Saturday, October 16, 2010
Young And Beautiful Sadhvi Removes Student Mohan Singh Diwana’s Doubts about Sex
Bhai Bakhshish Singh, A Remarkable Raagi
(During my life span, I thoroughly enjoyed the kirtan (the recitation o Gurbani with the aid of musical instruments) of three raagis namely late Bhai Gopal Singh, Prof. Darshan Singh and late Bhai Bakhshish Singh. On the asking of Prof. Harbans Singh, the encyclopaedist, I contributed the following article which was published in The Tribune dated October 26, 1991.)
Bhai Bakhshish Singh (1933 – 1990) was a remarkable raagi, versatile in his art, equally at ease in classical as well as less formal modes of kirtan.Through his silver voice he brought home to audiences in India and abroad the excellence and deep spirituality of Sikh devotional music. One met friends in many parts of the world proudly playing cassettes of shabads sung by him.
The hymns in Sri Guru Granth Sahib are divided into 31 ragas in which they are meant to be sung. In the hands of Guru Nanak and his spiritual successors, kirtan became a means of strengthening the bonds that brought members of the Sikh brotherhood closer to one another.
Whether members of the sangat were active participants in the kirtan or sat through the session as silent listeners, it always resulted in strong emotional rapport among them.
There is hardly an occasion in a Sikh household, be it birth, marriage, or death, which is not performed with kirtan.
Bhai Bakhshish Singh was conversant with almost all the ragas included in Sri Guru Granth Sahib. There was charm, magic and grace in his voice which made the audience spell – bound. He sang Bilawal, Deepak, Asa Bhairvi, Ramkali Nat – Bhairav, Toddi, Tukhari, Shari, Manjh, Gauri, Purvi, Basant, Jog, Sorath maru, Bihagra, Kannada, Jai Jai Wanti, Megha, Malhar, Kedara and Kalyan. He had a good grounding and perfect grip over dhuns, tarz, bandish and reet.
Bhai Sahib’s father Bhai Kirpal Singh, a Hazuri raagi and Bhai Sahib’s mentor Sant Baba Kharak Singh, were musicians of high order and they left an indelible impact on Bhai Bakhshish Singh, who was, indeed a symbolic representative of friendliness, humility and devotion.
Bhai Bakhshish Singh had photographic memory and he could sing any shabad as and when asked to do so by the sangat. He was declared a winner of the gurbani and shabad kirtan contest held by the Punjab Government in connection with Guru Nanak’s quincentenary celebrations at Ludhiana.
For that, he was honoured with Bhai Mardana Award on 22.03.1971. He was also honoured with Shiromani raagi award and many more for rendering classic touch to the shabads. He had served the Sikh sangat as a Hazuri raagi at Sri Darbar Singh, Tarn Taran Gurdwara, Sri Kesgarh Sahib, Anandpur Sahib, Gurdwara Tut Gandanhar, Muktsar, Gurdwara Sri Dukhniwaran Sahib, Patiala and Sri Harimandir Sahib, Amritsar.
He was famous and respected figure among the sangat and people from Baramulla to Bidar, and from Ahmedabad to Calcutta, invited him time and again.
With his untimely and unfortunate death, the Sikhs have lost one of the best musicians and the void so created cannot be filled easily.
The following lines represent his feelings before his death:
“On my death each one did cry
He was a friend of mine.
But none did care to find
to whom said I, and what, and
whence was I.”
Power of Pencil and Notebook
(During my interview with Dr. M.S. Randhawa, he give me a piece of advice to always keep pencil and a notebook in my pocket. Even the religious scriptures emphasized the importance of pen:”The First thing which God created was a pen, and He said to it, ‘Write’. It said, ”what shall I write?” and God said, “Write down the quantity of every separate thing to be created”. And it wrote all that was and all that will be to eternity. How carelessly did I defy the foresaid advice resulting into a huge loss stands narrated in my following article: “The inimitable Dr. Randhawa” published in The Tribune dated 13.12.1992.)
“While I was collecting material for my book “The illustrated History of the Sikhs (1947 – 1978)”, late S. Kirpal Singh, a renowned Sikh artist, advised me to interview Dr. M.S. Randhawa for eliciting his views on the Sikh ethos. The suggestion proved valuable.
I lost no time in telephoning Dr. Randhawa at his farm house in Kharar, about 8 miles from Chandigarh, requesting him or an appointment to which he readily agreed.
As per the appointment, I reached Kharar in Ropar district at about 5 pm. Dr. Randhawa ushered me into his sitting room which was full o books and rate paintings. He introduced me to his wire, Mrs. Iqbal Kaur, his two sons – Surinder Singh and Jatinder Singh – and his German daughter – in – law, Mrs. Doris Schreier Randhawa.
