People
Sardar Kehar Singh Aujla:
Living In Seva
by MARIO BARTEL
When Sardar Kehar Singh Aujla retired, his work really began.
After toiling in India’s coal mines for 40 years, then as a farm labourer and a security guard in a bank following his immigration to Canada in 1996, Aujla had earned a retirement of languid leisure.
But sloth isn’t in his nature.
Kehar Singh, 78, volunteers for nine community organizations in New Westminster and Burnaby in British Columbia, Canada.
That’s earned him recognition by Canadian Immigrant magazine as a finalist to name the country’s top 25 immigrants.
As one of the 75 to reach the final online ballot, he’s in some pretty heady company, including architect Bing Thom, photojournalist Boris Spremo, Olympic wrestler Daniel Igali, musician K’naan, and Olivia Chow, the widow of the late leader of the New Democratic Party Jack Layton and an accomplished politician herself.
Kehar Singh’s achievements since he became a Canadian may not generate headlines, but they’re no less impressive.
He volunteers at least three hours a day at the Khalsa Diwan Society Gurdwara in Queensborough, traveling from his Burnaby home on public transit.
On Tuesdays and Sundays he runs the gurdwara.
Other days he helps out in the kitchen, serves langar and karrah parshad or attends to doing paatth of the Guru Granth Sahib.
“Wherever they need me, they put me there,” says Kehar Singh, before attending to a call about the extensive renovation work going on at the gurdwara.
He is also a Volunteer Grandparent, helps visitors find their way around Burnaby Hospital, Burnaby Village Museum and the Shadbolt Centre, does work for the Senior Outreach Services Society, and the Breast Cancer Foundation.
It’s a full schedule, often eating up more than 40 hours of his week.
But, says Kehar Singh, it never feels like work.
“When I was working, I was a servant to the organization. But as a volunteer ... they can’t kick me out.”
And the rewards are infinitely more gratifying than numbers on a paycheque.
“What we get, the thanks and the good wishes, I never got in my 51 years of working,” he says.
Some of those thanks include recently being named Burnaby’s Citizen of the Year, a 2011 Seniors of Distinction Award for Healthy Living and a 2010 Simon Fraser University Gerontology Senior Leadership Award.
But it’s this latest online recognition that has him most excited. When asked, he gives precise instructions on where to find his bio and how to cast a vote. If he makes the cut, it will be the ultimate fruit of his volunteer labour and he’ll get to help out the organization of his choice with a $500 donation in his name.
He won’t, however, kick back and slow down.
To cast a vote for Canada’s top 25 immigrants, please CLICK here.
[Courtesy: New Westminster News Leader. Edited for sikhchic.com]
April 11, 2012
Conversation about this article
1: Baldev Singh (Bradford, United Kingdom), April 11, 2012, 5:16 AM.
Living in seva! Can there be anything better as a 'prize' for this wonderful man? After an extraordinary life of hard work from job to job! And now, seva in breathtakingly beautiful Canada!
2: Shinder Kaur (Malaysia), April 11, 2012, 7:13 AM.
No words could describe the seva. Nonetheless may Maharaj gives him good health and prosperity to keep going in the world of sewa.
3: Kirpal Singh (Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S.A.), April 11, 2012, 8:57 AM.
Great role model! We are proud of you, Khalsa ji. May Waheguru bless you with a long, happy, healthy and holy life to continue with your great work and example for us all!
4: Sangat Singh (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), April 12, 2012, 12:23 PM.
'vich dunee-aa sayv kamaa-ee-a taa dargeh baisan paa-ee-ai' (GGS 26.1) 'In the midst of this world, do seva and you shall be given a place of honour in Waheguru's Court.'