American Born Confused Sikh

Meat. It's one of the most controversial if not the most controversial topic in the Sikh Religion and to my surprise. . . many other religions as well! Throughout my life, I've seen and heard Sikhs with completely extreme opposite views on whether we can eat meat or not eat meat. Some Sikhs will not eat meat, or fish, or eggs. They will not even eat cookies or cakes made with eggs. Heck, they won't even eat vegetarian food if it has been cooked on the same stove top as meat! However, some Sikhs on the other end can't go a day without chicken, beef, pork, or fish and their specialties included bacon wrapped steaks with a side of porkchops! And the funny thing is that each side will find a quote from Gurbani to support their cause! From my limited understanding, it does not directly say whether we can or cannot eat meat in the Guru Granth Sahib. But, the interesting part is that we as people want direct answers. I don't think the Gurus ever intended for religion...

I know. I know. Just typing the title made me cringe too. These three words shouldn't be linked together, but the media links the first two together everyday. . . . And if the media can say that they want, then damn it so can I! The current state of the Islamic and Sikh community is horrendously hurtful and painful on so many levels. We are walking on ice all of the time and in today's blog post I wanted to share a correlation that I have been thinking about lately. . . . Muslims are like pit-bulls and Sikhs are like bulldogs. Wait!!! Before you start stoning me to death, please allow me to explain! Most of my Indian readers don't even like dogs and are scared of them and consider it lowly for me to even think about comparing people to them. I get it. In India, there are a bunch of strays that are overly aggressive and they probably all have rabies and if they bite you, you'll die. I get it. But you guys treat dogs like shit over there, so what do you expect? ...

So, for a short while Mr. Architect and I hung out almost every weekend. We would go out to eat, watch movies, play air hockey and just have a jolly good time. On one evening I invited him to a friend's hangout of mine in midtown. He brought a friend of his too. He brought his white friend. :) And what do I say about this friend of his? He had a personality that absolutely glowed. He had traveled to many different countries (including India ;) and he even spoke a little bit of Hindi for show! He joked with my friends and I and he made us laugh. He was simply a joy to be around. When I first met this person, I didn't see a "white" guy. He could have been purple for all I cared. I just saw positive energy and happiness radiating from his extroverted personality which so very much matched up to my personality. I gave Mr. Architect some extra cool points for having such a nice friend. After all, birds of a feather flock together or something like that right? lol ...

The architect. For the record I want to say, I love architects and graphic designers. I love how their mind works. They have literally been trained to think outside the box and to be creative and it is absolutely beautiful. On that note, the architect had called me (which already made him unique in today's texting society) and invited me to an amazing fusion Indian restaurant. He had already combined the east and the west within me. :) When I entered the restaurant he had been waiting for me at the bar and when we met, he gave me a handshake like a real gentleman should on the first meeting. His aura was extremely calm and peaceful and in his presence I also felt calm and peaceful and completely relaxed. I sensed that this person wasn't here to hurt me or have any bad intentions with me and I felt safe. Because I felt safe, I was able to be myself. . . . . . my open, talkative and goofy self. :) We had great conversation that evening. He didn't spend the entire evening ta...

Please allow me to explain. Indian parents that moved to America from India and gave birth to children on American soil are facing a major dilemma. They try to be modern by getting rid of the forced upon arranged marriage concept yet, when their daughters reach a marriageable age, they say. . . "Child! Go and get married!" Or even worse. . . . "You're almost 30 and your not yet married!? Shame on you!!!" We young and naïve children think we actually have freedom to pick our own spouses. . .  but when we bring home the guys that we like or even mention their name. . . shame be upon us! And here's the thing. . . . most Indian girls aren't even given the opportunity or privilege to even speak to the opposite gender growing up. Many of our parents were and are just too strict. And then they get mad and upset  when we've reached a certain age and we are not married. We are constantly reminded of our single status. It's almost like we are a burden ...

I know. :(   It's been a while. . . . . I could give you a million excuses. . . some are legit, and some are not. . . but here goes. . . . #1. I've been sick! Yes! For real! Okay. . . . I have allergies. Not just the cute sneezing and sniffling runny nose allergies. Oh no.  I have had sinus headaches, swollen itchy eyes, and a constant sore throat. And you know what? Sometimes, it takes me weeks. . . months. . . or years to figure out truths that are so simple. Exhibit A: When you have bad allergies, go see an allergist! Don't go to the Walgreen's or CVS clinic. Don't go to your primary doctor (well. . . maybe, it's kind of a good start). Just go to the specialist. Every time I went somewhere else I was given antibiotics and yes they worked great while I was on them, but as soon as I got off of them, all of the symptoms came back. I was miserable. I wasn't myself. I felt a little handicapped. I finally saw an allergist and OMG, I can breathe again. I don...

Mr. Goa only got one date and you will find out why in just a few minutes. He only gets another post because the first post was more so about the history lesson he gave me! So, if I understand correctly, Goa is like Hawaii for India. It's the place where a lot of people go on their honeymoon. It has amazing beaches and people are always partying over there (at least that's what I see on Bollywood movies!). I was expecting a laid back Indian surfer dude but to my surprise I kind of got the opposite. A few hours before our date, Mr. Goa text messaged me and asked me what I was wearing. I thought to myself. . oh gosh, is he serious? I may end up cancelling based off of how this goes. He then asked me if I was going to wear heels. I thought to myself, what is up with guys and heels? I like wearing them but is he really asking me this now? He then asked me to not wear them. . . . . "Why???" I asked. "You are 5'6 aren't you? If you wear heels you might be...