Sat SRI Akal

The Martyrdom of the brave sons of Guru Govind Singh Ji

I am a bengali girl, who was brought up in the quiet peaceful city “The City Beautiful”.  The city is known for its eloquent roundabouts, planned roads lined with tall Eucalyptus and luxuriant Peepal. It is a lovely city for people from all walks of lives living together. A friendly cosmpoloitan neighbourhood comprising of Himachali, Haryanvi and people from Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.  The vast majority was however, your jolly Sikhs from Punjab.

Our first landlord I remember was a sweet, kind hearted jat Sikh retired from Army, who would very fondly call my younger sister Kaddu (she was chubby!) and would enthral the entire gang of kids with his stories of valour from  Maharaja Ranjit Sigh to Bhagat Singh to Indian Army. We, the children would sneak to our local gurdwara during Langar times, and enjoy the meals to our hearts delight.

There were regular greetings of Sat Sri Akal amongst us. And my very Bengali mommy who could not utter Hindi properly, let alone Punjabi, never felt awkward or out of place. Rather she recalls the warmth, kindness and graciousness of everyone who taught her sarson da saag and makki ki roti, gajar ka halwa and all other Punjabi cuisines!

I remember participating in Sikh processions and Prabhat –Pheris with my head covered and hands folded and partaking the Sweetest, most desi pure ghee densest halwa prasada ji, but I was mostly ignorant of such scale of magnanimous sacrifices of Sikh Gurus.

During my college MBBS days, two of my closest friends, would never fail to get up before 04.00 AM (Amrit Vela) in the morning, to say their prayers. It was done in a quiet unassuming way with no fuss ever created. They were kind, fun loving gals, but at the same time had a sort of self discipline and self regulation which was hard to miss.

So that was my first brush with Sikhism. I believe Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism, etc is a way of life. A set of moral codes and ethics, a means of righteous conduct.

And so it was just a simplistiuc way of life where service/ seva and valour were two core principles. It is where duty towards your country, religion and people is worship of God.

I saw this movie Chaar Sahibzade by Harry Baweja first online, when I was looking for true tales of history, mythology, religion to inspire my boys, then 3 and 5 years of age.  I was awestruck by the raw emotions portrayed so amazingly by animations. The true account of love, fearlessness, wisdom and bravery narrated so intricately by Om Puri moved me to pieces. For a large number of days, my hindi–bengali speaking boys will plead me to play  ‘Gobind Ne Laal Pyaare’, sung so mellifluously by Sukhwinder Singh. Words cannot describe the timeless eternal valour of Sardar Zorawar Singh ji, Fateh Singh ji, Ajit Singh, Jujhar Singh.

I am too lowly a person to speak of their sacrifices. The character they displayed was immortal and would be remembered by generations to come.  The movie is just a portrayal of the hard-core truth, of the spark of divinity, love and compassion present in all of us. The oneness of spirit. The death defying dedication to a pristine motto of religious freedom. The barbarism of fanatics. Each time I watch it with my boys now 7 and 5, we all hold our heads high, it enthuses me with vitality and vigour.

           ‘What is behind you; and what is ahead of you is nothing as compared to what is inside you.”

Ours is a great country, because such brave charismatic children were born here and how beautifully they embraced martyrdom. How smiling were those faces, how beaming were those eyes, grinning in the face of death. Sending a timeless message to all of us from beyond. That honesty, bravery and compassion always prevails. Chanting the holy –gurbani, naam kirtan are powerful sheaths in itself. 

These heroic words of the tenth guru will always inspire us to fight against injustice, inhumanity, fanaticism and unholy practices, not only in India but around the world. Strength lies not in numbers, but in your will, your upright motto, your righteous mission, your dedication towards your duty.

“Chiriya te mai Baaz Ladawa, Sawa Lakh se ek Ladawa, Tabhi Gobind Singh naam kahawa ”

Sat SRI Akal

Those of you who have not read the story or seen the movie, please do research the martyrdom of 4 sons of Guru Gobind Singh Ji. Everyone must know this, irrespective of caste, creed, nationality or religion.

The Mughal king Aurangzeb was frustrated in his efforts to nab the tenth Sikh Guru Gobind Singh Ji. His motto was to terrorize and convert all Hindus to Muslim. Hence he ordered the arrest and murders of the younger children of the Guru Maharaj. The younger two were buried alive in a brick wall. And the two elder ones died heroically on the battle field. The chase, the process, entire story is very poignant and I request everyone to please find out. You will experience goosebumps, that is my guarantee.

It is my regret to have not visited those sacred shrines, where some important relics still exist and are revered. Maybe in future, I would.