Shabad Surat Sangam Ashram

Sheikh Raunqi Ram had a blithe disposition.  For long, he had benefited from the august company of learned seers, sages and ascetics.   Sometimes he would spend months together with a learned one, whose wisdom impressed him.
Once when Sheikh Raunqi Ram returned home after a long time, he felt the urge to meet his childhood friend, [...]

“Chandu has bought a parrot, who can recite mantras”- the news spread like wild fire.
Chandu was Sheikh Raunqi Ram’s neighbour, famous for his love for parrots. He would pay anything for a parrot with some specialty.  This time it was the ‘spiritual-ness’ (not to be mistaken with ‘spirituality’) that appealed to him. So the parrot [...]

Once, Sheikh Raunqi Ram was travelling in a train. The train chugged its way through the beautiful hilly terrain, halting periodically, as it is its custom, at small railway stations, where some people would get down and the new ones get on board.
At one such station, a village youth boarded the train. Looking at the [...]

Sheikh Raunqi Ram came to be recognized as an impressive orator.  He would often receive invitations from far and near to deliver lectures on different occasions.
For a man of ordinary caliber, such recognition could have been a source of gratification bordering flattery. But not for Sheikh, for the motive of his orations was not fame [...]

Sheikh Raunqi Ram had a friend, Khayali Ram, who lived in a distant quaint mountain village enveloped by snow capped mountains.
Khayali, like many others in his village, lead a simple, contended life which rarely stretched far from his small field and little cottage.  However, his son, like all other youngsters, believed that he was cut [...]

Sheikh Raunqi Ram shared a very special relationship with his donkey, Chokhu.  So deep was the affection between the two that they were even able to talk to each other, literally, though they belonged to different species of the Animal kingdom.
Once, the duo set out on a long journey. Starting early morning they went ahead [...]

Sheikh Raunqi Ram’s village enjoyed a unique distinction amongst all other villages in its proximity- it had the only school with an English teacher. That teacher was one of the two people in the area who could teach English. The other, of course, was Sheikh Raunqi Ram himself. Though not a teacher by profession, he [...]

Preeti, Sheikh Raunqi Ram’s niece came home from school, sobbing.
“What happened sweetie? Why is my little one crying?” asked Sheikh.
“The teacher slapped me today”, the affectionate consolation brought her suppressed cries out and the trickle of tears soon took the form of innocent little streams.
“You must have done something. The teacher cannot punish you unless [...]

Once Sheikh Raunqi Ram, strolling around, reached a Government Public Park.
He sat down on a bench. A while has passed when a startling sight caught his eye.
Two men, each following the other, were working briskly, with the precision of a machine. Nothing unusual!  Perfectly normal! Then what was it that startled him? It was the [...]

Once Sheikh Raunqi Ram fell in love – with his hair!  So obsessed became he, with his hair, that he would spend hours every day, in front of the mirror admiring his cherished crown of dense silky hair.  He would cut corners in all other expenses, so that he could buy the costliest and the [...]