Oophorectomy is the surgical removal of the ovaries of a female animal. In the case of non-human animals, this is also called spaying. It is a form of sterilization.
The removal of the ovaries together with the Fallopian tubes is called salpingo-oophorectomy. Oophorectomy and salpingo-oophorectomy are not common forms of birth control in humans; more usual is tubal ligation, in which the Fallopian tubes are blocked but the ovaries remain intact.
In humans, oophorectomy is most usually performed together with a hysterectomy - the removal of the uterus. Its use in a hysterectomy when there are no other health problems is somewhat controversial.
In animals, spaying involves an invasive removal of the ovaries, but rarely has major complications; the superstition that it causes weight gain is not based on fact. Spaying is especially important for certain animals that require the ovum to be released at a certain interval (called estrus or "heat"), such as cats and dogs. If the cell is not released during these animal's heat, it can cause severe medical problems that can be averted by spaying or partnering the animal with a male.
Oophorectomy is sometimes referred to as castration, but that term is most often used to mean the removal of a male animal's testicles.
A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism, a religious faith originating in the Punjab.
The word Sikh is derived from the Sanskrit word shishya which means disciple or student. In the Punjabi language the word Sikh also means to learn. So a Sikh is a disciple of the Ten Gurus and a follower of the teachings in the Sikhism's holy book, the Sri Guru Granth Sahib (SGGS).
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Main article: Khalsa
A baptised Sikh becomes a member of the Khalsa or the "Pure". When a Sikh joins the Khalsa, he/she is supposed to have pledged his/her life to the Guru, and is expected not to desist from sacrificing anything and everything in a struggle for a just cause.
Historically, Sikhs have been known to be great warriors. The tenth Sikh guru Guru Gobind Singh is considered a great military leader and strategist of his time. He inspired and eventually led a relatively small number of Sikh forces to remarkable triumphs over expansive state armies of the Mughal king Aurangzeb. The Battle of Saragarhi (1897) is remembered as one of many battles where the Sikhs have fought with unflinching strength. In the Battle of Saragarhi, the Sikh Havildar Ishar Singh with 21 other soldiers fought with great bravery against 10,000 Afridi tribesmen. This battle has been taught in history lessons in French schools for many years as a model and an example of extreme human bravery, sacrifice and of comradeship. In the two World Wars, over 80,000 Sikhs died for the allied forces in battles. Many Sikhs have received the Victoria Cross and the Param Vir Chakras for their gallantry and courage.
Since Sikhism originated in the region of Punjab, most Sikhs trace their roots to that region (though in recent times, with the spread both of Sikhism and Sikhs, one might encounter Sikhs belonging to other geographical locations across the world). So more often than not, a Sikh might also be identified as a Punjabi, although one should not be confused with the other. Consequently, and also because the Guru Granth Sahib is written in Gurmukhi, a script of the Punjabi language, most Sikhs are able to speak, read or write the language, or are at least familiar with it.
A Sikh man almost always bears the second name of Singh, which means 'lion', and a Sikh woman can be identified with a second name of Kaur (Though the name Kaur is an exclusively Sikh name, Singh is quite often encountered in Hindu names as well). Additionally, except only a very few cases, the same first names as used for men are used for women. In other words, though one may not be able to tell the gender of Sikh person from his/her first name, the second name of Singh or Kaur makes the distinction completely clear. Moreover, the said first names usually end with common suffixes such as: inder, jeet, jot, preet, pal, meet, deep, mail, bir, vant etc. Even the prefixes of the first names aren't too much varied. The commonest of prefixes are: Gur, Har, Man, Bal,Dal, Kul, Jas etc. The various combinations of these prefixes and suffix make up Sikh first names.
Keeping above in mind, a few examples of Sikh names might be:
Despite the above unwritten conventions that are usually followed while naming Sikh children, till a generation earlier, shorter, one syllable names such as: Banta Singh, Bhag Singh, Jant Singh, Jeet Kaur, Har Kaur etc. could be easily encountered especially in rural areas of Punjab. Other than that, modern Sikh families living in bigger, cosmopolitan cities, have adopted names from other communities as well. For instance, in New Delhi you might find a Sikh girl named simply Amita. In this case, the second name Kaur has been done away with and more significantly, the name Amita is unlike any conventional Sikh first name and is, in fact, a name more commonly associated with a Hindu girl. Some Sikh girls simply take on last name of Singh, a practice more common in larger cities. Some believers maintain that this practice of naming without using the word Singh or Kaur is manmat (Against the will of the Guru) and is prohibited in the Reht Maryada (The way of living of Sikhs).
The following is the daily routine to be followed by a practising Sikh:
This section deals with the general duty of a Sikh to society and God rather than his/her daily practices dealt with in the previous section.