Singhs at Crossroads

The below article is taken from a book called ‘INDIA - A Million Mutinies Now' written by V.S. Naipaul, with added comments by the Sevadaars of this site (There has been no change in the text except for the inserted Sevadaar Notes). The whole book is a great insight to what the Author thought of India around the late 80's and early 90's. There is a whole chapter dedicated to the Sikhs and the Khalistani movement, this is where the Author meets (Late) Jathedhar Bhai Ram Singh Jee. The amazing thing about Bhai Sahib is his straight forwardness with the author and not to appease him in any way.

In this faith, when the world became too much for men, the religion of the l0th Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, the religion of gesture and symbol, came more easily than the philosophy and poetry of the first Guru. It. was easier to go back to the formal baptismal faith of Guru Gobind Singh, to all the things that separated the believer from the rest of the world. Religion became the identification with the sufferings and persecution of the later Gurus: the call to battle.

The faith needed constantly to be revived, and there had been fundamentalist or revivalist preachers before Bhindranwale. One such was Randhir Singh. The movement he had started in the 1920s was still important, still had a following, that could still send men to war against heretics and the enemy. The head of the movement now was Ram Singh, a small dark man of seventy-two, who had been a squadron-leader in the air force. (Sevadaar Note : The author already knew about the 1978 massacre and the Jatha's involvement in the current situation in the Punjab - circa 1970's - 90's. Bhai Sahib Raam Singh Jee was made Jathedaar of AKJ India around 1978)

He said of the founder of his movement, 'He saw the light. His skin was dark, but when he saw the light he started glowing. He could see the future and also all the things about the past. His skin glowed more than English people's. He had rosy cheeks - the light emanated from his cheeks. He saw the light when he was twenty six. He revolted against the British government. This was the Lahore conspiracy case of 1920. He was imprisoned for life.

'In the jail one day a padre asked him, "You look healthy. You must have good food." Sant Randhir Singh said to the padre, "I have the worst food." The padre said, "You look happy. Do you have someone with you, or do you stay alone?" The sant said, "I'm never alone." The jailer said to the padre, "The man is telling lies. We never put two prisoners together." So the padre asked the sant again, "Who stays with you?" And the sant said, "Almighty." (Sevadaar Note : For more detail on this story please read Bhai Sahib Jee's Autobiography - Jail Letters. Also the Author has decided to call Bhai Sahib ‘Sant', as this is the custom regarding Sikh Holy Men, Bhai Sahib never called himself Sant and his companions only called him Bhai Sahib through reverence)

'When the Sant came out in the 1930s - after 16 years in prison - he began to devote his life to singing religious verses, and reading, and administering Amrit to others.'

I asked Squadron-Leader Ram Singh, 'Why is the Amrit necessary?'

He said, 'God is hidden within us. He is a name only - in every human being. When you take Amrit, only then you become aware of it - that name comes automatically on your tongue.'

He started on a discourse about Amrit. 'It's a mixture of pure water and white sugar. The sugar is created out of white sugar and baking soda. It's heated, so that it swells and foams up, so that, solidified, it forms sugar buns. It is mixed with the water in iron containers, and an iron double-edged sword is moved backward and forward in the mixture. This was initiated by the l0th Guru, Guru Gobind Singh. You give Amrit to render the receiver deathless. Iron is a magnetic metal. In that iron vessel in which you mix the Amrit you have the greatest concentration of lines of magnetic forces. When a conductor moves across the line of magnetic forces you get an electromagnetic force. That energizes the sugar buns and water, and to a small extent dissolves the iron in it. So it's a little iron tonic as well.'

We were talking in his sitting room. There was a carpet on the floor, and a cloth on the centre table, and knick-knacks on hanging shelves: a clock, a small statue of a rearing horse, a china jar, a colour snapshot of a child, 'a small silver salver (a souvenir of London), and some small painted flower-pieces.

Squadron-Leader Ram Singh was born in 1916. His father was a farmer, and he had gone to some trouble to give his son an education. Ram Singh joined the air force in British times, in 1939.

In 1957 he had taken Amrit.

Why had he felt the need? Had there been some personal crisis? He said no. He had read books by Sant Randhir Singh, and he had discovered that without Amrit one just couldn't reach God.

He spoke clearly. I felt he wished to be friendly. He had the tone and manner of a reasonable man, a man at peace. He was in a fawn-coloured costume, with a milk-chocolate-coloured cardigan.

He wore what looked to me like a head-tie (Sevadaar Note : Keski) rather than a full turban; it was of a saffron colour, The knife, one of the five emblems of Sikhism, hung in a sheath from a big black cross-band, and it made him look less like a warrior than a bus conductor. His beard was a yellowish grey. .

The movement aimed, at creating pure Sikhs, and Amrit was necessary. 'After you take Amrit, you don't eat food not cooked by Amritdharis.' People who have taken Amrit.' That helps to control the five evils: lust, anger, covetousness, ego, family attachments.'

It would also have created the idea of brotherhood. Was that why some people in the movement had become suspect to the government?

He said they had had trouble with a reformist Sikh group who believed in living Gurus: they believed, that is, that the line of Gurus didn't end with the death of the l0th Guru in 1708. They were a small group, but they were a great and constant irritant. In 1978 one person from his movement had been killed by people from that group, and some people of the movement had gone underground. (Sevadaar Note : The Author has not done his research here, we all know 13 Gursikhs attained Shaheedi in the 1978 Massacare)

But he spoke as one for whom violence was far away. His life was consumed by his faith. He got up - his day began - at Midnight. He had a bath, and said his prayers till four. From four till 5.30 he read from the Sikh scriptures. Then he slept until 8.30.

That was his life. That was the life that had come to him with the pure faith he had turned to when he was forty-one. It dearly had given him peace. (Sevadaar Note : This is the Author opinion from his meeting with Bhai Sahib, this reflects Bhai Sahibs demeanour to everyone not just his Sikh Sangat).

Just before we left, his son came in. He was a handsome, light eyed man. He had overcome polio, and was a doctor. He was sweet-visaged; he radiated gentleness; he had all his father's serenity. He was in government service; he said with a smile that they were currently on strike. The silver salver on the hanging shelf, the souvenir of London, was something he had brought back after a trip to England.

We hoped you enjoyed the above excerpt from the book. It clearly shows what a dedicated Gursikh Bhai Sahib Bhai Raam Singh Jee was. May Guru Jee bless all of us to better Gursikhs and learn fro Bhai Sahibs example.

WaheguruJeeKaaKhalsa WaheguruJeeKeeFateh!

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 20th, 2007 at 5:30 pm and is filed under Gursikhs. 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.