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Colleen Hoover, born on 11 December 1979, is #1 New York Times bestselling author. With 11 novels and 5 novellas, colleen hoover has never failed to impress her readers. Most of her novels are for young adults.

Regretting You is the latest novel by her released on 12 December 2019. Unlike other, this story by Colleen Hoover has more emotional approach than a romantic one.

Although most of her novels are for young adults, this novel is different from the rest of them. The storyline focuses on the relation between a mother and her daughter, grabbing interest in all kind of readers. The fictional novel was loved by her fans as soon as it was released.

The novel revolves around a mother, Morgan Grant and her 16-year-old daughter, Clara. They both are different from each other and barely go together. The only person who keeps them attached is Morgan’s husband and Clara’s father- Chris, whose unexpected death in a car accident put both of their lives at a stop. Morgan is determined to ensure that her daughter does not follow her footsteps while Clara is agitated by her mother’s predictable nature. The novel taught us that no matter how close we are with someone, there is always a wall of secrets separating us.

The story is beautifully presented. One feel compelled to read it after reading its description. One can relate the novel to real-life how mother’s concerns never end and how a child becomes rebellious when he/she reaches the teenage years. The book will make you fall in love with the characters, will make you cry for them, sympathies with them. Colleen brings the story of grief, betrayal and heartbreak in this novel.

The novel in a way teaches us the importance of communication in our life, how it is extremely important to put your views forward in order to easy two way dialogue. It is no mystery what miscommunication or lack of communication can lead to.

“Right after something tragic happens, you feel like you’ve fallen off a cliff. But after the tragedy starts to sink in, you realize you didn’t fall off a cliff. You’re on an eternal roller coaster that just reached the bottom. Now it’s gonna be up and down and upside down for a long, long time. Maybe even forever.”

With such lines in the novel, colleen once again impresses its readers and attracts more fandom. But the plot of the story, after a certain point becomes quite predictable. One can easily guess what will happen next and the ending. However, with 363 pages long book, the journey matters more than the destination. Some points in the story remain untold which makes the readers frustrated and unsatisfied. More answers would have been appreciated.

Rating the book 3.5 out of 5 stars. Not one of the best work of colleen hoover but is a must-read. One can find the book on Amazon as an e-book and Kindle version for 129 rupees. The book can also be downloaded free after subscribing for a free month subscription of kindle unlimited.

Animal farm which is a ‘fairy story’ as said by the author George Orwell is a satire on the modern history. The novel was published in 1945, but the thoughts and the scenarios presented in the book, makes it relevant now as well. The book is said to be written as a satire mainly focusing on Stalin. Through this book Orwell showed his political stance on idealism deceived by power, corruption in politics, communism and Stalinism. The totalitarian rule is showcased through a story of a farm in an engaging way.

When the animals that were oppressed from Manor Farm defeat their master Mr. Jones, in what they call a revolution, and take over the farm. Pigs, shown as the most intelligent among the animals take the governance in their hands. Slowly and gradually a form of dictatorship begins.

George Orwell, a British writer, famous for his novel ‘1984’ has been a strong political critic and that can be seen in his book Animal Farm. Orwell has seen the Spanish Revolution against the fascism and wrote his book ‘The Homage to Catalonia’. And, that inspired the theme of Animal Farm, which is, a revolution deceiving its supposed aims and purpose. Orwell wrote nine books which changed his lifestyle from being a part of British Imperial Establishment to a literary and political rebel, before he died in 1950.

The easy language and short length of the book makes it easier to read, even for a person who is interested in politics but not in reading big fat novels. Every page of the book is worth reading. If the reader knows the political background of the book or some of the aspects of the novel might be related to the politics the reader’s state, he/she might get closer to the fantasy world created by Orwell. Even if the reader doesn’t want to get deep into the politics and the history of the story presented in the book, the story in itself is a brilliant and interesting one. This is one of the best literary works in the socio-political genre. The book also questions the blind faith that prevails among the public.

One can easily identify the political figures represented through the characters of the book. Napoleon represents Stalin, Old Major represents Karl Marx and there are many more. Role of media and information in the totalitarian rule is also shown in the book. The political power of the book can be seen with the fact that many publishers refused to publish it as Britain and Russia led by Stalin were part of Allies in the World War II. Political assassination, provoking speeches, corruption, all have got a part to play in Orwell’s story.

