Foreword 1 : Our Stories

Concept Note

If you look carefully you will notice, that all of life is a fabric of myriad interwoven stories. But then isn't the time and life all but a big storyboard of an animation series!

Stories recreate an amalgam on the basis of culture, art and history; they form the adhesive that holds us together and gives us a sense of identity and roots. Legends are made of this fusion.

Historians and researchers do tend to be dismissive about this complex mixture of fact and fiction, but then these lore’s leave an impression more vibrant and greater lasting than either fact or fiction alone.

They did on me!

                                                                     

Janamsaakhis, are a story form known as ‘Kathas or Saakhis allied with lives of the Sikh Gurus They make the bedrock and the matrix on which the foundation of the simplified teachings of Gurus and Sikh tenets are set.

I heard these stories from my grandmother and mother in my early childhood years, and they were impactful in strengthening and developing an ever-evolving bond and connect with my heritage and culture.

These are the stories, that are our collective heritage and we the sexagenarian and the septuagenarian grand-parents may as well be the last generation who have heard these stories passed on generation to generation in our families in the distinctive story-telling style.

I want to tell these stories…these fables. Both digitally and in print in the similar easy-going, age-old fireside concept of telling stories as my legacy for Gens-Next to come.

It will be said, as it has been said, that there are dime a dozen books on Janamsaakhis and Kathas in print and on-line.

Agree to that. They are.

But most are direct translations of Saakhi’s written in Punjabi, and thus tend to become hackneyed and trite in delivering the look and feel of the ‘Kathas’ in English in modern format for the youth of today

Thus the Gen-next will need something  more engaging to hold their interest.

Daarji and Bebe are my protagonists, the Sutradhars of Daarji our Storyteller.
He has had his years of travels and tours of soldiering across India and a few in foreign lands as well. Today he is a retired soldier, a veteran of many wars, and they, both are now settled on their farm in Punjab.

You will meet them soon and rest assured you too will fall in love with them. Both Daarji and Bebe make a charming old couple. 

 Not only is Daarji a fascinating storyteller he has a persona to match, with his signature red turban and suspenders. He is colourful, to say the least.

Daarji is not an imagination. He has the soul of three old soldiers, all three Sikhs who inspired me. Brig Ajit Singh, an uncle, Col KS Dhillon, my father and in Col JMS Hatter, a friend, I had found the very engaging storytelling Daarji.
Bebe had no competition, my mother had a natural flair for telling and remembering stories.

Punjab is a land of Soldiering and Farming. Moreover, I come from a family of soldiers and farmers as well, hence it becomes simpler for me to relate with life and living style and express the cultural nuances.

Prologue to Stories:
Our Stories...Concept Note.
Meet Daarji & Bebe ...The Old Tale Tree.

Meet Daarji & Bebe ... A day on the Farm…. Background setting

Walk Down the Timeline  - AD to BC

Punjab Prelude

Prelude Punjab 1-Our Migration Story
Punjab Prelude  2:  Ancient  Civilisation on Indus River.

Punjab Prelude  3:  And  Punjab Stood as Sentinel.

Janamsaakhis

1. Coming of a Savior

2. Birth of Nanak

3. Naming of Nanak

4. Not in the Name of God

5.A miracle of the Green Field

And more….