E-Paper
For this UK-based group of volunteers, devotion is route to eternal happiness
Sultanpur Lodhi Dressed in all-white, 600 NRI Sikh volunteers, both men and women, of a UK-based Sikh body, ‘Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha’, are setting an example
Sultanpur Lodhi Dressed in all-white, 600 NRI Sikh volunteers, both men and women, of a UK-based Sikh body, ‘Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha’, are setting an example in selfless service as the state marks the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak on November 12 (Tuesday).
Most women volunteers have joined the ‘sewa’ of preparing the langar, with men engaged in the serving and management of the sangat. A large number of them are professionals from the United Kingdom, Kenya, Canada and the US and the entire group is seen at Gurdwara Sant Ghat in Sultanpur Lodhi. Their organisation has also been involved in the work of ensuring that the gold-plating on the Golden Temple is always glittering since the year 2000.
Carrying forward the glittering legacy of his family is Malkit Singh Sihra, 25, a finance analyst from UK. He is the third generation of his family still doing ‘kirtan’ (singing hymns in praise of god). His grandfather had joined the ‘Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha’ in Kenya, after drawing inspiration from Bhai Pooran Singh, the founder of the organisation. “I am volunteering as self-less service is all about the eternal happiness of the mind,” he tells HT.
Kabir Singh, 24, a musician from the US, is another one following in the footsteps of his ancestors for three generations and is a part of the group performing ‘kirtan’.
A jatha of volunteers had visited Pakistan in the first week of November to pay obeisance at gurdwaras and will be in Sultanpur Lodhi till November 13.
A 50-strong part of the group comes from Kenya; some of whom caught this correspondent’s eye. These are Harroop Singh, 25, an engineer; Govind Singh, 29, a dentist, and two women, Naam Kaur and Manpreet Kaur, who are mainly looking after technical aspects of the arrangements.
Govind says it was devotion from within that brought him here; Harrop says that the ‘Sewa’ during these celebrations has given him a sense of humility.
“We have brought more than 200 youngsters in the ‘jatha’ to make them more aware of Sikh history and culture,” says Harminder Singh, group leader of 200 volunteers.
Ek Onkar Mool Mantra Asthan
The organisation has been also working on a three-storey building named, Ek Onkar Mool Mantra Asthan, at Gurdwara Sant Ghat Sahib to depict Guru Nanak’s life history. The project is expected to be completed in two years.