The last paragraph of the book sums up the story in such a manner that gives goose bumps. And, this last paragraph contains just three lines, this tells about the writing style adopted by Orwell which keeps things short and crisp, but effective. The metaphor of animals fits accurately to the book and is used as a masterstroke by the author. The book is a ‘must read’ for the people interested in socio-political issues, history and for the students studying similar issues as

presented in the book. Orwell’s style of keeping his point in the debates of ideology and politics is unique. This 82-page piece of literature might seem biased from a section’s point-of-view and here is the space where difference in ideologies come into play. The craft is too good and inspirational. This book is Orwell’s views on the Stalinism and agreeing or disagreeing to the views is a personal choice. I personally agree to Orwell’s account of Stalin’s Soviet Union and recommend this book to all.

Bombshell, directed by Jay Roach, known for his political films like ‘All the Way’, ‘Trumbo’ and many more, was released in the year 2019. The film is written by Charles Randolph, well known for writing ‘The Big Short’. The film’s leading ladies Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman and Margot Robbie form a power packed lead cast. The film is based on the famous Fox News sexual harassment controversy.

To summarize the film, female employees at the Fox News facing different issues stand for themselves in a patriarchal and toxic environment around them. It involves Megyn Kelly, played by Charlize Theron taking on Donald Trump, Gretchen Carlson, played by Nicole Kidman taking on the Fox News head Roger Ailes and Kayla Pospisil an ambitious employee trapped in the toxicity of the surrounding environment. This film is an account of how women stood against sexual harassment at the workplace.

Sexual harassment with women at the workplace by their male counterparts is a global issue, which is also the central theme of the movie. Other themes which can be seen in the film are, opposite political ideologies and media spreading propaganda and being biased. The movie is not content heavy, and unnecessary content isn’t thrown towards the audience. It is an easy and smooth film from audience’s point-of-view. The character of Jess Carr (my favorite from the film) played by Kate McKinnon is a totally opposite of the world she is stuck in, and this character is placed as Kayla’s best friend and is used to drive the film with some sub-themes. Firing off Rudi Bakhtiar, played by Nozanin Boniadi was shown well in film. The lead characters are layered well, but multi-layering is missing in some of the side characters. Now, even if the layering of a character is missed in the process of writing, the actor can provide layers to it, but that depth of acting is missing in many of the actors in the film. Three and a half minutes into the movie and there is a fourth wall breaking, to introduce us to the world of this movie. This might interest some of the viewers, but could have been avoided. There can be creative ways to avoid it, which surely adds to the minutes of the film but are good from the point of view of the craft. Siting the example from a classic film ‘The Godfather’ where Coppola uses the craft of blocking in the first scene followed by a conversation between Michael and Kate to introduce us to the world of the film. According to the film the harassment has a hierarchy  (not said directly but interpreted by me), and harassment of women among the colleagues is not show as such.

There were things that could be added to the film and to the minutes of the film, but I think some pieces of the craft were ignored and the movie was released on December 13, 2019 to run the race for the Oscars. Margot Robbie playing Kayla Pospisil got some good bold scenes to showcase her acting talent, and hence was nominated for the Oscars in the category of Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role. Also, Charlize Theron was nominated for Oscars in the category of Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role, and the film won the Oscars for Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling.

The movie is good to give it a watch, and for those who don’t know about the controversy and firing of Roger Ailes, this is totally fresh content. If you are a working woman, this movie will make you re-think about your working environment, and re-thinking upon this is important as some women don’t come to know that they are being harassed. A thought to end this review, in Hollywood the films showcase the real names, use real clips, even if the person in power or a politician is not shown on the right side, on the other hand, in the Hindi-cinema, films like Black Friday, Madras Café and many more don’t get the permission to do so.

