W Women Power G d o - GURU FATHA SINGH€¦ · and Nanak. Their mother came, as well. Finally, with a few more angry words, he retreated and left Nanaki and her brother. As was the

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Women of

Grace and PowerStories for Sikh Girls

Singh Sahib Guru Fatha Singh Khalsa

Hemkunt

Women of

Grace and PowerStories for Sikh Girls

© Author

First Published 2012

ISBN: 978-81-7010-000-0

Published by:

Hemkunt Publishers (P) Ltd.Hemkunt Publishers (P) Ltd.Hemkunt Publishers (P) Ltd.Hemkunt Publishers (P) Ltd.Hemkunt Publishers (P) Ltd.402, Ansal Imperial TowerC-Block Community Centre,Naraina Vihar, New Delhi-110028Tel. : 4141-2083Fax : 91-11-4540-4165E-mail : [email protected]

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Cover Photo : Nyrmla's Wedding IICopyright The Singh Twinswww.singhtwins.co.uk

Printed and bound in India by

HEMTECH INDIACustom Printing & Publishing

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Table of Content

1. Bibi Nanaki (1464-1518) 7

2. Bibi Amaro (1526-1589) 12

3. Bibi Bhani (1535-1589) 17

4. Mata Kaulan (1600-1652) 26

5. Mata Gujari (1624-1705) 30

6. Mata Krishan Kaur (1632-1701) 52

7. Mai Bhago (1675-1755) 57

8. Rani Sahib Kaur (1771-1799) 61

9. Princess Sophia (1878-1948) 65

10. Bibi Harnam Kaur (1886-1914) 69

11. Bibi Balbir Kaur (1901-1923) 75

12. Bibi Gursharan Kaur (1937 - ) 79

13. Bibi Krishna Kaur Khalsa (1940 - ) 85

14. Dr. Inderjit Kaur (1942 - ) 88

15. Dame Anita Roddick (1942-2007) 94

16. Bibi Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa (1943 - ) 99

17. Dr. Nikky Guninder Kaur Singh (1958 - ) 102

18. Dr. Kalpana Chawla (1961-2003) 106

19. Bibis Amrit and Rabindra Kaur Singh (1967 - ) 114

20. Bibi Amandeep Kaur (1968- ) 119

21. Dr. Anarkali Kaur Honaryar (1984 - ) 128

Bibi Nanaki (1464-1518)

Bibi Nanaki lived in the village of Talwandi, in Punjab.Her father was Mehta Kalu, her mother Mata Tripta.

When Nanaki’s brother was born, he already sat andmeditated like a yogi. Nanaki loved her little brother. Shewas five when he was born.

When Nanak went to learn his alphabet from his teacher,the teacher sent him home because he already kneweverything. Nanaki could see that her brother was verysmart, smarter than anybody she knew, even though hewas just a boy.

Nanaki’s father was a businessman. He loved to buythings for little money and sell them to others for moremoney than he had paid. He called the extra money hegained his “profit.”

One day he sent his son Nanak with some money to gothe town and do some business for a profit. On the way,he saw some simple people singing God’s praises. Nanaksat for a time and sang with them. Their music, their voices,and the little one-stringed insturment they played, werefilled with joy.

Nanak left them feeling very happy, thinking what awonderful time he had had. He also asked himself, “Howcan I help them? They gave me joy. What can I give themin return?”

The answer came quickly. “You can bring them somefood from the town. You can pay for it with your father’s

8 Women of Grace and Power

money. This will be a great profit. You will take money,buy food, and make the saints happy. It is the best thinga person can do.”

When Nanak came home, his father asked him, “Whatbusiness did you do, my son?”

Nanak explained, “I took your money and fed the saints.This will bring happiness in this world and the next.”

Nanak’s father did not understand these things. Hewanted money and more money. He did not care aboutsaints or the next world. He became angry. Mehta Kalutook a stick and began to beat his son with it.

Nanaki was upset to hear her father shouting andbeating her dear brother. Nanak’s father had knocked himdown and stood over him. He hit him and hit him again.Nanaki shouted, “No, Father! Please don’t beat my littlebrother!” And she put herself between her angry fatherand Nanak. Their mother came, as well. Finally, with afew more angry words, he retreated and left Nanaki andher brother.

As was the custom in those days, Nanaki’s parentsfound a husband for her when she was eleven years old.She married Jai Ram and moved with him to his home inSultanpur.

All the time she was away, Nanaki never forgot abouther brother. She prayed for and thought about him all thetime. She was worried that her father would beat him upagain. Nanak was not a businessman like his father. Hedid not think like a business person. He did not are aboutmaking more and more money. Nanaki knew that thisoften made their father upset.

Jai Ram knew about his wife’s worries. One day, hesaid to her, “Dear wife, I think your dear brother may beable to work at the granary of the governor. The governorneeds an honest man to keep track of his grain. Who canbe more honest than Nanak? He could come and stay here

with us. Then you would never have to worry.”Nanaki thought this was a great idea. Soon it was

arranged, and Nanak came to live in peace and happinesswith his sister, Bibi Nanaki and her husband.

Everyone was happy with Nanak’s work at thegovernor’s granary. The poor who came for food werehappy because Nanak gave them as much grain as theyneeded. The governor was happy to have such a goodworker. And Nanaki and Jai Ram were happy to knowthat Nanak was safe with them.

A few years later, Nanak’s parents arranged for him tomarry Sulakhni. After a time, they had two children, SiriChand and Lakshmi Das. Nanaki, who had no children,treated them like her own.

One day, everything changed. That day, early in themorning, Nanak went for his usual meditation in the coldwaters of the Bein River, but did not return. For threedays, Nanak was missing. Sulakhni and Nanaki worriedwhat might have happened.

Finally, Nanak returned from his meditation. His facewas shining bright. He spoke little, but what he said wasgreat in wisdom. He shared beautiful poetry that Godsang to him in his heart. People came to see and listen tohim. From that time on, people called him “Guru Nanak”.His followers were called his “Sikhs.”

Hearing the beauty of the Guru’s songs, Bibi Nanakigave a Sikh called Mardana a rabab to play while her brothersang. The rabab was round, stringed instrument like a guitar.Nanak loved to sing while Mardana played this rabab.

One day, the Guru found his sister very thoughtful.She looked sad even. He asked his dear sister what shewas thinking.

Bibi Nanaki told her brother that a dear friend hadjust had a beautiful, baby girl. She was very happy, buther husband and his family were not. When the baby was

Bibi Nanaki 9


born, they said, “Eat ghur, spin your thread. We don’twant you, but a brother instead,” and killed the baby byfeeding it ghur.

Guru Nanak looked deeply into the eyes of his sister.It seemed a tear or two was coming into his own eyes,together with a flash of anger. “Be at peace, my dearsister. I will speak to you tomorrow.”

The next time Bibi Nanaki saw the Guru, he and Mardanawere playing a new song that had come to him from God.He smiled when he saw his sister arrive in the sadh sangat.Then he began to sing:

A man comes to life in the body of a woman.Within a woman, his body takes shape.With a woman, he is attached and married.Man enjoys woman as a friend.From mother to wife to daughter, his family goes on.When his woman dies, man looks for another.Man is tied to womankind.Why say she is badWho is the mother of great men?From a woman, even woman is born.Without woman, there would be no one.Oh Nanak, without a womanThere is none, only God.

Soon, everyone was singing. As Bibi Nanaki lookedaround with teary ears, she could see her friend. She toowas singing. And her friend’s husband was singing, singingand crying, too. And his parents were weeping too. Itseemed the family now understood what they had notunderstood. And they were very sorry and would not killany girl babies again.

Guru Nanak went on four long journeys to teach themessage of Sat Naam, to live in kindness and courage.While he was gone, Bibi Nanaki and her husband looked

after the Guru’s oldest son, Siri Chand, while LakshmiDas, the younger son, lived with his mother.

Bibi Nanaki meditated on her saintly brother oftenduring the years that he was away in faraway lands. GuruNanak held her in his heart, as well. In their hearts, theywere never far apart. For her service and love of GuruNanak, Bibi Nanaki is remembered as the first Sikh.

Bibi Nanaki 11


Bibi Amaro (1526-1589)

Amaro was just six years old. She lived in the sleepy townof Khadoor in Punjab. She had two older brothers, Dasuand Datu, and a younger sister called Anokh.

One day, there was a great excitement at Amaro’s homeas her father shared the story of his finding a great holyman in a town not so far away. This man was Guru Nanakand according to her father, he was filled with the wisdomof the world. Her father was so in love with the Guru,that he proposed his whole family move to the town ofKartarpur to live near near him.

Soon, Amaro’s mother agreed and the whole familypacked all their things. They loaded a cart, said good-byeto their neighbours, and set out for Kartarpur.

Amaro liked her new life in the new town. There wasa blissful rhythm to each day. Every morning, many of thetownspeople would rise early and bathe. There was noplumbing in those days, so some went and bathed in theriver. Others bathed at home with pots of water from thewell. Then they would gather together to say Guru Nanak’sJapjee Saahib, chant God’s Name together, and sing divinekeertan. After that, the Guru would always speak, andafter that, there was always prashaad.

It was a nice routine: the dark quiet morning, the peacefulgathering of neighbours and friends, even little babies withtheir mothers, the sweet sounds and rhythms of theGurbaanee, Guru Nanak’s appearance and the sound of his

voice, and then, the sweet, yummy prashaad.Evenings were almost the same, the same gatherings

with the setting of the sun, the reading this time of Rehiraas,the keertan, Guru Nanak’s wise and sometimes funny words,and prashaad before bedtime.

Amaro’s father would serve Guru Nanak in many ways,day and night. Whatever the Guru asked, her father woulddo. He also made it his habit to join Guru Nanak earlyeach morning when he meditated year round in the nearbyRavi River. The Guru had two sons who were older thanAmaro’s father. They did not follow and obey what GuruNanak said like her father.

One day, when Amaro was thirteen years old, therewas a special gathering. Guru Nanak stood before his lovingSikhs. Looking around, Amaro could see there were youngchildren and older children. There were also boys andgirls a little older than her. Some she knew from her village.Others must have come with their parents from anotherplace. There were adults, mothers and fathers andgrandparents too. Everyone was paying attention to theirwhite-bearded, loving Guru.

Nanak told everyone that a great day had come. Hetold them how her father had served him without complaintover the years. Then he told everyone that he had becomeold and he would not be living with them for many moredays. Guru Nanak took one of his turbans and tied it onAmaro’s father’s head. The great Guru said to everyonethat Amaro’s father, whom the adults had called “Lehna,”would from then on be called “Angad,” and that he wouldbe the Guru.

Everyone was surprised. Everyone. Some people cried.Mata Sulakhani, Guru Nanak’s wife, looked sad. Some wereconfused. How could Lehna be Angad? And how couldAngad take Guru Nanak’s place? Amaro wondered andwatched her father closely.

Bibi Amaro 13


Guru Nanak’s spirit left his body not long after that.Soon after, Amaro’s father, who was now called GuruAngad by many, but not all of Guru Nanak’s followerswent to meditate for a long time. He needed to concentrateand purify himself for the difficult job of being Master ofGuru Nanak’s disciples.

After secretly meditating in a hut for six months, GuruAngad returned from his hiding place. Amaro and herfamily were happy to see him, as were many of the firstGuru’s followers. Many of them respectfully called Amaro’sfather the second Guru. As for Amaro, she could see thather father, whom she loved as her father, now glowedwith a special light.

Not long after his return, Guru Angad told everyonethat he would be moving back to Khadoor. Amaro lookedforward to seeing some of her old friends again in theirold home town.

Once they had moved, many people came to see andtalk with the Guru. Many treated Amaro’s father as theirown father. Meanwhile, Amaro’s mother became busyfeeding all the guests. Everyone called her mother “MataKhivi” and her special job was to see everyone who cameto visit was fed.

Amaro did not stay long with her family in Khadoor,however. Soon, she became a teenager and then it wastime to be married. After a big celebration, she was marriedto a handsome disciple of the Guru’s. He was named Jasoo.As was the custom, Amaro moved to her husband’shometown of Basarke.

It was Amaro’s habit to rise in the amrit vela, bathe,and sing the Guru’s hymns. She had learned many of hishymns by heart. People said Amaro had a beautiful voice.

So it was that early one morning, she was singing:“Actions are the paper and the mind is the ink. In this

way, both good and bad are written.

People act according to their habits. God’s virtues arewithout end.

Why do you forget God, O crazy man?By forgetting him, your goodness will melt away.”Out of the darkness of the night, Amaro heard a voice

call out, “My daughter, I was dead. Then this life-givingverse entered my ears and I became alive again. Pleasesing the divine poetry again. And please take me to theone whose holy words these are.”

Amaro grew shy and became quiet at the sound of theold man’s voice. But her mother-in-law had heard themboth. The old man in fact was Amar Das, Amaro’s uncle-in-law. Her mother-in-law spoke to Amaro, “There isnothing wrong in doing this. Father and father-in-law arethe same. Do not be shy in singing Gurbaanee. You shouldtake Amar Das to Khadoor Sahib to see the Guru. It willbe a blessing for you.”

Amaro replied, “How can I go to see my father whenhe has not called me? Why, I have just arrived here!” Buther mother-in-law assured her it was okay.

Amar Das said to Bibi Amaro, “Please be so kind as tolead me to the Guru.”

Amaro then agreed, “As you wish. Tomorrow morning,I will take you to see the Guru.”

As agreed, early the next day, Bibi Amaro and BabaAmar Das set out. Amar Das had powerful legs used towalking long distances. He walked beside his young niece-in-law at a steady pace. Around them, sometimes theywould meet people who would great them respectfully.“Sat Kartar!” they would say. As they walked, Bibi Amarofelt the calm wisdom of her older relative. He had a smilefor everyone and the strength of a man much youngerthan himself.

By noon, they arrived at the hall where Bibi Amaroknew her father held court. She shyly went inside where

Bibi Amaro 15


Guru Angad was receiving his disciples, leaving Baba AmarDas outside.

When Guru Angad saw his daughter bowing at hisfeet, he knew right away what was happening. He said toher, “Stop worrying that you have come here without mycalling for you. It is good that you have come. But whyhave you left the one you brought with you outside? Goand bring him inside also.”

So it was that Bibi Amaro introduced Baba Amar Dasto Guru Angad Dev, the second Guru. Over the next twelveyears, Guru Angad tested Amar Das, who was twice hisage, in many ways. Again and again, Baba Amar Das provedhis love of the Guru. At last, Guru Angad retired hisearthly body and Amar Das became the third Guru, GuruAmar Das.

In the time of Guru Amar Das, many people wanted toknow about the Guru’s message of Sat Naam, living happilyin meditation and serving others. Before there was aninternet or books, people needed to go out themselvesand share the Guru’s teachings. For this purpose, the thirdGuru gave twenty-two of his best disciples the job ofteaching others in their town. One of the twenty-two hechose was Bibi Amaro. Guru Amar Das never forgot herservice to him.

Bibi Amaro was in charge of the area of Basarke, whichincluded Amritsar. And Amaro’s mother, Mata Khivicontinued her loving service in the Guru’s kitchen foranother thirty years. In Bibi Amaro’s loving memory, thereis now a sarovar near the village of Basarke named “BibiAmar da Talab.”

Bibi Bhani (1535-1589)

Bibi Bhani was born to a couple of gentle, old saints. Herparents, Baba Amar Das and Mata Mansa Devi were fifty-six and fifty-one when she was born. Bhani already had aslightly older sister, Dani, and soon two brothers wouldbe born. It was rare for people to become parents at suchan age.

Bibi Bhani was five years old when her father met BibiAmaro, who introduced him to Guru Angad. Her fatherhad always loved to meditate and loved hard work, butsince meeting the Guru, his life changed. Bibi Bhani’s oldfather would spend the middle of each night fetching waterfrom a faraway river for Guru Angad’s morning bath.Baba Amar Das would also serve the Guru in any way hecould, day or night. He passed many tests given to him byGuru Angad. Baba Amar Das was soon loved and respectedby everyone.

Bibi Bhani loved to help her father. Before, or sometimesafter, he had fetched the water for Guru Angad’s bath,she would already have brought water for her father’sbath. When Baba Amar Das would meditate, often shewould sit nearby to see he was not disturbed.

Bibi Bhani was a very thoughtful girl. Sometimes whenshe found her playmates were acting silly, she would tellthem, “We are thoughtless beings, skipping and playinglike lambs, while death, the butcher, watches over us.”Then she would then remember Guru Nanak’s Baanee: “To

Bibi Bhani 17


each and every home, the call is being sent each day. OhNanak, meditate on the one who calls. The day is comingnear.”

By saying this, Bibi Bhani meant we should not bethoughtless. Life has a beginning and an end, and weshould be ready to leave when God calls us to go home.

Sometimes, Mata Mansa Devi would think her daughterwas worrying about dying. She would say to her, “Do notworry about death. Guru Nanak said we should eat andenjoy ourselves in this life.” But Bibi Bhani was not worried.She was just being thoughtful.

When Bibi Amaro was fifteen and brought Baba AmarDas to meet her father, Guru Angad, Bibi Bhani was five.They must have met and been friends. When Bibi Baniwas seventeen and Bibi Amaro twenty-seven, somethingamazing happened.

Guru Angad, the second Guru, after Guru Nanak, toldeveryone that Bibi Amaro’s father would be the third Guru.He called for Baba Buddha, who had been a Sikh sinceGuru Nanak’s time, and a short ceremony was done. AngadDev, the second Guru, then called for a big feast to beheld.

At the feast, Angad Dev told everyone that soon hewould breathe his last breath and be no more on thisEarth. He reminded everyone to live in love and kindnessand meditation. Bibi Amaro’s father, the second Guru,told the thousands of people who had come that BabaAmar Das, now Guru Amar Das, would look after themwhen he was gone. He also told the third Guru to movefrom Khadoor to the village of Goindwal. He should settleand begin to teach and serve there.

Everything happened so quickly. Everyone wassurprised. Within a few days, Guru Angad, who was muchyounger than old Baba Amar Das, had left this world.Now Bibi Bhani’s father sat in his place as their Guru. And

the Guru’s family was moving, making a new beginning,in Goindwal.

Those were exciting days. When her father became theGuru, suddenly he had many more visitors. But some thingsdid not change. While others brought the water for theGuru’s bath from the river – Goindwal was right on ariver – Bibi Bhani continued to prepare his bath and to sitwith her father while he meditated.

Bibi Bhani found great peace and beauty inside herselfin her meditation, a beauty many others could not see.One day, a Sikh came to Guru Amar Das and asked, “MayI offer Bibi Bhani money so she can have pretty dressesand decorations to wear like her friends?”

The Guru’s youngest daughter heard what was askedand answered herself. First she spoke Gurbaanee, “False isgold. False is silver. False are those who wear them.”Then, Bibi Bhani said, “Do not worry about how I look.The Guru gives me everything I need. The best way youcan spend your money is to buy food for the langar, andblankets and medicines for the people who come to visitthe Guru.”

Two years after they had moved to Goindwal, BibiBhani’s parents began to talk about her marriage. It wasthe custom for parents to choose their child’s marriagepartner. As they were talking about what kind of matchwould be right for their daughter, Bibi Bhani’s motherpointed out the window, “He should be something likethat young man.”

That young man’s name was Jetha. He lived with hisgrandmother since his parents had passed. He was poor,but loved to meditate and serve the people.

People gave Guru Amar Das money and jewels everyday. They listened to what he said carefully. With God’shelp, the Guru was rich and powerful like a king. Kingsdid not marry their daughters to young men with no money.

Bibi Bhani 19


Mata Devi did not think for a moment that Bibi Bhanishould marry Jetha the orphan. But Guru Amar Das lookedoutside and watched Jetha carefully. He watched how hestood and how he moved and how he spoke. He also sawa sparkle in the young man’s eyes and heard he had awonderful laugh.

The Guru made up his mind right there. He said to hiswife, “There is no one to compare with Jetha. He shall bea perfect husband for Bibi Bhani. There is no one like himin the whole world. Why waste our time looking for another?Our daughter shall marry Jetha.”

Plans were made for the marriage. There wereexcitement and celebrations. Before the wedding day, intheir quiet time together after his meditation, Guru AmarDas spoke to his daughter. He said, “I am not going togive you away to Jetha with expensive presents for hisfamily, as others do. You yourself are a priceless gem.There is no need of giving presents. But I will give youthree things to take with you into your marriage. Theywill make your wedded life blissful and sweet.

“Hard times come on every marriage. Sometimes thehusband and wife will even fight and shout at each other.Now and then, difficult days are sure to visit you andyour husband as well. There will be days when things donot go your way.

“To keep your home happy and peaceful, there arethree things you should learn to say. Firstly, if you do notagree with your husband, do not be afraid to say, ‘You areright.’ A man’s ego is a brittle thing. It shatters easily, likeglass, and once broken, is difficult to fix. By saying yourhusband is right, maybe not always, but in the things thatdo not really matter, you are keeping peace in the home.A husband who knows his wife does not like to fight withhim, loves her the more.

“Secondly, do not be shy in saying, ‘I am sorry.’ If you

make a mistake, say so. This is a brave and proper thingto do, and brings peace and goodwill in the home.

