Sunday February 5: I dropped my shoes, and adjusted my head-covering and walked into the Guru Nanak Gursikh Gurdwara Langar Hall. I stopped short, standing in the doorway. “Where are all the people?”The answer popped into my head, but I approached a table of women to make sure. “Everyone has gone to India? Right?”
Yes, they confirmed. February must be a nice time of year to travel to India, even the ragis (musicians) were gone.
“Well this solves one of my problems.” I mused to myself. There was a group of nurses from Health Ministries Network about to arrive, with their friends, and a couple children. I had worried how I was going to manage seating them all together, so that I could answer their questions about Langar and Sikhi. With so many Sikhs in India there was plenty of room. Normally the place is packed.
Health Ministries Network is an interfaith group of nurses who take blood pressure cuffs, and blood sugar testers and other medical supplies out into their own ethnic communities. They give the medical equipment away freely, while teaching people how to use them.
The Chardi Kala Projects has arranged for Sikh nurses to join the Health Ministries Network so they can serve our local Sikh community.
Mind you, the Sikhs nurses haven’t started yet because – you guessed it – they have gone to India.
The photo below is not of Sunday’s visitors. I didn’t wish to take pictures of our guests and post them to Facebook, for privacy reasons. Rather the photo is from the Health Ministries Network’s website. (https://www.healthministriesnetwork.net/)
Once the nurses and friend’s were done eating delicious Langar, the service was over so I took them into the Worship Hall. The head Granthi, Baba Hari Singh, graciously fulfilled my request and showed them the Guru Granth. And then, a humble Sikh friend, Jatinder Singh, arrived at my elbow and he explained the basics of Sikhi, with me adding a bit, here and there. It was fully delightful.
Two of the guests, a father and his son, stayed around longer than the rest. I sat with them in the Langar Hall. The boy asked me how you become a Sikh, and I told him several ways that someone might gradually approach the goal of becoming a Sikh.
“How do you get a Kara?” he asked.
“Hmmm,” I replied, “Let me go figure that out.”
I asked a Sikh who I knew to be on the Gurdwara Board for help. The President of the Gurdwara, who I know better, wasn’t around. He has probably gone to India. But in no time the boy had a Kara that fit just right. It was another delightful moment, whether the young man ever pursues Sikhi as a path of not.
One of the most pleasant and inspiring ways that the Chardi Kala Project bridges between nonSikhs and Sikhs is through arranging visits to our local Gurdwaras. I want to thank all the wonderful Kaurs and Singhs who spontaneously step up as gracious hosts, making nonSikh guests feel comfortable in the Guru’s Home.