Ss Bhatti

Guru Nanak Dev founded the Sikh Faith and was succeeded by Nine Sikh Gurus. His birth is celebrated worldwide as Guru Nanak Gurpurab on Kartik Pooranmashi, the full-moon day in the Indian month of Katak Kartik in Hindi], October-November every year.Guru Nanak travelled far and wide spreading the message of an uncompromising Monotheism grounded in One Peerless] God who dwells in the hearts of all creatures and has Truth as His Primal Attribute. He established a unique holistic faith of spiritual, social, and political realities based on equality, love, justice, peace, and virtue. His Revelation I have named Creative Mysticism in my second PhD] is preserved in 974 shabads hymns] in the sacred scripture of the Sikh Faith, Sri Guru Granth Sahib SGGS]. The Sikh Bible contains, among many things, his major prayers such as Japuji, Asa di Var, and Siddha-Gosht. An inviolable tenet of the Sikh Faith is that the soul of Guru Nanak's sacrosanctity, divinity, and religious authority was infused into each of his nine successors when they were admitted to his Spiritual Ministry.The genesis, growth, worth, and perennial relevance of the Sikh Faith began with the birth of the founder Guru Nanak Dev in 1469 CE to the death of Guru Gobind Singh in 1708 CE. This period coincided with the establishment and consolidation of the Mughal Empire in India. The Mughal rulers followed the policy of oppression and persecution that the Sikh Gurus fiercely opposed and even sacrificed their lives to uphold the fundamental human rights grounded in the recognition of the intrinsic goodness and dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family such as equality before law, freedom of speech and expression, freedom to practise religion, and freedom to seek justice through peaceful and legal means.

The COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown from 01 April 2020 to 31 July 2022 my dates for the purpose of this book] was for me in a somewhat selfish sense of the word a period of an incredibly enhanced versatile creativity. I produced an enormous amount of reflective writing in both prose and poetry. Although all the thoughts that occurred to me during the Nature-forced quarantine were recorded both in prose and poetry, I have put them into two separate books to avoid confusion-and to preserve the two independent forms of the Literary Arts in their pristine glory. This publication is a compilation of COVID-19 PROSE under the title of Stray Musings. The sister publication is exclusively devoted to COVID-19 POETRY that has been compiled under the title Wayward Verses.Despite the lingering presence of COVID-19, because I am still alive, and in good health, I have every reason to believe and hope that whatever else Corona-forced quarantine worldwide might have done to Humankind, it surely has corroborated my curious credo. Unless every individual human person sits alone to reflect at leisure on the Mystery of Existence vis- -vis their idiosyncratic encounters with it, there never can be any eternal ecstasy in the Mortal World.With this small dose of my homespun metaphysics, I warmly invite you to my World of COVID-19 Creativity. You will readily figure out that as I had recorded my thoughts as they sprang up within my mind, they follow neither any rational order nor a deliberate plan. However, they have found their mode of expression in prose or poetry as instinctively suited to their bubbly merrymaking spirit as if in the gay-abandon celebration of mortal existence to assert jubilantly that Death never can kill Life-whether it is COVID-19 or any other mass-killer pandemic.About the Author: Founder-Teacher and former Principal, Chandigarh College of Architecture, Dr SS Bhatti is India's most versatile professional-architect, artist, art & literature critic, poet, singer, musicologist, writer, philosopher, and mystic. He has developed and works in 55 disciplines as an abiding tribute to the great all-inclusiove Indian tradition which, according to him, is grounded in "Holistic Humanism". He applies the tools of Theory, Practice, Research, and Pedagogy to the study of four major fields of human endeavour: the Humanities, Art, Science, and Technology besides Culture and Comparative Religion. As the inventor of this novel approach to the study and understanding of human creativity vis- -vis human predicament he has discovered Spiritual Realities that illuminate the purpose, path, and salvation of human life. He insists that the discovery of one's native creativity and its development lead to God-realisation. This is his Nirman Marg, the Creative Way.

The COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown from 01 April 2020 to 31 July 2022 my dates for the purpose of this book] was for me in a somewhat selfish sense of the word a period of an incredibly enhanced versatile creativity. I produced an enormous amount of reflective writing in both prose and poetry. Although all the thoughts that occurred to me during the quarantine forced on Humankind by Mother Nature were recorded both in prose and poetry, I have put them into two separate books to avoid confusion-and to preserve the two independent forms of the Literary Arts in their pristine glory.This publication is a compilation of COVID-19 POETRY under the title of Wayward Verses. The sister publication is exclusively devoted to COVID-19 PROSE that has been compiled under the title of Stray Musings.Despite the lingering presence of COVID-19, because I am still alive, and in good health, I have every reason to believe and hope that whatever else Corona-forced quarantine worldwide might have done to Humankind, it surely has corroborated my curious credo. Unless every individual human person sits alone at home to reflect at leisure on the Mystery of Existence vis- -vis their idiosyncratic encounters with it, there never can be any eternal ecstasy in the Mortal World.With this small dose of my homespun metaphysics, I warmly invite you to my World of COVID-19 Creativity. You will readily figure out that as I had recorded my thoughts as they sprang up within my mind, they follow neither any rational order nor a deliberate plan. However, they have found their mode of expression in prose or poetry as instinctively suited to their bubbly merrymaking spirit as if in the gay-abandon celebration of mortal existence to assert jubilantly that Death never can kill Life-whether it is COVID-19 or any other mass-killer pandemic.About the Author: Founder-Teacher and former Principal, Chandigarh College of Architecture, Dr SS Bhatti is India's most versatile professional-architect, artist, art & literature critic, poet, singer, musicologist, writer, philosopher, and mystic. He has developed and works in 55 disciplines as an abiding tribute to the great all-inclusiove Indian tradition which, according to him, is grounded in "Holistic Humanism". He applies the tools of Theory, Practice, Research, and Pedagogy to the study of four major fields of human endeavour: the Humanities, Art, Science, and Technology besides Culture and Comparative Religion. As the inventor of this novel approach to the study and understanding of human creativity vis- -vis human predicament he has discovered Spiritual Realities that illuminate the purpose, path, and salvation of human life. He insists that the discovery of one's native creativity and its development lead to God-realisation. This is his Nirman Marg, the Creative Way.

Meri Chup Hi Kavita Kaihndi Hai is the first anthology of Punjabi poetry by Dr SS Bhatti who is an architect by profession. He is the highest qualified architect in India and the most versatile professional in the country. He has the historic honour of being a founder-teacher of Chandigarh College of Architecture from where he retired as the principal. He pursues 55 disciplines out of which Poetry figures among his hot favourites. He has been writing poems in four languages since 1969, and published 5 books in English and 8 anthologies in Urdu, with a critique of Urdu poetry in English, and won prestigious prizes. Dr Bhatti is an impassioned protagonist of literary creativity, especially poetry which he, in agreement with the great Indian tradition, places at Number One on the list of 64 Fine Arts. His credo is that without poetry the bewildering range of human activities on Planet Earth constitute a prosaic plateau that inspires no soul. With his characteristic moral force, he asserts that it is no wonder everything was written in verse form in ancient India.

Sri Harmandar Sahib: Architecture - Engineering - Aesthetics (Golden Temple, Amritsar) is based on the author's doctoral research for which he was conferred his third PhD by the Panjab University in 2008. This holy shrine is the only example of Religious Architecture in the world that derives its concept and inspiration from the Sikh Faith's Holy Book, Sri Guru Granth Sahib. Known all over the globe as the Golden Temple, it has been awarded the certificate of the 'most visited place of the world' by the London-based organisation, World Book of Records (WBR).Though the world's greatest architects have designed modern buildings for Religious Architecture of different faiths, the author says, only one architect in 45 centuries of recorded history mentions architectural creativity as an act of divine inspiration. He is the Spanish genius Antoni Gaudi who said, in the Sagrada Familia (The Sacred Family), everything is providential.The stated distinction was achieved by a kind of Building Design that deploys Human Scale unlike the places of worship of other faiths which invariably exalt Monumental Scale. The Golden Temple size is incredibly modest, which also underscores the cardinal principle of Humility. Furthermore, the Shrine's height is less than the height of a house permitted for Shudras, the lowest caste in Hinduism, in the Indian tradition. The holy shrine is approached by descending two-storey height from the ground level in sharp contrast to all places of worship of other religions that are approached by a flight of steps to reach their high plinth. The Golden Temple also celebrates all cardinal points as sacrosanct by virtue of being an integral part God's creation of the universe, and respects any orientation that the site offers unlike in the case of other religions that makes an inviolable prescription. The magnanimous attitude of unconditional reverence for Mother Earth that permits an entrance on each of the four sides of the Golden Temple expresses the universalness of the Sikh Faith.It is noteworthy that the Golden Temple is located in a large water body called the Amrit Sarovar Pool of Elixir]. First book of its kind in the world, Sri Harmandar Sahib - Architecture - Engineering - Aesthetics is written by a formally trained architect whose spiritual leanings and enormous research-based writings on diverse disciplines have won international acclaim.The author has convincingly established that Sikh Architecture exists as a valid architectural style like Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, Islamic, etc. His conclusion is that the holy shrine is the Matrix, Mother, and Marvel of Sikh Architecture. Furthermore, the Golden Temple, according to him, is a Paragon of Spiritual Architecture in the world.

