When I was around 7-8years old, my dad told me a small story -
Once a robber snatched a purse from an elderly lady in front of two policemen (must be a brave robber). The younger policeman started running towards the robber. His older counterpart shouted - "pakdo na jaan deyo" or "ਪਕੜੋ ਨਾ ਜਾਣ ਦਓ"
Now, my dad asked me how would you put the punctuation in the sentence said by the police officer? (it was a kind of on-spot test for me)...
I - Daddy, it will be "pakdo, na jaan deyo!" or "catch him! don't let go!" (ਪਕੜੋ! ਨਾ ਜਾਣ ਦਓ!)
Dad - "Ok, good. Now put the comma after 'na', and see what it becomes?"
I - "Ohh, it totally changed the meaning, as it now says 'pakdo na, jaan deyo!' which means 'don't catch, let go'" (ਪਕੜੋ ਨਾ! ਜਾਣ ਦਓ!)
I learnt something.
This was my first experience of playing with the words and punctuation. Then while I was growing, I would hear my parents do Japji Sahib, and right at the end of the first pauree, there is a word which I loved in winters - "rajaayi" (ਰਜਾਈ)! :-)
Now, that made me thinking and I finally asked dad why he would read RAJAAYI in the paath? And then he explained, it is called "razaayi" (ਰਜ਼ਾਈ) means under the will. I was surprised to know how its meaning changed by pronouncing it the way it is to be understood. Raza (ਰਜ਼ਾ) is a persian word, but written in Gurmukhi.
On another incident I remember, one of my childhood friends (when he was a kid too) had this keertan cassette tape at his home which had the shabad "main daseho maarag santo, kyon prabhu milayeya"...
ਮੈ ਦਸਿਹੁ ਮਾਰਗੁ ਸੰਤਹੋ ਕਿਉ ਪ੍ਰਭੂ ਮਿਲਾਈਆ ॥
now, if we don't understand Gurbani properly, the sentence would appear as if shabad is saying "I told the path to the saints, why did you meet the Guru?" Didn't make sense!! After I read the meaning, it opened up as "Show me the Path, O Saints. How can I meet the Guru?"... the "kyon" (ਕਿਉ) actually meant 'how?' instead of 'why?'.
Another experience by the same friend - the cassette played another shabad this time... "hum kookar tere darbaar"...
poor kid thought "kookar" means "cooker" as in pressure cooker. He got confused as why would Guru ji talk about pressure cooker in his baani? He "analyzed" further. This time he came up with "kukkad" (ਕੁੱਕੜ as in chicken). He was drooling and happy, as he loves butter chicken! Later, Gurudwara Bhaisaab explained the shabad that "kookar" actually means Dog.
*applause!*
One of the common shabads we use before hukamnama is "assi khatey bahut kamavade, ant na paravaar".
ਅਸੀ ਖਤੇ ਬਹੁਤੁ ਕਮਾਵਦੇ ਅੰਤੁ ਨ ਪਾਰਾਵਾਰੁ ॥
Now, most of the us read it as "khaththey" which means letter (as in post - (ਖ਼ਤ)). Why would Guru Sahib tell that he has earned so many posts, and there is no end to it??!! The khaththey is derived from the word "khata" (ਖਤਾ)or mistakes. Makes sense now?
Time flew... I never gave enough importance to proper pronunciation of Gurbani or understanding real meaning behind those words...
The life was going as it was supposed to be, but then one day, I came in contact with Darpan Guru Granth Sahib by Prof Sahib Singh ji, and when I started reading it, it started becoming clear how important it is to understand the real meaning behind a word and how it should be pronounced. Guru's message started becoming clearer...
In admiration, I started singing
ਗੁਰ ਪਾਰਸ ਹਮ ਲੋਹ ਮਿਲਿ ਕੰਚਨੁ ਹੋਇਆ ਰਾਮ ॥