Now, it was time for the interview and I was taken to the well decorated lounge of the house. The moment I posed the first query on the impact partition on the Sikhs the telephone rang. Dr. Randhawa’s daughter – in - law attended to the telephone. She informed us that Dr. Randhawa’s presence was urgently needed at Chandigarh because of some official compulsions. Dr. Randhawa politely excused himself with these words:
“Well, gentleman, I am sorry. I have to leave at once. Anyway, you will talk to my wife who will satisfactorily reply to all your questions.”
Dr. Randhawa took some files and hastily proceeded towards his car parked outside. To our utter amazement, he returned after a few minutes.
We all stood up. Looking towards me he said:
“Despite my busy time schedule, I must give you some advice. Always keep a pencil ad a note – book in your pocket.” Saying this Randhawa Sahib again proceeded towards his car.
Weeks and months glided by and grew into years. Six years after the meeting with Dr. Randhawa, I happened to go to Delhi. After finishing my professional work during the day, I reached the Delhi railway station at night to catch a train for Chandigarh.
“On the platform, I saw a young blonds in Kashmiri dress. I was puzzled as to whether she was from Kashmir or some foreign country. My curiosity got the better of me and I asked: “Madam, what time does the train start for Chandigarh?” In a tantalizing voice and in fluent English, she majestically replied that was the precise question she wanted to ask me. We reached Chandigarh at 5 a.m. the following day. By then, our acquaintance had blossomed into friendship. My friend was an American professor. She promised to invite me to the U.S.A. for lectures on Sikh history and religion and the Indian way of life. All expenses for the journey were to be met by her.
From the Chandigarh railway station, we reached the bus – stop from where my friend was to catch a bus for Kulu – Manali. It was time to depart and she asked me to note down her address. I had neither a pencil nor a note – book with me. She picked upa piece of paper lying on the floor and wrote down her address with her lip – stick. We bade adieu to each other with the solemn promise to write to each other for finalizing plans for my journey abroad.
On reaching home, the first thing I did was to search my pockets for the treasured chit to note down the address in my diary. But to my utter shock, the chit was missing. It was then that Dr. Randhawa’s words echoed in my mind.
A Pioneers Of Modern Education
(This write-up of mine about Sardar Thakur Singh Sandhawalia he founder – President of the Singh Sabha, was published in The Tribune dated July 28, 1991.)
During the regime of Maharaja Ranjit Singh the number of the Sikhs, estimated at 10 millions, dwindled to merely 1,141,848 in Punjab 1868. The English rulers guessed that with the passage of time the Sikh symbols would slowly disappear and the community would eventually relapse into Hinduism. New cultural factors entered Punjabi life with the coming of the British to the Indian scene. These factors, English education, the knowledge of western sciences and Christian proselytization initiated a far-reaching process o interaction. The following excerpt from the Punjab administration report for 1851-1852 is of great relevance:
“The Sikh faith and ecclesiastical polity is rapidly going where the Sikh political ascendancy has already gone. Of the two elements in the old Khalsa, namely the followers of Nanuck, the first prophet and the followers of Guru Gobind Singh, the second great religious leader, the former will hold their ground and the latter will lose it.
Sardar Thakur Singh Sandhawalia
The Sikhs of Nanuck, a comparatively small body of peaceful habits and old family, will perhaps cling to the faith of their fathers; but the Sikhs of Govind Singh who are of more recent origin, who are more specially styled the Singhs or ‘lions’, and who embraced the faith as being the religion of warfare and conquest, no longer regard the Khalsa now that the prestige has departed from it. These men joined the thousands, and they now desert in equal numbers. They rejoin the ranks of Hinduism whence they originally came, and they bring up their children as Hindus. The sacred tank at Amritsar is less thronged than formerly, and the attendance at the annual festivals is diminishing yearly. The initiatory ceremony for adult persons is now rarely performed.”
The conversion of Maharaja Dalip Singh to Christianity in 1853 gave grievous shock to the Sikhs. Initially, most of the early Sikh converts to Christianity were from the lower strata of society, but later on many well-to-do (Jats and Kshatriyas) Sikhs accepted Christianity. Moreover, there was also a Challenge from the Arya Samaj. The fall in numbers supported the dismal prognostications about the final eclipse of the Sikh faith. A demographical detail was worked out by the British in 1855 in respect of Lahore division. There were only about 200,000 Sikhs to an aggregate population of about three million. These figures related to the Majha region, known as the central home of the Sikhs. The following comment on this point is from the Punjab administration report for 1855-1856:
“This circumstance strongly corroborates what is commonly believed namely that the ‘Sikh tribe’ is losing its number rapidly. Modern Sikhism was little more than a political association (formed exclusively from among Hindus), which men would join or quit according to the circumstances of the day. A person is not born a Sikh, as he might be born a Muhammadan or born a Hindu; but he must be specially initiated into Sikhism.
Now that the Sikh commonwealth is broken up, people cease to be initiated into Sikhism and revert to Hinduism. Such s the undoubted explanation of a statistical fact, which might otherwise appear to be hardly credible.”
