Spirit of Sewa shines through at ‘Hind-di-Chadar’

Nagpur: The mercury hovered between 8-9 degrees Celsius, and cold winds swept through the city on Sunday, but Sureshchandra Suri Ground in Nara came alive to the warmth and community feeling of the devotees who thronged the venue of ‘Hind-di-Chadar' event organised by the Maharshtra govt to commemorate Guru Teg Bahadur's 350th Martyrdom Day.

The event started with the recitation of ‘Asa da Vaar' by Bhai Gopal Singh and his group (Sri Guru Kalgidhar Darbar Gurdwara, Budh Nagar) in the morning. This was followed by signing of Gurbani hymns by Istri Satsang Jatha from across the city. Satsang Mandal from Jaripatka also participated in the signing of hymns.


A group of children from across the city and some from Yavatmal, who had especially prepared for the event, also recited some Shabads. This was followed by the singing of ballads (vaars) by Bibi Daler Kaur and her group. The singing of sacred hymns was continued by Bhai Amarjeet Singh (Patiala), Bhai Jagtar Singh (Amritsar), Bhai Jarnail Singh (Amritsar) and Bhai Chamanjeet Singh Lal (Delhi) till late afternoon.

The venue was partitioned into sections — blood donation camps, stall distributing free literature, etc — and separate enclosures for serving langar. A large number of devotees also availed of the free cataract checkup camps and the free OPD put by Nara PHC.

The spirit of seva (selfless service) shown through all the activities at the venue, which were shouldered by devotees from across the city and nearby districts. Hiramal, a long-time devotee, who was volunteering at the joda ghar (enclosure for safe keeping of footwear) said events like these foster community feeling, besides helping us understand the spirit of sacrifice which was taught by the Sikh Gurus.

Harmeet Singh, who was participating in langar seva, said that while the Sikhs had already observed Guru Teg Bahadar ji's Martyrdom Day on Nov 25, he was attending the event as part of community service.

A separate stage was set up for gatka (Sikh martial art) teams which gave live performance of their skills.

An exhibition titled ‘Virasar-e-Sikhi', put up besides the main pandal, attracted a good footfall. It had a number of slides giving information about the Sikh Gurus, their followers and some Bhagats whose Bani is included in Guru Granth Sahib.

The NCC cadets played a good role in managing the crowd of devotees right from the entrance along with the police personnel. The NMC sanitation department workers toiled tirelessly to keep the venue and the surrounding spick and span throughout the day.



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