INSIDE THE GURU'S GATE - Anpere

Some of the local kathakars may claim to be pracharak, or “propagandist” or
“promoters” of the Sikh religion. Their work is aimed at religious edification within
the Sikh community but also to attract people of other faiths to the Gurus’ teaching
and practices. A senior kathakar traveling in the district of Varanasi, for instance, said
he had earlier worked as a pracharak for the Shahid Sikh Missionary College at Amritsar
but in the autumn of his life decided to obey Guru Nanak’s teaching and take up
agriculture. Regularly he was invited to Varanasi to give katha on the Sikh teaching
and history, especially on festival days commemorating the Gurus. When distinguishing
between the two services he said that the kathakar needs to be modest and
humble in performance and should provide keys to open up new understandings of
gurbani, while the pracharak should be more dramatic in his speeches and acts in order
to campaign for the Sikh religion.
The last category of employees in the gurdwara to be mentioned is not performers
who have pursued competence in recital, music, or oratory, but those who
work as unskilled labour. Like other devotees engaged in services in the gurdwara
they will go by the name sevadars, or “servants” to the Guru and the Guru’s house,
only with the difference that they are paid a smaller salary for their work. Most
sevadars in Varanasi were low caste Hindus of rural background and lived either
alone or with their families in the gurdwara. Their duties, which they perceived to be
selfless service (seva), involved all practicalities – to clean the floors, prepare food,
accommodate pilgrims, repair machines, watch and close the gates, go on errands for
the gurdwara, and so on. Some would gain proficiency in reading gurbani and eventually
advance to the post of a reciter or assistant granthi.
As a general rule all people working in the gurdwaras receive a monthly salary
and are provided with free meals in the communal kitchen, hospital care at Guru
Nanak Hospital, and elementary education for their children at Guru Nanak Khalsa
School. Between the years 1999 and 2001 a granthi would receive a monthly payment
of 2500 rupees for himself and his family. The salary level of ragis varied between
8000 and 10000 rupees depending on the skill and repute of the group. This amount
was to be shared between three people and their respective families. 367 Since sevadars
are seen as “unskilled” labor, in the sense that no training or education is required,
they receive the lowest payment, between 600 to 1500 rupees a month depending on
the extent of their duties. In addition, the committee distributed pay envelopes to
granthis, kathakar and different sevadars working outside the two main gurdwaras for
the purpose of promoting Sikhism in the rural district surrounding Varanasi. From
these brief examples it is evident that the fixed payments given to people working in
the gurdwaras are means of subsistence even if their income may be supplemented
by monetary donations. Professions in a gurdwara should be selfless service to the
Guru and the community, and not occupations for making a profit.
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Paid out of town musicians of regional or even national repute will have fixed prices for
performances at a much higher rate. Ragi ensembles from the Punjab may require 15000 rupees
or considerably more for a single performance.
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Published on www.anpere.net in May 2008