In the beginning of 1873 four students of the Mission School at Amritsar – Aya Singh, Attar Singh, Sadhu Singh and Santokh Singh – dicided to embrace Christianity. At this, the Sikhs falt jolted and called a meeting at Amritsar the same year to devise ways and means to check such occurrences. The meeting was presided over by Sardar Thakur Singh Sandhawalia. Among the others present were Baba Khem Singh Bedi and Kanwar Bikram Singh Ahluwalia of Kapurthala. Several Sikh theologians, including Gyani Gyan Singh, also took part in its deliberations. As a result, a society named Sri Guru Singh Sabha was formed with S. Thakur ingh Sandhawalia and Gyani Gyan Singh as its President ad Secretary respectively.
Accordingly to Prof. Harbans Singh, an eminent Sikh scholar and the Editor – in – Chief of the Encyclopaedia of Sikhism, Sardar Sandhawalia was the main force behind the Singh Sabha movement for modern education among the Sikhs. Sardar sandhanwalia (1837 – 1887) was a noted scholar and was one of the few men of his time who knew both the classical languages of the East – Sanskrit and Arabic. He started a monumental work on the history of Punjab and wrote a treatise on diabetes.
Apart from his role in the Sikh renaissance, Thakur Singh Sandhawalia was the brain behind the movement for the restoration of Maharaja Daleep Singh, the deposed Sikh sovereign. To avoid arrest by British, he escaped to the French territory of Pondichery where he received from Maharaja Duleep Singh, then in Moscow, the title and seal of the Prime Minister of the émigré Sikh Government.
On January 9, 1908, Sardar Sunder Singh Majithia (1872 – 1941) called the first meeting of Sikh leaders which led to the formation o the Sikh Educational Conference. It was attended by Sardar Majithia, Bhai Vir Singh, S. Gurcharan Singh, S. Tarlochan Singh, S. Takhat Singh, S. Jogendra Singh, and others. The aims and objectives of the Sikh Educational Conference were the creation of love for education, the establishment of educational institutions on modern lines and modernization of the existing institutions. It also aimed at the encouragement of education among women, the promotion of religious education, the encouragement o the Punjabi language in Gurumukhi script, the promotion of Sikh literature and Gurbani, the spread of modern sciences and technology, the award of scholarships and stipends to poor and intelligent Sikh students, etc.
A Pioneer In Sikh Studies
(This article of mine about the life contribution of Mr. Max Arthur Macauliffe was published in The Tribune dated December 12, 1990.)
Whenever
the name of Mr. Max Arthur Macauliffe is uttered or recalled,
everybody’s head bows in reverence. A world famous and dedicated Sikh
historian, Mr. Macauliffe, was born in Ireland and after entering the
I.C.S., he served as the Deputy Commissioner and the Divisional Judge in
Joint Punjab.
Until 1893, Mr. Macauliffe was engaged in judicial work in India, when a representative Sikh society requested him to resign his job for undertaking the translation of Sikh sacred books.
Max Arthur Macauliffe
Whenever
the name of Mr. Max Arthur Macauliffe is uttered or recalled,
everybody’s head bows in reverence. A world famous and dedicated Sikh
historian, Mr. Macauliffe, was born in Ireland and after entering the
I.C.S., he served as the Deputy Commissioner and the Divisional Judge in
Joint Punjab. Until 1893, Mr. Macauliffe was engaged in judicial work in India, when a representative Sikh society requested him to resign his job for undertaking the translation of Sikh sacred books.
Max Arthur Macauliffe
After sacrificing his lucrative job and luxurious life, Mr. Macauliffe acceded to the request and stated translating the sacred book into English. Mr. Macauliffe’s approach towards the renderings was unique and novel. Most translators of his time, when they completed their renderings, proceeded to publish without subjecting their work to native criticism but he resolved that he should make an exception and accordingly submitted every line of his work to the most searching criticism of learned Sikhs. For literary assistance, Mr. Macauliffe requisitioned the services of Bhai Kahan Singh of Nabha, Diwan Lila Ram, Watan Mal(a Subordinate Judge in Sind), Bhai Shankar dayal of Faizabad, Bhai Hazara Singh and Bhai Sardul Singh of Amritsar, Bhai Dit Singh of Lahore, Bhai Bhagwan Singh of Patiala, Bhai Sant Singh of Kapurthala and Prof. Gurmukh Singh, Editor of Khalsa Gazette.
How extraordinary tedious and unbelievable colossal task Mr. Macauliffe had to undertake is clear from his observations:
How extraordinary tedious and unbelievable colossal task Mr. Macauliffe had to undertake is clear from his observations:
“Judaism had its Old Testament; Islam its Quran; Hinduism its Vedas, Puranas and Shastras; Budhism its Tripitaka; The Parsi religion its Zendavesta; and Confucianism its Analects, its Spring and Autumn, its Ancient Poems and its Book of Changes. The languages in which the holy writings of these religions are enshrined, though all difficult, are for the most part homogeneous, and, after preliminary study with tutors, can generally be mastered with the aid of grammars and dictionaries but not so the medieval Indian dialects in which the sacred writings of the Sikh Gurus and saints were composed. Hymns are found in Persian, Medieval Prakrit, Hindi, Marathi, old Punjabi, Multani and several local dialects. In several hymns the Sanskrit and Arabic vocabularies are freely drawn upon.”