There are many financial services that are transacted online. Most common ones are as follows –

• Internet Banking – When banking was offline there was a gap between the content and the reach. This gap has been filled up by internet banking. Institutions can now cover a wider audience. Private sector banks have benefitted a lot by introducing Telephone Banking and Home Banking. Customers can now apply for products like loans and insurance without standing in long queues. The time has shifted from basic net banking like NEFT (national electronic funds transfer) and RTGS (real time gross settlement) to economical E-Wallets.
• E-Brokerage – E brokers provide value and intelligent services to customers which poses a threat to regular brokers. Banks are now getting into tie-up with these e-brokers to expand their customer base. Banks have recorded E-trading business and sourced e-traders so customers can buy or sell stocks online and also pay via the net.
• Bill Payment – The Electronic Bill Payment (EBP) has been a significant tool to attract customers. Even though it has affected the Cash Management services and the revenue generated by processing in the physical form, it is considered as an integral part of services to customers. There are online platforms for payments and recharge which saves the customers a lot of time and from the hassles of late payments and issuing cheques
• E-Insurance – The entire insurance process starting from searching for insurance to applying to claim settlement has been digitalized by online insurance companies thereby saving time and efforts of people.
• E-Delivery of Financial Services – The banks have come up with the delivery of services like checking account status on fund transfer, writing cheques and demand drafts through the internet. Applications for car loan, personal loan and mortgages are all processed online, even bonds and mutual funds are offered through service portal of banks.
• E-Insurance – The entire insurance process starting from searching for insurance to applying to claim settlement has been digitalized by online insurance companies thereby saving time and efforts of people.
• E-Delivery of Financial Services – The banks have come up with the delivery of services like checking account status on fund transfer, writing cheques and demand drafts through the internet. Applications for car loan, personal loan and mortgages are all processed online, even bonds and mutual funds are offered through service portal of banks.

Drivers of Online Travel Industry:

• Booming travel industry – The global economic growth has led to the increase in the incomes of families and hence to more spending on travel.
• Shift from Desktop to mobile computing – This is one of the most noticeable trends. The general tilt in the population towards mobile usage is having a market impact on the online travel industry and the growing tendency of digital apps to foster consumer to consumer transactions will also influence the industry in the near future.
• Reduced air travel costs – Expansion in the online travel industry has occurred in tandem with the falling cost per mile of air travel to consumers, as airlines have revamped their fleets with lighter, more fuel efficient aircrafts and focused on lowering fixed costs and increasing profitability.
•  Air Travel is vital to online travel industry because it not only drives sale of flights but also hotel stays and rental car bookings.

Garima Ltd. is an apparel manufacturing company set up in Delhi. Since the quality of the products they were selling was great and the clothes were very unique, the demand for them was always on a rise. New machines were installed at the company for better production levels. The new machines used for the manufacturing were very high-tech and hence very few people in the company, mainly the head officers knew how to operate on them effectively and efficiently without increasing the production costs. The employees in the organisation were not given adequate training as to how the equipment should be used so as to reduce costs and increase the profit margins. This was creating trouble.

Moreover, due to lack of knowledge of the usage of the machine the workers were also unable to meet the targets of production and hence even after managing to get the attention of the consumers towards their product they were rather incurring losses. The high demand for their products in the market now began to fall. This is when the HR manager Mr. Rajesh Gupta decided to take a look into the situation to assess the problem and discuss it with the management and the heads. The problem was then assessed and a solution was found so that the company could get back in the market. A system was devised for the training of these workers where they were given complete information about the machinery and its use.

SITUATION (SAP LAP ANALYSIS)–

Situation refers to the internal or external environment in an organisation. In the case of Garima Ltd. which is an apparel manufacturing company, the internal environment of the organisation was affecting the company. The employees in the organisation were not given the adequate training that was required and hence consumer demands could not be met which put the company in losses.

ACTORS –

Actors refers to the people, individuals or organisations who are involved in the case study. In the case study given above the actors are –

• Head officers
• Mr. Gupta, the HR Manager
• Workers/ Employees
• Customers/ Consumers

PROCESS –

• The interface of actors and situation define the organisational climate and culture, which is important for business process. Process refers to the overall transformation that converts a set of inputs into outputs to recreate a situation.
• In the above situation, the company now has to set up a system so that the workers can be trained to handle the machines. The management along with the HR Department have to device a strategy for training the workers for better functioning of the organisation.

LEARNING –

• After synthesizing the knowledge we gathered from SAP, there is a key learning. It can either be generic or specific.
• The learning of the whole situation is that in order to meet the high demands of the customers/market with reduced production costs and big profit margins the workers have to be given training on how to use the new machinery in the most effective and efficient way.

