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There are moments in history when each of us is called upon to declare where we stand. The events of 1984 provided that moment for me. The chance arose for me and many others like me to enter in to meaningful participation in public affairs. With a young mind, I didn’t have the proper anticipation and understanding that I do now, but still we aspired to see what life is and we did that without fear and with the desire of being able to lead a dignified life.

To date, fifteen great women have won the Nobel Prize in its 110 year history for contributing to the upliftment and inspiration of humanity. One of them is Wangari Maathai, the first African woman to be rewarded with the Nobel Peace Award in 2004. She passed away on 25 September at the age of 71, after fighting a long battle with cancer.

‘Morality in War and Peace: Perspectives on the Zafarnama’
Tuesday 18th October, British Library – A Review

Events on the Dasam Granth always cause a stir. Authenticity, controversy, fact and fiction, are all nouns synonymous to the discourse on this great volume. So having been invited to a ‘discussion’ between two eminent authors on a particular element of the Dasam Granth, I really didn’t know what to expect.

When I reached the United States in 1986, I had a chance to stay at Michigan State University with some of my old class fellows. There I observed and came across the interesting subject of packaging engineering - how to package products to enhance their consumer acceptance and market appeal. The product within might remain the same for years, but this subject taught that the packaging was of the greatest matter. The reason I am sharing this is as I have travelled along on my life journey, I have tried to correlate this packaging subject in a different manner.

As I have travelled along the journey of my life and as I still move along today, thoughts of regret inevitably accompany along side. The 'could have', 'might have' and 'should have' aspects of life remain even in small traces, despite doing the utmost to shed them. It is a burden that has accompanied me on my very different route towards exploring life - a route that I took to chase a challenge thrown at us by rulers who have done everything they can to destroy our dignity, identity and most importantly our self pride, all in an attempt to keep us subjugated.

The process to elect the new body for Sikh religious places was in the last phase of campaigning over the last few weeks before Sunday’s chaotic polling day.

Today I want to share my thoughts about participatory democracy - an expression of the people's will and their share in this political participation.

This last week has seen my Facebook homepage abuzz with the news that the Sikh Gurus were right. Yes, in the face of many unbelievers, they were right!

It seems that scientists have announced that there are around 8.7 million life forms on blessed terra firma. Now as those learned Sikhs would know, this is a number most Sikhs are content with, just three hundred thousand out from the magic 8.4 million life forms that the gurus described.

Today, Naujawani.com has proudly announced a media partnership to promote an upcoming UK competition - Bhangra Wars. Bhangra Wars is the first ever UK bhangra competition open to all professional groups, university bhangra societies and bhangra dance academies aiming to liven up UK bhangra culture and take it to the next level. This family orientated event takes place on Saturday 15 October at The Ramgharia Community Center in Leicester and will help to raise money for humanitarian charities Khalsa Aid and Focus Punjab.

There is a lot of upheaval around the World these days. Libya's Gaddafi regime is imminently crumbling; Egypt is now under another thrust of military power other than Mubarak's; people power is still elusive in Tunisia and Yemen too is under similar stress; London is emerging from one of the worst states of unrest in a long time although the reasons behind it are still being debated; moreover, the great power that is the USA is reeling under severe financial strain as is much of mainland Europe.