Mr. Macauliffe had to reside at Nabha with Bhai Kahan Singh for minutely studying and then translating the Sikh sacred writings and reaching the consensus about their interpretation, of course, after consulting the gyanis or the professional interpreters who were fairly conversant with the Sikh theology and exegesis.
There were no dictionaries of Sri Guru Granth Sahib at that time and even if some had since been published, each lexicographer had devised a system of his own, making it difficult to find the required word. Moreover, if the word was at last pinpointed, the interpretation was not always satisfactory and up to the mark. The author could scarcely find one Sikh who was capable of making the correct translation of the sacred writings. If a man was good in Sanskrit, he knew very little Arabic or Persian and he who knew both Persian and Arabic, would not appreciate the words of Sanskrit derivation and so on. Mr. Macauliffe found the translation of the Sikh sacred writings difficult as there are some peculiar words and cannot be linked to any known language.
In the preface to his work, the author highlights the main object o writing the book and the five advantages which the Sikhs will derive there from:
“One of the main objects of the present work is to endeavour to make some reparation to the Sikhs for the insults which he offered to their Gurus and their religion. There are, however, many other advantages which I am hoping for, and which will probably be understood by the reader.
All persons of discrimination acquainted with the Sikhs, set a high value on them but it appears that a knowledge throughout the world of the excellence of their religion would enhance even the present regard with which they are entertained, and that thus my work would be at least of political advantage to them. In the second place, there is now a large number of Sikhs who understand the English language, but who have no time for the study of the compositions of the Gurus, and I thought it would be useful to them, if only from a linguistic point of view, to read a translation in the very simple English in which I have endeavored to write it. In the third place, the old gyanis or professional interpreters of the Granth Sahib are dying out, and probably in another generation or two their sacred books will, owing to their enormous difficulty, be practically unintelligible even to otherwise educated Sikhs.
In the fourth place, the vernacular itself is rapidly altering and diverging more and more from the general language of the Granth Sahib. Words which men still in the prime of life were accustomed to use in their boyhood have now become obsolete, and new vocables have taken their place. It appears, therefore, that it would on every account be ell to fix the translation of the many exceedingly difficult passages scattered broadcast through the Sikh sacred writings. In the fifth place, there are local legends now rife which we have been able to gather, but which would otherwise pass into oblivion in a comparatively short period of time.”
The beauty of Mr. Macauliffe’s work is that he had meticulously maintained and preserved the flavor of the original text – a job highly difficult and complex, brain – taxing and time – consuming.
Sir Baba Khem Singh, member of the Legislative Council and a prominent Sikh scholar, complimented Mr. Macauliffe with the following words:
“It is fortunate for the Sikh nation to have such kind of a friend as you, whose ideas are naturally inclined to their benefit, and they should ever bear you thankfulness and gratitude. I am glad to express my appreciation of your work, and the labour and trouble you have taken upon yourself to accomplish such a voluminous task.”
It will, indeed, be of great interest to the readers to go through the pages of Civil and Military Gazette, Lahore, March 19, 1913, wherein Mr. Macauliffe’s contribution to the Sikh cause was highlighted in the following words:
“The name o the late Mr. Max Arthur Macauliffe will always be associated with his monumental translation into English of the Granth Sahib, a work on which he was engaged for 16 years. He was thus an example of an Indian civilian whose most important work was done after his retirement from the service. Mr. Macauliffe was appointed to the service at the examination of 1862, after an education at Newcastle School, Limerick, Springfield College, and Queen’s College, Galway. He was posted to the Punjab, and arrived in the country in 1864. He reached the grade of Deputy Commissioner in 1862 and he became a Divisional Judge two years later. During his service in the Punjab, Mr. Macauliffe had devoted himself to the study of Sikhism and its literature, and published a series of articles on the subject in the Calcutta Review during 1880-1881. The translation of the Granth Sahib which the Indian Office had commissioned a missionary to undertake was acknowledged to be full o imperfections, besides offending Sikh susceptibilities in many particulars, and Mr. Macaulife, therefore, resolved to devote himself to the preparation of a new translation, a task which he urged to undertake by representative Sikh societies. For this purpose he resigned the service in 1893. The work occupied him for the next 16 years, and when completed its great value was acknowledged by many scholars and by the leaders of the Sikh community as well.
