Kids Corner

Columnists

Conversation about this article

1: Nirmal Singh Grewal (U.S.A.), January 04, 2010, 1:25 PM.

I am also proud to be a Bihari. I was born in Patna in 1957, and did my schooling at St. Sevrin's and the Patna Collegiate Multipurpose School.

2: Gurpal S. Khakh (Wolverhampton, United kingdom), January 04, 2010, 5:29 PM.

Fantastic, an immensely rewarding read from T. Sher. I'm grateful to the founders, editor and contributors of sikhchic.com for providing such nourishment for the mind and soul, over the past few years. This article will no doubt be a firm favourite; from all those enterprising Sikh men and women who were the first of their families to leave the shores of there native India, I love to read of their joys of childhood, complementing the struggles of adulthood. T. Sher ji, I have five small questions for you if I may: 1) Was there any significant old local Sikh presence in Patna or were most people from West Punjab? 2) Was there ever any awareness of present-day issues in those days, such as hukamnamas, caste, Dasam Granth, etc. 3) Do you recall any Presidents, Prime ministers, film stars, etc., visiting and did they have anything noteworthy to say regarding the Guru and his Khalsa? 4) Wwas there ever any local sentiment or tension over such a large presence of Sikhs at Gurpurab in a Bihari setting; and lastly 5) When and how did Patna become Patna Sahib?

3: T. Sher Singh (Guelph, Ontario, Canada), January 05, 2010, 12:14 PM.

Responding to Gurpal ji, in the same order as your questions: 1) There was a small presence before the Partition. The numbers did not swell until later. It became an affluent and highly respected community, with Sikhs constituting leading businessmen, industrialists, bureaucrats, etc. across the State. I should add that earlier in the century, Bihar boasted a massive population of local, Bihari Sikhs known as Nanak-Panthis and a reputed 40,000 plus number of gurdwaras were to be found in every town, village and locality. All of then came to an end almost overnight when the short-sighted gurdwara bureaucrats in Amritsar announced their suzerainty over ALL gurdwaras - local "mahants", worried about ownership of their properties and personal incomes, locked away their copies of the Guru Granth Sahib and disavowed any affiliation with Sikhi! (It could have been handled better by Amritsar.) But, I should add: a couple of years before we left in 1971, we received word that a complete Rajput Hindu village about 40 miles from Patna had decided to convert to Sikhi - on its own volition! I attended the huge amrit ceremony - it remains one of the most extraordinary sights I've seen in my life. The village was called "Ain Khan". 2) There was no awareness of caste amongst local Sikhs. I personally, for example, did not become aware of the terms 'Jutt', 'Bhappa', 'Ramgharia", until long after I arrived in Canada in 1971, at the age of 21! There were no issues around hukamnamas, Dasam Granth, etc. - there is no doubt in my mind that such issues have been injected into the community post-1984 by outside, vested interests which do not have our best interests at heart. 3) I specifically recall personalities such as Presidents Rajendra Prashad, S. Radhakrishnan, Fakhruddin Ahmed and V.V. Giri, Vice-President Zakir Hussain, Prime Minister Nehru, Prithviraj Kapoor, Dara Singh, etc. as visitors - these visits were huge events. Their pronouncements were always most complimentary to Sikhs and the Gurus. 4) There was never any tension over the Gurpurabs. The locals, including bureaucrats all the way from the top to the bottom, participated and assisted in every way. There was, however, an underlying and simmering current of regionalism - such as "Bengal for Bengalis", "Orissa for Orriyas", "Maharashtra for Marathis" - that was slowly being fanned by local politicians, and manipulated by the national ones. But it wasn't ugly then. It ultimately did erupt against the Sikhs in 1984 in Bihar - most of the families fled the State then; the numbers have dwindled markedly. 5) The demand - and unfulfilled promises by politicians - to change Patna City to Patna Sahib remained in the air throughout the time I was in Patna. I don't know the exact date, but it was finally done several years ago and is now a fait accompli.

4: Sukhmandir Kaur (California, U.S.A.), January 05, 2010, 3:16 PM.

Thank you for bringing Patna alive!

5: M.K.S. (New York City, New York, U.S.A.), January 07, 2011, 11:31 AM.

T. Sher Singh ji - that brought back memories from my days in a neighboring Bihar town, Jamshedpur, where I was born and visited during the summer vacations as I was raised in Bombay. My maternal grand-father had settled in Jamshedpur during the early 1900s. Jamshedpur being an industrial city had a large Sikh population, probably bigger than Patna, Ranchi, Dhanbad, Ranigunj, Hirakut, Sambalpur, Rourkila and other cities in eastern India. Also, in Jamshedpur, I witnessed a small community of ethnic Bihari Sikhs. I've always been fascinated by the Sikh communities outside of Punjab and hope others will would put their experiences to paper like you've just done.

6: Gurjender Singh (Maryland, U.S.A.), January 07, 2011, 12:14 PM.

Thank you, T. Sher Singh ji, for details about Patna. I was born in Uttar Pradesh and lived about 10 years in Ranchi, Bihar and happened to visit Patna several times. Once, the Ranchi Gurdwara invited Harcharan Singh Longowal on Guru Nanak Dev ji's Gurpurab. He said that after looking at the Sikhs of Bihar, he was ashamed about the way Sikhs lived in Punjab.

