App: Gurbani Made Easy
Dear Readers:
Many of us who were born abroad like myself (I was born in Kenya, moved to England, and now live in America; I have spent only three months of my adult life in India) have a great hunger to understand the Siri Guru Granth Sahib (SGGS), the Holy scriptures of the Sikhs.
Some of us, because of our circumstances, never had the opportunity to learn Punjabi. (I started learning at the age of seventy-two.) When I lived in England in the early sixties, the nearest Sikh temple was nearly ninety miles away from my college. Of course, in those days there was no internet that would allow me to learn Gurbani or Punjabi at home. Learning at home, of course, has now been made possible by work of Dr. Kulbir Thind, who has developed the Gurumukhi fonts that have made the Guru Bani available to the whole world.
Even those who know Punjabi may not be familiar with the many animals, plants, cultural practices, different religions and mythological references that are unique to India and that are referred to in the SGGS. To fully understand the meaning of the SGGS one really has to understand the significance of these details in their context.
To keep this letter brief, I offer below a few illustrations of some of the flowers, animals and other references used in the SGGS . The work that I have done so far (JapJi Sahib, Kirtan Sohila, Rehras, Artee) is put on the App called Gurbani Made Easy.
I hope you find this App of help.
Yours Sincerely,
Harjinder Singh
Santa Monica, California