love

That Love is all there is,

Is all we know of Love;

It is enough, the freight should be

Proportioned to the groove.

Emily Dickinson

the bad, the good and the lucky one

The bad one.

My identitycard, my driving licence, my 2 bank cards, my keys (all of them), my medical card, my union card, a lipstick, some coins, some paper money, my cell phone, my camera, a booklet on sikhism, my train ticket were all in my Italian leather handbag.
I was waiting for the train in Antwerpen and when suddenly our train was rerailed, someone stole my bag. I placed my handbag on top of my reed basket, which i bought in the Oxfam shop (if half of the worldpopulation can live with a reed basket instead of a briefcase, i can too).
How can someone be so stupid to put his/her bag like that? Me, moi, because i always have this terrible shoulder pain (going to the hospital on this awful check up again tomorow)!
So there i was with nothing left but my basket and the papers of the meeting i was coming from. And a few "thank-you-candles" that i bought and would come handy one day in my life.
For the very first time in my life i could not prove my identity, could not make a phonecall, not even buy a cup of coffee or go to the toilet, nothing, nada.
i felt like i was illegal in my own country.

The good one.

After being sent to several desks, even an unmanned police office, i had to go to window 10 to make a statement about my lost object. After i made it clear i had no friends or family in this city to give me a few euro's, i could not phone to anyone, the gentleman behind the counter said:
"Okay then i buy a ticket for you. Here is my account number and my name, please put it back on my account"
i was speechless, this nice guy saved me without even asking my name or address, with no guarantee he was ever going to have this money back????? i met a real good human being!
So that's why i bought a "thank-you-candle". Never realised i was going to use it so soon.
The good man refused it, but when i left it, he put the candle under the counter.

The lucky one.

I left on the next train and even before i was home my bag was found.
Without the money, without one bank card, without my cell phone nor my camera. So mr. Veryniceguy phoned to my husband to tell the news.
Next day we collected the bag in Antwerpen, i had no words enough to thank him. When we opened the bag, even "the thank-you-candle" was back in.
So i am a very lucky person to have met such a caring person!!!!

And i am even luckier; i got someone's old cell phone and.... i get a new camera for Mother's Day!!! A new one of my own choice!!!

So hopefully the thief does something useful with my money, make a sweet phonecall to someone who loves him, make a beautiful picture of the moon...
But sorry i blocked my bank card.
You can't have it all mr. thief.

equal

If men and women are equal, then i want a turban too, she said.

Hey, who said they were not paying attention! That is the spirit!!!

raga jatha

Of course the visitors wanted to try the tabla! It sounded more like an African drum or even mum's old kettle, but it was straight from the heart. They were taking it very serious!

While Granthi ji was singing kirtan, one of the boys started to sing along. The tune was okay, the words were something made up that sounded like punjabi-dutch? now that's better than some members of the sangat.... (like me).

children of God

Today a very special group of visitors we had in the gurdwara. It was a wonderful visit. Of course i could not do the usual programme, but i managed to explain a bit about the sikhs and sikhism.

So we had to do different things, like tying turbans, playing harmonium and tabla. Our granthi read out of Shri Guru Grant Sahib. Many questions had to be answered, different questions: how much has it cost, where is it made, who made it, does it hurt, how long you have this? Questions out of a child's mind. Heartwarming!

And now that i see the pictures i feel happy all over again!

And don't they look beautiful!

strong women

The other night i went out with my friend M. to have dinner. She survived breastcancer three times. It had her changed of course. It had us, her friends, changed. Of course.
But she is alive and enjoying life, though life does not always brings what she wants. She learned to accept; she is a stong woman.


On Saturday morning i went to the market to buy some fruit, when i met the parents of my friend L.. They are looking great, both in their eighties, but still active and full of life. I name them mummy and daddy, just like my friend L. When we talk, i can see their eyes exploring my face, hanging into my eyes. I can read their minds:"She could have been like this, going to the market with her granddaughter to buy some fruit. She could have been like this."
Because my friend L. lost the battle against cancer, she died 17 years ago. She was such a strong woman.


"I need some strong women" my friend G. said, " strong women to carry me when i am weak and unable to carry this myself!".
"Count on me, i will be there!" i answered.
"It's a very agressive form and the doctors don't know if they can or how they can stop this."
G. is such a strong woman, she lost her husband, her mother, a dear friend and her beloved son in very short time. Still she is a pilar to so many people, she is the one to uplift others.
She is such a strong woman, but this struggle will be a hard one, she is going to need as much support as possible. So she deserves strong friends.


Waheguru, Waheguru, make me strong in difficult moments. For her.

dutch

now that is Dutch to me!

debat

The reason why Harjinder Singh and Amrik Singh were in Sint-Truiden, my hometown was that a debat amongst several religions was held.
Harjinder Ji held the sikh colors and he did very well. Half of the audience were sikhs, most of them could not understand a word, but they came anyhow to support Harjinder Ji.
That is why Sint-Truiden is called Sikh (or Singh)-Truiden!!!!!

The bottom line of the debat was:

"If you can't see God in all,

you can't see God at all."

And where did we hear that before?
So the sikhs had the last word...

sikh care

Harjinder Singh (aka the man in blue) travelled with his friend Amrik Singh. You can not see it on this photograph, but Amrik Ji has the most beautiful twinkle in his eyes. One gets happy just to see him.

And he is a true sewadar, who gave his service not only to his nearby sangat, but went out in the world to help (Sikh Care Society, Heathrow) wherever he was needed. What a great man!

He told me his personal story (well part of) and what a big support it meant for me.

So i felt a bit sad when they left, but at the same time how glad i am to have found two brothers i can turn to in moments of despair or doubt.

i'm so lucky, lucky...

the man in blue

This evening Sardar Harjinder Singh Ji talked to some of the youngsters on what it means to be a sikh in Europe in 2007. How they can be the difference!

The man in blue- as he is known- is a talented speaker and he knew how to get their full attention.

Of course i am not one of the youngsters, but new in the religion (that is a kind of "young" too) so i was glad to participate.

Afterwards we prayed together, it was so uplifting.

i feel really, really contented!

Thank you, Harjinder, you made my day!

trois couleurs de bleu

three colors of blue...

a poet is a caresser

To caress is to glide gloriously along all senses

is climbing out of your doomed body with too slippery brinks

is stroking with meagre words and desperate restart

And to caress is to flee my solitude on your pulse

is to implore old pains

in naked eyes with question marks

I must confess that i like to caress

cause i feel i live and i live you

to caress is to give what i want myself

and yet never had

To caress is a bit like changing skins.