“Lastly, if something goes terribly wrong in your home,do not lose the natural love and respect you have for yourhusband by blaming him. Instead, always say, ‘It is thewill of God.’ If you practice these three teachings, Godwill grant you peace and happiness in your home.”

Thousands of people came to celebrate the wedding.Bhai Jetha rode to the ceremony on a fine horse like agreat hero. Bibi Bhani was by turns happy and blushingand a little nervous. Guru Amar Das gave a wonderfultalk. Musicians played beautiful Gurbaanee. Afterwards, therewere huge pots of delicious Guru Prashaad and a big feast.Many, many people pitched in and helped to decorate andcook and serve and clean. So many loving servants of theGuru! It was a beautful wedding.

For many weeks afterward, people talked about themarriage of Bhai Jetha and Bibi Bhani. Even a few yogis,who did not marry, had come out for the celebration.Then, after a while, things started to quiet down.

Bibi Bhani, treated her husband Bhai Jetha like a saint,and continued to serve her father, the Guru. One day,something unusual happened. Guru Amar Das alwaysmeditated on a wooden couch in his home. Bibi Bhaniwould sit nearby to see he was comfortable and not botheredby visitors. If it were hot, she would fan him. If someonecame to the door, she would tell them to see the Guru atanother time. If a fly buzzed around the Guru, she wouldshoo it away. But on this day, a leg on Guru Amar Das’scouch snapped under his weight.

The Guru was deep into his meditation, but his daughtermoved quickly to stop the couch from crashing down underhis weight. To support Guru Amar Das, she held onto thesharp shards of the broken leg with her hands while hewent on with his meditation. When the Guru came out of

Bibi Bhani 21


his meditation, he saw Bibi Bhani holding on to his couch.Guru Amar Das asked, “What are you doing, my deardaughter, holding onto this couch?”

Bibi Bhani told the Guru, “The leg of your couch hadbroken and I was holding up hour couch so your meditationwould not be disturbed.”

Guru Amar Das noticed that his daughter’s hands lookedbloody and sore. It must have been painful to hold up thebroken couch. He said, “My dear daughter, to keep me inmy meditation, you must have suffered great pain. Goodmust come from good. Ask me a favour.”

Bibi Bhani had, as yet, no children. Maybe she wantedher father’s blessing on her womb. Perhaps she rememberedstill how Guru Angad’s two sons had been jealous whenBaba Amar Das became Guru after their father’s death.For whatever reason, Bibi Bhani said, “I want one thingonly, and that is that the next Guru and the next, and allthe following Gurus in the line of Guru Nanak, should befrom our family.”

Guru Amar Das made a promise. He said to hisdaughter, “A child of yours will be loved and served farand wide. From your womb shall be born a great saint tosave the world. But you have dammed the clear, flowingstream of the Guruship. From this, great trouble shall result.”

As it happened, Bibi Bhani and Bhai Jetha had threechildren. The first was Prithi Chand. Then came MahaDev. And the last was Arjan Dev. When Arjan was born,his older brothers were five and three years old.

Prithi Chand, whom everyone called “Prithia” wantedpower. Maha Dev was shy and liked to meditate. ArjanDev was filled with energy and zest for life.

One day, when Arjan was still a baby, his mother losttrack of him for a moment. Looking around, she quicklyfound her son had entered Guru Amar Das’s bedroom. Hehad playfully woken the Guru up from his nap. Bibi Bhani

apologized and went to take Arjan Dev from the Guru’sbedroom so he could continue his sleep.

Guru Amar Das spoke lovingly, “Let him come to me!This grandson of mine will one day be a boat to carrypeople across the ocean of life.”

Early one morning, after the Guru had taken his bathand before he settled into his meditation, he asked BibiBhani, “What would you do if your husband died?” Thehealth of Bhai Jetha had not been very good. His parentshad died while Jetha was young. Sometimes Bibi Bhaniworried that her husband might also leave this world atan early age, before their children had grown into men.

Bibi Bhani answered the Guru, “I must accept whateverhappens. If my husband dies, I might either die with himor do whatever you tell me to do.”

Guru Amar Das watched carefully and saw the deeplove in his daughter as she answered his question. In return,he replied, “There is no need for you to die. I will giveyou a blessing that is far better than that. I will give yourhusband the Guruship and a few more years of life.”

The third Guru then called for Bhai Jetha and told himto bathe and put on new clothes. When her husbandreturned, Bibi Bhani looked into his eyes. Powerful feelingswere sweeping over her: deep thankfulness for the giftGuru Amar Das had given her; deep sadness that her dearfather, the Guru was now going to leave this Earth; greatpride that her own husband was to become the next Guruin Nanak’s line; and great relief that her children wouldhave a living father for at least a few more years.

Just as Guru Angad had called for Bhai Buddha toperform the ceremony of the passing on of the Guruship,so now Guru Amar Das called for him. Again the ceremonywas done. Amar Das, the third Guru, then told everyonethere that Bhai Jetha would have a new name as fourthGuru of the Sikhs. He should be called Guru Ram Das, the

Bibi Bhani 23


servant of God. Then, the white-bearded old saint stoodup and left the simple throne where he always sat andtaught his Sikhs. Taking Guru Ram Das, who was less thanhalf his age, lovingly by the arm, Guru Amar Das broughthim and made him sit on the throne.

Bibi Bhani’s husband lived seven more years as GuruRam Das. Each day, they thanked God for the blessing oflife as a Sikh, the blessing of meditation, and the blessingof service. Year by year, their three sons grew into verydifferent kinds of men.

One day, a Sikh came from the big city of Lahore andasked Guru Ram Das to come with him to celebrate thewedding of his son. The fourth Guru said he could notcome because his disciples were always coming to see himin Goindwal. Some came from long distances. They wouldbe disappointed if he were away when they came to see him.

Guru Ram Das offered that his oldest son might goinstead. He called Prithi Chand, and asked him, “My Son,would you go to this Sikh’s wedding in my place?”

Prithia replied and gave many excuses. In reality, heknew that his father was unwell. For this reason, he wantedto always be nearby so he could claim the Guruship forhimself when Guru Ram Das left this Earth.

Guru Ram Das then asked his second son, “My Son,would you go to this Sikh’s wedding in my place?”

Maha Dev said he only wanted to meditate alone anddid not like large crowds of people. He begged not tohave to go.

Guru Ram Das finally, asked his youngest son, Arjan,who was then just eighteen years old, “My Son, wouldyou go to this Sikh’s wedding in my place? Afterwards, Iwould like you to stay in Lahore for a time and teach mySikhs how to properly meditate and to serve in God’sName.”

Arjan Dev gladly replied, “What you want is my pleasure.

This is only a wedding and a time of happiness, but evenif you sent me on a mission where I might risk my life,still I would be happy to go.”

Bibi Bhani’s youngest son went to Lahore and did notreturn for many months, while Prithia did his best throughtrickery to keep him away. When Arjan Dev finally returnedin victory, he had passed his father, the fourth Guru’s test.

In her holy meditation, Bibi Bhani was lifted up intothe heavens. The whole world looked to her example andher grace. Great was her blessing to be the daughter ofthe great Guru Amar Das, the wife of the loving GuruRam Das, and the mother of the brilliant Guru Arjan Dev.

Bibi Bhani 25


Mata Kaulan (1600-1652)

Mian Mir was a Sufi saint and friend of the Sikhs. GuruArjan had invited him to lay the cornerstone of theHarimandir Sahib when it was being built. Mian Mir hadmany followers. One of them was the daughter of RustamKhan, a Muslim judge in the city of Lahore. In India inthose days, people of the Muslim religion were verypowerful. They ran the country, decided who should goto jail, even who should live and die. From her childhood,Rustam Khan’s daughter had loved to spend her time inprayer and meditation.

The judge’s daughter was beautiful, friendly and good,but spent her days by herself in her room, except when itcame time to go out and see Mian Mir, her spiritual teacher.She refused her parents’ advice that she should marry.Instead, she decided to give her life to God.

In Mian Mir’s sangat, the judge’s daughter heard himspeak highly of Guru Hargobind, the sixth in Guru Nanak’sline. However, when she began to praise the Guru at home,her father became angry with her. He was upset with hisdaughter for two reasons. Firstly, she had refused to marry.Secondly, his daughter was praising the Guru, a non-Muslim.

Rustam Khan was a religious fanatic. He hated anyoneand anything from any religion other than his own. Tohim, all non-Muslims were evil and deserved to die.

“O Infidel,” he said, “you praise an infidel and disobeythe law of Muhammad, according to which it is forbidden,

under penalty of death, to praise an unbeliever.”To the judge, an infidel was anyone who did not live

as a Muslim. Muhammad was the first Muslim. The girl’sfather was telling her that by Muhammad’s law anyonewho said nice things about a non-Muslim should be killed.

The judge’s daughter replied, “Father dear, the law ofMuhammad does not apply to holy men or to me. It appliesto those who neither know nor obey anything besides.Saints are God’s servants. At the same time, the Lordobeys them and they do as they please. Saints have noconcern with the law of Muhammad.”

Hearing these words, the judge’s heart burned withpride. That very day, he spoke with other judges and gavean order for his daughter to be killed for disobeying thelaw of Muhammad.

When the judge’s wife heard of this, she told both herdaughter and Mian Mir. The saint replied, “It looks likethere is no hope of saving you here. You will be put todeath by these tyrants. It will be better for you to go atonce to Amritsar and seek the protection of GuruHargobind. At this time, there is no one but him who cansave your life.”

The judge’s daughter quickly returned home and packedher things. Mian Mir then arranged a safe escort. She,along with a fellow disciple, secretly went to Amritsar.

In the Guru’s sangat, the judge’s daughter was givenevery respect. Guru Hargobind arranged that she shouldhave a house of her own, and told her to spend her timeas she pleased. He also gave her a new name, Kaulan,meaning “promise.”

Rustam Khan asked the Jahangir, the emperor of India,to help return his daughter. People however told theemperor that the judge had made his daughter miserableand beaten her every day. They explained that for fear ofhim, his daughter would not return from the safety she

Mata Kaulan 27


had found with the Guru. Hearing these reports, theemperor gave no help to Rustam Khan.

Kaulan learned to love her new home. Often, she wouldbe heard singing the following Gurbaanee in a mood ofthankfulness:

O Mother, joining the saints, I have woken up!Seeing my Love, I repeat the Name of the One I love.Eager for God’s sight, my eyes are only on him and

have forgotten all other things.Now, in my heart I easily enjoy peace and the Guru,

the giver of peace.Seeing God, my mind is filled with joy.O Nanak, sweet and holy is the Word of my Beloved!After some time had passed in this way, Kaulan offered

her dowry of valuable jewels to the Guru, so he might usethem for some holy work. The year was 1621. The Gurutold his Sikhs to dig a pool where people might meditatein peace near Kaulan’s house. It was just a short distancefrom the Harimandar Sahib, which was surrounded by apool of its own. This second pool became known as Kaulsar.Years later, Gurdwara Mata Kaulan Sahib was built on thesite of her home.

When Guru Hargobind was forced to move fromAmritsar because of the danger of attack from the Mughalarmy, Mata Kaulan came with him to Kartarpur, a shortdistance from Jalandhar.

After many years, Kaulan became sick. When GuruHargobind heard of her sickness, he came to offer hishelp. In a weak voice, Kaulan said, “Thank you, Guru ji.Thank you for saving my life. Thank you for giving me theteachings that put me on the path to happiness in God.”

Guru Hargobind replied, “Meditate, my daughter!Meditate on the God inside you. You have only twenty-four hours to live. You must meditate on your Maker. Iwill return to you at your final hour.”

When Guru Hargobind returned to Mata Kaulan’s home,he said to her, “Be ready. Your time has now come. Prepareyourself. Give up thoughts of your body, and focus yourmind on God, the unborn and deathless One. The worldis unreal and shines only with his Light. The soul is pure,real, conscious and happy. As long as one is proud ofone’s body, one is chained to birth and death. But whenone learns perfect knowledge, one goes beyond the backand forth of love and hate, hate and love... and is liberated.”

Meditating on the Guru’s words, Mata Kaulan openedher eyes one last time, to say, “Thank you! Thank you!You are the Home of the homeless. I have found shelter inyou. In a moment, you raised me to the heights yogis trymany years to achieve without success. You took away theignorance that hung over me for millions of births like avery long disease.” She then closed her eyes, said “WaheGuru!” and passed painlessly from this world. The daywas May 29, 1652.

The Guru told Mata Kaulan’s servants to prepare herbody for the last rites. They bathed and clothed Kaulan’sbody in a simple, cotton cloth and an expensive shawl.While a ragi sang the Guru’s hymns, her friends and servantstook her body to the garden, outside Mata Kaulan’s home.It was respectfully place in a heap of wood and burnedthere. As the flames surrounded Kaulan’s used-up body,someone sweetly recited Kirtan Sohila. The Guru then prayedwith everyone that her shining soul might forever be withGod.

Mata Kaulan 29


Mata Gujari (1624-1705)

A girl baby was born in Kartarpur in 1624. She had abrother named Kirpal Chand. Their parents were Bhai LalChand and Bibi Bishan Kaur. They named her Gujari afterthe music of mid-morning in the Indian scale.

Soon, little Gujari was helping her mother separate outthe stones from the dried beans when making dahl. Atfive or six, she was already sweeping the house. At six orseven, she was making rotis at her mother’s side in thekitchen.

Gujari loved to play with her brother and friends. Hideand seek was a favourite. There were also other gamesgirls liked to play in Punjab. In kikli a group of girls wouldjoin hands in a circle and sing. Gheeta pathar was playedinside with pebbles or broken pottery. When the rainsarrived, the girls would make swings from the branches ofthe huge fig trees.

Gujari grew to be a happy and graceful young lady.She was smart too, always curious and learning quickly.She learned to read early and loved to read and singGurbaanee.

When Gujari was seven years old, Suraj Mall, a son ofGuru Hargobind, was married in her town of Kartarpur.It was a time of much happiness and excitement. Thousandsof people, even the neighbouring Hindus and Muslims,came to celebrate.

As a good mother, Bibi Bishan Kaur was always lookingfor a happy match for her daughter. In those days,engagements and marriages were much earlier than today.At seven, Gujari was already old enough to be matchedwith a boy she would later marry.

Gujari’s mother’s eyes fell on the groom’s youngerbrother, Tyag Mall, the only son of Mata Nanaki, the Guru’sdevoted wife. Tyag Mall was ten years old, polite, gentle,and strong. He also had a beautiful smile.

Bhai Lal Chand and Bibi Bishan Kaur went to GuruHargobind and humbly asked if their daughter might marryhis youngest son. After speaking together, the Guru andMata Nanaki agreed to the marriage.

How happy and excited was Gujari! How excited wereher friends! Gujari was to be married to the family of theGuru! The date of the marriage was set. It was to be heldin Kartarpur in just two years.

In her daily meditation, Gujari thought of the futurebefore her, a future she must get ready for. Her mothertold her as much. She was going to marry a saint, soGujari did extra meditation and made a special effort tolive like a saint herself. Each day, she was thoughtful,kind, and helpful to everyone she met.

Gujari listened to the stories of great women of theGuru’s line. She learned of Bibi Nanaki who first recognizedher brother Nanak as Guru. Gujari heard the story of thedevoted Mata Sulakkhani, the first Guru’s wife, who waitedlong years for her husband to come back from his teachingmissions in Assam, Sri Lanka, Arabia and Tibet. She learnedof Mata Khivi, who fed thousands and thousands in theGuru’s langar. Gujari heard about Bibi Amaro whointroduced the second and third Gurus. Gujari also listenedin amazement at the story of Bibi Bhani, at once daughterto the third Guru, Amar Das, wife to the fourth Guru,

Mata Gujari 31


Ram Das, and mother to Guru Hargobind’s father, Arjanthe fifth Guru. And she heard the stories of the sixthGuru’s mother, Mata Ganga, who had learned to be humblefrom Baba Buddha, and lived to know both the joy of holymotherhood and the great sadness of her husband, GuruArjan’s painful passing.

Hearing the stories of these greathearted women,something stirred in Gujari’s heart. She was at once amazedand humbled. Gujari was filled with a deep longing and aprayer to serve the Guru and live to the memory of thesewonderful women.

As the months of waiting turned to weeks, then justdays, the excitement in Kartarpur increased. Talk of thecoming marriage was on everyone’s lips. Gujari’s relativesand neighbours were happy for her.

Finally, Guru Hargobind and his family arrived, andthe marriage began. Tyag Mall was beautifully dressedwith a jewelled turban as he came to the ceremony on ahorse. Gujari was so happy she was glowing. Her parentsand brother Kirpal shared her happiness. In the diwanhall, the Guru gave a talk. In his talk, he said that womanis special, she has the power to keep a man close to God.

Finally, the marriage was done. Everyone came forwardand shared Tyag Mall and Gujari’s happiness. There wasa big feast. All night, lamps were lit in every home.Fireworks filled the sky. Musicians played all night.Everyone prayed for the happiness of the new couple.

Gujari and Tyag Mall lived happily in their new homein Kartarpur. Mata Nanaki loved her new daughter-in-law, the wife of her only son. Love and respect and peaceabounded.

A year had passed when suddenly a Sikh horsemanarrived from Lahore. He brought news that a large armyof Mughal soldiers were coming. There had been twenty-

two years of peace with the Mughals, but under the newemperor, Shah Jahan, war was in the air.

Like all the men of Kartarpur, Tyag Mall had beenpractising fighting with a sword and wrestling. They knewthat the long years of peace might end any day, so whenthe call came to defend Kartarpur, they were ready.

As the men formed into their fighting groups, the womenprepared food and first aid for them. As they heard therumble of Mughal horsemen, Gujari and Mata Nanakiclimbed onto the roof of the tallest house in Kartarpur tosee better.

The battle lasted two days in all. Tyag Mall’s job wasto protect the rear of the Sikh army. Many times, theMughals tried to attack from behind, but every time, TyagMall and his group fought back fiercely and forced themto retreat.

When the battle was over, many fighters on both sideshad died. A number of Mughal generals had been killed.The brave defenders chased them out of Kartarpur.

The Guru’s soldiers all praised Tyag Mall for his courageand skill in beating off the Mughal attackers. From thattime on, he was called “Tegh Bahadur,” meaning greatsword.

For the sake of peace, Guru Hargobind told his followersthey must move further away from the Mughal highway.For this reason, Gujari and Tegh Bahadur travelled eastand made a new home in the town of Kiratpur. Gujari’sbrother Kirpal also came along. Kiratpur was surroundedby forests and hills, and easy to defend against a largearmy.

For nine years, they lived in peace. One day, GuruHargobind, who had grown old and tired, picked hisgrandson Har Rai to be the seventh Guru. The Guru thenbreathed his last.

Mata Gujari 33


Tegh Bahadur congratulated his cousin. A month later,he and Gujari and her brother Kirpal, as well as TeghBahadur’s mother Nanaki set out for the village of Bakala.Bakala was where Nanaki’s parents, Tegh Bahadur’sgrandparents, lived. It was also a quiet place where TeghBahadur and Gujari could meditate, and that is what theydid for most of the next twenty years.

For her part, Mata Nanaki spent much time in wonder.Her husband, the sixth Guru, had said Tegh Bahadur wouldone day also be Guru. But Tegh Bahadur spoke very littleand saw only a few people in those days.

One day, a stranger came to see Tegh Bahadur. Hesaid told Gujari, “Sat Kartar! My name is Makan Shah andI am looking for the Guru. Guru Har Rai passed his lightonto Guru Har Krishan, and that the eight Guru has alsopassed on his light... but no knows exactly who the ninthGuru might be. I think it might be Tegh Bahadur. I wouldlike to see him.”

Gujari told Makhan Shah, “My husband is meditating.He cannot see you. He is not the Guru. You should findhim somewhere else. My husband is busy.”

But Makhan Shah would not be sent away. He said,“Please let me speak with your husband, even for a fewminutes. I can come any time when he is not meditating orbusy.”

Finally, Gujari told this Makan Shah he could see TeghBahadur after he had finished his meditation.

When the man returned, he bowed his head to theground in front of Tegh Bahadur and gave him a valuablegold coin. Gujari watched in surprise as her husband laughedat their guest. “What is this, my friend? One gold coin?What kind of business is it you run? You promised me fivehundred coins!”

Makan Shah’s face lit up as he heard Tegh Bahadur’s

words. He said, “I am so sorry. There are so many falsegurus all saying they are the light of Guru Nanak. I wentto all of them, and they all accepted my offering. I am sosorry. I will bring you the rest of the coins right now.”And the man ran out, then came back with bags of goldwhich he humbly offered to Tegh Bahadur as the Guru.

Gujari continued to be amazed. She had heard MataNanaki long ago say that Tegh Bahadur would one day beGuru. Could it be true? Was the Tyag Mall she had marriednow Guru Tegh Bahadur?

Things changed very quickly. In minutes, Makhan Shahwas shouting and banging a drum on the roof of theirhome, telling everyone in the village that Gujari’s husbandwas the ninth Guru, the true light of Guru Nanak. Peoplegathered to see the Guru.

Makhan Shah climbed down from the roof and humblyasked Tegh Bahadur to speak with the gathered people, toteach them, to tell them about God. Tegh Bahadur, whofor twenty years had said very little, agreed. He came outand taught the people as Guru Tegh Bahadur for the firsttime.