Alimony, in the law of divorce, is compensation owed to one’s spouse for financial support after a divorce. Alimony aims to support the spouse, not to punish the other. In some places, the word means suspension of assets regardless of future support. Alimony is traditionally given from men to women but sometimes given from women to men.

Bonds of alonyony were first placed by the Egyptians, the Greeks and the Hebrews. This practice has helped to avoid conflicts with relatives of a divorced woman. Under the Code of Hammurabi, a Mesopotamian man who divorced his wife for no apparent reason had to throw away a silver piece. Similarly, Roman law under Justinian I required that gold be confiscated from a guilty partner in divorce.

In England, maintenance was the only thing that was created – probably from an ancient church belief that divorce could not end marriage bonds in God’s eyes. Scandinavian countries treat men and women as equals in divorce churches, allowing repeated claims of injury. Some countries – e.g., Russia, Austria, Belgium and Romania – allow divorce as a standard cancellation of the contract, financial questions are resolved amicably.

Alimony can be temporary – support and costs at the time of litigation; or permanent – support after that. Temporary maintenance is designed to give one party the opportunity to establish or defend a divorce claim. The provision of temporary or permanent maintenance is within the scope of the court, such as the frequency and amount of payments.

Nihilism is often described as ‘a philosophy of rejection, rejection, or rejection of some or all aspects of thought or life’ [Craig, Edward, ed. 1998. “Nihilism.” In the Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. London: Routledge]. It has been interpreted from its earliest days as a complete disregard for all forms of authority – whether that authority be God, a sovereign, or a moral code. Specifically, the concept of nihilism emphasized the link between authority and the power of translation, political supremacy, and hermeneutic ability. My article attempts to present both conceptual history and its implications for current theory. While introducing key strategic objectives – investigated by a team of researchers under my direction at the Jerusalem Van Leer Institute in 2010 and half of 2011 – I hope to clarify what makes this concept relevant to a younger generation of critics and scholars. As shown in this article, conceptual history has always marked the limits of formal analysis, that is, it reflects the boundaries of political discourse and marks those of its ‘outsiders’, dissidents or those who create a hypothetical threat beyond the core of political rhetoric. In short, nihilism is where any discussion about ‘the limits of political analysis’ should begin. My article shows – at the same time from a broader perspective on the history and diminished reality of Israel – that nihilism is closely related to the time of stasis (political disability or suspension), on the other hand, and in an attempt to open up new hermeneutics. of effective and effective analysis, from outside the common political language, to another.

People have meditated on the millenniums, often as part of a spiritual ritual. But in recent years, mindfulness has become a popular way to help people manage their stress and improve their overall well-being – and research resources show that it works. Psychologists have found that mindfulness meditates our brain and biology in a positive way, improving mental and physical health.

Meditation can be explained in many ways. But the easiest way to think about it is to train your attention to gain a sense of calm concentration and positive emotions.

Contemplation is one of the most popular forms of meditation. It has two main components: attention and acceptance.

The focus clip is about planning your experience to focus on what’s happening at the moment. It usually involves directing your understanding to your breathing, your thoughts, the physical feelings in your body and the feelings you feel. The piece of acceptance involves looking at those feelings and emotions without judging. Instead of responding or responding to those thoughts or feelings, you intend to look at it and let go.

Thinking classes and mind-based therapies provide tools to use those ideas. Such programs can include breathing exercises, yoga and guided classes to help you become more aware of your body’s feelings, thoughts, and emotions.

 Urbanization refers to the population shift from rural to urban residency, the gradual increase in the proportion of people living in urban areas, and the ways in which each society adapts to this change. Urbanization is an irreversible process. Urban region or city had first been noted in the Indus valley civilization in the middle of the 3rd millennium BC 116 in India. Hence one can say that there are several urban theories and some of which go back to the time of initial civilization. Most urban theories are derived ones some of which are: 

a) Buffer’s theory of migration 

b) Stouffer’s law of intervening opportunities 

c) Migration theory of neo-classical economists 

d) Push and pull theories of migration 

e) Urban bias theory 

3. Theory of Spatial Disparities 

4. Migration Theories 

a) Buffer Theory of Migration 

b) Stouffer’s Law of Intervening Opportunities 

c) Migration Theory of Neo-Classical Economists 

d) Push and Pull Factors Theory 

e) Urban Bias Theory 

5. Lewis Two Sector Model 

6. Concentric Zone Theory 

7. The Bid Rent Theory 

8. Modern Theory of Urbanization 

9. Theory of Evolutionary Ladder of Development 

a) Traditional Society (Pre-modern) 