The work was printed at the cost of the University of Oxford, but this only represented a small part of the translator’s expenditure. He himself estimated that he had spent as much as two lakhs on the work. Some years ago the Punjab Government offered Mr. Macauliffe a grant of Rs. 5,000 in advance for certain copies of the translation, but the offer was declined. More recently the Punjab Government repeated its offer of Rs. 5,000 but Mr. Macauliffe again declined to accept a sum which he regarded as utterly inadequate to his labors and the importance of his work. ‘Its acceptance’, he added, “would not be o much material advantage to me, neither would it enhance my reputation in the eyes of the Sikhs or the general public.”
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
The Doctrines Of Bhakti and Shakti
(This article of mine was published in The Tribune dated October 31, 1998)
In the autobiographical reminiscences contained in Bachittar Natak, Guru Gobind Singh, the Tenth Guru of the Sikhs, had specified the purpose of his coming to the world:
"The Divine Guru had charged me with the duty of upholding religion (dharma), and on that account I had come into this world for extending righteousness everywhere and for seizing and destroying the evil and sinful. Oh saints! Be clear that I assumed birth for getting the wheel of dharma moving, saving saints and exterminating all tyrants."
Because of the imperfect condition of man, he is not fated to be a human being and he has been rightly compared to chimera (a fire-breathing monster having a lion’s head, a goat’s body and a serpent’s tail). Therefore, the invocation of religion becomes the only indispensable choice for taming the beastly instincts of a man.
According to the Sikh scripture, the aim of religion is to elevate man to the exalted level of an angel. (‘I hail my Guru many times a day who made angles of men and that too without delay.’)
In the epic age, the rishis involved in the spiritual affairs had always to look after the kings and princes for protection against the onslaught of demons. The rulers were also conscious that in no case could they find it safe and administratively prudent to permit the rishis or saints to overshadow their majesty, power and glory. In Khulaasa-Tut-Twarakh (Digest of histories), its author, Sujan Rai Bhandari, refers to the tragic end of saint Sayyadi Maulla at Delhi
"Lakhs fed in his langar where 1,000 maunds of refined flour, 500 maunds of meat and 200 maunds of ghee were cooked daily. Sayyadi Maulla, with lakhs of followers, could be a threat to the Sultan. A Sultan has to be cruel and merciless in the interest of his subjects. He has to do some pruning like a wise gardener. If lakhs of men collect even without the intention of making a riot, it is proper to disperse them for the royal satisfaction. The admirers of Sayyadi Maulla were sent to different places for the leader to be trampled by the elephants."
The Sikh Gurus were of the considered opinion that the mixing of parallel currents of Bhakti and Shakti was a sine qua non for protecting the hermits from the evil-doers. They embraced the unique proposition, so far considered impossible, of blending spirituality with temporality in one human personality — a saint-soldier. Evil must be nipped, even if it involves the use of force. In 1708, Guru Gobind Singh, after protracted discussions and parleys with the Mughal Emperor, Bahadur Shah, the son and successor of Aurangzeb, came to the firm conclusion that "all means of peaceful persuasion" had failed, and it had, therefore, become the right and duty of the Sikhs to "move the hand to the hilt of the sword".
In medieval and post-medieval period, the blessings of Ganesha and Sarasvati, the evil-destroyers, were invoked before embarking on any adventure, but the Tenth Guru, through a new phenomenon, invokes the power of the double-edged sword:
"O sword, I can complete this volume if you help me. This sword cuts into pieces, destroys the evil-doers and remains to be the inner force of the battle-fields. This sword is the bestower of saints’ bliss and destroyer of the ill-will and evil tendencies. I hail this power and surrender before it which is the origin of this whole world.
"The sword, which symbolises Shakti in its supreme aspect, was not to be used as a butcher’s knife but as a surgeon’s instrument and it is the protector of saints, the scourge of the wicked and the scatterer of sinners. It is to be wielded by the selfless saint-soldiers ready to sacrifice their lives at the altar of truth and for doing away with once for all the Mephistophelean forces in society.
The confluence of faith and military expertise in the saint-soldier personality of the Khalsa had given a new dimension to the Indian philosophical thought. Religion bereft of political power degenerates into a mere study of philosophy. The fusion of religious and martial spirits, which are complimentary and supplementary to each other, is sure to strengthen God-centred forces.
The above two doctrines had assailed the concept of Avtarvad, according to which evil is destroyed by its own suicidal nature or else it must be destroyed by the direct intervention of Godly power. As per above doctrines, the evil must be routed root and branch with the help of God without waiting for the intervention of extra-terrestrial powers.
According to Gokul Chand Narang, after centuries of subjection, Guru Nanak was the first among the Hindus to raise his voice against tyranny and oppression. In this struggle against injustice and oppression, the importance of the above two doctrines assume great relevance and significance.
The Eminent Sikh Scholar
(This write – up about the life o Bhai Kahan Singh was published in The Indian Express dated September 29, 1990.)
