatam Kaur from her CD Shandi entitled: Hariaa (Strength). The full translation is shown below (see also sound issues!).

In Romanised English:
Salok Mahla Panjva
Tera Keeta Jaato nahee
Mai noo jog keetoee
Mai nirgunharay ko gun naahee aapai tara payoee
Taras payaa may rahmut hoee
Satguru sajan miliaa
Nanak naam milay taa jeevaa, tun mun theeyay haryaa

In English:
I cannot mearsure your grace.
You have made me worthy of you.
I am full of faults.
I have no virtue.
You have been Compassionate to me.
Merciful You have been and shown me Your grace.
Thus I was blessed with the True Guru.
Nanak says I can survive on the Holy name only;
It rejuvenates (Naam is the nectar which makes man immortal and links him with God) my heart and soul.

(Shabad Translation from: Hymns from Guru Granth Sahib ; Published by Hemkunt Press)





The latter photograph's were taken from the railway bridge in Southall.

Final Stop: Oswald Road Gurdwara
Our final stop was at Oswald Road Gurdwara. It is based in the most amazing location - in the centre of Southall - surrounded by houses behind one of Southall's hubs known as the Broadway.

It is at this Gurdwara we met a friend of mine - our special guest Jasprit Singh currently completing his MA in museum studies and working at the Victoria and Albert museum.

Jasprit Singh kindly helped with this weeks story - the origins of the Red Cross concept by a wonderful Sikh.



Although the podcast states that we couldn't get in. It was only at the time of recording. Afterwards someone kindly open the doors and we went inside.





The latter two photograph's show the inside of the Gurdwara at Oswald Road. As you can see there are some wonderful lighting and hanging displays.

Sound issues
With this show unfortunately we had some audio issues. Basically, our portable recorder's microphone synchronisation function appeared to be playing up (pardon the pun). The result was a frequent 'cutting short' of the ends or beginning of sentences. We apologise for this. To help, additional supportive text has been included on this posting. We hope to produce more outside broadcasts, hopefully with improved equipment et al.

We close with some inspirational music from Paul Hardcastle from his CD Paul Hardcastle II entitled - You are the one and M People - Search for a Hero.

We will be grateful for any feedback.

You can leave a public comment at at this posting or you can send us an email at:

sikhwithinremovethis@removethis2yahoo.com

WGJKK WGJKF

Dr Savi
PS The intro snippet was from Lemar's CD Time to Grow, entitled:
I believe in a thing called Love.