Storm clouds of trouble and jealousy started to gatheraround the village of Bakala. The ninth Guru’s nephew,Dhir Mal was very angry. He wanted to be Guru. Thesixth Guru, Hargobind had been his grandfather. To DhirMal, it did not seem fair.

The Guru’s jealous nephew gathered together a gangof men. One day, they attacked the darbar of Guru TeghBahadur. One of the gangsters even shot at the Guru,wounding his shoulder a little. The gangsters stoleeverything they could carry away.

Kirpal Chand, Makhan Shah, and a number of the otherSikhs had fought bravely to defend the Guru, but theyhad been outnumbered. When more men had gathered

Mata Gujari 35


together, they went off to catch Dhir Mal and his gangsters.Before long, the jealous nephew and his men had beencaught and tied up and brought to Guru Tegh Bahadur.The loving Guru forgave Dhirmal and his ruffians.

The next morning, however, Guru Tegh Bahadur wasgone. Mata Gujari knew he must had gone into meditationsomewhere. Thinking of her husband, meditating withoutfood, she also stopped eating, while his Sikhs lookedeverywhere to find him.

Five days passed until finally a farmer found the Gurumeditating in a grassy forest. The farmer ran back to Bakalato tell everyone. A group of Sikhs went and brought foodfor Guru Tegh Bahadur. Mata Gujari, too, began to eatagain. Soon everyone was happy again.

Some weeks later, everyone got ready to go to Amritsar,the holy town of the Harimandar. Guru Tegh Bahadur andsome of his men wrote on horseback, while his wife andmother sat in a wagon. They looked forward to seeing thebeautiful Gurdwara. When they arrived in Amritsar,however, the priests inside closed the doors, locked thegates, and stopped their keertan.

Makhan Shah was angry that at the bad behaviour ofthe priests. Guru Tegh Bahadur’s grandfather, the fifthGuru, had build the Harimandar, and now the priests werebeing very disrespectful.

The Guru told his Sikhs to be at peace. The disgracefulpriests would one day pay for what they did. Guru TeghBahadur and his Sikhs meditated under a big tree near theHarimandar and waited.

Finally, as the day grew into evening, a Sikh namedMata Hariyan asked the Guru if he would stay in herhome in the village of Walla that night. Guru Tegh Bahadurhappily agreed. With his mother and wife, the Guru wentto the woman’s small, simple house.

Meanwhile, the women of Amritsar heard about thedisrespect the priests had shown the Guru. They cametogether in the hundreds at the gate of the Harimandarmade the priests let them in. The women then told thepriests they should have let Guru Tegh Bahadur in andshown him proper respect.

The women of Amritsar then collected food and giftsfor the Guru and the Sikhs travelling with him. Next, theywent all together to Walla singing songs and hoping GuruTegh Bahadur would forgive them. Mata Nanaki and Gujariwere the first to hear the sounds of their voices as theycame to see the Guru. When he saw and heard the women,Guru Tegh Bahadur was happy. Because of their couragein speaking with the priests, he said, “The women ofAmritsar will always be blessed.”

Guru Tegh Bahadur and his followers returned toHarimandir Sahib. This time, the priests let him. “We aresorry,” said the priests. Some said, “We did not know ifyou were really the Guru.” Others said, “We were afraidthe Mughal army would attach us if we let you inside.”

This time, the priests were very polite and the Guruforgave them. Next, he and Gujari and his Sikhs went backto Bakala.

The people of Bakala were happy to see the Guru andhis family again. There was also a message from MataKrishan Kaur, the mother of the eighth Guru, Harkrishan,who had just left this Earth a few weeks before. She askedGuru Tegh Bahadur to come back to Kiratpur, where thesixth, seventh and eighth Gurus had made their home.

On arriving in Kiratpur, the ninth Guru was given allthe important things that had belonged to Guru Harkrishan,Guru Har Rai, and Guru Guru Hargobind. He received aspecial jewel for his turban, a hawk, a sword, and theGuru’s army with its generals. Guru Tegh Bahadur bought

Mata Gujari 37


some land to begin a new city. He first named it “NanakiChak” after his mother.

Once the building of the city was begun, Guru TeghBahadur set out with his mother, his wife, her brother,and some other Sikhs to travel and teach from village tovillage, and town to town. Everywhere, people came tosee the Guru and hear him speak words of wisdom.

People also came to serve Guru Tegh Bahadur. One ofthem was Bhai Mihan. He always brought water from thewell, firewood from the forest, and did anything he couldto serve the Guru. Bhai Mihan kept a cushion on his headto help him carry heavy loads. This cushion was alwayswet from water dripping on it.

One day, when Bhai Mihan was putting down a jug ofwater, Mata Nanaki and Gujari both saw that the Sikh’shead was sore and bleeding from all the work he did.They told the Guru. The Guru then healed Mihan by puttinghis hand on his head. Guru Tegh Bahadur told Bhai Mihanthat he should be a leader of the people and he gave himbeautiful clothes and other presents.

One day in their travels, the Guru’s mother told himall that she was very happy with her life. There was onlyone more thing she wished for. Mata Nanaki told her son,the Guru, that years before her husband, the sixth Guruhad told her a great saint would be born in her son’shouse. Guru Tegh Bahadur and Gujari, however still hadno children. The Guru told his mother to meditate eachday on Guru Nanak and she would have a brave andsaintly grandson.

The Guru’s family remained in the city of Allahabadfor six months. At this time, Gujari did become pregnant.From there, they went on to Patna to the east. In Patna,Guru Tegh Bahadur was met by a Rajput general namedRaja Ram Singh. The general had been sent by the emperor

Aurangzeb to lead a large army against the kingdom ofAssam. It was a very dangerous mission and the generalasked if the Guru would bless him by coming along.

Guru Tegh Bahadur decided to go with the generaland leave his family in Patna. In this way, he could teachin faraway places where Guru Nanak had visited many yearsbefore. He also hoped that he could help make peace betweenthe rebellious King of Assam and the Mughal emperor.

First Mata Nanaki, then Mata Gujari, protested to theGuru that they could not be without him. Tegh Bahadurspoke to them kindly, but firmly. To Mata Nanaki, hesaid, “There are many Sikhs waiting for me in a distantland and I must go to see them.”

To his wife, he said, “The words of my father, GuruHargobind are about to become true. A son shall be bornto you who will be great and powerful. He will help thesaints and uproot the wicked. You must stay here to givehim birth. Travelling would be very difficult for you. Iwill soon return from my tour.”

While Guru Tegh Bahadur was away, Mata Gujari waswell taken care of. She was given special food and onegentle lady came and took her for a walk every morning.At last, Gujari had her baby. All the Sikhs in Patna and allaround celebrated. It was a boy. He was named GobindRai.

Far to the west, in a village called Kuhram, there wasa Muslim saint named Bhikan Shah. Muslims always bowtheir heads in prayer in the direction of Mecca. One day,his followers saw their teacher bowing in the oppositedirection, away from Mecca. When they asked Bhikan Shahfor his reason, he said, “There has just been born in Patnaa great spiritual and worldly king. He will serve what isgood and destroy what is bad.” Bhikan Shah promisedhimself that he would not eat until he had seen this child,

Mata Gujari 39


then set out to the east with his followers.What Mata Gujari heard that a Muslim wanted to see

her baby, she was at first afraid. She knew some Muslimsdisliked people who were not Muslim. What could he wantwith her dear child? Her brother went and asked BikhanShah, “Respected Sir, why have you come here?”

The tired and hungry saint replied, “I have come along distance to see with my own eyes the great soul whohas come to Earth in the form of this child. I am just ahumble man. Please allow me this pleasure and my heartwill be satisfied.”

When Kirpal Chand was sure there was no danger, hetold his sister and Mata Nanaki. At last, Bikhan Shah wasallowed inside to see Guru Tegh Bahadur’s son. He hadbrought with him two covered pots, one filled with milkand the other with water. He put them in front of GobindRai to see what he would do. When Mata Nanaki’s grandsoncrawled toward the pots and put his two hands, one oneach pot, Bhikan Shah was happy. To him, this meant thatthis future king would have respect for all religions, notjust his own.

Three years after he had left, a messenger arrived witha message for Mata Gujari. “Guru Tegh Bahadur is returningfrom his travels in the east. He is a day’s distance awayand will arrive early tomorrow morning.” She and MataNanaki put on their best clothes to welcome him. Whenthe Guru arrived, all the Sikhs of Patna came out to seehim and to celebrate. Guru Tegh Bahadur was happy toreturn and to see his followers, his family, and his handsomeyoung son.

When the family was alone, Mata Gujari asked herhusband, “How far did you go into Assam?”

The Guru replied, “We went as far as Guru Nanak hadgone. At Dubri, we made a big hill. To celebrate our peace,

every soldier brought their shield filled with earth. Together,the thousands of soldiers made the hill. On top, we builta peace temple that can be seen from far and wide.”

Guru Tegh Bahadur also told his wife, “I went to Assamas a servant of God. Three things I did. I was a friend toRaja Ram Singh, I was a teacher of truth, and I was amaker of peace.”

The Guru stayed for a time with his family in Patna. Inthat time, he taught young Gobind Rai how to shoot anarrow with a bow and how to use a sword. After a fewjoyful weeks, he asked his mother’s permission to returnto Punjab and teach there. Mata Nanaki tearfully told herson it was dangerous in Punjab, that he had only returnedand it was too soon for him to leave again. Guru TeghBahadur reminded his mother, “Love of things and peopleis not forever. By singing God’s happy songs, we cross theocean of life.”

The Guru then spoke to his wife, “My good wife, I amgoing to Punjab. The city of Anandpur which has beenbuilt, must now be filled with people. Stay here, raise ourson, and do not go against his wishes. After a time, I willsend for you. The reason I ask you not to go against hiswishes is because Gobind Rai is a helper of God. When hegrows up, he will do many great things. He will destroyevil and help the good. God has told me to go to Punjab.There is much work for me there. Always remember God,who never dies.”

Mata Gujari became very sad to hear that her dearhusband was going away again and so soon. With tears inher eyes, she said, “My husband, I have no one else. Ourchild is still young. My mother-in-law is old. Who willtake care of me?”

Guru Tegh Bahadur said to his wife, “This body is notforever, but the soul inside is. The life in the body, flows

Mata Gujari 41


like a river. Only a fool loves the body. Be happy withwhatever God does. This will give you peace of mind.Always love our son and meditate on Sat Naam.”

Before the Guru left with a group of followers, MataGujari asked if he would only go a short distance on hisfirst day of travel. In this way, Gobind Rai could join himfor a day and their parting would be easier. Guru TeghBahadur agreed to his wife’s idea and the first day traveledwith his son to the other side of Patna, a short distance.

The day after the Guru had left, their son returnedfrom his father to stay with his mother in Patna. MataGujari lived a simple life of meditation and service. Whilethere were many Sikhs willing to help, she liked to grindher own grain and make roti herself.

Gobind Rai practiced martial arts every day. One day,a woman came to Mata Gujari and complained that he hadhit her on the forehead with a stone from his slingshot.The woman cried and said she would tell the emperorabout Gobind Rai’s pranks.

Mata Gujari said to the woman, “My son is still veryyoung. He does not know what is right and what is wrong.”Finally, she gave the lady money to buy butter and sweetsso she would not complain any more about Gobind Rai.

After the woman had gone, Mata Gujari chased afterGobind Rai. He was faster than she, however. He ran upthe stairs and closed the door behind him. Gobind Rai’smother scolded through the door, “Aren’t you afraid ofthe emperor?”

Through the door, her son said, “I am not afraid ofanybody except God, who never dies.” Hearing this, MataGujari began to calm down. Mata Nanaki quietly wentupstairs to make peace with her grandson. Afterwards,Nanaki told her daughter-in-law, “The boy will be a greatwarrior like his grandfather, Guru Har Gobind.”

As time passed, Guru Tegh Bahadur thought of hiscoming death and that his son should come to Anandpurto be with his Sikhs. At the same time, Gobind Rai wasspeaking with his mother, “Father said he would writewhen he arrived in Punjab, but we have not heard fromhim. I want to go now.”

Mata Gujari replied, “We will go when your fatherwrites and says we should go, not before.”

Her son said, “I don’t like Patna.”Gobind Rai’s mother said, “The Sikhs here are good

and look after our needs. In Punjab, there are jealous peopleand the danger of the emperor. We will not leave hereuntil your father tells us to.”

Gobind Rai did not like the masands who were collectingmoney from the Sikhs and giving only a little to the Guru.He wanted to show his mother how dishonest they were.It was for this reason that he asked a masand named Bulakito have an expensive carriage of gold and ivory made fortheir journey to Punjab.

Soon the carriage arrived. Mata Gujari looked at it andthought it was wonderful. Gobind Rai, however, lookedclosely at the carriage and found that the part that wassupposed to be made of pure gold, was made mostly ofcheaper copper. It looked like gold, but was not. GobindRai burned the carriage to show how cheaply it was made.

Just then, the Guru’s letter arrived telling his familyand his Sikhs to come to Punjab. Everywhere was excitement.Those who were going, were excited to be going. Thosewere were staying, were excited to see the Guru’s familyone last time before they left for faraway Punjab. Therewere many good-byes. At last, Mata Gujari’s brother, KirpalChand led the way, from city to city, on to Anandpur.

When finally, after weeks of travel, the Guru’s familyarrived in Anandpur, they were warmly welcomed by Guru

Mata Gujari 43


Tegh Bahadur. His sister, Bibi Viro also came to Anandpurwith her five sons. She would be a good friend to MataGujri. Her oldest boy, Sango Shah quickly made friendswith Gobind Rai. Every day they went off to practicesword fighting, and shooting bows and arrows. Meanwhile,the Guru spoke each day in his darbar about the need tostand up for what is right and to not be afraid of bullies,even bullies with large armies.

Mata Gujari and Mata Nanaki were loved and respectedeverywhere in Anandpur. They came out and visited withall the families, all the women, of their growing town.Gobind Rai, for his part, had a daily plan of meditationand learning. In the mornings and evenings, he wouldmeditate. At night, before bedtime, verses of Gurbaaneewould be read to him while Gobind Rai listened carefully.And in the daytime, he would be taught Gurmukhi andother languages. Gobind Rai was also taught to use allkinds of weapons and ride a horse.

A coupleof years after they had arrived in Anandpur,there came a Sikh named Bhai Hari Jas all the way fromthe big city of Lahore. He came with an offer that hisdaughter might marry young Gobind Rai. Mata Gujri andGuru Tegh Bahadur talked about this and decided to acceptBhai Hari Jas’s daughter, Jitoji as a wife for their sonwhen he became older.

While the Sikhs built strong forts in Anandpur, farfrom the Mughal armies, they heard terrible stories aboutthe cruelty of the emperor. People were being killed, theirbodies broken, their homes and temples destroyed becausethey would not join the emperor’s religion.

One day, a group of Hindu leaders came to Guru TeghBahadur, asking for his help. As the Guru thought to himselfabout what must be done, his son came into the room.Seeing his father so serious, he asked him what was the

matter. The Guru explained what was happening to Gobind,and finished by saying, “My Son, some brave person mustgo to the emperor and show him what a terrible mistakehe is making. If he succeeds, our country will be in peace.If he fails, he will die.”

Gobind Rai bravely looked into his father’s face andsaid, “Dear Father, who is greater than you? Who else hasthe courage to face the emperor, to bring peace, and possiblyto die?”

So it was that Guru Tegh Bahadur told the Hinduleaders, “Rest in Anandpur for a day or two. Then tell theemperor in Delhi that if he can make Tegh Bahadur joinhis religion, then all the Hindus of the whole country willalso join his religion. But if he cannot, then he must stophurting and killing people to get more followers.”

A few days later, the Guru said a final good-bye to hisfamily and the Sikhs of Anandpur. He old Kirpal Chandand Bibi Viro’s sons to help Mata Gujari look after GobindRai. The Guru’s wife and his mother did their best to bebrave. The Guru said to his mother, “Life has an end andwe should not be attached to it. Whoever comes into thisworld, has to go as well. Only word of the saints liveson.”

Mata Gujari begged to come with the Guru to Delhi,but he told her to remain in Anandpur and help their songrow into a man. To his wife, the Guru said, “Our son,Gobind will be a great teacher. He will give you greatcourage and always keep your spirits up. He will lead allpeople to peace and freedom.” Mata Gujari could not helpcrying.

The Guru then hugged and kissed his son. There wasno fear in Gobind Rai’s eyes when he said his final good-bye. Guru Tegh Bahadur then left Anandpur with fourSikhs.

Mata Gujari 45


For the next few weeks, Mata Gujari and everyone elseat Anandpur received news of her husband’s travels. Hevisited many villages and towns. Then they received newsthat the Guru and his four Sikhs had arrived in the city ofAgra and been taken to prison by the emperor’s soldiers.For two weeks, they waited and prayed, and prayed andmeditated, and received no more news.

Finally, a message for Mata Gujari arrived from theGuru was held. It said, “The emperor’s men have me in aprison in Delhi. As Guru Nanak had said years ago, I amhere to take away their cruel power. Do not worry for me.Love our son and see the Guru in him.” Mata Gujari andMata Nanaki both cried when they read the message. Theyknew it was a good-bye letter, but they did not want tosay good-bye.

One day, in her meditation, Mata Gujari saw her husbandbow in respect before her son. Then she saw the Guru’shead separated from his body. Mata Gujari asked GobindRai to quickly send a Sikh to Delhi to see if there was anytruth in what she saw.

There was a long time of no news. Then a messengercame, out of breath. “By emperor’s order, Guru TeghBahadur has been beheaded. All the Sikhs of Delhi arevery sad.”

A day later, a Sikh named Bhai Jatha arrived carryingwith him in a cloth the head of Guru Tegh Bahadur. It wasthe end of a great story and the beginning of another: thestory of the tenth Guru, Guru Gobind Rai.

Mata Gujari remained sad for some time after herhusband gave his life. But as the Guru had said, youngGobind Rai gave her courage and helped lift her spiritseach day. Time passed, and soon came the day when GobindRai should be married to Jitoji. The wedding was the firstreally happy day at Anandpur since Guru Tegh Bahadurhad left.

The next year, Mata Nanaki, who had lived so longand seen the death of her husband, Guru Hargobind andthen also her son, finally breathed her last. Mata Gujarithought of all the years they had been together in Kartarpur,in Bakala, and in Anandpur, and all the memories. GobindRai also remembered his life with his dear grandmother.The Sikhs respectfully made a fire. After loving prayers,they turned her old body to ashes.

Six years later, a Sikh offered to Mata Gujri that hisdaughter, Sundari might marry Gobind Rai. The Guru didnot wish a second wife, but kings in those days had morethan one wife, and his mother liked the parents and thegirl, so the Guru was married a second time.

Gobind Rai lived like a great and wise king. Manykings came to visit with presents for the Guru. A kingcame from faraway Assam, where Guru Tegh Bahadurhad been. Among other gifts, he brought an elephant thatwas very smart. It could wash the Guru’s feet and drythem with a towel. It could also carry a torch in its trunkat night, the better to see. When Rattan Rai gave the Guruhis present, he made him promise to keep it and never toloan it to anyone else. The Guru named the elephant“Prasadi.”

All this time, Guru Gobind Rai wanted two things.One was powerful poetry to inspire his Sikhs. Much of thisGurbaanee he wrote himself. The Guru was also helped bypoets who arrived at Anandpur from Delhi, where theywere afraid of the cruel emperor.

The other thing the Guru wanted was a strong army tostand up against the armies of the emperor. More andmore men came to Anandpur to help. More and more mentrained and practised fighting and riding horses. GuruGobind Rai then decided he must have a very large drumthat could be heard from far away, to go with his army.

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When the drum was nearly finished, some masands beganto worry. The job of the masands was to bring money fromthe sangats and give it to the Guru. They said that if theneighbouring king heard the sound of such a powerfuldrum, he would not allow them to stay at Anandpur.These Sikhs were too afraid to speak to the Guru, so theycame to Mata Gujri.

The Guru’s mother then spoke with her brother, Kirpaland asked her to tell his nephew not to finish the drum.Her brother said he would not, and that she should speakwith Gobind Rai herself. The next morning, Mata Gujarispoke with her son, “We are people of God and must behumble. Even if you finish the drum, do not beat it outsidewhere everyone can hear it.”

Guru Gobind Rai replied, “How long should I stay inhiding? I am not going to take the neighbouring kings’land. If they are jealous for no reason, I cannot help it.This is the Guru’s castle where everyone receives whatthey deserve.”

When the drum was finished, Guru Gobind Raicelebrated with prayers and sweet Guru Prashaad foreveryone. When it was beaten, everyone came to see it forthemselves. When Bhim Chand, the proud king from theneighbouring kingdom arrived, he became jealous of allthe presents the Guru had received from his Sikhs. Heespecially wanted Guru Gobind Rai’s elephant.

The selfish masands spoke with Mata Gujari. They said,“The Guru is very young and has never fought a war. Heis making Bhim Chand an enemy by not giving him theelephant. The mountain kings are not afraid to fight anddie. Tell you son that it is not good to make trouble withthem.”

When the Guru’s mother tried to tell her son to dowhat the masands said, Guru Gobind Rai spoke to her, “I

have been sent here by God, who never dies. Raja BhimChand is trying to scare me, but I fear only God and noone else.”

