Sikh temple

You see here the altar and the men's side of the congregation. All are sitting on the floor.

Note the video equipment set up for taping the wedding.

Sikh temples are noted for having a perpetually open kitchen, always ready to feed those who need it.

Wedding party

The groom (at left, red turban) and his family approach.

The photo does not do justice to the shimmering beauty of the gowns which were just stunning.

"There is no offense"

I was taking photos from the middle of the congregation, having first secured assurances that this was acceptable. I'd pop up, shoot one, and then sit back down, apologizing to those behind me.

Suddenly a large man approached, slapped me on the back and practically ordered me to "go stand behind the priest." "You will not get good pictures from here, go stand behind the priest." Twice he assured me, "there is no offense." Thus is the definition of hospitality to guests.

The priest is reading from the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh scripture. (closeup) It is named "guru" because the tenth in the line of leaders, gurus, who first led the faith decided there would be no more human gurus, but people would follow the collected wisdom of the founders.

The couple

The bride and groom are sitting just above and to the right of the round red table, with the garlands of yellow and white.

You can also see the women's side of the assembly and the size of the building.

Rajinder Singh Chana

Rajinda was a colleague at the Institute of Computer Science. He extended the invitation to the two services that formed the overall wedding ceremony (which took place in 1984).

He holds his two daughters. There never was any more "proud papa" than him. He was a generous, kind and soft spoken man who worked diligently to keep the application software working.

All Sikh's have the word "Singh" somewhere in their names. It comes from a Sanskrit word meaning "lion." In Kenya, many Sikh institutions or businesses had the word "simba" in their names, it being Swahili for "lion."