We all have things that drive us, that make us, that define us! The things that define me are my faith as a Sikh, a son of a migrant family (originally from the Punjab in India) with almost no formal education, who crossed 3 continents to make a live in Leicester. They did this to give their kids the best chance in life they could. This story is repeated many times over for many of my fellow sikh brothers and sisters who left thier homeland to make a life here! We are now doctors, lawyers, accountants, business people, software engineers and even Microsoft Small Business Specialists! Wherever we go we take our faith with us, but always contributing to the society we live in, never apart or separate from it.

I blogged about the Sikh Prayer from our holy book the Guru Granth Sahib ji, Japji Sahib, and a beautiful rendition of it from a young female punjabi singer called Harshdeep Kaur from a film called “Rang de Basanti” by A.R.Rahman. This is what Harshdeep said about singing this

It is not a song. In fact it is an extract from Japji Sahib, the Sikh’s Morning Prayer. I consider it an honor to sing Ik Onkaar. Since childhood I have been singing it. We recorded it at 4 am. It was a very special moment. It is believed that early morning is the time of God and I actually felt God standing next to me and making me sing,

Listen and enjoy, even if you don’t understand it (just click on the link called “Ik Onkar” and listen past the advert for a “Rupee Chequing Account”). There are many people who do not have a faith in God which is fine as Sikhism is not a religion which advocates conversion, but it’s about having a sense of spirituality, a sense of morality, a sense of ethics and putiing that in to practice in everything that you do.