Bhim Chand talked other kings into joining him infighting the Guru and his followers. Finally, there was abig battle between the Guru, his Sikhs, and the hill kings.Gobind Rai’s uncle, Kirpal fought bravely. Many othersfought bravely. The Guru’s cousin, Sango Shah was killed.Guru Gobind Rai showered the battlefield with deadlyarrows. Many were killed before the remaining enemies ofthe Guru’s enemies rode away in defeat.

All this time, the Guru’s family was growing. Sundarihad had a son named Ajit a year before the big battle.Jitoji had three boys, one after another: Jujhar, Zorowar,and Fateh. Guru Gobind Rai respected his wives equallyand lovingly taught all his sons to be fearless saint-soldiers.

In 1699, when the Guru was a grown man, he gave hisSikhs a big test. At the big Baisakhi celebration, whenmany thousands of Sikhs had come to Anandpur, he askedfor their heads. One by one, a few fearless followers ofthe Guru came and offered him their heads, which hechopped off with his sword.

While he was doing this, some timid Sikhs came toMata Gujari and complained. They said the Guru had losthis mind and that she should make their oldest son Ajitthe Guru. Mata Gujari send a message, but no one wasreading messages that day. Everyone was paying completeattention to Guru Gobind Rai. In the end, Guru GobindRai created the Khalsa. A few days later, when he askedthe Khalsa to let him join them, he became Guru GobindSingh. All the Khalsa women were “Kaur” meaning princess,and the men were “Singh” meaning lion.

All the years of the tenth Guru’s getting ready to fightwere put to the test the following years. At that time, the

Mata Gujari 49


enemies of the Khalsa gathered and surrounded the fortsof Anandpur. For months, they cut off food and madeeveryone hungry. Prasadi the elephant became so skinnyand hungry that the Guru killed it so it would suffer nomore. Mahan Singh and his forty men ran away to savethemselves.

Finally, the Mughal generals promised Guru GobindSingh that they would let him and his Khalsa escape fromthe fort. The Guru did not believe the Mughal’s promise,but his Sikhs were so hungry that they made him agreewith the Mughals. As Guru Gobind Singh had warned,once everyone was out of the fort, the Mughals attackedthem from every direction.

The Guru and his Khalsa scattered to get away. MataGujari crossed a river with her grandsons, Zorowar Singhand Fateh Singh. Their cook, Gangu offered that they couldsleep at his house. Instead, he sold them to the Mughals.

Mughal soldiers took Mata Gujari, then eighty-one yearsold, and her grandsons, seven and nine, to the governorof Sarhind. Wazir Khan, the governor ordered that theyshould be kept in a cold tower. There, the three of themshivered while Mata Gujari kept up the spirits of the boys.“You are the greatgrandsons of Guru Hargobind, thegrandsons of the Guru Tegh Bahadur and the sons ofGuru Gobind Singh. Your spirit is strong. The Mughalscannot break your spirit.”

Wazir Khan wanted the Guru’s sons to give up give uptheir father’s religion. He told Zorowar and Fateh Singh,“If you join the emperor’s religion, if you bow to Meccaand do the five Muslim prayers, you will have lands andpower. You can live and be happy. If you do not, you willdie.”

With one voice, Fateh and Zorowar replied, “Ourgrandfather would not join your religion and we will not.Oh Fool, why do you try to tempt us with things that are

useless in this life or the next? We will never be fooled byyou. Our grandfather’s death created a fire to burn thisempire to ashes. Our deaths will add wind to that fire soit burns faster and hotter.”

The governor ordered that the two brave Khalsas bemade into a brick wall where they could breathe no more.The wall fell instead before it could cover their heads.When that failed, the cruel Wazir’s men killed the Guru’ssons the next day.

Mata Gujari was kept in the cold tower. Once she knewin her heart that her grandsons had left their bodies, shegave hers up as well and returned her spirit to God, whonever dies.

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Mata Krishan Kaur (1632-1701)

Mata Krishan Kaur was a wife of the seventh Guru. Sheand Guru Har Rai lived together in Kiratpur for twentyyears. In 1661, her husband passed the guruship on totheir youngest son, Har Krishan.

When Guru Har Rai breathed his last, he was onlythirty-one years old. Mata Krishan Kaur was just twenty-nine. Guru Har Krishan was only five years old at thetime. When her husband, passed from this world, MataKrishan Kaur did her best to cheer up all the sad andcrying Sikhs. “Don’t be sad,” she said. “This is all a partof God’s play.”

Mata Krishan Kaur made herself busy helping andserving her son, now the eighth Guru. She and her husbandhad taught him well. He was already waking up threehours before sunrise to take his bath and meditate.Afterwards, he would sit with the sadh sangat, chant Gurbaaneewith them, and enjoy the keertan.

Guru Har Krishan had an older brother, Ram Rai, whowas very jealous. He made friends with the emperorAuranzeb. Ram Rai hoped the powerful emperor wouldhelp him defeat his little brother so he could be Guru.

One day, a messenger came with gifts and presentsfrom a friendly Rajput general in Delhi. Raja Jai Singhinvited Guru Har Krishan to visit him. He told the Guruthat the emperor wanted to see him, but that he should

not worry. Raja Jai Singh had a large army and he wouldsee Guru Har Krishan was safe.

Everyone knew what a dangerous man the emperor ofIndia was. Many of the Sikhs worried that something badmight happen if their young Guru went to see him. Hundredsof Sikhs wanted to come with Guru Har Krishan to keephim safe, but the Guru asked only his mother and abouttwenty Sikhs to come along.

Raja Jai Singh was a good man. He gave his specialguests a big house to stay in. The house was surroundedby Raja Jai Singh’s soldiers, who also lived in Delhi. Itseemed safe from the emperor.

Although Guru Har Krishan had come to Delhi becausethe powerful emperor wanted to see him, he did not wantto see Aurangzeb. Instead, Mata Krishan Kaur and theGuru spend their days visiting the poor, the sick, and thehomeless. All the money his Sikhs gave Guru Har Krishanwas used to buy food, clothes and medicine for the suffering.

Everyone was happy to see the Guru. Some said, thatjust by seeing him, their sadness and worry went away.Such was the power of Guru Har Krishan’s meditation.

Raja Jai Singh told the emperor what he saw. He toldAurangzeb that Har Krishan was very different from hisbrother Ram Rai. While Ram Rai wanted to be powerful,Guru Har Krishan only wanted to help the helpless andserve the poor.

While the general did his best to keep the Guru safeand out of the emperor’s hands, Aurangzeb was impatient.He demanded Raja Jai Singh hand Guru Har Krishan overto him.

It happened that there was a terrible sickness in Dehliat that time. Smallpox are like chickenpox, only deadly.Thousands and thousands of people were dying.

The next morning, Guru Har Krishan had a fever andwas not feeling well. He was so sick that he could not

Mata Krishan Kaur 53


even speak when Raja Jai Singh asked him to see the emperor.The day after that, his body was covered with pox and heknew his time on Earth would not be many more days.

Mata Krishan Kaur began to worry. She had seen herhusband pass away just three years before. Now it lookedlike even her youngest son would leave her. She said, “Myson, why do you want to die? You only just became Guru.You are still a child. It is too soon for you to go. I wishyou would live a full life, have a wife and children, andthen go to God! Why at such a young age are you turningaway from this world?”

The Guru said to his mother, “Mother dear, it is naturalyou should feel this love for me, but you should not worry.We must do what God wants. Guru Arjun once said:

“‘The Master may harvest the crop whether it is green,half-ripe, or ripe and ready to be cut.’

“When God, the Farmer, feels it is time, He cuts downthe crop. There is no rule that says it cannot be young andgreen. What torture Guru Arjan suffered, but he did notsay a word! Why should we be sad about the body whenGod wants to take it away. Whatever God does is best.”

While the Guru lay sick in bed, everyone was told tochant and read Gurbaanee. When he could, Guru Har Krishansat up and taught the Sikhs gathered around his bed. Hetold them about life and the importance of death. All thiswhile, Mata Krishan Kaur was busy bringing special foodand medicine to her son. She also worked day and nightto look after all the people who came to visit.

Some of the Sikhs worried. They said, “Great King,your brother Ram Rai is friends with the emperor. In Punjab,there is Dhirmal and others who want the Guruship. Theyare only waiting for your passing to try and take over.Simple Sikhs will fall into their traps and smart Sikhs willbe hurt. In this way, the tree which Guru Nanak plantedwill wither away. Every one will be a guru in their own

home and Sikhism will fall apart. Please give us someonelike you to help us.”

Guru Har Krishan said, “Why do you worry? The treeplanted by Guru Nanak’s holy hands will never wither.Bad weather, storms and heat may come, but that tree willlive on. One Guru will blend with another.”

The eighth Guru then asked for a coconut and fivepennies. Then, in the same way Guru Har Rai and all theGurus before him had done it, he made three circles as hemeditated on the ninth Guru, and said, “The Guru is inBakala.” At that point, he lost his voice. When the Guruwas able to speak again, he told the ragis to sing Gurbaaneeand chant God’s Name.

Each day, Guru Har Krishan became weaker. One night,the Guru’s mother said to him, “What should I do alonein this world, once I have lost my good son and my kindhusband? How will I live without them?”

The Guru replied, “Mother dear, do not worry! Mostof your life to now has been filled with happiness. For therest of your life, serve God. Guru Arjan has said:

“‘Where the doctor cannot do anything, and wherethere is no sister and no brother, only God can help.’

“By remembering God, you will arrive at a place whereyou will never be unhappy, and never be without us.”

Hearing her son’s words, Mata Krishan Kaur felt peace.The Guru finally told his Sikhs not to cry for him. Instead,he wanted them all to sing Gurbaanee.

After Guru Har Krishan’s cremation, Mata Krishan Kaurtook all her son’s important things and went back toKiratpur. There, she send a Sikh to the village of Bakalawith a message to the ninth Guru:

“Please come to Kiratpur to receive a special jewel foryour turban, a hawk, a sword, the army, and the horseswhich have passed to you through Guru Hargobind, GuruHar Rai, and Guru Har Krishan. These are now yours.”

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A few weeks later, Guru Tegh Bahadur arrived withMata Nanaki and Mata Gujari and many Sikhs. Bhai Gurditta,the grandfather of the eighth Guru, and older brother toGuru Tegh Bahadur, gave him all the things from GuruHar Krishan. The ninth Guru took most of the things, butgave the things that were special to the eighth Guru, hisclothes and other things, to Mata Krishan Kaur to keep.

While the ninth Guru went on to build the city of ChakNanaki, which he would later call “Anandpur,” Mata KrishanKaur stayed in Kiratpur. She lived there and taught theSikhs how to live and how to die, and how to live onwhile others die. Mata Krishan Kaur was a great teacherfor many Sikhs.

While Guru Tegh Bahadur travelled far to Patna andAssam, Mata Krishan Kaur kept serving and teaching theSikhs in Punjab. When the ninth Guru was martyred inDelhi, it was Mata Krishan Kaur who came to Anandpurand lovingly put the turban on Gobind Rai’s head in theceremony that made him Guru.

The wife of the seventh Guru and mother of the eighthGuru was a humble, peaceful, and noble lady. Mata KrishanKaur was a great role model. She gave loved and servedand gave hope to many people.

Mai Bhago (1675-1755)

Bhag Kaur could hardly believe her ears.Her husband had told her that he and his friends had

just come back from fighting alongside Guru Gobind Singhand many brave Khalsa. In the fort of Anandpur, they hadbeen hungry and cold and missing their families. Thenthey, forty of them, had told the Guru they wanted toreturn home. Guru Gobind Singh had agreed they couldgo, but only if they declared they were no longer hisdisciples and he was no longer their Master. Mahan Singh,their leader, had signed a piece of paper that said as much.That night, they slipped away from Anandpur Sahib.

Bhag Kaur spoke with the women of the surroundingvillages and asked them about their husbands, brothersand sons who had just returned. They all told the samestory. Their men had deserted Guru Gobind Singh.

Bhag Kaur felt ashamed for her husband and her wholefamily. She felt sorry for all her women friends. She toldthem not to welcome their men home. This was not ahappy time.

Bhag Kaur spoke to Mahan Singh, her husband NidhanSingh, and the other men. “Why did you leave the Guruto fight without your help. Why did you turn your backon the Guru? Why, if you won’t fight, we women will giveyou our aprons. We will go and fight for you!”

The men looked at each other. Life had been very hardat the Guru’s side. They had thought that if they just left

Mai Bhago 57


Guru Gobind Singh, everything would be easy. This wasnot easy. This was very, very hard. Now their womenwere making them feel ashamed to be men.

One by one, the men decided to return as quickly aspossible to the Guru’s side. Bhag Kaur announced that shewould set out with them in the morning to find GuruGobind Singh and his Khalsa.

Their saddles and horses were prepared. Their armourwas repaired. Their weapons were sharpened. In themorning, there was a great langar. Then, the forty set outin high spirits. Bhag Kaur, dressed as a man and armedwith a spear, lead the way.

What they did not know was that Guru Gobind Singh,his army, and his family had left the fort of AnandpurSahib. They had left and spread in all different directions,chased by the Mughal hordes. Many had fought and diedalong the way. The Guru’s four sons had been martyred,his mother as well. Now Guru Gobind Singh was wanderingthe forest with the Mughal army looking for him.

Bhag Kaur and her followers had travelled all daywhen they came to the village of Khidrana. Their horseswere tired and thirsty, and so were they. At Khidrana,they expected a pool of refreshing water.

A large Mughal army of hundreds of thirsty soldiersand horses was also coming to Khidrana. And in the nearbyforest was Guru Gobind Singh.

Soon the Mughals and the Sikhs spotted each other.They prepared to do battle. The Guru also saw them andprepared to rain arrows on the soldiers from his foresthideout.

The battle was furious. The horses kicked up dust inevery direction. Soon, Mai Bhago and each of her menwere surrounded by dozens of well-armored Mughalsoldiers on horseback. Bhag Kaur struck her spear to theleft and right, protecting herself and her horse from the

sword strikes of the soldiers. Nidhan Singh and MahanSingh and the others fought quickly and bravely. Thoughthey were outnumbered, they emptied many Mughalsaddles. All the while, deadly arrows also rained on theMughals from the Guru. Almost every arrow made itsmark.

After a long fight, Bhago Kaur and her fighters laydead or wounded on the ground. They were surroundedby many dead Mughal soldiers. It was night now.

The still living horsemen went to where they expectedto find water for themselves and their horses, but the poolwas dry. The nearest water was an hour’s ride away.Leaving their dead, the Mughals rode off quickly.

Guru Gobind Singh came out of the forest from wherehe had killed many soldiers with his arrows. He went toeach of Bhag Kaur’s men. Her husband and the rest wereall dead, excepting Mahan Singh. He was barely breathing.

Guru Gobind Singh kneeled beside Mahan Singh andtook his head onto his lap, “Do you have any final wish?”

“My dear Guru, I have only one last wish. Please tearup the note I had signed and accept us as your Khalsaagain.”

The Guru reached into a pouch he had with him wherehe had kept that note. Before Mahan Singh’s eyes, he tookit out, tore it to pieces and threw it to the wind, where itquickly scattered in the air.

The Guru looked deeply into his Khalsa’s eyes andsaid, “It is done as you wish, my dear son.”

Mahan Singh smiled and breathed his last.Guru Gobind Singh walked between the bodies of the

dead and dying, until he found Bhago Kaur, who wasbadly hurt. He kneeled beside her and stroked her forehead.She opened her eyes in surprise to see her Guru.

Through her courage, Bhag Kaur had saved the honourof her husband and all the men from the surrounding

Mai Bhago 59


villages. They became known as The Forty Liberated Ones.Afterwards, Bhag Kaur was called Mai Bhago. Her

wounds healed and she travelled south with Guru GobindSingh. They went with a few Sikhs to Nander in Maharashtra.Mai Bhago was there when he made Siri Guru GranthSahib the Guru for all time. And she was there when hisspirit left his body.

After Guru Gobind Singh’s passing, Mai Bhago wentfurther south to the village of Jinvara in Karnataka. There,she found a simple hut and happily meditated for the restof her years. The loving Sikhs of that place build a Gurdwarato remember her by. It is called Gurdwara Tap AshtanMai Bhago.

Rani Sahib Kaur (1771-1799)

Sahib Kaur was a princess of the Kingdom of Patiala. Whenshe was two years old, her brother was born. He wasnamed Sahib Singh, and together, they were the princeand the princess of their father’s kingdom.

Their father was a smart general named Raja AmarSingh. His mother was Mai Hukman, a wise old woman.Their mother was Raj Kaur, a smart woman who couldread and write a horse.

Often their father would be fighting other armies withhis soldiers. While they were still young, Sahib Kaur andSahib Singh learned to ride a horse and how to use asword and shield. Their father knew it was important thatthey learn to fight. One day the kingdom would be theirs,and they would have to know how to fight to keep it.

Sahib Kaur’s parents arranged for her to marry JamailSingh. He lived 300 kilometers away. For this reason, SahibKaur left her own family to live with her new husband inFatehgarh village, near the town of Gurdaspur. Those weredangerous days. Armies, large and small, would visit outof nowhere. Sahib Kaur continued to practice her gatkaand horse-riding.

Sahib Kaur’s father died a year after she moved away.Her younger brother became the king. Because he wasonly eight years old, his grandmother, Mai Hukman helped

Rani Sahib Kaur 61


him do his job. Sahib Singh and his older sister often sentmessanges back and forth.

Year after year, however, things became worse inPatiala. The people became restless. Neighbouring kingsthreatened Sahib Kaur’s brother. When Mai Hukman diedof old age, the chiefs of the kingdom of Patiala said theywould break away and not pay their taxes to Sahib Singh.When he was twenty years old and his sister was twenty-two, Sahib Singh did something unusual. He sent for hissister and gave her the important job of prime minister.

When Sahib Kaur arrived, she took charge. She wentto every village, getting to know them and seeing theywere at peace. Sahib Kaur also made the chiefs pay theirtaxes. Lastly, she had men make two new forts to protectthe kingdom.

Sahib Kaur’s messengers told her what was happeningall over her kingdom and beyond. One day, a messengerarrived out of breath. He said, “Your husband’s cousin hasstolen Jarnail Singh’s ;and and put him in prison.”

In no time at all, Sahib Kaur put together a small armyto rescue her husband. They rode quickly to Fatehgarhvillage. Seeing Sahib Kaur and her soldiers, the cousinsurrendered and released her husband. Afraid of whatshe might do to him, he also returned the land he hadtaken.

When Sahib Kaur arrived back in Patiala, there wasmore trouble. A Maratha army of 12,000 men had arrivedno far away. The Maratha general, Nano Rao wanted Patialato surrender to him. He sent three Sikh chiefs to meetSahib Kaur.

Sahib Kaur told the Sikh chiefs to tell the Marathasthat Patiala was very powerful and he should not challengethem. Then she went to meet the kings of Jind, Nabha andKalsian. None of them wanted to fight the Marathas, but

Sahib Kaur told them what would happen to them if theydid not join and fight together. Finally they agreed. SahibKaur sent a message to Nano Rao, warning him that iftheir army came any closer, their armies would meet inthe battlefield.

Sahib Kaur and her friends prepared for war. Together,they had 7,000 men. Before going forward to meet theenemy, Sahib Kaur spoke to her chiefs and soldiers. Shesaid, “I have made a promise that I will not return withoutbeating the enemy. Will you allow a lady to be killedfighting? Will you yourself turn your back on the enemy?”In this way, she readied them for the coming battle.

The armies meet at Mardanpur, fourteen kilometersoutside of Patiala. There was a great clash of horses andsteel. A great noise, great cries, mangled men, blood inthe field, in the air, everywhere.

Sahib Kaur herself took on a brave Maratha chief, RanjitRao. They fought one-on-one on their horses with theirswords and shields. At last, she outwitted the chief andlanded him a fatal blow.

The soldiers fought until evening, then went to theircamps to rest and prepare for the next day’s fight.

ahib Kaur and her allies lost one third of their men onthe battlefield, while the Marathas lost one half. Everyonewas sore and hurting, with many injuries.

In their war council that night, Sahib Kaur and herchiefs worried the Marathas might have more soldiers comingto help. Instead of waiting till morning, they decided toattack the enemy at midnight.

Quietly, they gathered themselves, their weapons andtheir horses. Sahib Kaur and her soldiers approached theMaratha camp in the stillness of the night. Hardly any ofthe Marathas were on guard. When they saw the thousandsof Sikhs on horseback descending on them in the darkness,

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they turned and ran. Soon the whole Maratha camp wasoverrun by the army of Patiala and its allies.

The Marathas woke up and gathered themselves togetheras best they could. Then they retreated, went back wherethey had come from, never to return again. Sahib Kaur hassaved Patiala and everyone was grateful to her - and toGod and Guru who had protected them.

Princess Sophia (1878-1948)

Princess Sophia Jindan Alexandra Duleep Singh, daughterof Maharaja Duleep Singh and Maharani Bamba, was bornin England at the mansion called “Elveden Hall,” in 1876.Princess Sophia’s father had been the last maharaja of theSikh kingdom of Punjab.

