People
With Love from Dad:
On Lohri
NEEL KAMAL
This Lohri, a Sikh-Kiwi has showcased his love for his daughters by buying a unique gift for them.
New Zealander Varinder Singh bought a registration plate for his car which reads -- "meryiaan ladliyan dhiyan raniyaa" (my beloved daughters princesses). The plates have been put up on the front and rear of the car.
Varinder, 46, who runs a transport company in Auckland, has three daughters - Jaspreet Kaur, 14, Rajpreet Kaur, 9, and Harshpreet Kaur, 7.
"When the Lohri festival was approaching, my wife Gagandeep and I thought of giving our daughters a unique gift and zeroed in on purchasing registration plates for the car. I searched on the net and found plates, named Dhiyan, available. I did not waste a single minute in getting the plate in my name and spent $1000 dollars on it," he revealed.
"Now, this token of love for my daughters is like my biggest souvenir," he added.
"The love we show our daughters is never enough. If every human showers his daughters with love, most ills afflicting our society would be erased. Many of my friends in New Zealand ask me about the meaning of words (on registration plates) out of curiosity and when I explain it to them, they are highly appreciative of the gesture. So do Sikhs in Auckland," he said.
"Here in New Zealand, anybody can put a registration plate of any alphabet by paying a fee of $1000 to New Zealand transport authorities. After paying the requisite fee, the registration plate gets registered in your name and becomes your property. Even if you sell the vehicle, the plate remains with you (the original buyer)," he explained.
Varinder, who is originally from Kallar, Punjab, had immigrated to New Zealand in 1989. A kabaddi promoter, he is also president of New Zealand Kabaddi Federation and had accompanied the New Zealand team last year to participate in World Kabaddi Cup in Punjab.
[Courtesy: Times of India. Edited for sikhchic.com]
January 13, 2013
Conversation about this article
1: Sangat Singh (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), January 13, 2014, 7:28 PM.
Virender ji: you are indeed lucky to have three loving daughters to dote on. We have four and each one of them is so caring and loving and ready to hold hands with or without reason. "Baal kanya kou baap piaara / bhaaee kou att bhaaee" [GGS:596.2] -- "The father is dearer to daughters and brother to brother." Here is a story on Guru Hargobind's love for his daughters: His first born was son, Baba Gurditta. Mata Ganga, Guru Hargobind's mother -- as all mothers do -- exuded her extreme happiness by an asees (blessing) and blessed her son with "Jori ralay" -- "May you have a second son." "Mata ji," Guru Sahib responded, "if you wish to bless me, grant me a gift of a daughter." Bibi Viro was born after five sons. She was deeply religious and as well a warrior like her brother Tyag Mal (later Guru Tegh Bahadar). She was married to Bhai Sadhu and became mother of five sons. Sago Shah, Jeet Mal, Gulab Chand, Mahri Chand and Galiga Ram. All five took part in the battle of Bhangani between Guru Gobind Singh and Raja Fateh Shah of Srinagar (Garhwal). Sango Shah and Jeet Mal died in action. Such was the contribution of the daughter, Bibi Viro. There is a historical gurdwara named after her. Talking of daughters, where would one find the likes of Bibi Bhani, who was the daughter of Guru Amar Das, wife of Guru Ramdas, mother of Guru Arjan, grandmother of Guru Hargobind and sister of Guru Tegh Bahadar. [Incidentally, the saga of Sago Shah, Jeet Mal, et al, can be found in the essay titled "The Sword of Righteousness" by Sarbpreet Singh, currently posted on the sikhchic.com homepage and also accessible in the COLUMNISTS' Section under 'Sarbpreet Singh".]
2: Manninder Kaur (Markham, Ontario, Canada), January 28, 2014, 7:33 AM.
I wish all fathers were like you. Rightly said, if we showed more love and respect for our daughters the world would become a better place to live in ,for daughters would return your love and respect with ten-fold joy and love in our lives. Even the Sikh Gurus have reminded us over and over again about the great qualities of women and how the women is the mst important fabric of society. "Why degrade women from whence come all men?"