Bhai Kahan Singh (1861 – 1938), the eminent Sikh scholar and writer, will be remembered for long for his invaluable contribution to society. He inherited his love for history and the
Baba Kahan Singh Ji
Kahan Singh learnt Persian from Giani Sant Singh, while Bhai Bhup Singh taught him Punjabi and Sikh theology. Kahn Singh also learnt Sanskrit and picked up a working knowledge of English from Bhai Gurmukh Singh, a renowned Professor in the Oriental College, Lahore.
When Max Arthur Mecauliffe was to write his monumental book: “The Sikh Religion, its Gurus, Sacred Writings and Authors”, he found in Bhai Kahan Singh, one of the greatest scholars among the Sikhs. When Macauliffe requested Sir Hira Singh Malvender Bahadur, the Raja of Nabha, to allow Kahan Singh to work with him, the Raja acceded to his request immediately.
Bhai Sahib wrote several books, including Gurmat Prabhakar and Gurmat Sudhakar, but Mahan Kosh (Encyclopaedia of Sikh Literature) was his magnum opus. It is a combined dictionary and encyclopaedia of Sikh literature; a magnificent fruit o 15 years of hard and incessant labour; it contains 62263 words occurring in the original Sikh scriptures as well as in other allied books, i.e. the Holy Granth, Dasam Granth, Gur – Sobha, Gurbilas, Nanak Prakash, Suraj Prakash, Panth Prakash, Gurpad Prem Prakash, Bhai Bala’s Sakhi, etc.
Regarding Mahan Kosh, Dr. Ganda Singh commented:
“The book is written on the most approved lines, containing quotations and illustrations drawn from all the needful sources of religion, history, geography, science, medicine, language, prosody, rhetoric etc. showing an immense store of knowledge drawn from innumerable books, eastern and western, ancient and modern. When we look at the volume of the work undertaken and carried out single – handedly by them, it appears, nothing short of a marvel.”
In the Mahan Kosh, there is reference to the Vedas, Shastras, the Bible, the Quran and other religious books. The approach of Bhai Kahan Singh has been very liberal without any trace of sectarianism and tendentiousness. The book is profusely illustrated with maps and pictures and it embodies more than 7,000 Arabic and Persian words.
Maharaja Hira Singh was so impressed by the intellectual acumen and sincerity of Bhai Kahan Singh that he utilized the services of Bhai Sahib as the City magistrate, the Deputy Commissioner, the Private Secretary and the Foreign Minister and above all, as the tutor to his son Tikka Ripduman Singh.
Kahan Singh demonstrated his intellectual skills and political sagacity when he argued the case of the Nabha State before Col. Dunlop Smith, who was the agent of the Phulkian State. Like Macauliffe, Col. Smith also paid a tribute to him in the following words:
“I have always had a high regard for Sardar Kahn Singh. I never met any official in any of the Phulkian states who so faithfully served the interest of both his Chief and his State”.
Indeed, Bhai Kahan Singh’s knowledge of the Sikh scriptures and history was unparalleled. He left behind valuable works which shall serve as the guide books for students of Sikh history and theology.
Jalianwala Massacre
(This article of mine about Jallianwala massacre was published in The Tribune dated October 20, 1991.)
The Montague Chelmsford Reforms of 1919 did not pacify the agitated Indian – mind and a nation – wide agitation was launched to oppose it tooth and nail. The Rowlatt Act was passed the same year to meet the situation. Under the Act, the Government armed itself with unlimited powers to detain and arrest any person without producing him before a court which caused resentment among the people throughout the country.
On March 30, 1919, there was a complete hartal at Amritsar which passed off peacefully, though in some parts of the country the police had to open fire to disperse crowds. On April 9, 1919, two popular Punjab leaders, Dr. Saif–ud-Din Kitchlew and Dr. Satyapal, were arrested and taken to Dharamsala on April 10. This step was taken strictly on the orders of Lt. Governor Sir Michael O’Dwyer who was boorish, tactless and grossly oblivious about the political exigencies. According to him, the Government was always right and the educated community always wrong. He used to cite a Persian couplet, which when translated into English language reads: ‘A stream can be stopped at its source by a twig; let it flow, and it will drown even an elephant.’
According to Mr. V. N. Datta, when Raizada Bhagat Ram, a leading advocate of Jalandhar, told O’Dwyer that Gandhiji was using the “soul force”, O’Dwyer is reported to have thumped the table, retorting that the right answer to it was the “fist force.”
On April 11, Brig. Gen. Edward Hary arrived at Amritsar with troops and armoured cars from Jalandhar. The next afternoon, when he marched his troops from Amritsar bazaars, he was greeted with the shouts of “Hindu Musalmaan ki Jai” and Mahatma Gandhiji ki Jai”. On April 13, the birthday of the Khalsa, a large number of men and women had gathered in the holy city from far and near. They assembled at jallianwala Bagh near the Golden Temple. As soon as General Dyer received the news of the meeting, he marched a platoon of infantry to Jallianwala, blocked the only avenue of exit from this private enclosure, trained his machine – guns on the gathering and continued to fire till his ammunition was exhausted. More than 379 persons were killed and many wounded.