The armies of the British had twice defeated the armiesof Punjab. The British then took Duleep Singh, aged justeleven, away and educated him as a Christian. He wasstripped of his religion and his kingdom, but given a largeallowance and allowed to keep his title, maharaja, meaning“great king.” Five years later, in 1854, Duleep Singh wassent into exile in Britain.

Sophia and her brothers and sisters lived the lives ofprinces and princesses. Their father decorated their largehome to look like a Mughal palace and kept a collection ofexotic parrots, falcons, peacocks, and buzzards. Beingfavorites of Queen Victoria meant the family was popular.There were always visitors, and rich and royalentertainments.

In 1907, Sophia went with her older sister, Bamba tovisit Amritsar and Lahore, and meet members of theirfather’s family for the first time. Everyone they met showedthem much love and respect, although they only spokeEnglish. They needed an interpreter with them whereverthey went.

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A couple of years later, Princess Sophia visited thehome of a friend, Una Dugdale, who inspired her to jointhe movement for women’s rights. In those days, womencould not vote and they could not be prime minister orpresident. Only men could run the country and decidewho ran the country. It was unfair and had always beenunfair. Now women were becoming educated anddemanding their rights.

Sophia joined the Women’s Social and Political Union.These women were known as “suffragettes” because theywanted “women’s suffrage” – the right for women to vote.

There was to be an election at the end of 1910. PrimeMinister Asquith stopped a law that would have given onemillion wealthy British women the vote. Sophia and hernew friends decided they would march to Parliament totell the Prime Minister women deserved the right to vote.

On November 18, Sophia and Emmeline Pankhurst andother well-known suffragettes led a delegation of 300women. Before reaching Parliament, rows of police roughedthem up, beat them, and threw them to the ground. Someof the women had their bones broken. Still they tried topress against the lines of police toward Parliament. Thepolice arrested over one hundred, put them in paddywagons, and took them to jail.

The next day, a photo in a newspaper of the brutalityof the police was so shocking that Winston Churchill, animportant member of the government, ordered the arrestedwomen should be let go. Otherwise, he knew his governmentwould become even more unpopular. Sophia and the otherwomen were more determined than ever to fight on.

Next, Sophia joined a group of women who refused topay their taxes: the Women’s Tax Resistance League. InMay of 1911, Sophia was ordered to come to court forrefusing to pay her taxes. She declared, “Taxation withoutrepresentation is a tyranny!” If a woman paid her taxes,

she should also have a right to participate, by voting orbeing elected, in her government. Her protest was ignoredand she was made to pay a fine.

In July and again two years later, when Sophia againrefused to pay her taxes. In her defense, she said, “If I amnot a fit person for the purposes of representation, whyshould I be a fit person for taxation?”

The police came and took away her diamond ring andother jewelry to be sold at auction. Many of her friendscame to the auction. They bought and promptly gave themback to Sophia. The suffragettes used these events to puttheir story in the newspapers so more people wouldunderstand the unfairness of the laws. At that time, mostpeople still did not agree that women should vote.

Princess Sophia used her popularity to gain friendsand supporters for women’s right to vote. She gave outthousands of “Votes to Women” pamphlets around London.Sophia also raised money for the Women’s Tax ResistanceLeague and sold copies of The Suffragette newspaper onthe street.

In August of 1914, Britain entered the First World War.The government agreed to let go all the hundreds ofsuffragettes from prison. In return, the women agreed thatuntil the end of the conflict they would stop their protestand help the country win the war. The next year, PrincessSophia took part in a march of 10,000 women calling fortheir right to do the work that men had always done.

With millions of men away fighting in the war, theirjobs were not being done. Factory workers and postmen,drivers and office workers had all left their regular jobs togo to war. As a result of their protest, many women begandoing jobs women had never done before. This was agreat help to the war effort. It also proved that womencould do just about anything a man could do just as well,and sometimes better.

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During the war, Princess Sophia made many visits toEnglish hospitals where she gave comforted and encouragedIndian soldiers who had been wounded fighting the warfor the British. The recovering soldiers enjoyed her visitsbecause they knew she was the granddaughter of the greatSikh Maharaja Ranjeet Singh. Sophia also sometimes workedas nurse.

Near the end of the war, in February of 1918, a newgovernment with a new prime minister, finally passed alaw that gave all men over the age of twenty-one andthose women over thirty who owned a house, the right tovote. This was a victory for working class men and formost women. During the war, they had shown their worthto the entire country.

Ten years later, the laws were again changed, givingmen and women equal rights to vote or to become anelected representative, even prime minister. Through theirhard work, courage, and intelligence, Sophia and thesuffragettes had won.

Bibi Harnam Kaur (1886-1914)

Around 1900, Canada and India were sister colonies of theBritish Empire. Both were ruled from London, England byParliament and Queen Victoria. They were different also.Many millions of people lived in India. It was famous forits spices and arts and temples. India was called the “crownof the British Empire.” Canada was filled with wild forestsand grasslands. It was twice as large as India, but notmany people lived there.

In 1897, a group of Sikh soldiers travelled to Londonto celebrate sixty years of Queen Victoria’s rule. Therewas to be a festival and they, mounted in fine horses andwith smart-looking turbans, were going to be part of a bigparade. On their way to England, the soldiers rode a trainacross Canada from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean. Theyliked the big, open land they saw. The soldiers decidedone day they would come back to cut down the trees andfarm the land of Canada.

After they had returned to their homes in Punjab, theSikh soldiers told their families and friends about the greatcountry they had seen. They described the wide, openspaces and the rich, tall forests.

Soon they did come back, several hundred of them. By1906, there were 1,500 Sikhs working in the province ofBritish Columbia. The men worked mostly in sawmills,cutting the logs of the great trees into planks for makingwooden houses and buildings.

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Far away, in the city of Peshawar, to the west of India,a girl was born. When she went to Gurdwara for the firsttime, her parents named her Harnam Kaur. When she grewup and was twenty-two years old, her family married herto Bhag Singh. Harnam Kaur’s husband had settled in BritishColumbia and come to India to marry her. He wanted tobring his new wife back home to Canada with him. Theywere to travel together with Balwant Singh and his wifeand two children. Back in British Columbia, he served asthe granthee at one of the two Gurdwaras.

Harnam Kaur was a little worried about the long distanceshe would have to travel to her new home. She felt thatshe might never see her parents and friends and familyagain. But she did her Nitnem each day and the Nitnemtold her that every ending has inside it a new beginning,so she was not too afraid.

Bhag Singh and Balwant Singh were bringing their wivesto Canada for a reason. The Caucasian people of Canadawere afraid of all the new people coming to their countryfrom Asia. They thought they would soon lose their countryto millions people coming from China, India and Japan.

It was natural that the pink-skinned people of Canadashould think others might come from far away and taketheir land from them. That, in fact, is exactly what theythemselves had just done to the tribal peoples who hadlived in Canada for thousands of years. To prevent thisfrom happening, the government of Canada had made lawsthat made it difficult for people from Japan, China andIndia to move to their country.

Harnam Kaur and her companions set out on a steamshipthat went from India to Hongkong, and from Hongkongto America. America was another big country on the samecontinent as Canada, but to the south of it. In this way,her husband hoped to come first to America, then to secretlyto Canada.

Every morning, they would gather on the ship andrecite their Nitnem. In the evening, as the sun sank behindthe clouds and into the ocean, they recited Rehiras, and atnight sweet Kirtan Sohila. Every morning and evening,they would do a prayer for a safe journey and God’s helpin coming to Canada.

Kartar Kaur, who was Balwant Singh’s wife, and HarnamKaur became close friends as they crossed the ocean onthe ship full of all kinds of people. When Harnam becamepregnant, they became even better friends. They talkedabout how homesick they were, about being a mother,and about their future lives in Canada.

After many weeks, they landed at the port of SanFrancisco in the U.S.A. It was good to finally smell theland and see the green of the forests and the blue-grey ofthe mountains after weeks aboard the ship. Kartar Kaurhad grown rolly-polly with her new baby inside. She joineda line of passengers with her husband and Kartar Kaurand her family. At the end of the line was an important-looking person in a uniform. It was his job to look at theiridentification papers and welcome them.

When they reached the end of the line, her husbandspoke in English she did not understand with theimmigration officer. Soon it was clear that things were notgoing well. The immigration officer did not welcome themto America. He told them they must stay on the ship.Everyone was disappointed, but they did not give up.

“What happened?” Harnam Kaur asked her husband.“They are not allowing us to come to America,” her

husband told her.“What will we do now?” she asked.“We will continue on the ship to Seattle. If Waheguru

wills it, we will be allowed to enter America there,” hesaid.

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Two days later, the ship entered the harbour of themisty city of Seattle, not far from Canada. Again, theyformed a line, a shorter line. Once again, a grim man in auniform told them they could not leave the ship. Theywould have to stay on board. They would have to returnto India.

Harnam Kaur cried a few tears. She was so lookingforward to stepping off the ship onto land. She could smellthe wonderful scent of the pine forests. Harinam Kaur waslooking forward to coming to land and making a home forher new baby.

Harnam Kaur was becoming bigger every day and thejourney back across the wide ocean took weeks. Finally,they arrived in Hongkong. Soon after she and hercompanions had left their ship, Harnam Kaur gave birth toa baby boy. Instead of starting their family in Canada,Harnam had had her first child in China! But she and herhusband continued to do their prayers. They did not giveup their dream of coming to Canada.

Harnam Kaur and Bhag Singh returned with their babyto his home village near Amritsar. For two years, theyregained their strength, talked and planned. Bhag Singhsold some family land to pay for the long trip back toCanada. This time, they decided to sail direct for Vancouverharbour.

Once again, Harnam Kaur met her friend Kartar Kaurand her husband and their growing children. This time,they set off secretly from India to Hongkong to Canada,hoping to surprise the immigration officer in Vancouver.

After another long, long journey aboard a steamship,they saw mountains far in the distance. There were eaglesin the sky and whales and fishing boats in the watersaround their steamship. They were approaching Vancouverharbour.

Once again, Harnam and her companions organizedthemselves into a line to meet an Englishman – or was ita Canadian? - in a uniform at the front. This time the mantook a long, hard look at Bhag Singh and Balwant Singh’spapers. He called another officer. They spoke in serioustones for what seemed like a long time.

Finally, they decided that the men could return toVancouver, but their wives and children would have toreturn on the next ship to India! The law said no womenfrom Asia were allowed to enter Canada. It was a veryunfriendly law made by the frightened people of Canada.

Harnam Kaur finally was able to step off the ship withher son and husband and Kartar Kaur and her family.How nice it was! At least a hundred Sikhs, including theonly two women, came out to welcome them. And soonthey set out to read Sukhmanee day and night, praying fora change of heart by the immigrant people and their heartlesslaw.

Many people began to talk about the case of HarnamKaur and Kartar Kaur. The Sikhs in British Columbia beganto talk and discuss. The pink-skinned people in BritishColumbia began to talk. The thousands of Chinese andJapanese in Canada began to talk. The tribal people ofBritish Columbia began to talk. And the people in thegovernment, thousands of miles to the east, also began totalk and talk. For weeks, telegrams tapped out messagesto the east and back to the west.

Finally, there was a decision that Harnam Kaur andKartar Kaur and their children could stay in Canada. Thegovernment would not change its rules, at least not yet,but Bhag Singh and Balwant Singh’s families would beallowed to live Canada.

Harnam Kaur and Kartar Kaur will always beremembered as brave women. By coming to Canada, they

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challenged the country’s unjust laws. Because of theirsacrifices, Canada today is special country of many peoplesfrom many lands living in peace together. And thanks toHarnam Kaur and Kartar Kaur, immigration laws todayare kinder and friendlier than they were when these ladieswere twice challenged to abandon their dreams of a newlife in a new country.

Bibi Balbir Kaur (1901-1923)

Everyone was excited. There was freedom in the air. Youcould almost smell it.

The Akalis were standing up to the British, telling themto leave our Gurdwaras alone. The British and their gunscontrolled all of India – the army, the roads, the schools,the prisons, the police. The rulers even had their henchmenin charge of the Gurdwaras, making sure nobody spoke aword against them.

Thousands had been beaten up and sent to the prisonfor standing up to the British. The prisons were packedwith many more thousands of protesters and the rulerswere running out of prisons. At Jallianwala Bhag, hundredsof Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims had been machine-gunnedby the British to scare the people into letting the foreignersstay in charge of India.

The year was 1923. Fifty thousand or more people cameout to the Akal Takhat in Amritsar as five hundred Akalisdid their ardaas and promised to walk to Jaito peacefully,no matter what the cost. Everyone knew the British werekilling Indians. Everyone knew the British were scared tobe kicked out of India one day. But they, the Sikhs, werenot scared. They were in cherdi kalaa.

Thousands followed as the shaheedee jatha walkedbarefoot, sometimes chanting, sometimes meditating quietly,along the way. Balbir Kaur joined the parade along with

Bibi Balbir Kaur 75


many, many others. She hoped to do some seva, maybecook or clean or be of some help somehow.

All along the way, tens of thousands of people cameout to see the brave Akalis. Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims,Christians, all showered flower petals and rose water onthe five hundred. At every stop, they were given deliciouswater, milk, sweets and fruits. People gave piles of moneyout of love and respect.

They travelled, day by day. Every night, they slept ina different Gurdwara. Slowly, they walked toward theirdestination of Gurdwara Gangsar at the village of JaitoMandi.

Balbir Kaur could see there was little she could do forthe shaheedee jatha. She just marched alongside them. Andsometimes she would share the joy of her one-year-oldson with the Akalis. His playful smiles and laughter broughthappiness to everyone’s heart.

Eleven days they walked. Each day was more excitingthan the last. Finally, they knew they were coming closeto their destination.

On the morning of the twelfth day, the jathedar of thegreat procession stood on a high place and spoke, “WithWaheguruji’s blessing, we have come this far knowing thatdeath likely awaits us. We have been told that the Britishhave machine guns set up between here and GurdwaraGangsar. I am now asking anyone who has not made theirpromise before Akal Takhat Sahib to please give way. Allowthe shaheedee jatha to continue without you.”

Many people obeyed the jathedar, but not everyone,not Balbir Kaur and quite a few others, even Hindus andMuslims. Some continued on a parallel path a little distanceaway. Many others continued alongside the garlandedshaheedee jatha..

When the jathedar came to know that Balbir was stillmarching, he left the front of the procession to speak with

her. “Bibi,” he said, “you should not go further. There isa chance we will be fired on.”

Balbir Kaur replied, “Veerjee, do not stop me. I amthirsty for seva. Do not worry. Let me enjoy this seva.There are five hundred Singhs with me, all ready to meetdeath, why should they not be joined with a Kaur? I havealso taken Amrit. I will feel blessed to give my life alongwith my brothers and meet Guru Gobind Singh with them.Up to now, I have done no seva at all.”

“But, Bibi...” began the jathedar.“My child? This is what you want to point out? He also

is Guru’s blessing.” She hugged her son and he gave outa squeal of laughter. “And if he too serves the Panth, whatgreater blessing can there be?”

The jathedar and others too tried to make Balbir Kaurchange her mind and go back.

“Not including a Singherni with five hundred Singhs ina shaheedee jatha will be an insult to Guru Gobind Singhwho made us equal. How can this be? I will not allow thisinsult.”

At last, the power of her arguments forced Balbir Kaur’sbrothers to accept her right to continue with the shaheedeejatha. The jathedar took his place again at the front of theprocession of more than five hundred. They began to chantas one voice, “Satinaam Waheguru, Satinaam Waheguru,Satinaam Waheguru, Satinaam Waheguru...”

They came to a checkpoint. A British officer tried toforce the procession to enter in groups of fifty,unsuccessfully. The group hardly paused, but continuedforward, continued forward even as shots rang out inthree directions. Machineguns.

A bullet grazed Balbir Kaur’s forehead. Akalis werebeing hit to the left and right of her. Many fell and pickedthemselves up again. They continued chanting, “SatinaamWaheguru, Satinaam Waheguru...”

Bibi Balbir Kaur 77


Balbir Kaur’s child played with the blood gushing downher face. To him, it was all a game. Time moved slowly.A bullet hit her child in one ear and entered her chest.Balbir Kaur kissed her child on its forehead and put itdown carefully by the side of the road. She prayed, “OhWaheguru, you have given this child to me. Now pleasetake care of its soul.”

Balbir Kaur’s face became yellowish. Her walk becamewobbly, but she would not stop. She kept chanting overthe noise of the guns, “Satinaam Waheguru, SatinaamWaheguru...”

A last bullet, a messenger of liberation, entered BalbirKaur’s body and it crumpled to the ground. She gave asmile and breathed her last.

On that one day, about one hundred were martyredand twice as many wounded. More than seven hundredpeaceful demonstrators were beaten up and put in prison.Many of their bodies were hurt and broken by the cruelpolice.

A week later, another shaheedee jatha of five hundredplus started out from the Akal Takhat. Volunteers werecoming from Canada and China to join be a part of themovement. In the months that followed, another fourteengroups of five hundred made the same procession fromAmritsar to Jaito, beatings and prison.

Only the last procession, which left the Akal Takhat onApril 27, 1925, was allowed to go peacefully. At the end,the British finally gave up and let the Sikhs control theirown Gurdwaras. The thousands who had been arrestedwere set free. The courage of Bibi Balbir Kaur and manyothers had finally won the freedom of the Sikhs.

Bibi Gursharan Kaur (1937 - )

Gursharan Kaur wanted to be a school teacher when shewas a girl, but she was not very good with her studies.She liked to sing keertan and play with her friends instead.

Gursharan went to a Sikh school near Peshawar, whichtoday is in Pakistan. When she was ten years old, herfamily moved to the holy city of Amritsar. That was justbefore India and Pakistan, which had been one country,were separated into two. It was a very bloody break withSikhs and Hindus being killed and chased out of Pakistanand many Muslims being chased out of India. It was adangerous time. Gursharan Kaur and her family were luckyto be safe in India when the split happened.

Gursharan Kaur went to school in Amritsar and Patiala,and returned to Amritsar, where she earned her teachingdegree from Khalsa College. But her parents had anotheridea. They wanted Gursharan to get married. She had twoolder sisters, and a younger brother and two sisters. Theolder sisters had already married and started families oftheir own.

Gursharan’s parents told her it was now her turn to bemarried and they said they had found a nice young man.His name was Manmohan Singh and he was so smart thatschools gave him prizes for his school work. In no time,they were engaged and married and moved to Chandigarh,

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where her husband taught about money at PunjabiUniversity. Soon after, Gursharan and Manmohan wereexpecting their first child.

The new couple had a baby girl they named Upinder.They planned to live in their new house in Chandigarh,near the university. Instead, Manmohan won his biggestprize yet through his hard work and smart thinkingabout what money does for people. The prize was to goto study at Oxford University, one of the best schools inthe world. Gursharan and her husband and baby Upinderwent to England so Manmohan could learn from the bestteachers.

In a short time, Gursharan was having three bigadventures: being married, being a mother, and living faraway from her family in India. Sometimes she was homesick,but mostly Gursharan was too busy to be homesick. Besides,there were lots of Sikhs in England they could meet, andshe was still able to play keertan in the Gurdwara. Sikhshad lived in England since Maharaja Daleep Singh. Unlikethe maharaja and most of the other Sikh men in England,Manmohan Singh kept his turban. Gursharan liked to wearher salwaar kameez.

Four years later, Upinder was already reading andcurious about all things. But it was time to leave the landof fog and Santa and dresses to return home to Chandigarh.Gursharan was happy to hear the sound of people speakingPunjabi again. It was nice also be feel really at home andto visit with her sisters and friends, all of Upinder’s aunti-jis and uncle-jis. And soon another baby was born, a sisterto Upinder. She was named Daman.

While Gursharan Kaur was busy looking after theirchildren with the help of a servant or two, ManmohanSingh was becoming famous. There were many poor peoplein India and in many other countries. He had good ideas

to help people work better and become less poor. Soon, hewas invited to go to America to help people from aroundthe world. Gursharan was proud of her husband.

Soon, they were packing and moving again. Gursharanand Manmohan and Upinder and little Daman flew all theway to New York City. The important place where herhusband would work was called the United Nations.

In New York, Gursharan and Mohinder made newfriends from all different countries, from the east and thewest and the north and the south. Almost every countryin the world sent some of its smartest people to the UnitedNations to work together for peace between nations. Inthe New York harbour was the Statue of Liberty. Itreminded everyone of how important it is to live free andwithout fear. There was also a big playground called ConeyIsland near the big statue in the harbour. And snow in thewinter.

Three years was a long time to be away from family.Even to call India for ten minutes in those days cost a lotof money. Gursharan and her growing family returned toIndia with a happy heart.

The year was 1969 and this time they settled in Delhi,in the north of India. Gursharan and her husband soldtheir house in Chandigarh and bought a flat with a big,shady fig tree across the street. It was near the DelhiSchool of Economics, where he would be teaching. The flatwas big enough for five. Soon, another baby girl camealong and made them five. She was named Amrit. Nowthere were three girls: Upinder, Daman and Amrit.

Upinder was almost grown up. Unlike her parents, shedid not wait for them to find someone to marry. She anda fellow student fell in love. His name was Vijay Tankhaand he was studying philosophy. Now they were studyingeach other. Gursharan and her husband were upset at first



that Upinder did not choose a Sikh. But they could seeVijay was a nice young man, so they gave them their blessing.They also gave them their flat in the heart of Delhi.