b) Pre-take off (Industrialization / Transitional) 

c) Take off stage (Mature industrial / Industrial) 

d) Stage of Maturity (Post industrial) 

e) High Mass Consumption 

10. Writh’s Essay on Urbanism as a Way of Life 

When we touch anything in history, it most likely gets touched with England. While American advertising is something that is old and vibrant, it too did have it its somewhat roots from the Great Britain. During the 1600(s) when America was still a colony of England, American advertising sow its seed. In late 1700(s) around the time of its Independence, America as a nation wasn’t producing much inside the country and hence, was heavily dependent on the imported products. During this time, Benjamin Franklin began producing his newspaper and printed variety of advertisements. He also added a new aesthetic called illustrations in the advertisements which were missing in the American advertisements before. Looking at his work and his dedication towards the world of advertising, he was also kind of termed ‘Father of American Advertising’ for the later part of 1700(s).

Later, in the mid to late 1800(s), American manufacturing had begun to produce a variety of goods and hence, the advertisements started signifying that the goods were in fact produced in their home itself and not just imported. Around the same time, James Gardon Herald, publisher of the New York Herald newspaper, stated that it was high time that the ads should now be treated as news and therefore should not appear repeatedly. He mentioned no use of illustrations. Putting more restrictions, he made a rule that no ad could appear more than once and if it all it had to done, they would have to be re-written. The idea behind such policing was to make the whole process very democratic so that every advertisement and everyone had a new more equal footing. The restrictions while being just to the ideals had a negative impact to the creative aspect of the advertisement as many advertisers tried their ads in different ways but nothing could have been done to make theirs stand out from the rest. The only thing they could manage to do was printing the same ad over and over again so that it becomes virtually interesting and draws eyes to it. Though in the late 1800(s), poster culture saw an emergence. Public places were plastered with various kinds of advertisements and they began to have some illustrations in them.

In the decade of the 1860(s), emerged the modern advertising agency as they created a role for themselves by offering to physically take the ads from the businesses to newspapers, as there were rules that had to be changed every day. Secondly, helping them to write the ads as well as assisting them to place in appropriate order. There are primarily two types of assisting involved- placing ads which comes under the media department and then in creating ads that come under creative department, which is also available in the contemporary advertising world as well. Examples of the earliest agencies that still exist today are : J. Walter Thompson popularly known as JWT worldwide founded in 1860 in NYC. Second is N.W Ayer which was acquired by Publicis group in 2004.

When we hear the word advertising what strikes first to the mind? An advertisement promoting a brand. Well, advertising is just not that rather it has more layers to it. In its purest sense, as quoted by the Art Historian, James Laver, Advertising is any device that arrests the attention of the passer by and induces in them an idea of mutually advantageous exchange. He focuses on the antiquity and breadth of advertising. If we look at India, specifically rural India, we see men/women selling spices on the footpaths or in weekly markets and there they have their products displayed openly for the passer by(s) to have a look, hence arresting their attention leading to a mutually advantageous exchange that is money for spices. The most basic ingredients that seem most prominent are: attention, mutuality and exchange. To quote an ancient instance of advertising, we would have to go back to the Ancient Roman Civilisation. Recent excavation from the ruins of Italy, Herculaneum, where cities were buried, archaeologists found a painting of series of bottle over the wall signifying that they have wine inside.

Giving an interesting take to the world of advertising, Radium Williams, a social theorist says advertising is the ‘official art’ of a capitalist society. And unlike Laver’s point of view, it is linked to a specific social context, focuses on modernity and is a sponsored art. For instance, in the Soviet Society, huge posters of Stalin could be viewed, here the art was sponsored by the state termed socialist art. Whereas, after the Soviet Union collapsed, the same places would have posters of coca cola and similar companies on the hoardings, replacing socialism by capitalism.

