Singhs at Crossroads

Continuing from the previous post, Bhai Sahib Hazoora Singh Jee talks about the beginning of the famous Khalsa Farm. From all the stories and descriptions the sevadaars have heard it must have been blissful to stay there. In the days Gursikhs used to work hard and in the evening and night time they would go out and do Parchar and Keertan. To have sangat of those Gursikhs is impossible these days, but it should give the Youth the urge to create something similar. No matter to which group you have your allegiance to, we are all part of the Khalsa Panth. Try and do seva as a group - more gets done and then others watch and join, never exclude those who want to do seva, as if they are not Gursikh they surely will be with the sangat of Gursikhs and Guru Jee’s Kirpa. Please continue reading…

He gathered the youth together and told them of their plans.  Many gathered together to hear his discourse after which they decided to help clear a section of the land to initiate the work.  My whole life took a turn at that point.  I felt that there was little to gain from worldly duties and decided to live with the Singhs.  Khalsa Farm began in 1974 and in those days there were no Amritdharee Sikhs in the surrounded villages.  The first Keertan programmes began in our village.  Bibi Amarjeet Kaur would perform Keertan and Bhai Sahib would prepare the food for the Langar.   After the Keertan, Bhai Sahib would address the Sangat with a discourse on Gurmat.  A revolutionary change took place in the villages.  Those who spent their whole lives drinking and smoking now began to adopt a life of righteousness.   Bibi Amarjeet Kaur was the first women that the villagers had seen that was crowned with a Dastar/Keskee.  The women began to tie Dastars before they were even baptised. 

At the first harvest of the land, Bhai Sahib and I were working on the farm.  Bibi Joginder Kaur came to the farm from Amritsar.  She always regarded Bhai Sahib as her eldest son and he respected her as his mother.  While she was cooking some food, the wind began blowing hard and the fire spread out of control.  The kitchen area and surrounding hut was set on fire.  A lot of materials for the farm were ignited. Bibi jee called out to Fauja Singh telling him it was on fire.  He just laughed and consoled her telling her not to worry.  This was a sign of his character; he just regarded it as the Guru’s will and a minor setback. 

Bhai Sahib was very physically fit.  He would spend many hours per day uprooting plants and doing other tasks around the farm.  Because of the heat, he would be dressed in just a Kachera and his Dastaar.  The heat would severely tan his body but he would never step back from his service.   This was his daily routine and in the evening he, along with the Singhs, would go out and spread the Sikh message in the villages.  

Bhai Sahib and his wife were both well educated.  Initially Bhai Sahib was an inspector of Agriculture.  He and his wife took holidays and spent time on the farm.  They purchased the necessities required for the day to day running.  After some time even non-Amritdhaaree villagers began to do selfless service on the farm. 

Once while in Amritsar, while the Bibiaan were doing seva, some drunks came past and threw bottles into the kitchen area.  Bhai Sahib and the Singhs set out to reprimand them for their actions.  They did not fear the consequences.  Some of  the drunks ran away others were not so lucky.  The Singhs were sent to prison for their actions which upset Bhai Sahib a great deal.  I visited them in prison, but Bhai Sahib asked me not to waste time doing so.  He instructed me to take care of the day to day running of the farm.  He told me that that would be more beneficial, since it may attract more youth who could protect the honour of their sisters and mothers and also fortify the Khalsa Panth. 

Many Singhs were suspended from their work, but the general feeling was the same.  If while we lived, our sisters and mothers rights and the general rights of the Panth were being violated, then death would be a better option.  The effectiveness of the Parchar programmes increased.  There would always be at least five Singhs together with Bhai Sahib.  The walk to Amritsar was 5 km and had to be done by foot.  In those days, Bhai Tejinderpal Singh Doola and other youth would come to the farm and perform Keertan.  Many Singhs would go from village to village to teach Keertan.  Many men and women learned Keertan in this way.  Areas where the Sikh message was rarely even heard began to blossom forth.  Those who were addicted to narcotics were now encouraged to take Amrit.

Part three will be posted soon….. 

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 11th, 2006 at 7:02 pm and is filed under Gursikhs, Bhai Fauja Singh Jee. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.