Those were difficult days to be a Sikh in India. Thenewspapers were filled with stories that Sikhs were badpeople, that they wanted to break India apart. Then oneday, the Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, sent the army toattack the Harimandir Sahib. Many, many people died –women and children, old people and young. Army peopledied too in the fight to take the Golden Temple.

Then, five months later, the Prime Minister was shotdead. Everyone said her Sikh guards had done it. Soon, amob of angry young men attacked the Sikhs in Delhi.They burned the scooters and taxis of the Sikhs. Theykilled the Sikhs and burned their homes. Many thousandsdied.

At that time, Gursharan and her family were safely inMumbai, thousands of kilometers away. But her brotherwas in Delhi and he was burned to death. And those samemobs came to Upinder’s home. Someone shouted, “This isa Sikh house! Burn it!” But Viyay stepped out of thehouse and said, “This is my house. I am Hindu.” Thecrowd looked at Vijay passed by without touching thehouse.

For many Sikhs, mostly the young men, and mostly inPunjab, those were dangerous times. Many were pickedup by the police and put in jail. Many were tortured. Manywere killed by the police for no reason. Gursharan and herfamily returned to Delhi when it was safe again.

For Sikhs to be safe in their own country, it naturallyhelps if Sikhs help to run it. With this idea, and to help thepoor of India, Gursharan and her husband agreed that heshould run in an election to become a member of India’sParliament, called the Rajya Sabha. The year was 1991.

Manmohan Singh won election. The Prime Minister askedhim to be his Finance Minister, in charge of all the businessand money in India. Everyone said Manmohan did agreat job, even when the Prime Minister was voted out afew years later in another election. India, once a poorcountry, was becoming a country whose people were notso poor.

In 2004 there was another big election. This time, SoniaGandhi won the election. In 1984, Sonia Gandhi’s mother-in-law, the Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, had also beenkilled. Her husband had been killed as well. Like Gursharan,she was able to forgive and to think what was best for thecountry.

After the election, which she had won, Sonia Gandhisurprised everyone. She gave the job of Prime Minister ofone billion Indians to Manmohan Singh. When he camehome from meeting Mrs. Gandhi to tell her the news,Gursharan was so surprised she could not speak for severalminutes. She was also very humbled and very proud ofher husband.

As the wife of the Prime Minister, Gursharan Kaurchanged some things. Some things she kept the same.Instead of Punjabi salwaar kameez, she began to wear Indiansaris. She continued to cook for her husband, though aservant began to buy the groceries. She also liked to maketea for guests, though now she had a secretary to organizeher appointments. She and Manmohan also kept the oldcar they had driven for twenty years, their Maruti 800.And she still loved to go to Gurdwara Rakabganj, near herhome, on Sundays with her friend, Isher Kaur.

As the Prime Minister’s wife, Gursharan Kaur sometimeswent to meetings of world leaders with her husband. InEngland and Canada, in Germany and France, she met thewives of presidents and prime ministers.



Gursharan Kaur never became the school teacher shewanted to be. Instead, she married a great teacher and aleader of her country. When her girls grew up, Amritbecame a lawyer in America to help the helpless in thatcountry’s prisons. Daman became a writer. And, throughher hard work and study, Upinder became a famous teacherof India’s history at the University of Delhi.

To her surprise, Gursharan herself is now a part ofthat history.

Bibi Krishna Kaur Khalsa (1940 - )

In the beginning, Krishna was not a Sikh and “Krishna”was not her name. But Krishna always loved to sing. Herlove of singing took her all the way from her home withher family to a big stage in New York City. People lovedthe way she sang. Krishna was a star.

But Krishna was not happy. She was Afro-American.That meant her skin was dark. Most Afro-Americans atthat time were poor. Many could not even read. Hardlyany could sing as well as Krishna, and for them, life washard. They did hard work and earned little respect. Thismade Krishna want to do something to make the lives ofher people better.

Krishna tried different religions and different kinds ofmeditation and yoga. Finally, she decided to go to Africa,where her people came from many thousands of yearsago, to see what she could learn. After a year in Africaand more study, Krishna thought, “I am not a child ofAfrica or America. I am a child of the universe.”

When she returned from Africa, Krishna found a greatyoga teacher who was a Sikh. His name was HarbhajanSingh - Yogi Bhajan. In just few months, Krishna followedher new, brown-skinned teacher to Punjab and to theHarimandir, the “Golden Temple.”

It was a hard trip and a dangerous trip. Some jealouspeople tried to kill Harbhajan Yogi. For protection, Krishna’s

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teacher told her and the hundred other students who hadcome from America to chant, “Guru Guru Wahe Guru,Guru Ram Das Guru.” Krishna was a very good studentand she hardly stopped chanting. She lovingly chanted themantra day and night. It sounded beautiful and somehoweveryone returned safely home to America.

Back in America, Yogi Bhajan sent Krishna Kaur toteach her people in the Afro-American part of the big cityof Los Angeles. Krishna was afraid. How could she teach?How could she help her people?

Just then, a rusted little fork spoke to her. She usedthat fork to loosen the earth around the plants in hergarden. Krishna thought, “If this old fork can be useful,then surely God can find some use for me too!”

To pay rent, Krishna Kaur made and sold sandwiches.Evenings, turbaned and beaming, she gave classes inKundalini Yoga. When someone would say that yoga wasnot a part of black culture, she would smile. Krishna Kaurcould see there was no need to go to Africa. The know-how she shared with her students was universal. And itworked.

Eight years later, in 1980, Krishna Kaur made anotherpilgrimage to Amritsar. It was the birthday of Guru RamDas and she found herself sitting right inside the HarimandirSahib singing the Guru’s hymns with an group of Sikhsfrom America, surrounded by thousands and thousandsmore.

When the music stopped, the group leader nudgedKrishna Kaur to take to the mike and lead the sangat inkeertan. She held back. No woman had ever led the chantingin the Golden Temple – although for no good reason anyonecould think of.

When the man who had just finished playing also coaxedher to come forward, Krishna Kaur’s shyness melted away.

In her heart, she bowed to Guru Ram Das, and with herbeautiful voice took hold of the microphone, the momentand the sacred temple. For all women everywhere, for allSikhs, and for people of every color, she sang on thatspecial day for a most humble servant of humanity.

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Dr. Inderjit Kaur (1942 - )

Inderjit Kaur was born January 25, 1942 in the city ofSangrur, Punjab. She was the first born and therefore theoldest of her two brothers and six sisters - still waiting tobe born. Inderjit’s mother was named Ranjit Kaur and herfather Harbans Singh. Her father was a doctor, “DoctorHarbans Singh.” They were very happy with their newbaby.

As little Inderjit grew up, she loved to go for morningwalks with her father in the farmers’ fields around herhouse. Her father taught Inderjit that physical work isrespectful. She loved to feed and clean the buffaloes, andto milk them and to make curds and butter from theirmilk. Inderjit also loved to jump rope and skip and playwith her friends.

Inderjit’s mother was a kind lady. Their family hadservants to help with the chores of the house. One of theservants’ children lived together with Inderjit and herbrothers and sisters. They ate together. Inderjit’s mothertreated them all like her children. There was nodiscrimination.

Doctor Harbans Singh knew many people and he readmany books which made him learned. Well-known Sikhleaders like Sant Harchand Singh Longowal, Bhai Vir Singh,Master Tara Singh and Professor Sahib Singh sometimescame to visit. Inderjit’s father was special because his parents

were Hindus and he chose instead to become a Sikh whenhe grew up.

Inderjit Kaur loved to go to school and to learn fromher teachers. Her teachers loved Inderjit and looked afterher. One teacher once asked, “Did you have your breakfasttoday?”

Inderjit did well at school. She was good at the highjump and long jump and discus throwing. Her marks allowedher to go on to Government Medical College in the nearbycity of Patiala, where Inderjit was one of the very firstwomen to study to be a doctor.

Inderjit’s father liked to drive to the holy city ofAmritsar. He enjoyed visitting Harimandir Sahib, the“Golden Temple,” but he especially loved to visit the hospitalof Bhagat Puran Singh. At the Pingalwara Hospital, Bhagatji looked after the homeless, the hopeless and the verysick. He gave them a home, a hope, and a kind of family.When possible, his patients would be made healthy again.Inderjit’s father loved to talk with Bhagat ji and watch thegreat work he did. To him, Pinglawara was a special place,a place of love where God lives.

One day as Inderjit’s father went for a walk in Sangrur,he came across two men who were bitterly fighting. Beinga man of peace, Doctor Harbans Singh tried to separatethe two shouting men. One of the angry men pushed himand it caused a great pain in Inderjit’s father’s chest. Hewas a heart patient, so could not take the strain and hisheart stopped.

Everyone was surprised and saddened. Inderjit, as herfather’s oldest child sent out invitations to the Bhog of theAkhand Path for the peace of his departed soul. One invitationwent out to Bhagat Puran Singh in Amritsar. To heramazement, Bhagat ji, who never attended any marriagesor funerals, arrived at her home in Sangrur. It was thebeginning of a special friendship.

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Bhagat Puran Singh said to Inderjit Kaur, “You are mydaughter.” Fifteen days later, she went by bus to Amritsarto visit Bhagat ji and see his work. From then on, twice amonth Inderjit would visit the selfless saint of Pingalwara.

Bhagat Puran Singh and Inderjit Kaur often sent eachother letters. In his letters, Bhagat ji set a high standardfor his adopted daughter to follow. He told her to neverforget to do her paath, and to wear simple, home-spuncotton clothes. He did not like stealing, lying, cheating, orshowing off.

After graduating from medical school, Inderjit beganhelping sick people as a doctor for the Punjab Civil MedicalServices. A few years later, she started her own nursinghome in Sangrur, where new mothers and old people couldbe looked after. She kept on visiting Bhagat Puran Singhat Pingalwara every second week and, bit by bit, herresponsibilities grew.

In 1987, Doctor Inderjit Kaur became one of the sevenmembers of the committee that organized and ranPingalwara. The next year, there was amazing rain andflooding in Punjab and Inderjit Kaur collected money anddistributed food, clothing and tents to needy people whohad lost their homes in the floods. She was made VicePresident that year.

All kinds of needy people came to Pingalwara. Somewere unable to walk and were carried there. Some wereorphans. Some were very sick. Some were very lonely andsad. Some were very old with no one to look after them.Some were blind. Some had had terrible accidents andneeded help to recover. Bhagat Puran Singh and his doctorsand nurses and other helpers helped everybody. FromBhagat ji, Inderjit Kaur learned compassion.

Bhagat Puran Singh’s teacher was Piara Singh. Piarawas a grown man, but when Bhagat ji had first met him,he was a four-year-old boy, deaf and very sick, and unable

to speak or walk. At that time, Bhagat ji had adopted him.For fourteen years, he then carried Piara Singh on hisshoulders everywhere he went. Because Piara could notlook after himself, Bhagat Puran Singh did it for him.

Just because Piara was virtually helpless did not meanhe did not have a strong personality. One day, as Bhagatji was becoming old, he decided he needed to take sometime to rest as he was not feeling well. He arranged forsomeone else to look after Piara, but still, it was the firsttime they had ever been separated. Piara did not like it abit.

A few days later, when Bhagat Puran Singh finally feltbetter and returned, he begged Piara to forgive him, butPiara would not. He said, “I don’t want to forgive you!”

Bhagat ji replied, “But please forgive me!” In typicalPunjabi style, he had fallen to the floor and was holdingPiara’s feet in his hands begging forgiveness. And so itwent. For fifteen minutes, Bhagat ji and Piara were lockedin a fight. Finally Inderjit Kaur came and helped makepeace between the humble, old saint and his stubborn Piara.

One day, Bhagat Puran Singh said to his adopteddaughter, “Bibi, if and when I die...”

“Don’t talk to me about dying,” she scolded himaffectionately.

“Oh ho, everybody has to die, so when I die, pleasekeep a broom with my body when it goes to be burnt.”

“Why?” Inderjit asked.“So people should know a servant of the Guru’s home

has passed away. I am no one special. Just a servant. Theyshould know that.”

So it was that in the summer of 1992, Bhagat PuranSingh went to hospital with a stomach ache, but never toreturn. And at the funeral, some wise people asked Inderjitif she remembered whether Bhagat ji had had any lastwishes. That is when she remembered the broom and asked



for someone to find one and put it under his shawl as hisbody lay waiting to be cremated.

With Bhagat Puran Singh’s passing, Inderjit Kaur becameresponsible as the President of Pingalwara. There was somuch to do: so many people to look after and so manypeople to look out for. In one of Bhagat ji’s pockets, oneof her staff found a slip with various names. Against eachname was written: “has taken a lot of money,” “is stilltaking money,” “has stopped taking money,” “says needsmoney.”

With all her work at Pingalwara, Bibiji stopped herregular trips between Sangrur and Amritsar in order tofocus on her growing workload caring for the truly needy.As well as people care, Pingalwara also had an active presswhich continued to print leaflets – in English and Punjabi- about deforestation, pollution, the value of education,the dangers of nuclear war, and many other importantsubjects. Pingalwara also had a tree nursery where treeswere grown from seed. Bhagat ji’s mother had loved toplant trees.

Bibi Inderjit Kaur did not limit her work to the residentsand patients of Pingalwara or Punjab. When a hugeearthquake struck Maharashtra State in September 1993,leaving 20,000 dead and 30,000 injured, Bibiji travelled the2,000 kilometers with a truckload of food, clothes, blanketsand medicines to give to the needy.

In 1999, Bhagat ji’s teacher, Piara Singh too passedaway. But Pingalwara continued to grow and grow.Pinglawara hospitals were opened in other Punjabi citiesand towns: Jalandhar, Sangrur, Chandigarh, Goindwal, andManawala. In 2006, Bibiji oversaw the start of an organicfarm outside of Amritsar, where fruits and vegetables aregrown to feed the 1,200 more residents of the hospitalsand 900 students of three schools.

Bibiji has a pet dog now. “Jimmy” arrived at Pingalwara

one day and announced he was staying. He loves to jumpup whenever he sees his Master coming.

When Bibiji is not looking after the patients or thestudents, there are also 340 caregivers and 40 paramedicsto take care of. While the Pingalwara Press prints 30,000pages of teaching materials, the nursery now plants 100,000saplings each year. There are adult tricycles for those whocan no longer walk and a workshop where hands and feetare made for people who have none. And trips to Canada,America and Britain to raise money to pay for everything.



Dame Anita Roddick (1942-2007)

Anita Roddick (1942-2007) grew up as one of four childrenin an Italian family in Littlehampton, on the south coast ofEngland. Like everyone else in her home, she worked intheir family restaurant. That is where she learned how toserve people and to run a business.

Anita’s mother was a rebel. Mrs. Perilli dressed herdaughters in pants, not dresses, to go to school. When thenuns sent her girls home, she just sent them back, still inpants. After Mr. Perilli died, the priest, whom she did notlike, came to tell her how lucky she was that he was goingto be given a Catholic burial. In no time, the priest standingat Mrs. Perilli’s door found himself dripping wet from abucket of filthy washwater.

Anita Roddick’s first taste of moral outrage was whenshe was ten years old and she picked up a paperback bookabout the Holocaust. Those photographs from concentrationcamps went unforgettably into her brain. They inspired inyoung Anita an endless thirst for social justice.

At school, Anita’s activist spirit led her to support ofthe Campaign for Freedom Against Hunger, to march withthe Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, and to contributeto many other causes.

While going to college to learn to be a teacher, Anitabecame restless. She ended up in Switzerland, where shetalked her way into a job at the United Nations. After an

eye-opening year at the women’s rights division of theInternational Labor Organization, Anita set out on a worldtour. She went to Tahiti, Australia, and parts of Africa..

After her tour, Anita returned to Littleton. There, hermother introduced Anita to a hopeful children’s story writernamed Gordon Roddick. For three long autumn days, theytalked and walked through the parks, on the beaches, andin the cafés of Littleton. After that, Anita and Gordonrealized they agreed on many of the basics of life. Soon,they would get married.

Together, Gordon and Anita made several tries atstarting a business. They tried a picture framing shop,then a restaurant and a hotel. While they worked, Anita’smother looked after their young daughters, Justine andSamantha. Anita and Gordon came home exhausted eachnight. Finally, they quit to try something else.

While Anita planned a little shop to sell the kind ofnatural cosmetics she had seen women using in her travelsaround the world – things like cocoa butter, almond oiland aloe vera – Gordon got ready to do something he hadalways wanted to do: ride a horse thousands of kilometersfrom Buenos Aires to New York. Anita was less than thrilledat the idea of being left for two years with the children.But she admired her husband’s spirit of adventure.

Anita Roddick began her business with both eyes open.She knew cosmetics was a really huge business based onfalse needs and needless fears. It was an ugly businessthat made women feel they need to buy products to makethem look beautiful.

Anita wanted a different kind of store, a business notbased on fear and greed. Located right between two funeralparlors, she called it “The Body Shop.” She sold her productsat in simple-looking jars. Many came in bulk. Althoughmost companies tested their creams and lotions on animals,The Body Shop never did. While the large companies spent

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millions on ads, people did Anita’s advertising for her.They told their friends about The Body Shop for free becausethey liked it so much.

It worked! While Gordon came home early because hishorse fell off a cliff, their business did great. Soon, theyopened a second store, then a third, then a fourth.

Instead of “running” the company with a heavy hand,Anita did something unlike most business owners. Shelistened to her workers and encouraged them to do whatthey felt was right. People began to ask Anita if they couldwork with her. Some wanted to open a Body Shop inFrance or Italy or India. After eight years had gone by,Anita and Gordon had thirty-eight stores in the UnitedKingdom and fifty-two in other countries.

Anita knew she could do more to help people than justrun a nice store with nice body products. She began towork with people doing important work for the planetand for brave people unjustly put in jail. The front windowof every Body Shop began to show posters for Friends ofthe Earth, Greenpeace, and Amnesty International. In thisway, thousands of people learned about these greatorganizations every day.

Anita Roddick did her best to have people who workedat her stores help out in their neighbourhoods. In Melbourne,Australia 500 people pitched in to plant 250,000 trees. InSweden, one store stayed open late so people who wereblind or deaf or challenged in some other way could comein and shop. In Brantford, Canada, the workers at onestore helped out at a school for differently abled students.Many of her workers, though not all, loved to help others.

One Earth Day, the Roddicks tried to persuade theirworkers at the warehouses and offices in Littlehampton toclean up the nearby beach. Only thirteen showed up tohelp. A cyclist who came by only made matters worse byasking what was going on. Anita suggested the man get

off his bicycle, take a bag, and help out.“Not on your life,” he said over his shoulder as he

rode off. Clearly, not everyone understood the idea ofdoing something for nothing and being happy about it.

Another idea of Anita’s was to buy things her storeneeded from people in poor countries so the poor, too,would have money. She began in Nepal, one of the world’spoorest countries. There, Anita went with a friend whoknew how to make paper. Together, they made a dealwith a local papermaker to buy his baskets made frombanana leaves.

Nut oil and beadwork from the Kayapo tribe in Brazil,shea butter from women in Ghana, jute pots from womenin Bangladesh, sesame oil from a village in Nicaragua, footrollers fromTamil Nadu, and soap from Glasgow. Everyone of these ventures brought good money and honestwork to places that used to have little of either.

In 1987, The Body Shop was called “Company of theYear” in the United Kingdom. Even though she now owneda large company, Anita still said that people with bigcompanies needed to treat people well and to look out forMother Nature. She spoke powerful words and peoplelistened.

Three years laster, Anita and her daughter Samanthawent to Romania where they had heard there wereorphanages of thousands of unloved, unwashed, and boredchildren. They visited one orphanage after another. Whatthey had heard, was true. Returning to England, theyorganized people and money to help. Soon, there werethree new orphanages with lots of people to help andteach and play with the Romanian children. Samanthareturned with dozens of volunteers to hug and entertainthe children.

In 1997, Anita Roddick started the biggest fight forsocial justice of her life. This fight was against all the TV

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and movies, ads and magazines that told women theyneeded to be super skinny to be beautiful. The purpose ofthis fight was to help girls and women think differentlyabout their beauty and stop fighting their bodies. Anitaknew that seventy-five percent of girls and women wenton diets. Most diets did not work. And most women andgirls did not need to diet. They were not fat. They justthought they were!

The artist who helped Anita with this media fight wasKiki Kendrick. The year before, Kiki’s best friend hadstarved herself to death. To the end, her friend thoughtshe looked fat. For this reason, Kiki took this fight veryseriously. The Body Shop came up with Ruby, a beautifulsize-16 doll who was created as a role model for realwomen. Everyone loved Ruby because Ruby looked like areal woman, not like a Barbie.

Anita received many more prizes. In 2001, Anita wasasked to come to Peace Prayer Day at Ram Das Puri inNew Mexico, USA. This was where thousands of westernSikhs came each June to meditate and pray together. AtRam Das Puri, Anita Roddick was given the “Woman ofPeace” of the year prize on a stage in front of hundredsof people. In receiving the award, Anita admitted she couldnever meditate, never sit still even, but she thanked everyonefor the honoring her work.

