HI! Folks I'm here

[Mack The Knife]

penpusher,

That chap must have been pretty daft if he had one up the spout.

Anyway, this reminded me of another thing I saw as a boy. In the early 70's when I first visited Punjab (passing through actually), I saw Sardars riding horses with slung shotguns and cartridge belts as if it was quite natural.

Bring back the good old days.

Mack The Knife

[kanwar76]

There use to be a gun shop near our house and their testing range use to be road outside. They use to test everything from airguns to .315 by just firing it in air. Groups armed with 12 bores and revolvers use to be a normal sight at local courts etc.

-Inder

[Mack The Knife]

There use to be a gun shop near our house and their testing range use to be road outside. They use to test everything from airguns to .315 by just firing it in air.

In that case, I think we will have to see what we can and cannot bring back from the old days.

Mack The Knife

[eljefe]

Mack The Knife,
I have seen these blue turbaned sikhs, wearing a long dish dasha type of garment, carrying
1.Spear
2.Sword
3.Kirpan
4.Revolver
5.Rifle
Astride on a horse!
The 84mm RCL was probably on the pack horse!
Axx

[Mack The Knife]

The 84mm RCL was probably on the pack horse!

LOL

[Sakobav]

You guys probably saw Nihang Sikhs
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nihang

Normally its better to cut them a wide berth...They are amazing horse riders and can put quite a display with Swords etc called "gatka".

Rgds
Navdeep

[eljefe]

Navi,
A wider berth was not cut than the one this person got...doglegged hard a port and throttles to the firewall,afterburners too!

[mundaire]

You guys probably saw Nihang Sikhs
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nihang

The Discovery channel ran an excellent documentary on Nihangs a few days back... part of the "Discover India" series they are doing.

[Mack The Knife]

Hi Navdeep,

In my case it was just ordinary Sardars. We had a mountain of man as a bodyguard during the emergency. Brought his own khatia in his own pick-up and would insist on sleeping on the front lawn with his sword next to him.

He was primarily there to protect my mother because my old man expected to be thrown into the slammer for telling Sunjay Gandhi to go take a hike. Unfortunately, she was terrified of him so after some time he had to go.

The most touching part was that he refused to take money as he was doing this as a favour to my father's friend.

Mack The Knife

[Satpal_S]

In case some of you are sikhs and arms law for sikhs still the same. Nihangs are usually very happy to teach the art of swordsmanship and archery.

Usually for some "Chrawa" (Donation) to their Dera, they will teach you these skills. They can also assist you in obtaining real swords (Not the marriage ceremony kind) and Bow/arrows.

These things are awesome home/self defence tools in a tight situation.

[Mack The Knife]

Excellent tip, Satpal!

Does one have to be a Sikh though? My wife's one if that matters.

Mack The Knife

[Satpal_S]

Well Rustom,

There are two issues here. From what I think, it is only legal for sikhs to own edged arms at home.
Since your wife is a sikh legally I think you can own these, but check the current legal situation first.

Regarding Nihangs, If there is a dera nearby, they will teach their awesome skills to you. You just have to get aquainted with them first through an intermediary, a Jathedar, Mahant etc..

These skills take time to learn though. I spent close to a month to gain proficiency in swordsmanship. Archery is much easier 2-3 days.

A skilled swordsman can usually wreak havon on any stupid miscreant who might choose to intimidate you with their unreliable arms. You may own several swords to have one in easy reach always. Chances of accidents with swords are much less compared to firearms.

Satpal

[Sakobav]

Mack The Knife

You are correct it was a common sight in Punjab to see guys carrying personal weapons for safety and then it was also a fad to carry them and people were responsible in handling them. Regarding your anecdote, its rare to find such people nowadays.

Regarding Nihangs and interacting with them should not be an issue as long as you observe dos and donts, rest as Satpal advised its nice to know someone. Donts you probably know by now No smoking or tobacco, head covered, etc same as those observed within Gurudwara. Anandpur Sahib in Ropar district has lot of deras and so does baba bakala near Beas town close to my village.


Rgds

Navdeep

[Mack The Knife]

Thanks Satpal and Navdeep.

All these religious dos and donts, including my own, put me off completely. What I am really interested in is the bow and arrow.

No offence, Satpal, but I have dabbled in archery and two to three days to gain proficency is just not enough.

Anyway, since we have been harking back to the days that were on this thread, your mention of swordsmanship reminded me of a small photograph I have in the family album showing my paternal grandfather and his brother practising their fencing at a public garden called Five Gardens in Bombay. I wonder what the public reaction to such a practice would be today.

Mack The Knife

[Satpal_S]

Rustom

In case you are interested in Bow and Arrow. Buy/import a good Crossbow/Pistol and you should be hitting 6-8 inches at 25 yards in no time.

Satpal