The Punjabi Sahitik Forum Sydney Inc. conducted a seminar commemorating the 550th Birth Anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev Ji. The event was held in Glendenning Public School hall, Glendenning, Sydney on 21 July 2019.
Honourable Dr. A.M Gondane, the High Commissioner of India, along with Mr. Manish Gupta, Consul General of India, and Mr V K Verma Consul from Indian Consulate attended the three hour seminar. Dr Gondane especially flew from Canberra to participate in this seminar.
Sikh Scholars, representatives from the Sikh community and from other communities including, the Sindhi Association, Hindu Council and Muslim Community participated and shared their thoughts and insights on the universal teachings of Guru Nanak Dev Ji. The program started with presentations by Sikh youth, Ms Madeline Saab and Ms Eisher Kaur Chaggar.
Dr Gondane shared his thoughts on the teachings of Guru Nanak Dev Ji and expressed his feelings on how he was impressed by the revolutionary reforms of Guru Nanak Dev JI, especially the concept of Sangat and Pangat, where everyone is treated equally. He also reminded the audience about the equal status given to women five hundred years back which the modern society is still struggling to implement. He emphasised that the teachings of Guru Nanak Dev Ji need to be shared with the broader community as the messages are timeless and applicable to the whole humankind.
Mr Manjinder Singh, President of the Sydney Sahitik Forum, welcomed everyone and briefed the audience about the objectives of the Punjabi Sahitik Forum. He provided an overview of the universal teachings of Guru Nanak Dev Ji and details of the journeys of Guru Nanak Dev ji across the Indian subcontinent, Middle East and Europe.
Punjabi Sahitik Forum was formed in 2017 to create a platform to learn about our heritage and language and connect to our next generations so that we can learn and reflect our values and ethics in order to enrich the society we live in.
Mr Inder Kirpalani from the Sindhi Association provided an insight into his family’s personal practices as per the teachings of Guru Nanak Dev Ji and the adherence of the Sindhi community to Shri Guru Granth Sahib Ji.
Dr. Harkirat Singh Dhindsa spoke about the techniques and teaching methodologies used by Guru Nanak Dev Ji and compared them with today’s modern scientific methods. He explained how Guru Ji used the techniques of group discussions, created cognitive conflict to attract others and took his followers from the knowns to the unknowns to explain his concepts.
Dr. Davinder Singh Jitla presented on “the Languages used by Guru Nanak Dev Ji in his writings” and the origin of Punjabi language and Gurmukhi script. He also explained how Guru Angad Dev Ji improved this language immensely. The Punjabi language is also written in Shahmukhi which has its alphabet from Arabic.
Dr. Anil Kumar Verma, a Retired College principal, talked about the “Economic theory given to us by Guru Nanak Dev Ji’.
Mr Surinder Jain, Vice President of Hindu Council, briefed on the origin of religions in India and spoke on the meaning of Mool Mantra in the Japji Sahib.
Mr. Gurvijay Singh informed the audience about the attributes of God as per Gurbani.
Mr Mirza Ramzan Sharif from Muslim Community shared his experience and the influence of the teachings of Baba Guru Nanak Dev Ji on his community.
The seminar was well attended by the audience who participated with their questions and small group discussions during the refreshment times.
It was another great successful endeavour by the Punjabi Sahitik Forum Sydney Inc.
For more information about the Punjabi Sahitik Forum Sydney, please visit their facebook page / WhatsApp Group or contact any member of the group.