MAN and FORESTS: Saving the Planet through Van-Urbanisation is a "Green Document" in the nature of a Testament embodying an active concern for the rapid depletion of natural resources and the soul-gnawing anxiety about Climate Change. It goes beyond idle worrying to an action plan that has a holistic approach to Urbanisation with Van Forests] as an indispensable accompaniment. It looks upon tradition, not as something abominable but rather as a segment of all-important time which provides a running distance for present-day runners to take a quantum leap into the future to achieve their fond goals.There is a clear-cut agendum for Spatial Planning which shows a novel way to the making of future cities without the unmaking of humanity and the ruination of Earth. The author brings to his unprecedented postulates the throbbing vitality of his amazing creative versatility spread over 55 disciplines. He injects into his concepts the palpable knowledge gained firsthand from a lifelong study of four major fields of human endeavour: the Humanities, Art, Science, and Technology by applying Theory, Practice, Research, and Pedagogy as time-tested tools to invent a holistic future for the entire Humankind.In his Foreword, Dr AS Ahluwalia, a celebrated botanist, writes, "I am looking forward to the dissemination of such hugely important information contained in this Green Document that has direct link with our environment. It would ensure future urban growth and survival, besides sensitising everyone as players in Man-Nature holistic creativity in the pursuit of a higher order of civilisation, to use the author's words. I must compliment the great writer-scientist in Dr Bhatti for this erudite effort in showing how creativity could be made a collective holistic adventure to the ultimate advantage of all humankind."This publication should be given pride of place in personal and public libraries as reference book of far-reaching consequence. It is must-read for politicians, bureaucrats, architects, planners, and all those who have anything to do with the conceptualising and working out of strategies for Spatial Planning for what the author calls FUTUROPOLISES-Cities of the Future anywhere on the globe.

Dr Bhatti's book is a pioneering work based on real insight into the mystical phenomenon of the Sikh Gurus, especially the unique and distinctive aspects of Revelation received by them-verbal direct revelation as against non-verbal or revelation through an agent. The author's development of the concept of "Creative Mysticism" in Sikhi context is a very comprehensive thesis as compared to elementary treatment elsewhere in the literature on Mysticism especially by the Sikh scholars. I got almost overawed when I tried to do an analytical study of his book. Every repeat reading of the book opened up every time a new dimension of the mystical phenomenon. -Pritam Singh, President, Institute of Sikh Studies IOSS], ChandigarhThis book is a fine piece of research on the study of human experience revealed through poetry and architecture, a rare combination. No doubt the Department of Guru Nanak Sikh Studies, Panjab University, Chandigarh, is very proud of this product, but those for whom it is produced would surely feel indebted to Dr Bhatti for exploring the depth of aesthetics in art and culture. I feel extremely proud in presenting this volume to the community of academicians, awakened souls, and readers in general. At the same time, I pray for many more such valuable gifts from Dr Bhatti's pen. I wish this book to be part of every library in home or institution. It will add to the existing set of knowledge. -Dr Darshan Singh, Chairman, Department of Guru Nanak Sikh Studies, Panjab University, Chandigarh

CHANDIGARH: Planning - Architecture - Landscape - Urban Design - Art - Services is the richest exposition, with an enlightened evaluation, of actual Chandigarh which grew out of Le Corbusier's planning theories and their realisation. It comprehensively deals with Planning, Architecture, Urban Design, Landscape, Art, and Services, in the context of Le Corbusier's written word and his realised works, vis- -vis the dynamics of urban phenomena by virtue of which the citizens have acquired a new lifestyle. This book is based on the author's first doctorate (earned in 1991) that had won the 5th JIIA Journal of the Indian Institute of Architects] National Award for Excellence in Architecture Research Category] in 1993. Though enormous literature, mostly journalism spiced with glossy pictures, exists worldwide on the City, Dr SS Bhatti shows for the first time how the creation of Chandigarh--a state capital that outrivals national capitals of the modern world, and is the Mother City to some of them--is, in fact, An Irony of History The uniqueness of this publication springs from the author's amazing professional versatility, with insightful expertise in the History of Modern Architecture along with the History of Indian Architecture, which has enabled him to put Chandigarh in the right global perspective. Having lived in Chandigarh since 1961 and seen it grow--from a daring experiment (drawing-board graphic representation) to an unforgettable experience (palpable reality)--the author brings to his doctoral thesis a rare authenticity. Discountenancing the hypothesis-based method which is used worldwide in the study of Human Settlements, the author has developed a holistic system of scholastic enquiry that he calls "PAR-SOM". With his characteristic tenacity he assures that his method could be used to a great advantage beyond opinionated perceptions and sentimental preferences for the comprehensive investigation and critical evaluation of city that he regards to be "a social organism and a work of art". Plan, Action and Reality, in tandem with the Subjective, Objective and Metaphysical dimensions of Modern Urbanism, constitute his novel procedure of holistic research. As a rich resource for future research, this book is a definitive work which should be compulsory reading for all those concerned with planning for vital communities in the 21st century.

