Sep 21, 2012: Sometime back I was in Yangon, Myanmar. After visiting the famous Buddhist temples, Shwedagon Pagoda and Sule Pagoda, I was keen to visit the hundred years old gurdwara located on Thein Byu Street in the capital city, earlier known as Rangoon. I was distressed when a Burmese told me that the gurdwara was damaged in a fire in October 2011 and has been closed since then.
Before I could move on, something told me that a gurdwara can’t be deserted. So I ventured inside the premises. And I was right! The Bir, or covered stand of the Guru Granth Sahib had been shifted to a room within the complex and the head granthi, or priest, Bibi Balbir Kaur was reciting from the scripture. I paid my respects and sat down. When she completed the ardaas, or prayer, I spoke to her. She was thrilled to meet somebody who had come from India and that too from a place very close to the pilgrim city of Amritsar in Punjab.
We chatted for a while. As I got up to leave, she folded her hands and said, “You can’t leave without taking Guru Ka Langar.” Seeing my surprised expression, she said, “A gurdwara without a free kitchen is inconceivable. After the fire broke out and the place was closed, I have been preparing the langar in my room. I ensure that nobody goes without partaking the langar.” She then led me to the adjoining room.
“I must salute your spirit of sewa but, isn’t it too much of an effort to do all this single-handedly?” She looked unfazed and said, “A gurdwara is a place of worship and according to the Sikh faith, no worship is complete without performing sewa that includes sweeping the precincts, serving water to the thirsty, fanning the congregation in warm weather and serving food to the hungry. Of these, langar is, perhaps, the most important.”
Before I could react, she continued: “Our gurus desired that every Sikh should share his food with others. Wand Chhakna and the kitchen should be open to all. Serving others should be considered as an opportunity to refine oneself and take a step closer to God. It is for this reason that cleaning of shoes is considered to be one of the best forms of service. It humbles you. Our gurus had warned that it would be churlish on our part to think that by serving and feeding others, we are doing good to them. Rather, we should be grateful to them that they gave us an opportunity to improve ourselves and thus progress further in the pursuit of higher goals in life.”
I followed Bibi Balbir to her room. I could feel an altogether different aura and energy there. She prepared fresh rotis and served them with dal and vegetables with such devotion that mere words cannot justify the feeling.
After I bid her goodbye, these words of His Holiness the Dalai Lama came to my mind: “The best religion is the one which makes you a better human being. Your conduct in front of others is the reflection of your religion.”
That religion is bound to flourish whose focal point is service and whose ambassadors are selfless devotees like Bibi Balbir Kaur.