John E Kennedy, an advertising copywriter defined advertising as salesmanship in print. Prior to the advent of print, advertising was solely based on salesmanship, for example, a person trying to buy a glove in the 20^th century would go to a shop where the salesperson would educate the buyer on different kinds of material for the gloves etc, therefore a conversation between the consumer and the salesman leading to an exchange of information that has the potential to result in a sale. He explains that the advertising adopts this phenomenon of salesmanship which was present for the longest time and pours it into a new medium that was print like newspapers and delivers the message that could have been conveyed through interpersonal communication that is face to face communication.

Advertising of this salesmanship began in 1800(s) where the salesmanship of interpersonal communication saw a shift by coming in the print form. Until 1920(s) photographs were not used in advertising. With the arrival of the radio after the 1920(s), we witnessed a shift from the print to radio and then later to television in the 1940(s) as the new advertising mediums. We can conclude that advertising is heavily dependent on the medium through which it will be presented. Starting the shift from the interpersonal , face to face salesmanship to print, then to radio and television and now to internet, advertising has walked a long way.

You’re walking on the streets of Jaipur, looking at the heritage, art and craft, suddenly your eyes fall on a man using clay and ceramic materials to make a vessel. This process, of using clay and ceramic materials to form vessels and other products of desired shapes is known as pottery and the artist is called a potter. The materials are fired at high temperatures in order to make them hard and durable. There are primarily three sectors where clay based pottery can be divided into- stoneware, earthenware and porcelain. Prior to shaping, clay is prepared, where the air is removed so that it has even moisture and the process is called de-airing which can be achieved by machines or by wedging which is manual. There are various methods for shaping like the potter’s wheel which is very common including hand shaping, jiggering and jolleying, injection moulding, granulate pressing, roller-head machine, pressure casting, 3D printing, slipcasting, RAM pressing etc. The pottery is also glazed and decorated with different techniques like painting, carving, burnishing, glazing etc.

India pottery, a timeless living craft, dates back to the Neolithic era and saw advancements during Indus civilisation, signalling its significance in our history and traditions. For a really long time, this was the staple business of many traditional pottery households. In present day India, the industry altogether has provided employment to a great section of society residing in urban as well as rural areas. It has contributed to the overall GDP of the country. India is an exporter of pottery too and exports the products to international markets like USA, Honk Kong, Japan, Mexico, Germany. Having said this, the industry is now facing issues in keeping up with the fast pacing world and technology. Potters still use conventional methods of pottery, while this perhaps is the beauty of the industry, but it also creates a blockage in catering to the market demands. Its emphasis, importance and vision to make this industry flourish and prosper can be seen by looking at the curriculum of interior designing and sculpture painting which has included pottery for teaching.

Uttar Pradesh is credited for making this industry conquer new heights by having 600 units. Many terms modern India pottery as “Terracotta Handicrafts” whose main seller is Orrisa. The manufacturing cost of such handicrafts are often low posing an advantage to those potters whose soul income is from pottery. In fact, the raw materials required like kachi mitti for earthen pots, clay etc are easily available and accessible.

Government’s attention towards eco-friendly products has also created an advantage to the pottery industry as most materials used are eco-friendly and plastic free. In fact, in an article published in The Indian Express, they highlighted “Khadi Village Industries Commission (KVIC) launched bamboo water bottles, and usage of bio-degradable cutlery. The ministry of railways has also re-introduced usage of kulhars instead of plastic cups”.

Market players of the industry:

• Palam Potteries: Manufacturer of pottery products.
• HiItkari Potteries
• Pelican Pottery
• Jaipur Glass Industries
• Heritage Pottery

Dr Shankar Chatterjee, Hyderabad

On this date of 20 November 2020, the 551 birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev ji is being celebrated across the world particularly in India and Pakistan with full enthusiasm, devotion and joviality. Here I have mentioned India and Pakistan as He was born in 1469 at Talwandi, a village in the Sheikhupura district, 65 kilometres away from Lahore which comes under Pakistan. Guru Nanak Gurpurab, also known as Guru Nanak Jayanti and Guru Nanak ji’s Prakash Utsav, is a prominent festival for people who follow Sikhism and is celebrated on Kartik Purnima day. The people of all faiths particularly Sikhs visit on this auspicious occasion to the Golden Temple and offer prayers at the temple and also devotees lit candles in the temple premises.

