MALAYSIA: Uditakiran Kaur, 12, completed the entire reading of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib (SGGS) towards the end of last year.
It was no mean feat for a wheelchair bound girl who cannot turn the pages of the SGGS due to her physical disabilities.
Uditakiran is battling muscular dystrophy, a muscle disease that hampers her mobility and weakens her muscle cells. She cannot lift her hand high enough to turn the pages of the SGGS.
She has been bound to a wheelchair since the age of seven, after a long medical affair and numerous visits to hospitals.
On Jan 20, 2015, she was the centre of attention at the Gurdwara Sahib Klang in Selangor. She was all set to complete the reading of the last few pages of the SGGS which she started in 2013.
It was a proud moment for the family to see this little girl complete a feat which many Sikhs – so much older and physically abled – have not achieved.
“Her reading was so clear, so beautiful,” says Baldev Singh Leo, a local kirtani, who was present at the path-da-bhog ceremony. “I admire her confidence.”
Uditakiran started learning Gurmukhi from basic in June 2010 under the guidance of Ajit Kaur from Port Klang, Selangor. Within two years, she started the sehaj paath, the reading of the entire SGGS over time. She completed it in October 2014.
“I’m truly grateful to Bhenji Ajit for making this happen. She’s a truly sought after Punjabi teacher,” said her dad Jaspal Singh Bhullar, a businessman. Her mother, Harjinder Kaur, is a dental nurse.
Due to her condition, Udita, as she is called, needed physical support to flip the pages of the SGGS during the paath-da-bhog, the ceremony to mark to completion of the full reading of the SGGS. Uditakiran’s eldest brother, Gurveeer Singh, 15, was there to help.
At home, she read the SGGS from the sanchiaas (the SGGS in four volumes). She did that in the comfort of her home, at her own pace. She was able to turn the pages of the sanchiaas herself as it is physically smaller in size.
Uditakiran comes from a family where Gurbani recitation is a norm. The whole family does sehaj paath. They have a saroop (copy) of the SGGS in their home.
Gurveeer, who completed his full reading of the SGGS in 2013, inspired his younger siblings to do likewise. Now, her younger brother, Brahmveer Singh, 8, plans to start soon. Uditakiran also plans to start another round of the full reading of the SGGS.
Uditakiran attends a private school because the public school close by was not conducive for her condition as it hinders her mobility in a wheelchair.
“She’s perfectly normal in her studies. She’s just like the other students,” said Jaspal. – ASIA SAMACHAR (13 March 2015)