Bibi Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa (1943 - )

Gurmukh Kaur was born Mary May Gibson in a smallIllinois town in America. She had a brother named Bruce,who was two years older. When she was two, a sistercalled Anna Marie arrived, and when she was four, herbaby brother Charlie was born.

As they grew older, Mary like to put on make-believeshows with her brothers and sister. They would sing. Theywould dance. They would pretend lots of things.

Mostly it was fun. But sometimes they would lose theirtempers and blame and call each other names. Wheneverthat happened, their wise mother would walk to the cabinetthat held all their special plates and dishes. From the chinacabinet, their mother would take out one special little bowlwith a message written on it. When they were old enough,she would have her children read it out loud: “If you can’tsay anything nice, don’t say anything at all.”

Mary also loved to spend hours of each day sitting bya window as she gazed outside or playing with her dollies.Sometimes her family called her “Mary Sit-and-Do-Nothing.”That name made her feel that she was a disappointment tothem, that she was not be very smart, and that somethingmust be wrong with her because she was the only personshe know who liked to be quiet.

When she grew older, Mary went to live on a noisybeach in California called Big Sur. There were hippies there.

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They wore tie-dyed clothes and sometimes very little. Itwas their idea of being free. From there, Mary went toMexico to live with the village people, in their simple huts.They ate corn and beans and watched the sun rise and fall.Then to Hawaii. For two years, Mary danced, chanted, atelittle, took hippie drugs, body surfed, and owned nothing.But Mary was still not truly happy or free.

Mary then joined a Zen monastery where peoplemeditated. Everyone there sat and did not say a word forseven hours every day. The men, and even the women,had no hair on their heads. It was shaven off every fewdays. Theirs was a simple life. Mary thought she mightbecome a Zen nun and find peace.

Mary returned to America to visit her family beforejoining the monastery. On her way, she met an old friend.He said that God had told him in a dream to take her toan ashram in Arizona. At the time, Mary did not knowwhat an ashram was, but she trusted her friend. Theypacked up his little van and drove over the mountains,into the desert. Mary was always having adventures.

Once they arrived, Mary’s friend paid for her stay atthe large Sikh ashram in Tucson. He stayed and meditatedfor a week, then drove off. She never saw him again. Butit did not matter. Once Mary had entered Maha DevaAshram, she felt free and at peace at last.

The place was one of many live-in meditation centresin America that had been started by a great teacher namedHarbhajan Singh Khalsa Yogiji. Americans called him “YogiBhajan.” The Sikhs in the ashrams rose early each morning,showered, then spent two and a half hours in meditation.They did not cut their hair, helped each other, and ateonly vegetarian food. Yogi Bhajan called it the “healthy,happy, holy” way of life.

When Yogi Bhajan met Mary, he gave her a new name.He called her “Gurmukh Kaur: the princess who helps

many others cross the ocean of life.” He told her she wouldhelp mothers deliver their babies.

Years passed. Gurmukh helped a friendly doctor deliverbabies at mothers’ homes. She also learned to live as aSikh. Instead of shaving her head, she let her hair growlong. On top, she put a graceful, white turban. And Gurmukhgave classes in living healthy, happy and holy – GuruNanak’s way.

In 1977, Gurmukh went on a long trip to the Harimandar,the Golden Temple in Amritsar. To Gurmukh, it felt likehome. She loved the peace and blessings of the holy placewhere Bibi Bhani and Guru Ram Das had lived.

When Gurmukh returned to America, Yogi Bhajan toldher to move to Los Angeles. Gurmukh had never likedthat city. It was smoggy and noisy and unhealthy. Butbecause her teacher told her to, Gurmukh went to live inLos Angeles.

In Los Angeles, she met the man who would becomeher husband. She and Gurushabd Singh would be marriedin 1982. Next year, Gurmukh became pregnant. They hada beautiful baby girl with the help of a midwife. YogiBhajan named their daughter Wahe Guru Kaur.

When Wahe Guru Kaur was little, her mother tied awhite turban on her head too. When she was old enoughtto go to school, her parents sent her all the way to Amritsarto study in the homeland of Khalsa

In Los Angeles, Gurmukh taught classes to many famousmusic stars and actresses. She taught them yoga andmeditation. She also started classes for first-time mothersto keep their bodies and minds healthy and happy. Gurmukhtaught thousands of classes to many thousands of yogastudents. She even wrote a book and made a video.

Wahe Guru Kaur is grown up now. But her motherstill travels all over the world teaching mothers and othersthe healthy, happy, holy way to live.

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Dr. Nikky Guninder Kaur Singh (1958 - )

Nikky Guninder Kaur Singh grew up with her mother andfather and grandmother, her father’s mother, in Punjab,India. Early in the morning, her dear mother would chantwith her the morning Nitnem. In the evening, her sweetfather would say the Rehiras with her. Later in the morning,Nikky’s grandmother would take her to the Gurdwara.They would walk to the Gurdwara and together they wouldbow before Siri Guru Granth Sahib. Then she and hergrandmother would receive Guru Prashaad with open hands.Together, they would sit meditatively for a time in theopen space of the Gurdwara.

“Bibiji,” as Nikky called her grandmother, also toldher great stories late at night. Nikky’s favorite storieswere about her grandmother’s aunt. According to Bibiji,her aunt had been a tall and brave woman who was notafraid of anything. With her intelligence and kindness, heraunt won the love of everyone. Even robbers and cobrasrespected her and did not hurt her. Bibiji told hergranddaughter that a cobra guarded a buried treasure nearher aunt’s house. The brave aunt would feed the cobrawith a bowl of milk every day.

This was the rhythm of Nikky’s life: Nitnem with hermother, then school, then playing with her friends, thenNitnem with her father, then stories with Bibiji into thenight.

Nikky’s father was a scholar of Sikhism at the Universityof Punjab. Nikky always wanted to be a professor of religionlike him. When she was just a teen, she met an Americanstudent who was studying in Punjab. Before long, Nikkydecided that she too would like to study in a distant country– in America. Her father had been to America and liked it,so plans were made for Nikky to study at a boardingschool in Virginia.

Bibiji did not agree that her granddaughter should goso far away at so young an age. She wished Nikky wouldstay in Punjab a few more years, visiting her simple homein the country without electricity and with monsoons andsandstorms and many more stories late into the night. Buteverything was arranged and soon Nikky flew off toAmerica.

America was a big surprise for Nikky. Everythingseemed so different. There was a smoking room in theschool for the girls. Nikky never smoked. In India, peoplethought light skin was prettiest. But in America all thelight-skinned people went to the beaches to lie in the sunand get tanned. Nikky was self-confident and sure of herself.She studied hard and made friends and school went well.

Everyone who saw Nikky was curious about this self-confident young woman from India. She was the only Sikhin her school. For dinner, she would dress in her exoticsalwaar kameez. Before long, Nikky was asked to givetalks about her religion at churches and schools, which shewas happy to do. She became an ambassador of GuruNanak, strong as steel, steady as stone.

Nikky excelled at her studies. She earned the highestmarks in her class. Nikky’s love of United States historywas so great that she won a prize for it: The Daughters ofthe American Revolution Award.

After her first school year, Nikky went back to spendtime with her family. Everyone she met said to her, “You

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haven’t changed a bit. You are still a Sikh. You are still oneof us.” And Nikky would smile. She knew that even infaraway America where there were very few Sikhs, GuruNanak was with her.

Nikky grew and studied and graduated. Then shestudied and graduated some more. She wrote books aboutSikhism. Nikky translated Gurbaanee into English. Hardlyany other Sikh woman was doing that.

She wrote from Japji:“Through His Will He creates all the forms,But what the form of His Will is,None can say.” (verse 2)

and

“True is He, true His Court,There the dutiful are lauded...” (verse 34)Everyone liked her translations.One time, Nikky went to a meeting of women scholars

of all different religions. They opened her eyes and helpedher to see her own religion differently. God is not womanand not a man, she realized. God is just God:

God is not a he only,God is too a she.God lives in my brother, yes,But just as well in me!

Nikky then began to rewrite her translations withoutusing “His” and “He.” Instead, she wrote:

“By the divine Will, all forms are created;but what that Will is, no one can say.” (verse 2)

and

“The One is true, Its verdicts truly just.Those who are accepted become radiant...” (verse 34)

Nikky went on to become a famous scholar of Sikhismand women in Sikhism. She now has her own family inAmerica and gives talks around the world, always proudof her religion.

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Dr. Kalpana Chawla (1961-2003)

Her mother thought she was going to have a boy for sure.The baby was kicking so much from inside. But to hermother’s surprise, on July 1, 1961, a healthy baby girl wasborn. Kalpana already had two older sisters, Sunita andDeepa, and a brother, Sanjay.

Her parents were Banarasi Lal Chawla and her mother,Sanjyothi. They lived in the town of Karnal, in the state ofHaryana in India. Her sick grandfather had been blessedby a Sikh saint named Sant Nikka Singh. Instead of dyingas the doctor had predicted, he became healthy. Instead ofbeing poor, Kalpana’s father slowly became wealthy fromhis hard work. Banarsi Lal Chawla started the first factoryin India to make rubber tires. At home, he loved to readSiri Guru Granth Sahib for its wisdom and the peace itbrought to his mind.

Kalpana was a bold and brave young girl. She lovedeverything about flying and space. At her school, TagoreBal Niketan School, she enjoyed making paper airplanesand models of planets and stars. During a class, she onceasked her teacher if she had ever flown in an airplane.When the teacher said, “No,” Kalpana asked, “Are youafraid of flying?” Kalpana was not afraid.

Sanjay loved to ride bicycles with his younger sister.Together to would go near the the local flying club. Theirswas one of just twelve in all of India at that time. As they

rode their bikes, they would crane their heads to watchthe planes flying overhead, though they knew it wasdangerous to do so.

One day, Kalpana and her brother asked their father ifthey too might fly in one of the planes, and to their delight,he agreed. Up, up, they went, and swooped and dived,and dipped and shimmied, and spun upside down. Flyingover the earth was the most amazing experience they hadever had. Kalpana and Sanjay never forgot it.

When it came time to graduate from her high school,Kalpana decided she would study to be a flight engineerat Punjab Engineering College. PEC was in Chandigarh,120 kilometres (80 miles) from her home in Karnal. Herfather tried to make Kalpana change her mind. Even theprofessors tried. “Only boys studied aeronauticalengineering,” they said. Kalpana insisted that it was herfirst and only choice, so they relented. Her marks werevery good and she was able to join the engineering collegein Punjab on the condition that her friend Daisy Chawlaalso attend.

At PEC, Kalpana was the only girl in her classes, butshe worked extra hard and excelled at her work. “Whatevera boy could do, I can do too,” she reasoned. Kalpanafocused on her studies. Instead of feminine salwaar kameez,she wore jeans. She wore no makeup, and refused to cookor iron. A vegetarian and harmless at heart, Kalpana alsolearned to defend herself. She practised karate and earneda black belt.

All the while, Kalpana secretly paid the tuition of twostudents less fortunate than herself. This was her style:working hard and sharing freely, but quietly. She lived forscience, adventure, and the progress of others. In 1982,Kalpana Chawla became the first woman to graduate fromPunjab Engineering College with a degree in aeronauticalengineering.

Dr. Kalpana Chawla 107


While her father’s business took him overseas, andSanjay with him, Kalpana took up a short-term teachingposition at PEC. Really her sights were on studying at auniversity in America, but for this, she would need herfather’s help and support. Kalpana’s mother was alreadybehind her.

When Kalpana’s father finally returned with Sanjay,there was no time to spare. The Department of AerospaceScience and Engineering at the University of Texas atArlington offered to accept her and help with her schoolfees, but the school year was about to begin.

At first, Mr. Chawla was not happy that his youngestdaughter was planning on studying so far from home.After speaking with a couple of her professors, however,he agreed and hurried to prepare the money, tickets andvisas. Once again, Kalpana would be joined by her dearbrother Sanjay.

On the first day of her new life in America, Kalpanaand Sanjay settled in her new home and got ready for hernext course of studies. There were already many studentsfrom India at the university. On that first day, Kalpanaalso met Jean Pierre Harrison, born in France and a flightinstructor. At six feet, he was a foot taller than her, butthey found they had many things in common. Within ayear, Kalpana and Jean Pierre decided to marry. It wasSanjay who convinced their parents to accept Kalpana’snew life partner.

In 1984, Kalpana graduated with a Master of Sciencefrom the University of Texas. She and Jean Pierre movedseveral times to learn more and to work in the advancedfield of aircraft and space engineering. In Colarado, JeanPierre taught Kalpana learned to fly at last. Together, theyexplored the clear skies and winding trails of that mountainstate.

In 1988, Kalpana found work at the National Aerospace

and Space Administration (NASA) research centre inCalifornia. Finally, Kalpana had a chance to really try togo into space. She was one of two thousand who appliedand, luckily, one of only twenty-three chosen for the trainingprogram. The next months were spent in hard preparationfor a real space mission.

In the offering plate of the sky, the sun and moon arevotive lamps

And the starry constellations offerings of pearls.(Guru Nanak - Sohila)

The would-be astronauts learned how a space shuttleworks. They studied physics, mathematics, astronomy andother sciences. They learned scuba diving, parachute jumping,land and sea survival training. They learned how to workwith and to fix satellites. Kalpana and the other astronautsalso put on space suits and practiced floating like in space.

At the beginning of the training, Jean Pierre and Kalpanamade the difficult choice not to have children so she couldfocus completely on becoming an astronaut. Their parentswere disappointed, but supported Kalpana in realizing herdream.

After two and a half years of preparing, Kalpana Chawlaand five fellow astronauts set off on a fifteen day adventureon the space shuttle called Columbia. It was the eighty-seventh mission since the beginning of the space shuttlesin 1981.

The shuttle carried inside experiments to watch theeffects of weightlessness on all kinds of things like flamesand metals. How ants lived and how soybeans grew innear-zero gravity was also studied with interest.

One of Kalpana’s experiments was to watch how twoheated metals mixed to understand how to make betteralloys. She also did an experiment to learn how to makebetter silicon chips, like the chips in your computer. Another



experiment was to understand how to make engines thatpollute less.

All the while, as Kalpana and her fellow crew memberscircled the Earth, family and friends and well-wishers lookedup into the sky and thought of them. In her hometown ofKarnal, the house where she was born was decorated withlights. Since it was the middle of the night, the wholetown was bright with lights and celebration. AlthoughKalpana was hardly aware of it, all of India was proud ofher accomplishment. She was the first female astronautfrom India.

One of the toughest parts of Kalpana’s journey on thespace shuttle had to do with releasing a satellite into space.To do this, she used a large robotic arm that picked up thesatellite and let it go into space. The satellite, however,would not go where it needed to go so it could do its jobof studying the sun. On a following orbit, three of Kalpana’sfellow astronauts captured and brought back the satellite.It turned out that it had been broken. Everyone said Kalpanadid a terrific job with the broken satellite. It was not herfault that it did not work properly.

The astronauts celebrated the American Thanksgivingholiday during their flight. The crew ate a traditional turkeydinner out of vacuum sealed pouches. Vegetarian Kalpanainstead enjoyed a feast of raisins and nuts, cornflakes andcookies, with tea.

Finally the space journey came to a close. After fifteendays, sixteen hours, thirty-five minutes and one second,the space shuttle floated like a glider and landed at theKennedy Space Center.

Having looked down below at our blue-green planet,Kalpana had gained a feeling for the delicate life systemson our one-of-a-kind, little planet. Her ecological awarenesswas aroused. Kalpana also had another awakening up inspace.

When in space, she said, “The only thing I feel is mythoughts. There is nothing else touching me, telling me Ihave limbs. It’s so natural. It’s not anything special.”

Kalpana was ready to go up again. First, however,there were a lot of people to see, her family first of all.Now famous, Kalpana also took the trouble of finding thephone numbers of her teachers in India who had encouragedher. She called them and gave them her thanks. Kalpanaeven helped two students from her elementary school comeand visit her at NASA each year.

Kalpana Chawla’s next trip into outer space was totake place aboard the one hundred and seventh space shuttlemission. It was first going to blast off in 2002, but wasdelayed for months as engineers checked and recheckedthe shuttle craft.

The Columbia was the first shuttle spacecraft. It wasfirst launched in 1981. It was one of five original spacecrafts made to take astronauts into Earth orbit forexperiments, or to ferry people and supplies to theInternational Space Station. Four of these craft, the Columbia,Atlantis, Discovery, and Endeavour, were still being sentup. The Challenger had blown up killing everyone on boardduring its final lift off in 1986.

The Columbia was the same shuttle craft Kalpana hadtaken on her first mission into space. This was to be itstwenty-eighth flight. The spaceship was getting old. Partsof it were needing replacing or repair. The engineers werebeing extra cautious.

Before boarding, Kalpana recorded a special messagefor children. In it, she said, “The journey matters as muchas the goal. Listen to the sounds of nature. Wishing youthe best on your treck toward your dreams. Take care ofour fragile planet!”

Finally, on a clear day in January, the shuttle crew ofKalpana Chawla and six others put on their suits and



boarded the space craft. At 12:39 local time, the Columbiashook and slowly rose into orbit. And the mission began.

Out of the seven astronauts, Kalpana was one of threeon their second mission. For four of them, it was just theirfirst time in space. As Flight Engineer, Kalpana’s job wasto see all the computer systems on board worked and tofix any problems. She also helped the Commander withsteering the shuttle.

This time, there were eighty experiments in all, out ofwhich Kalpana did twelve by herself. She did more workon engines and alloys, and new work making crystals andproteins. Kalpana grew cell cultures to better understandhow to fight prostate and make plants give bigger harvests.She also looked at tiny molecules to see if they might helpmake stronger buildings that would not be destroyed inearthquakes, floods and hurricanes. Kalpana switched ona video camera so people on Earth could watch theexperiments.

Kalpana also helped with others’ experiments. Manywere with animals and plants: giant ants, fish, spiders,bees, silkworms, mice, and roses and rice flowers. Theseinteresting experiments were designed by school studentsfrom Australia, China, Israel, Japan and the U.S.A.

There were regular video communications between thespace shuttle and Earth. Astronauts and presidents andfamily members spoke with one another. Kalpana and theother crew members also emailed to friends and familywhen they found time.

Finally, on the fifteenth day of the mission, after anamazing two hundred and fifty-five orbits of Mother Earth,it was time for re-entry into the atmosphere and the returnhome. Jean Pierre and other members of Kalpana’s familywere at the Kennedy Space Center waiting for Kalpana’sreturn. So too were the families of all the other crewmembers. And, of course, in Karnal and many parts of

India people were also watching over their televisions.The space craft started its re-entry over the state of

Hawaii, far over the Pacific Ocean. The crew felt a slightjolt and took their seats as the shuttle craft turned tail firstand fired its thrusters to slow down and be drawn closerto Earth. The shuttle then turned nose first again to beginlanding. It took forty-five minutes to circle the Earth. Insixteen minutes, it was supposed to land in Florida.

Then, the unthinkable happened! The space shuttle brokeinto thousands of pieces in the heat and pressure of re-entering the atmosphere. It was over in a few minutes.The astronauts were helpless. All they could do wasmeditate or pray as they watched their lives unfold beforetheir eyes in their final moments. Their bodies and thepieces of the shuttle scattered through the sky and landedfar across the states of Texas and Oklahoma.

Kalpana Chawla touched many hearts with her spiritof adventure and kindness. The Creator honoured Kalpanaby joining her with his own Infinite Spirit right in the skywhere she wanted more than anything to be.



Bibi Amrit andBibi Rabindra Kaur Singh (1966 - )

The Singh Twins, Amrit and Rabindra Kaur Singh wereborn in London, England but moved to the Wirral, nearLiverpool, when they were four. Growing up, they had anumber of pets: a baby chick, a pony, two goats, a budgie,two rabbits, chickens, a cat who had eighty- one kittens,and a scorpion who hitch-hiked his way back from Iranwith their “Chacha,” Uncle Marn.

The twins grew up in a loving family, which includedtheir older sister Nyrmla, their father and a number ofdear uncles who treated them more like sisters than nieces.It was a close and extended family.

But things were not always good however. Once,someone threw a brick through the window of their house.The police were no help. The policeman who came to seethe broken window said, “You should keep a low profile.”That was all the help he gave them. They were the onlyAsian family in town. This only made them closer andmore protective.

When The Singh Twins were old enough to go to school,they went to Holt Hill Convent, a Catholic school. Thetwins, who were each others’ best friends, had a problemat Holt Hill. Best friends were always allowed to sit togetherin class. But the Singh Twins, because they were twins,were forced to be in separate class rooms every year.

The twins and their elder sister were the only non-Christians in the school, and the only Sikhs. For this reason,they were told they could not join all the other studentsfor the daily prayer and meditation. The twins protestedabout not being allowed to take part. Finally they wereallowed to sit in the back of the school chapel, behindeverybody else, for the service.

The chapel was the most beautiful part of the schooland the twins enjoyed being surrounded by all the lovelyart: in the stained glass windows, on the walls, everywhere.They also liked singing the hymns, so much so that theybecame lead singers in the choir.

One year, the rules changed and students were nolonger forced to go to chapel for the daily services. Oddly,it was the twins, the only non-Christians in the school,who continued to come, and whom everybody counted onto do the jobs that needed to be done in the chapel. Eachday, they would lay out the priest’s special outfit, decoratethe altar, set out the song books, sound the bell at theproper time during the service, and design the notices thattold everyone what each service would be about.

