Sentul mini samelan

i have a lot to write as its been a while and there is quite a bit to catch up on =)

so lets start with sampling being postponed and i am (pretty) overjoyed as i can go for the samelan..

i reached home to a pleasant surprise by ballween and deybu (he came back!) =)

and after two days of chilling at home, per n i packed our bags n mom dropped us off at sentul gurdwara.

i actually did not have any expectations for this one, come to think of it. all i knew was, it would probably be fun as the boys (sanggat, ajit etc) were giving lots of excited comments and updates.

day 1 : so we got there, and started meeting everyone (haha well I did since ppl were like: ur back!! and the likes)

it felt so good to tek matha and walk about in GURDWARA!!

then I helped out with the remaining registration (impromptu secretariat) and got myself a name tag.

sheetal, meanwhile had already asked me to help her out with the kiddies lectures (meaning I would talk) as it turns out, she said go ahead and talk, she would assist me. hahahaha..I know, storyteller rite.

day one was KIRT KARNI which means working with your won two hands or laboring.

so I told the kids the sakhee of Guru Nanak with Bhai Lalo and Malik Bhago. besides that we had to discuss with smaller groups on is kirt karni important, how to apply it and us as kids;applying it.

after that I talked to Ajit seeing that I felt I was still pretty free. haha.. and I asked for darbar sewa. okiedokie, he said go ahead. then spoke to Ajeetpal veerji (the usual in darbar) and he was of course very encouraging.

The first IPS was done by Raja. Father spoke on wealth for the other world (as we cant bring material wealth- Guru Nanak's story of the needle)

That night the IPS was done by Kemey Veerji. it was also alright. (oh wait was it him who told the needle sakhee now?) hmmmm..

then we hung out and laughed badly. (Menin and I)

then we like heroes went for heart to heart (the elder girls) conducted by Manpreet Pannu's mum. As the kids were a little quiet we started things off and lightened the mood with jokes and laughs. then the kids seemed a bit ready to talk. (not really but they wrote it down anyway)

Jiwan's mum had told us to get to bed early and we were tired so we did but I couldnt sleep!all night long..haizzzz...

First we were laughing alot. which was not helped by menin saying funny(and puthi sidhi) punjabi phrases. it was also freezing since the dorms had like 50 airconds on (in reality there were 2) and then enters Amit. now, she's supposed to be the 'checker' i suppose, but at one point she shines the torchlight on Menin's chaddar (blanket) which was Sabha/Gurdwara property and exclaimes

: aa ki ah? bling bling. viaah di chaddar

and that set me off la. we laugheddddd!!

because it was blingy..

then there was a group of girls that muz have had red bull in their cha coz they talked all night and yet , the next day I saw them looking fresh as daisies!

Day 2: wake up (when did I sleep) and after Menin goes for her shower fall asleep.

she comes back and scolds me to go shower. tell myself to hurry as Deybu is doing simran.

go for about half the simran session. The Japji Sahib for all kids would start at 7 so I filled up time before that and got the appropriate kids to see me for Ardass etc.

After morning Darbar (Japji, Ardass,Hukamnama) it was breakfast then nishan sahib selami and exercises.

the bhangra-robics and malaysian workout was led by Ajit,manjeet and Sanggat and Aukhvinder gave the Dhol music. The kids enjoyed it! and we did it along amidst much laughter.

then the kids had sewalogy. I did Darbar Sahib station (thanks to Nirmal who joined me) for the younger kids while Father was with the elder kids.

This time actually unknowingly I had spent time with the kids (eventhough I dont consider myself to be a Mighties phenji). But I have to say it was very entertaining and refreshing with them (and I think they had fun too;D)

So it was great to ask the kids about Darbar Sahib as very often we see children running about, playing and dressing shabbily etc to the court of the Guru. they responded very well, even the littlest ones were alright (I wanted to laugh at the things they did and said!)

me: why do we do kirtan /simran?

one little tiny cutie (girl) :so that it will cleanse our soul

me:look at Nirmal who's looking at me..

then Deybu did the IPS.

the theme for the day was Vand Shakne.

so for my story and lectures it was Guru Nanak's Sacha Sauda and also other sakhees.

the kids had Khalsa Challenge and Miri Piri had their Explorace / Amazing Race.

Sometime on Friday Jiwan had come (and contrary to what she says I never forced her mom to bring her! =P)

she went home and came back on Sat.

Pinday and Gurleen also came on Sat as well as Balween (oh no no she came on Fri)

Pinday asks me to help her in the station (DRama Minggu INi) like I know. its verry me. hahaha.

so Menin agrees to join me and we quickly plan on what to do.

the kids I think enjoyed it hahahah; especially kids would come to me saying phenji u so naughty just now (during the short skit). We did naughty kids and incorporated the 3 pillars of Sikhi.

That night was the Campfire. the Kg Pandan Gatka team did a short demonstration (my hairs stood on end at some points:it was really josh filled) and the atmosphere was one of much josh and chardikala.

there was Uncle Chamkaur doing his funny rendition of the Hindi song man dole mere tan dole in hindi, tamil, malay, chinese, english and raag versions. there ws also a four year old playing the dhol. the guys : Sanggat, Raf, Amritpal,etc showed some drums

and played some stuff (also the vuvuzela)

after the campfire we dispersed to talk and chill out together. that night I slept happily and everyone woke up (kinda late) the next morning.

Day 3: Naam Japna.

Sentul Jatha was doing Asa di Vaar and so the kids did their japji at almost 8 a.m. after he usual it was time for lectures. Spoke on Prahlaad Ji and the kids were totally into it, telling me the next part that comes and so on. then they made thier own mala bracelets with the beads given to them.

after that we had a small feel good package and hugging session with the kids. since we let them off early to go for langgar we joined in with the big kids. I think they were havin a bit of a recap session and so we managed to piece together what the elder kids had been doing.

For their challenge they had some Sikhi inspired games and they got to apply how the people (Singhs, MAta Gujree jee and Sahibzadas) had felt a little.

one game was where they had to keep their arms in icy icy cold water. there would be much 'encouragement' to wiggle their fingers, shake their arms etc but they held their ground and stayed still (to not feel so frozen)

besides that they had a lunch box of ginger, yucky juice etc which they must finish (sharing)

also, a caterpillar formation where they moved on the floor. I heard their hands and knees hurt and such, so the moral was to understand the pain of the SIkhs back then.

we stayed back to see what else we could do, as Gurleen phenji had to leave early.

the IPS was by the sentul Jatha.

there was no fear since Deybu was there! =P

and so after gotong royong, packing up, closing ceremony we had our cha and chit chat and went home.

the winning Jatha was jatha 4.

we got home at 5 i thnk and I talked to mum, ate etc. fell asleep at 10 pm.

so the samelan was in conclusion awesome. I got to learn A LOTTTT and feel glad that I went for it.

also would like to thank the following people for making it so eenjoyable :

Menin

Deybu (s.p - only certain ppl know this code =P)

Ballu

Jiwan

Sheetalee

Palwin

Pinday

Gurleen

Ajit

Manjeet

Per

nisha

deshy

dheeraj

himmat

that's all for this post, pictures coming soon (+ videos)