INSIDE THE GURU'S GATE - Anpere

to participate. On these occasions he would narrate stories on the Gurus, read and
sing from Guru Granth Sahib, and explain the hymns in Hindi. Apparently Laina
Singh was the first Sikh to organize the Khalsa ceremony (Khande di pahul) in Varanasi
and converted a considerable number of Hindus to Sikhism. In these reminiscences
Laina Singh is ascribed the credit for introducing Sikh practices in the gurdwaras
and charismatically attracted local people to the Gurus’ teaching. For almost
thirty years he was the head granthi of the gurdwaras in Varanasi and trained other
devotees for the occupation. The death of Laina Singh became a memorable event in
the community. As his son recalled, he was cremated at the Charan Paduka, or the
“footsteps of Vishnu” at Manikarnika Ghat where, according to Hindu mythology,
Vishnu performed cosmogonic austerities to grant liberation to the city. Only saints
and people of exceptionally good reputation were allowed to end life at Vishnu’s
footsteps before the government banned cremations on this place a few years later.
More than 165 woollen shawls were offered and placed on the shroud of Laina Singh
in the typical Punjabi custom to honour a deceased.
Ajit Singh Sabharwal originated from the village Dhudhiyal in the district Jhelam
in the present Pakistan. After pursuing a bachelor degree in Economics from
Gordon College at Rawalpindi he and his family arrived in Varanasi after the partition
in 1947. Within a short time he established a tyre company, and later a national
petroleum and transport business that proved profitable. His qualities of leadership
secured him an influential position in the Sikh community. For more than three decades
Sabharwal served as the president for Uttar Pradesh Sikh Representative Board in
Lucknow and was a member and secretary of the gurdwara committee of the
neighboring pilgrimage center at Patna Sahib. From the end of 1960s up to his death
in 2002 he was the obvious president of the gurdwara committee in Varanasi (VGPC).
An informant remembered that Sabharwal decided to commit himself to community
work after he had read two hymns of Guru Gobind Singh which Laina Singh gave
him. Initially Sabharwal was hesitant about leading the gurdwara management because
of his business. According to my informant Sabharwal supposedly said to the
committee: “You will get as many donations you want, but no one from my family
will be president”. When Laina Singh discovered that Sabharwal was hesitant he
wrote him a letter with the two hymns. Sabharwal was persuaded, as he perceived
the verses of Guru Gobind Singh as a divinely order, to engage in selfless service to
the congregation and the house of the Guru. In connection with the five-hundred
anniversary of Guru Nanak’s birthday in 1969 the Sikh community elected a new
gurdwara committee and Sabharwal was appointed to be president. In retrospect
people often give Sabharwal the credit for building up the infrastructure of communal
activities. Under his presidency a new gurdwara hall of Gurubagh Gurdwara was
constructed and inaugurated in November 1969 with eminent people invited, such as
the state poet of Punjab Inderjit Singh Tulsi. The charitable hospital at Gurubagh and
the two Khalsa schools providing primary education up to college level at Gurubagh
and Shivpur are similarly ascribed to his generous donations and selfless work (seva).
Memorial marble tablets decorating the exterior walls of gurdwaras in and around
70
Published on www.anpere.net in May 2008