When an English missionary, Miss Marcia Sherwood, was beaten to death in Amritsar street, men and women were made to crawl to their homes and respectable leaders as well students were flogged and made to report to the police our time a day. The General imposed a curfew in the city and returned to his camp, leaving the dying with the dead without any possibility of help reaching them.
When the news conveyed to Sir Michael O’Dwyer, he contemptuously dismissed the tragic event with the observation:
“I approved of General Dwyer’s action in dispersing by force the rebellious gathering and thus preventing further rebellious acts…. I have no hesitation in saying that General Dwyer’s action that day was the decisive factor in crushing the rebellion, the seriousness of which is only now being generally realized.”
When the General received information of cutting of telegraph wires and tampering with fish plates on the railway tracks, a state of emergency was proclaimed and all meetings were declared illegal. Colonel Smith, the Civil Surgeon, and Rev Machanzie, a missionary, goaded the Government at a meeting of British officials at Amritsar to teach the Indians a lesson after a few Europeans had been killed by an Indian mob. They demanded the bombardment of Amritsar city. It was Mr. G.A. Wathen, the British Principal of Khalsa College, Amritsar, who protested that if any harm came to the Golden Temple, the Sikh soldiers would rebel and the Sikhs would stand totally alienated. It was that warning that made General Dyer desist from committing the worse crime.
The jallianwala Bagh massacre and the martial law regime were subjected to the most searching enquiry by a committee appointed by the Indian National Congress headed by Mahatma Gandhi himself. The committee severely censured the Lieutenant Governor, Sir Michael O’Dwyer, General Dyer, and the English officers concerned. Subsequently, the Government appointed its own committee for the purpose. It was presided over by Lord Hunter and had seven other members including three Indians.
The Hunter Commission was unanimous in its verdict on General Dyer’s action and recommended his dismissal. On the other issues, the English and Indian members were at variance and the letter submitted a minor report.
The matter was also debated in the British Parliament. Winston Churchill made the most scathing criticism of General Dyer’s action. He described it as an episode which appeared to be without parallel in the modern history of the British Empire, an extraordinary event, a monstrous event, an event which stood in singular and sinister isolation.
Sir Michael O’ Dwyer who claimed that he has saved the Empire, had, in fact, dealt it the most grievous blow by alienating from it almost all Indians irrespective of caste, creed or political affiliations.
The British Government could not appreciate that non – violence would ultimately triumph over violence and that the weapon of ‘Satyagraha’ and the technique of passive resistance could prove to be more enduring and effective than the omnipresent might of the British Empire. History bears ample testimony to the fact that the ill – conceived and un – warranted 1919 – military operation proved to be a catalyst for bringing the doom of the British Raj as it created an unbridgeable gulf between the British Government and the Indian people, leaving the British with no other option but to transfer power to the Indians.
General Dwyer
Lord Chelmsford
Sir Michael O'Dwyer
Lord Hunter
General Dwyer
Lord Chelmsford
Sir Michael O'Dwyer
Lord Hunter
Desiring Obscurity
(In my article: “desiring
Obscurity” published in The Tribune dated July 28, 1996, I had mentioned four
names: (1) De Gaulie (2) Noorjahan (3) Bhai Vir Singh and (4) Jahanara Begum,
who desired to be forgotten after death. But in this-up, I have included two
more names i.e. Mirza Ghalib and Sir Dirk Bogarde, the British movie legend and
also added more material relevant to the subject.)
It
is the irresistible desire of everyone to get name and fame, power and glory
and a permanent place in history without realizing that everybody is to
eventually meet his waterloo at last.
“Kithe ne oh
raje rane
rang mahal si
jinha malle? ”
(Where
are the kings and potentates, the rulers of empires, the inhabitants of cosy
palaces?). In the ultimate analysis, everything is transitory and nothing is
permanent. It is dust to dust for all of us in the end. History provides a few
exceptions to the inherent desire of a man to become unforgettable. As per my
humble knowledge, six persons gladly chose obscurity.
De Gaulle Charles Andre Joseph Marie, (1890-1970) renowned soldier, writer,
statesman and architect as well as the President (1958-1969) of the fifth
Republic of France, made the following Will dated January 16, 1952, expressing
his wish as to how his funeral should take place:
“I
desire my funeral to take place at Colombey –Les – Deux – Eglises. If I die
elsewhere, my body must be taken home without any public ceremony whatever…. My
grave shall be that in which my daughter Anne lies and where, one day, my wife
will also rest. Inscription : Charles de Gaulle (1890) … The ceremony shall be
arranged by my son, my daughter, and my daughter – in – law, assisted by
members of my personal staff, in an extremely simple manner. I do not wish for
a State funeral. No President, no ministers, no parliamentary delegations, no
representatives of public bodies. Only the armed forces may take part
officially as such, but their participation must be on a very modest scale
without bands or fanfare of trumpet calls. No oration shall be pronounced
either at the Church or elsewhere. No funeral oration in parliament. The men
and women of France may, if they wish, do my memory the honor of accompanying
my body to its last resting place. But it is in silence that I wish to be taken
there.”