7: M.K.S. (New York City, New York, U.S.A.), January 07, 2011, 12:58 PM.

This just came to mind. Rumor has it when the news about the attack on Harmandar Sahib got out in 1984, a few Sikh army men (less than 100) from the an army base in Ramgarh, Bihar revolted and proceeded to Amritsar in a convoy of 10 army trucks. Unfortunately they were all killed before they could reach Punjab. On a lighter note, in the early 1980s when I was new to the U.S., going to the gurdwara always elicited the same question from anyone I met for the first time - 'Tusee kehrrey pindo(n) ho?', meaning 'Which village are you from?' The assumption was Sikhs only came from Punjab and they all had rural connections.

8: Gurjender Singh (Maryland, U.S.A.), January 08, 2011, 9:15 AM.

In response to M.K.S of New York, I would like to say that the Sikh Regimental Centre headquarters used to be in Meerut, U.P. But in the late 70s, It was moved to Ramgarh, Bihar. Therefore at the time of 1984, the whole Sikh Regiment was based in Ramgarh.

9: Jagmohan Singh (Ludhiana, Punjab), April 13, 2012, 5:25 PM.

Amazing weaving of personal memoir with the Guru's blessings for Patna Sahib. I was not born in Bihar, but so what. I am still a proud Bihari as my great Tenth Master was born in Patna Sahib and we need to do more for the city than what we as a community have done so far.

10: Sangat Singh (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), April 14, 2012, 8:54 AM.

I never had the good fortune to visit Patna Sahib. Thank you, Sher Singh ji, for holding my hand and walking me to every nook and corner hallowed by Guru Gobind Singh Ji and the pranks he played, including taking his 'Baal Fauj' to Raja Fateh Chand Maini's house where his wife longed to have a son. The Rani was startled, one day, when the young Gobind Rai suddenly plunked himself on her lap, threw his arms around her neck and pronounced 'Ma, look, the child has come'. An ever-thriving love prospered thereafter and he and his playmates were always feasted with their favourite ghuggni.

11: Parminder Kaur (Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S.A.), April 14, 2012, 9:55 PM.

T. Sher Singh ji, thanks for sharing your memories about Patna Sahib. Brought back memories of my visit many moons ago!

12: Bhai Harbans Lal (Dallas, Texas, U.S.A.), May 11, 2012, 1:17 PM.

Sher ji! Thank you for sharing your memory snapshots of Patna Sahib from time to time. I regret for not having had the opportunity to pay my homage to my Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, at his birth place. I recall my first try many years ago when I wrote to the Manager of Takht Sri Patna Sahib to seek his advice as to how to reach Patna from Delhi. I did not get any response until several weeks later when my letter was returned undelivered from Patna post office with a stamp saying "Addressee Not Known". This really disturbed me that the post office would not know the very place which gave the city its name and was responsible for its existence! I sent that envelop with the stamp to Khushwant Singh to raise a question in India's Parliament on this public exhibition of such arrogance of the Patna Post Office. I did not believe that the local Post Office was that ignorant, it was a sheer irresponsible attitude towards Sikh pilgrims. Then a few years later the Jathedar Sahib of Takht Patna Sahib invited me through the Hon. Sardar S.S. Ahluwalia for a pilgrim's visit. He had arranged to bestow upon me a siropa for my humble services to the panth. Even though I did not consider myself worthy of the honour, I bought the airline ticket to Patna via New Delhi and proceeded to board the connecting flight from the Delhi airport. To my sheer frustration, the flight was cancelled due to bad weather and the next flight was not scheduled for several days, by when the gurpurab and associated celebrations would have been over. I was thus irritated and stranded in New Delhi. I consoled myself with the thought that perhaps I had truly not deserved the honour. I watched the Patna celebrations on the local TV. Then a miracle happened. To my disbelief, the considerate Jathedar did not take a dictate from the weather. I received a phone call from Ahluwalia Sahib who personally brought the siropa alongwith the karrah parshad for me to Delhi from the Takh Sahib. He invited me to a local gurdwara to bestow the honor which I accepted gladly, but in humility. When receiving the honor I reminisced a verse of Bhai Gurdas, the great Sikh theologian, who wrote: "The Guru travels thousands of steps to receive the one who takes a single step toward the Guru." Through the event just described, I personally experienced the Guru's generosity. However it is painful to recognize that this tradition of our great nation is on a decline. How many institutions of ours today welcome those who take the first step?

13: Baldev Singh (Bradford, United Kingdom), January 05, 2013, 8:40 PM.

I have been lucky enough to visit Patna Sahib on the birthday of Guru Gobind Singh ... and seen Takht Harmandar Sahib from the air whilst flying into Patna and heard the greatest rendition of the Anand Sahib kirtan ever!

14: Sarjit Kaur (Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.), January 08, 2013, 5:07 PM.

Sangat Singh ji, what is ghuggni? - 'Ma, look, the child has come'. An ever-thriving love prospered thereafter and he and his playmates were always feasted with their favourite 'ghuggni.') And do you have the recipe, please?

Comment on ""









To help us distinguish between comments submitted by individuals and those automatically entered by software robots, please complete the following.

Please note: your email address will not be shown on the site, this is for contact and follow-up purposes only. All information will be handled in accordance with our Privacy Policy. Sikhchic reserves the right to edit or remove content at any time.