The Author says: the Punjab whose River Indus gave the country its venerable name "India"] has been cradle of one of the world's most significant civilisations, and mother to such distinguished spiritual legacy, metaphysical inheritance, and art and culture heritage as has given India pride of place among nations of abiding global import. However, though it is hailed as food-bowl and defence sentinel of the country, by some quirk of fate, Indians in other states poke fun on it as having only 'agriculture' but no 'culture'. Bhatti ascribes this deplorable notion to Punjabis' own failure at marketing their wares smartly. While striving to correct this sick impression by exhaustive writings and public lectures, the redoubtable author shows in this book his perennial concern to document for future generations art-works created by Punjabi artists in the post-Partition Era. He brings to this long-awaited publication a professional artist's practical knowledge with analytic discernment of Nobel Laureate TS Eliot's "Workshop Critic". While this publication contains enough material to goad earnest scholars in the furtherance of research it also seeks to educate the students and teachers of art in the subtler aspects of Artistic Creation, whatever may be their materials and modes of expression.

SHIV DATT SHARMA - Life and Work is intended and written as a Reference Book. With rapid drop in the numbers of those who once upon a time read non-fiction for widening the horizons of their minds with progressively deepening understanding of human purpose, concerns, and creativity, hordes of Coffee-Table Books have been flooding the modern market sustained by strategic lobbying and clever hype. These publications regardless of their authors' credentials have one thing in common: They all carry glossy pictures and flashy opinions that border on the frivolous but promise good reading as cheap amusement for sure-shot time-killing. They thus leave their readers no wiser than they were when they first displayed awesome courage to buy them and later ventured to read them with exemplary patience. This work as a Reference Book on a serious subject like architecture is an attempt at breaking the stated stereotype in order to offer something that should interest the prospective readers besides stimulating their psycho-spiritual appetite for ingesting new food for thought into their cerebral system. The scheme followed in the book draws upon Le Corbusier's classification of City-Functions - Living, Working, Care of Body & Spirit, and Circulation - besides the categorisation of Shiv Datt Sharma's oeuvre into three phases in which his professional career developed steadily honing his skills of architectural creativity as he applied it to diverse building-types. The resulting mix-up of two approaches should provide the readers with essential setting to familiarise themselves with the architect's professional growth thereby enabling them to see for themselves if it is commensurate with the value of author's findings concerning it.

ROCK GARDEN IN CHANDIGARH - A Critical Evaluation of the Work of Nek Chand is original research thesis for which its author SS Bhatti was conferred the degree of Master of Architecture M. Arch.] in 1983 by The University of Queensland, Australia. As one of the three examiners had succinctly observed "The book is valuable one which records and analyses the work of a great, courageous and enormously energetic artist. Mr Bhatti has recorded his painstaking examination of Nek Chand's creation, the Rock Garden in Chandigarh." It is a definitive treatise on what is now called "Outsider Art," so much so that articles based on it and published internationally by the distinguished scholar eventually made Chandigarh's Rock Garden world-famous and its creator Nek Chand a global celebrity. For its sheer thoroughness, insightful analysis, perceptive synthesis, and pragmatic comprehensiveness this book is the first one of its kind, and provides enormously delightful and profoundly enriching reading. It embodies what, according to another examiner, is "A positive reaction to a book that has been written with a thoroughness that makes it a most valuable record and commentary on an exceptional work of art." It would be wrong to regard the relevance of this (pioneer) work as being confined to the field of architecture and landscape architecture. It has something to say to urban and social planners as well as to artists of all kinds. The major thrust (of investigation) is in the objective recording, and this is both a valuable task and one performed with great care and comprehensiveness by the researcher.