The Last Post Of 2006
When I look back I feel 2006 was a really blessed year . I attended many kirtan darbars and was fortunate to come in contact with all of you. But two incidents left me perplexed ! I share both with you all.
First was on the night of 5th and 6th Jan 2006 ,when I was returning home after Gurpurb celebrations at Gurdwara Rakab ganj Sahib. It was almost 1.30 AM and temperature had dipped to less than 2 degrees Celsius. I had never been out on roads at that time and that night I was shocked to see hundreds of poor people sleeping on footpath. It was so cold… it made me shiver. That night I could not sleep as my warm bed seemed to have grown thorns. But we forget and soon I forgot all about it and life was normal again.
Next was on 28th December when I had gone to Gurdwara Bangla Sahib to attend Raj Academy kirtan. It was around 10am and as I was moving towards jora ghar I saw a man fishing out something from the dustbin . At first I ignored , taking him to be a regular rag-picker. But I noticed that he was eating something. I stopped and what I saw left me totally poignant. That man was taking out left-over food from paper-plates ( thrown in the dustbin after prabhat pheri prashad distribution) and was eating it. Right in the Gurdwara premises where free langar and karhah prashad is available almost round the clock, why should any one eat leftover food?
I could not stop myself and walked up to him and said, “Bhaiya, yeh kyon khaa rahe ho? Langar hall mein jaa ke langar khaa lo agar tumhein bhookh lagi hai.”
( Why are you eating this? Go to the langar hall if you are hungry).
The man dropped the plate and stood up like a child caught stealing some thing. I looked hard at his face trying to make a diagnosis. My mind racing fast from psychosis to drug addiction. Or may be he was a simple hungry street urchin . He stood looking down like a culprit waiting for punishment. I took out some money and told him to go and eat something. He quickly took the money and vanished. I realized my mistake because a drug addict may not buy food with the money. But I didn’t have time to get food for him.
Now, I’ll keep thinking about this incident for some days, and then… forget it…
ਇਕਿ ਤੁਝ ਹੀ ਕੀਏ ਰਾਜੇ ਇਕਨਾ ਭਿਖ ਭਵਾਈਆ ॥ (566-12, ਵਡਹੰਸੁ, ਮ: 1)
Some, You have made kings, while others go about begging.
When I look back I feel 2006 was a really blessed year . I attended many kirtan darbars and was fortunate to come in contact with all of you. But two incidents left me perplexed ! I share both with you all.
First was on the night of 5th and 6th Jan 2006 ,when I was returning home after Gurpurb celebrations at Gurdwara Rakab ganj Sahib. It was almost 1.30 AM and temperature had dipped to less than 2 degrees Celsius. I had never been out on roads at that time and that night I was shocked to see hundreds of poor people sleeping on footpath. It was so cold… it made me shiver. That night I could not sleep as my warm bed seemed to have grown thorns. But we forget and soon I forgot all about it and life was normal again.
Next was on 28th December when I had gone to Gurdwara Bangla Sahib to attend Raj Academy kirtan. It was around 10am and as I was moving towards jora ghar I saw a man fishing out something from the dustbin . At first I ignored , taking him to be a regular rag-picker. But I noticed that he was eating something. I stopped and what I saw left me totally poignant. That man was taking out left-over food from paper-plates ( thrown in the dustbin after prabhat pheri prashad distribution) and was eating it. Right in the Gurdwara premises where free langar and karhah prashad is available almost round the clock, why should any one eat leftover food?
I could not stop myself and walked up to him and said, “Bhaiya, yeh kyon khaa rahe ho? Langar hall mein jaa ke langar khaa lo agar tumhein bhookh lagi hai.”
( Why are you eating this? Go to the langar hall if you are hungry).
The man dropped the plate and stood up like a child caught stealing some thing. I looked hard at his face trying to make a diagnosis. My mind racing fast from psychosis to drug addiction. Or may be he was a simple hungry street urchin . He stood looking down like a culprit waiting for punishment. I took out some money and told him to go and eat something. He quickly took the money and vanished. I realized my mistake because a drug addict may not buy food with the money. But I didn’t have time to get food for him.
Now, I’ll keep thinking about this incident for some days, and then… forget it…
ਇਕਿ ਤੁਝ ਹੀ ਕੀਏ ਰਾਜੇ ਇਕਨਾ ਭਿਖ ਭਵਾਈਆ ॥ (566-12, ਵਡਹੰਸੁ, ਮ: 1)
Some, You have made kings, while others go about begging.
The kirtan was amazing you can down load from this site
Sat Shri Akal!
Dear Upinder Ji
You have a caring heart, you will not forget about him. About them.
In India it is impossible, because everywhere Guru ji is giving signs to us not forgetting about them, our brothers and sisters who are not so well off (and that is an euphemism)
And even in the so called wealthy west so many people suffer... we have to care for them in one way or another. We have to earn our daily bread honestly and share this with others...
So let them into your caring heart, it is God who you are caring for.
May i wish you a happy new year wih lots of love and good health!!!!