    According to various literatures and beliefs, the birth and initial years of Guru Nanak ji’s life were marked with many amazing incidents that validated that He was born with divine power. As a young man, while herding the family cattle, used to spend long hours in meditation and religious discussions with Muslim and Hindu holy men who lived in the forests surrounding the village. Many spiritual incidents were attached in his life. Once Guru Nanak ji went to the river Bain for his bath and after plunging into the river, He did not surface and it was reported that he must have drowned. The villagers searched everywhere, but there was no trace of him. He was in Holy Communion with Almighty God (Lord). The Lord God revealed himself to Guru Nanak ji and enlightened him. In praise of the Lord, Guru Nanak ji uttered; “There is but One God, His name is Truth, He is the Creator, He fears none, he is without hate, He never dies, He is beyond the cycle of birth and death, He is self-illuminated, He is realized by the kindness of the True Guru. He was True in the beginning, He was True when the ages commenced and has ever been True, He is also True now” (Japji). Another incident may be presented here. When Guru Nanak Dev ji was 12 years old his father gave him twenty rupees and told him to do business, with the objective to teach him business. Guru Nanak ji purchased food with all the money and distributed it among saints, and the poor. When his father asked him what happened to business? He replied he had done a “True business”. It is pertinent to mention that at the place where Guru Nanak ji had fed the poor, a Gurdwara was constructed and named Sacha Sauda.

Guru ji’s sayings and messages are still relevant in present days. I am quoting two which have greatly influenced me, “Even Kings and emperors with heaps of wealth and vast dominion cannot compare with an ant filled with the love of God”. And another one is “Dwell in peace in the home of your own being, and the Messenger of Death will not be able to touch you.”

    As mentioned already He was born near Lahore of present Pakistan and  later on settled down at Kartarpur (now in Pakistan) which was founded by him in 1522 and spent the rest of his life there (1522-1539).  Although Guru Nanak ji was the founder of Sikhism and the first of the Ten Sikh Gurus but all the other Gurus had done excellent work for human beings. In this context, the Golden Temple is a glaring example. The Golden Temple of Amritsar (Sri Harmandir Sahib) is not only a central religious place of the Sikhs, but also a symbol of brotherhood and equality. Everybody irrespective of caste, creed, religion or race can visit the place.

 Regarding the Temple it may be mentioned that, as advised by Sri Guru Amar Dass Ji (3^rd Sikh Guru), Sri Guru Ram Dass Ji (4^th Sikh Guru) started the digging of Amrit Sarovar (Holy Tank) of Sri Harmandir Sahib in 1577 A.D., which was later on brick-lined by Sri Guru Arjan Dev Ji (5^th Sikh Guru) on 15 December, 1588 and he also started the construction of Sri Harmandir Sahib. Sri Guru Granth Sahib (scripture of the Sikhs) was first installed at Sri Harmandir Sahib on 16 August 1604 A.D.

   I had the opportunity to visit Golden Temple (Sri Harmandir Sahib) in August 2017 and observed everywhere selfless service – whether serving of food, water, cleaning of utensils, making of roti etc. were concerned. It is heartening to mention by quoting Hindustan Times, 19^th May 2016, epaper, that “The Golden Temple (Harmandir Sahib) in Amritsar has been ranked number 3 in the country on the travellers’ choice landmarks list of a leading travel planning and booking site TripAdvisor. Surrounded by a holy ‘sarovar’, its construction was completed in 1604 and presently runs one of the largest free kitchens in the world, which serves an average of 1, 00,000 people daily”. Before conclusion, I wish to highlight the Three Pillars of Sikhism which were formalised by Guru Nanak Dev Ji:

a)      Naam Japo means meditation and reciting and chanting of God’s Name—Waheguru.

b)      Kirat Karo means honestly earn, with hard work, by one’s physical and mental effort.

c)       Vaṇḍ Chakkō means share the food, wealth etc. with everyone, irrespective of caste, creed, and sex.”

The following websites have been consulted while writing the article:

1. https://web.archive.org/web/20070830205721/http://www.sikh-history.com/sikhhist/gurus/nanak1
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guru_Nanak
3. http://www.sikhs.org/guru1.htm
4. https://www.hindustantimes.com/more-lifestyle/guru-nanak-jayanti-2019-history-significance-and-traditions
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_pillars_of_Sikhism