His wishes were
meticulously carried out in every detail.
Mehr-un-Nisaa, later renamed Noorjahan by her husband, Jehangir,
was gifted exquisite beauty, a piercing intellect, a versatile temper and sound
common sense. She enhanced the splendor o the Mughal Court. After the death of
her husband and capture of her son – in – law, Shahryar, he influence of
Noorjahan declined. She retired into privacy at Lahore, wore the white robe of
mourning and led the life of seclusion cherishing the memory of her late husband.
With
characteristic humility, she desired that on her tomb, no one should light a
lamp or offer flowers so that neither moth burns his wings nor does the
nightingale wail. The Persian couplet inscribed on her tomb in Lahore, when
translated into English reads:
“On the grave of us poor
Neither a lamp nor a flower
No month singes its wings
Nor a song of the
nightingale.”*
* ‘Bar
mazar-e-ma ghariban/Nay chiraghe, nay guley/Nae par-e-parvana sozad/Nae
sada-e-bulbule.’
Bhai Vir Singh(05.12.1872 – 10.06.1957), the renowned saint, writer, poet and
exegetist par excellence, and a brilliant product of the Sikh renaissance while
apostrophizing himself as a violet flower, wrote:
“How I wish to conceal my
fragrance to end the journey all obscure. Alas, despite my entreaties, my wish
remains unfulfilled.”
Dr.
Bhai Vir Singh, according to the New Encyclopaedia Britannica, was a Sikh
writer and theologian who raised the Punjabi language to a literacy level never
before attained and his versatile pen extolled the Sikh values of life and Sikh
ideals. As per his thought, the twin emotions of pride and ego require to be
conquered before one can reach communion with God. He obviously shunned name
and fame as is clear from his following lines:
“Mere chhipe rehan di chah
Chhip tur Jaan di
Poori hundi nahn
Mein tarlae lae reha.”
(My
desire to live obscure and leave the world
unknown
is beyond fulfillment and keeps me imploring.)
The
fourth person is Jahanara Begum, the attractive sister of Aurangzeb Alamgir.
Shah Jahan had four sons – Dara Shikoh, Shuja, Aurangzeb and Murad – and two
daughters, Jahanara, who sided with Dara Shikoh and Raushnara who joined the
group of Aurangzeb. When Auranzeb imprisoned his father Shah Jahan at the Agra
fort under the special care of a tyrannical eunuch who took pleasure in
inflicting petty indignities upon the captive monarch, Jahanara tried in vain
to get the treatment befitting her Emperor father at the hands of her brother.
Jahanara
Begum(ornament o the world) highly educated, well – read in Persian and Arabic
literature, served her father during his sun set days with utmost devotion and
dedication. When th unhappy Emperor Shah Jahan died at the age of 74 on January
22, 1666, Jahanara was by his bed side.
In
the spirit of resignation, Jahanara Begum expressed her last desire:
“Let green only conceal my grave as grass is the best covering for the
tomb of the meek.”
Mirza
Ghalib(27.12.1797–15.02.1869), who is universally acknowledged as one of the
top poets in Persian and Urdu was appointed in 1850 as the poet laureate to the
last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar (B.1772-D.1862), Reigned (1837-1857)
Ghalib, the precursor of India’s renaissance, wanted his end to take place in
these terms:
“Rahiye ab aisee jagah chal kar jahan koee n ho
Hum - sukhun koi n ho aur hum – zuban koee n ho
Be – dar – o deevar sa ik ghar banaya chahiye
Koee humsaya n ho aur paasban koee n ho
Padiye gar beemar to koee n ho teemardar
Aur agar mar jaiya to noha – khan koee n ho.”
(I
long to go away
And
live in a forsaken place where no one would be my confidante
Nor
would I meet anyone who speaks my tongue
There
I shall built a house
Without
door and without walls
There
will be no neighbours
Nor
there any sentinel
Should
I fall ill
There
would be none to attend
And
should I die
There
would be no mourners for me.)
Sir
Dirk Bograde, the British movie legend, who died on May 8, 1999, was a screen –
star recluse. His stature was recognised with a knighthood in 1992. For him to
get a place in history was not a priority. His last desire was:
“I don’t care if I’m remembered or not. It doesn’t matter on your grave
– stone, does it? “I have said that in my will: no funeral, no memorial
service… Just forget me.”
These
six persons appreciated the transitory nature of name and fame, power and glory
and wanted to die unsung, unwept and unnoticed gladly resigning themselves to
the haunting limbo of oblivion. However, as in life, so in death, they had the
last word. A detached majesty and simple grandeur accompanied them to the grave
and beyond. Although, they desired to be forgotten, yet history willed it
otherwise – they became immortal and unforgettable.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)