INSIDE THE GURU'S GATE - Anpere

heavy mud. When Sikhs became aware of the problem they took action. One week
before the festival the gurdwara management hired paid labourers who, daily between
6 am and 8 pm, sluiced the banks and dug out stairs. The gurdwara arranged
karseva for students at the two Khalsa schools in Gurubagh and Shivpur. On the
Wednesday and Sunday preceeding the full-moon day all the school children were
transported to the riverbank to participate in voluntary work. In exchange for tea and
cookies the children were hoeing and shovelling mud to restore six steps at Pandey
Ghat. Cognizant of the importance of Karttik Purnima in Varanasi the cleaning of the
riverbank was an effort of goodwill to maintain amicable relationships with the
Hindu neighbors. Simultaneously the collective relief action was used as means to
infuse the younger Sikh generation with the feeling for seva bhav.
Seva as the act of giving monetary donations and other alms takes various expressions
in the Sikh life. As a conventional rule, Sikhs never enter the gurdwara
empty-handed. At least a few coins should be put in the collection box that is placed
in front of the scriptural throne when paying respect to Guru Granth Sahib. To give
dasvandh, 578 a tithe of one’s salary or profit to social and communal charity work, is a
moral obligation that local Sikhs should try to observe in their daily life. Dasvandh
comprises of everything from the smaller amounts that individuals donate to the
Guru’s place on daily visits to large monetary transactions to the community or other
religious and secular charity organizations. “By giving donations a person should not
think that I am getting less, but I will gain more... savings will come,” a middle-aged
Sikh man said. A monetary gift in the name of seva should be seen as an investment
for the future. The whole Sikh community in Varanasi is in fact built up on this monetary
seva. Wealthier members and traders ‒ men and women ‒ may present the
gurdwara with one of their monthly salaries as seva, or deposit parts of their profit for
social work, just as housewives donate costly jewellery to the gurdwara. Before festivals
and other religious programs committee members will organize fund-raising
drives, where community members go from shop to shop collecting money. Some
families have established customs of assuming full responsibility for supplying particular
provisions to the gurdwara as an act of seva in memory of a deceased family
member. 579 During the celebrations of Guru Nanak’s and Guru Gobind Singh’s birthdays,
for instance, the community organizes public distribution of food to 5000 ‒ 8000
people. On these occasions one to three families will take care of the expenditures of
food, which amount to around 50000 rupees, either by monetary donations or by
offering provisions. 580
578
Dasvandh is also explicated as an offering of time to religious worship. One of the local granthis
said, “Guru Maharaj ji said that you have to give a tenth of your twenty-four hours and of
your earnings for donations. It is 2½ hours of the twenty-four hours you have to give to simran.”
579
A Sindhi man who owned a local Silk house was held in high esteem for his commitment of
regularly bringing vegetables for langar for almost fifty years.
580
On the day of Guru Arjan’s martyrdom the distribution of sweetened water (mitha jal) costs
around 25000 rupees and is paid by donations. Anyone who wishes to pay for langar tells the
manager of the gurdwara who will put his or her name on a list. Community members can also
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Published on www.anpere.net in May 2008