People
My Vaisakhi Seva
JON ASHWORTH
This year, on 13 April, a million Sikh-Britons celebrated Vaisakhi, one of the high holidays on the Sikh calendar. It was on 13 April 1699 that the Tenth Master, Guru Gobind Singh, laid down the foundations for the Khalsa movement - a collective body of initiated Sikhs who dedicate their lives to the service of humanity.
One of the most exciting things about representing Leicester -- I have the honour and privilege of being the Labour MP for Leicester South -- is being part of city of so many faiths. We have our splendid churches, our mosques, hindu temples, synagogues, a Jain temple and of course our Gurdwaras. I'm proud that we are a city that celebrates every major religious festival.
So in Leicester, every year we have the Nagar Kirtan procession through the city to celebrate this holy day. Thousands of people come from across the county to take part. This year's procession, organised, saw over 15,000 people walking through the City.
Every year I march with the procession and join worshippers at a number of gurdwaras, but this year I wanted to do something extra and try to gain for myself a more meaningful experience of Vaisakhi.
So, I decided to do some seva as part of my Vaisakhi experience. Offering one's service is an integral part of Sikh tradition, and this is epitomised in the daily langar served in gurdwaras everywhere. During langar, gurdwaras open their kitchens to everyone, regardless of background, and offer free food to all those in attendance.
This generous service is offered by all gurdwaras, and is a clear example of Sikh community organisation. I wanted to be part of this, so I offered to serve food in the kitchens on the day of the Leicester Vaisakhi Nagar Kirtan.
My day started at 11.00 am at the Guru Nanak Gurdwara on Holy Bones. People of all ages were ready to start the procession, and there was a real sense of community and excitement. The procession was led by a dhol player on the back of a vehicle, and behind him were more than a dozen sweepers. These barefoot sweepers cleaned the streets, ready for the Punj Pyarey -- the Beloved Five -- with kirpans held up proudly and reverentially, to then follow.
The kirpan is one of the five key articles of faith of Sikhism. All around there were visual reminders of Sikh tenets, from these carefully-carried kirpans to the bright orange Khalsa flags. People were singing religious hymns as we walked along, and it was a fantastic environment to be immersed in.
I reached the Guru Tegh Bahadar Gurdwara for 1.00 pm to start my seva and there was a lot of preparation to be done for this! The kitchens were impressively organised, fully ready and prepared to feed the thousands of people due to be fed after a long three mile walk! It was important for me to see and experience first-hand the effort that goes into this service.
The langar is such a significant part of being in a gurdwara, and the volunteers who provide these meals show a real commitment to helping others; cooking for thousands of people is no easy task, as I very much learned! I was later told that the gurdwara would easily serve 20,000 meals that day.
As the government's austerity cuts affect the general populace, some of the gurdwaras in Leicester have reported they are seeing more and more people from the general British population come in for food on a daily basis and it is an extraordinary testament to the Sikh commitment to the common good, that no one is turned away.
Indeed as I served food, I realized I was serving not just to Sikhs but people of all faiths and backgrounds.
What was so noticeable about the langar was the way in which everyone there was united. They were united not only in their religious beliefs, but also in their support for traditions like this that are dedicated to helping others. People of all ages came together, and it was great to see three generations of one family all participating together in the gurdwara.
But what struck me most powerfully was that the Vaisakhi celebrations were more than a celebration of the Khalsa movement; they were a celebration of community, friendship and generosity, and I look forward to participating in next year's festivities.
[Courtesy: The Huffington Post. Edited for sikhchic.com]
May 1, 2013
Conversation about this article
1: Harbhajan Kaur (Birmingham, United Kingdom), May 01, 2013, 7:15 AM.
Dear Mr Ashworth: It is a pleasure to have you join us on Vaisakhi every year and I am glad you enjoy the experience each time. You are always welcome. I am also pleased to see from your langar seva experience that you are indeed learning a bit about us. This is not meant to be a criticism in any way, merely a pointer, that in Sikhi seva is seva only if the act of doing it is kept under wraps. That is, not publicized or proclaimed to the world. I know you mean well, and I also know that you are new to our ways. In an attempt to dig out something that will explain the concept of seva in its truest form, I have dug through the sikhchic.com archives -- right here where I read your wonderfully written piece -- and hereby provide you a link to an article worth reading on the subject. Thank you for your lovely write-up. http://www.sikhchic.com/article-detail.php?id=88&cat=12
2: Kulwant Singh Kang (Oakville, Ontario, Canada), May 01, 2013, 9:26 AM.
I believe that in some cases, such as this one, it provides a greater benefit to our community to have made public the act. I beleive the intent of Mr. Ashworth's article here is not to proclaim the seva he did as much it is to describe the process of seva to the non-Sikhs. I know that in its purest sense the word "seva" carries a much deeper meaning but its context in this article could be given a leeway.
3: Jamil Mirza (Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan), May 01, 2013, 10:29 AM.
25 years ago, I had a similar experience when I visited Gurdawara Janam Asthaan, Nankana Sahib, Pakistan on Vaisakhi. The menu on that day was saabat daal Mongi. I joined the langar, distributed the daal from a steel bucket. That was a wonderful experience of my life.