When the much-loved head of the Catholics, Pope JohnPaul II came to the nearby city of Liverpool, the principalwas supposed to pick one student to represent their schooland go to see the pope. Instead, both Amrit and Rabindrawere chosen to go together. The twins were picked becauseof all their loving work for the school’s Catholic services.They felt greatly honoured to be going to see the Pope ofall the world’s Catholics. The celebration was held at thebig Catholic church in their home city of Liverpool. Manythousands of people came.

When twins were thirteen years old, their father anduncle built an amazing motor home. They then took thetwins and their sister out of school and on a long trip toIndia. It was a huge eye-opener for the twins. They visited

Bibi Amrit and Bibi Rabindra Kaur Singh 115


all the places out of history they had only read about.They visited where Guru Nanak was born, where the Khalsawas created, where Mai Bhago had fought her battle, andwhere Mata Gujri had spent her last hours with hergrandsons. Amrit and Rabindra saw temples andmonuments, landscapes and galleries and museumseverywhere they went. They travelled for eight months.

When The Singh Twins first saw the Taj Mahal bymoonlight, it took their breath away. They found the GoldenTemple to be one of the most peaceful places on earth. AtGurdwara Baba Atal, they also saw a kind of art theyliked very much, little paintings called “miniatures” thattold stories. They took photos of these paintings and broughtthem back to England to study over and over and again.

As they grew older, the twins began to think aboutwhat they wanted to choose to study and what work theywould do when they grew up. Actually, their minds werealready made up. They wanted to be a doctor like theirfather, whom they adored. There was a problem however.A teacher of theirs wrongly thought the twins were beingpushed by their family to study medicine. She did notagree with their wish to study medicine at university.Because of that they were forced to study art instead.

Rabindra and Amrit did excellent work at UniversityCollege Chester. But here, too, there were problems.Teachers did not mind other students creating the samekind of art if it was like the work of famous westernartists. But the twins were picked on for both makingpictures that were different from everyone else’s.

The two of them made art that was different fromeveryone else’s, but like each other’s, because that washow they thought and felt. In one of their exams the teachersnapped, “Haven’t you ever tried to be different?” Like atHolt Hill, at university people were always trying to keepthe twins apart.

In protest, they said, “If you want us to be different,we’re actually going to be the same.” From then on, theycalled themselves “twindividuals” and dressed completelythe same. Whoever got dressed first, decided for themboth. Other professors did not like the art they chose todo. They said the miniatures were not modern and notWestern enough.

The Singh Twins fought back. “How can you tell us toexpress ourselves and then tell us how to express ourselves?We will express ourselves as we choose. If we choose topaint Indian miniatures, we will. Our roots are in India,and Indian art is just as good as Western art!”

In protest, the twins began to make miniature paintingswith modern people and situations: their family, pop stars,and people in the news. Sometimes, they even paintedthemselves into their pictures. In one of their first works,they painted their sister Nyrmla’s wedding. At the centrewere Nyrmla and the twins, surrounded by many, manydetails: a cousin sister dancing, a cousin brother playing adrum, an uncle videotaping, an aunt bringing fruits, RonaldMcdonald, a doll, a Batman action figure, someone readingfrom Guru Granth Sahib, and much more.

The twins liked to paint stories that showed their pridein their own Indian Sikh culture. Their paintings showedtheir love of old-fashioned values such as arrangedmarriages, and community, and being friends with auntiesand uncles and cousins and grandparents, as one big family.These were important things to the twins, things they feltmany British people didn’t understand because TV programsand newspapers often made fun of them.

Instead of making the kind of art they were told tomake, The Singh Twins continued to make more and betterpaintings in their modern Indian style. Their unusual artbrought together the best of new and old, east and west.This created a big problem when a tutor at their university

Bibi Amrit and Bibi Rabindra Kaur Singh 117


refused to mark their final art exam.This only made the twins more sure of what they wanted

to do. They wanted to express themselves, but differently.At first, they hardly sold any paintings or made any money,but their family said, “Don’t worry. We will support you.Do your art.”

Slowly, as the years passed and The Singh Twins becamebetter and better at their art, people everywhere, Sikhsand non-Sikhs both, began to see and like their specialpaintings. They began to sell their art and have exhibitionsin galleries all over England, and in Canada, the UnitedStates, even India. They also won prizes and awards formaking beautiful art.

These days, The Singh Twins make serious paintings,funny paintings, thoughtful paintings, paintings like no onehas ever seen before. They spend anywhere from fiftyhours for a small painting to one thousand hours makinga grand work. Before starting a painting, Rabindra andAmrit talk to each other about their ideas. Then each willtake a part, painting and working together. Sometimesthey make paintings separately, but they prefer to makebeautiful art together.

Together, The Singh Twins have shown that you canmake something special and have people like it eventually,even if it is different from what they know. They havealso shown the value of family, having sisters and unclesand more, to help and support you through good timesand bad. Lastly, The Singh Twins have shown that youdon’t have to be what somebody else says you should be.You are always best to be yourself.

Bibi Amandeep Kaur (1968- )

Amandeep Kaur was twenty years old, the smartest studentin her school and the captain of her girl’s hockey team.Her father was well-known and respected. They lived nearthe city of Jalandhar in Punjab. Amandeep lived a goodand easy life. She never thought about politics.

That all changed when Harjinder Kaur Khalsa camefrom Australia to marry a cousin of Amandeep’s. Harjinderwas arrested at the airport and martyred.

Then Gurmukh Singh, the captain of the boy’s hockeyteam at Amandeep’s school, was picked up by the policeand tortured. His family took him to the hospital. Afterfive days, he died.

Amandeep Kaur went to Gurmukh Singh’s houseafterwards. He had four younger sisters. They were allcrying. It made Amandeep angry inside. She was angry atthe cruel police. And she was angry at all the cowardSikhs who did not stand up to the cruelty of the police.Guru Gobind Singh had taught we should be noble andbrave. Who was being noble and brave? Nobody, it seemed.Amandeep was also angry about the discrimination shesaw all around. It seemed like many good Sikhs were notbeing allowed to move forward and succeed like the non-Sikhs.

One day, a Gurdev Singh, a distant cousin of hers,spoke to her. He knew Amandeep could be trusted. Gurdev

Bibi Amandeep Kaur 119


Singh told her some bullets needed to be taken somewhere.Would she do it?

“Yes, I will do it,” Amandeep Kaur said. At last, shefelt she could do something brave to help fight the cruelpolice and the cruel people who were killing and torturingSikhs. Amandeep decided not to tell her family becauseshe was afraid they might stand in her way. She was notsure her friends were as serious as she was. They mightjust make fun of her if she told them, so she told no onewhat she was going to do.

There were two police check points on the way towhere Amandeep needed to deliver the rounds of bullets.Amandeep still wore her hair in two braids like a girl andshe looked like she was sixteen. She hid the rounds underher track suit and rode up to the first check point on aborrowed scooter.

The policeman asked, “Where are you going? Whereare you coming from?” They were looking for Gurdev, theone who had given Amandeep this mission, and anotheryoung man. She said nothing, but told the policeman herfather’s name and he let her go through. At the secondpost, the policeman who spoke with Amandeep Kaur knewher father well and respected him, so he also let her pass.

In this way, she was able to take the bullets and bringthem to the place she had agreed with Gurdev Singh. Onthe way home, Amandeep was very happy.

In her happiness, Amandeep Kaur began to think thatif she could do this, why couldn’t she join her Sikh brothersin fighting also? After all, she thought, “Sikh girls are asbrave as Sikh men, and they always stand by their brothersand husbands in times of need.” Amandeep felt she wascapable of taking any chance, that nothing would scareher, but she did not know of any women who were actuallyinvolved in fighting.

Amandeep Kaur asked Gurdev Singh to let her join

him in the movement. “I will be with you through thickand thin,” she said. “I am able to take as many chances asyou are.”

Gurdev Singh replied, “You are a girl. You can’t joinus.”

Amandeep felt that in India to be a girl must be areally big sin. But through her repeated asking and showingher courage, Gurdev finally said, “Okay, you can join us,but we can’t take you on any battles with us.” That wasgood enough, but Amandeep Kaur knew what she reallywanted to do.

The first thing Amandeep did was join the Sikh StudentsFederation. Then it became her job to take guns and bulletsfrom one place to another. She was never afraid, and alwaysvery happy to do her work.

All this time, Amandeep never breathed a word to herfamily, not even her mother. She felt that women couldnot keep secrets, even though she was herself keeping agreat secret. Amandeep also promised to herself that shewould never allow any police to touch her body. She wasnot afraid of death, but she worried that under tortureshe might be made to tell her secrets.

In those days, there was so much fear in Punjab thateven parents of young men or women killed in policestations would not come to claim the bodies. If they didcome, the police would make them say that their son ordaughter was a terrorist. And even if the parents saidwhat the police wanted them to say, the police wouldtorture them as well. For this reason, Amandeep wouldnot tell her family about her new path. She did not wantto disturb the peaceful life of her little brothers and parents.

At college, Amandeep Kaur began to speak forcefullyabout the teachings of Siri Guru Granth Sahib. She talkedwith those students who had fallen away from the life ofa Sikh, who were drinking, gambling, or taking drugs.



Then Amandeep noticed that some spoiled boys weremaking life hard for some of the college girls by teasingand following and calling them names. She decided toteach them a lesson.

One day, a girl complained to Amandeep that a coupleof boys had stopped her on her path, chased her, andmade her feel bad. Amandeep told the boys to meet herat the library. She warned them and told them to stopannoying the college girls. The boys did not listen. Theysaid to Amandeep, “We will do whatever we like, andyou can do whatever you want about it.”

In her mind, Amandeep Kaur thought how girls tookeverything silently. She blamed girls as well as boys fortheir bullying. The girls took everything too quietly.

At the end of the day, Amandeep Kaur went to thebus stand near the college where the girl who had beenteased would catch a motor rickshaw to take her home.There was the girl, and soon one of the boys who hadteased her came and started to speak rudely to her. Thegirl looked at Amandeep for help. Amandeep then walkedup to the boy, grabbed him by the collar, and punchedhim in the nose.

The boy fell at her feet and Amandeep Kaur began tokick him in front of all the people in the bus stand. Shekicked him so badly that one of his teeth broke, but thebully never fought back, he was so surprised that a girlcould hit him and teach him a lesson. After that, the bullyand his friend never came again.

A teacher at Amandeep’s college had watched the wholething. Afterwards, he came and patted her on the back,saying, “You are a brave girl. If you can teach these boysa lesson in front of these people, you might do even moreif you are properly taught.”

Amandeep replied, “Sir, I want to do something. Iwant to ask for answers from the police. I want to know

why they are killing so many good people. Please showme the right path.”

The teacher said, “If you ask the police that questionin an honest, peaceful way, you will be dead.”

Amandeep Kaur said, “The police martyr all these youngmen who are a good match for them, but I am just ahelpless girl.”

The teacher knew what Amandeep wanted to do. Hehimself had been secretly helping the Singhs. He said, “Onthe path you are choosing, there is no place for crying andsoftness. Those closest and dearest to you may be killed.Women are naturally softer than men and it may be hardfor a woman to follow this path.”

There was a painting of the tenth Guru, Guru GobindSingh, on the wall of the office where Amandeep Kaur andthe teacher were speaking. She prayed in front of the tenthGuru, “Oh, tenth Master, give me strength so I can fightagainst cruelty along with my brother Singhs. If I can’t,then tell if why you gave me so much courage and strength,why you made me a girl. Why didn’t you make me aboy?”

The teacher decided that Amandeep was fit to join thefreedom fighters. He said, “Promise before the picture ofGuru Gobind Singh that you will never be captured alive,and that if this somehow happened, you would stand allthe pain and torture, but never leak any secrets.” And shemade that vow.

Amandeep Kaur afterwards became even stronger inher teaching. She was tired of big professors with mightyturbans on their heads who acted disgracefully, drinkingalcohol and caring for no one. Amandeep spoke with them,face to face. She knew that fighting alone would not bringa change in Punjab. The people themselves would have tochange.

One day, some time later, Amandeep Kaur was taking



rounds of bullets from place to place as she often did,when she was stopped by a famous, torturing policeman.He was called “Rolling Pin” since he like to crush people’slegs with a wooden roller. Rolling Pin said he wanted tofrisk Amandeep, to run his hands up and down her bodyto see if she was hiding anything.

Amandeep Kaur knew that if she showed any fear,then this policeman and his companions would frisk herand her secret would be out. She made up her mind to actboldly. Amandeep said to Rolling Pin, “If you want tofrisk me, first show me the paper that says you are arrestingme.”

“We don’t have any warrant, but we are going to checkyou anyway,” said the policeman.

Amandeep Kaur replied, “Haven’t you read in yourpolice book that if a woman is to be frisked it can only bewith a woman police officer present? Without a warrantand without a woman police officer around, you can’t friskme.”

Hearing her strong words, Rolling Pin and the otherpolice were a little shaken. They were not so brave asAmandeep, and they let the girl in the braids and tracksuit go.

When Amandeep Kaur made it to the place she wasgoing and told her story, one of the Singhs was bothered.He said, “This could happen again, and next time youmight not be so lucky. I know the name of the shopkeeperwho told the police to look out for you. You can take careof him if you like.”

Amandeep thought carefully. She thought how Godhad protected her so far, but she might not be safe in thefuture. Amandeep Kaur decided to do something.

In the darkness of night, two boys, two girls, andAmandeep went to find the house of the snitch. She toldher parents that they had to practice field hockey till late

so no one worried where she was. The five finally foundthe house. His family was out and he was home alone.Amandeep’s four friends went ahead of her, but when shejoined them, the shopkeeper said, “Oh, it’s you?”

“Why did you speak against me to the police?”Amandeep spoke strongly. “The police were not able toget anything out of me, but now you will know who Iam.”

The shopkeeper began to cry. Untruthfully, he beggedforgiveness, “You are like my daughter! Forgive me! Forgiveme!” Amandeep Kaur shot him once with her revolver.

Amandeep used to go to a village where the Singhspracticed with their weapons. At first, the young womenwould cook meals for their Singh brothers, but after atime, they also taught Amandeep and the others. The Singhsrespected her courage and all the work she had done.

In her mind, Amandeep Kaur was thinking aboutshooting the shopkeeper, thinking that if every Sikh womanpunished those who did bad things to them, the worldwould be a more peaceful place. She also saw that theSinghs in her group were amazed at her bravery, and thatit gave a boost to their own courage. “If girls can be sobrave, then we can be even more brave,” they probablythought.

She went on thinking, “In the Sikh religion men andwomen are equal. But if the woman is not brave, how canshe blame the man for not giving her equal respect? If aman takes a step ahead, a woman should be brave enoughto take two steps ahead. Sikhs who believe in Guru get allthe respect they deserve. Those who are sitting behindand not joining in the fight may look at the brave Sikhsand follow them.”

One of the young men who had gone with AmandeepKaur during the killing of the shopkeeper was ManpreetSingh. He went to Guru Nanak Dev University in Amritsar.



Manpreet Singh was picked up by the police two or threemonths later. The police threw his body in front of LyallpurKhalsa College in Jalandhar. By looking at the body, youcould see how they had tortured, then killed him. Leavinghis broken body there, the police hoped to scare thestudents.

Amandeep Kaur and the others were not afraid. Sincehe was their friend, they asked if they could have anAkhand Paath for him at the college, but the cruel policewould not allow it. They students would not give up.Instead of having the Akhand Paath in the college, theystarted the reading right on the roadside where ManpreetSingh’s body had been left. Soon, hundreds of cars andtrucks were backed up in both directions as drivers stoppedto pay their respects. Finally, a police officer came andtold them they could have the Akhand Paath inside thecollege after all.

Around that time, the Sikh Students Federation heldmany meetings at Amandeep Kaur’s home. They wouldpretend they were celebrating birthdays, so many birthdays!Really, they were meeting and planning new actions.

One day, the cruel Rolling Pin stopped Amandeep Kauron the road. Luckily, she had nothing to hide at that time.There were two lady police with him. Amandeepremembered them. They often stood at the bus stands sogirls would not be teased or bullied, but nobody listenedto them. If a girl was in trouble, they called for Amandeepand the bullies would run away. She thought they mightbe jealous. The police ladies frisked Amandeep Kaur andbrought her to jail.

A man in the government who knew Amandeep wasthe best student in her college told the police to let her go.Afterwards, Amandeep’s brother Singhs found out whohad told the police about her, and once she was free again,they told her who it was. He was a rich businessman.

The next day, Amandeep Kaur’s mother told her thatfreedom fighters has killed the rich businessman in TarnTaran. She said nothing, but in her heart, Amandeep washappy.

On Monday, when Amandeep Kaur returned to school,she felt like the students were looking at her in a differentway. In her dreams, she started seeing dead bodies left atthe roadside, and hers among them. It disturbed her mind.She began to think, “Even if I did the right thing, if peoplefound out, they might say my parents were not good parents,that they had raised a bad daughter who did bad things.”These thoughts began to bother Amandeep.

One day a chance came to leave India secretly, to movefar away. Amandeep took that chance. She knew that therelatives of freedom fighters could be tortured and killedby the police, even distant relatives. For the love of herfamily, she decided to disappear.

Still, Amandeep thought, “Yes, I am a woman and myfeelings are gentle and kind, but I know that whenevermy Sikh nation will really need my help, I can break through.If need be, I will break through. I will be back there in asecond with a gun in my hand, and no one will stop me!”



Dr. Anarkali Kaur Honaryar (1984 - )

The year Anarkali was born, there was war in her countryof Afghanistan. Afghan men with guns were fighting Russiansoldiers with tanks and helicopters, along with their Afghanfriends. The Russians were slowly being pushed out ofAfghanistan.

Anarkali and her parents and four sisters and brotherslived in the beautiful province of Baghlan in Afghanistan.In the fields were grapes and pomegranate trees and cottonplants. There was cold and snow in the winter, and hotdays in the summer.

Seeing the powerful jet and helicopters of the Russiansthundering overhead, Anarkali wished that one day, shetoo could fly. Then she would defend her country and itspeople from invaders. Anarkali asked her father one dayif it could be possible. Her father said to Anarkali, “Mydear sweet daughter, it is difficult for a woman to be apilot in Afghanistan. It does not fit in with this country’sculture.”

Hearing her father’s words, Anarkali’s wish to be apilot did not go away. But now she wished she were aboy.

Anarkali and her family were the only Sikhs in theirtown. Everyone else was Muslim. They greeted each other,“Salam allaykam!” and celebrated a holiday called “Eid”when everyone received sweets and presents. Anarkali’s

friends gave her sweets on Eid, even though she was notMuslim, and her mother gave her sweets for her Muslimfriends on Guru Nanak’s birthday.

Anarkali studied hard at school. She knew that a pilotneeded to have excellent marks. She also knew that insome parts of Afghanistan, girls were not allowed to go toschool. They had to stay at home. Knowing this, and thatone day she might not be allowed to study, made Anarkalistudy even harder. She earned excellent marks.

Anarkali studied so well that she finished high schoolfour years early, when she was just twelve years old. Fromher town, she went to the Afghan capital of Kabul to learnat the university. Anarkali then decided that since shecould not be a pilot, she would be a doctor and help herpeople in that way.

While Anarkali was going to university, she made manygirl friends. The boys went to separate classes and livedseparately. Many of her friends shared their problems withAnarkali.

The girls had many problems. Some did their schoolwork at home, then to cooked and cleaned until late atnight. If they became sick or tired, they would be beatenup. Many of the girls were afraid their parents would takethem out of school and make them get married.

When Anarkali was seventeen, her country was facedwith another foreign army. The Americans destroyed theAfghan government with thousands of their bombs andmissiles. Then the foreign soldiers – Americans, British,Canadian, French, German, Qatari and others – arrived bythe thousands.

The foreigners promised the Afghans a new governmentand a country where girls could go to school. In the newcountry, girls might even pilot planes. Because everyone atthe university respected her, Anarkali was allowed to goto an important first meeting to decide who would govern

Dr. Anarkali Kaur Honaryar 129


Afghanistan. Soon after that, there were elections soeveryone in Afghanistan could decide together who wouldserve as their government.

Back at university, Anarkali knew that she could doanything a man could do, but she decided to be a dentist.Then, a couple of years later, she joined the human rightscommission. Anarkali’s new job was to listen to people’sproblems and to help them have peace and respect in theirlives. She had already being doing this for years. Now itwas her job.

Anarkali loved to serve as peacemaker, to listen toboth sides and help them come to peace. Sometimes ahusband beat his wife because he did not know how tocontrol his anger. She taught him to control his angrymind. Sometimes a family would want their daughter tomarry someone, but the girl would not agree. Anarkaliwould do her best to help everyone have the respect andpeace they needed. When she was not successful, Anarkaliwould bring a lawyer to help everyone receive their rights.

Anarkali went on radio and television to tell everyoneabout women’s rights. She also looked after the rights ofthe few thousand Sikhs and Hindus who still lived inAfghanistan after years of war and violence. Anarkali madesure their children could go to university the same as theMuslim students.

Many, many Sikhs left Afghanistan in the years in the1990s when the Taliban government was against non-Muslims. Even so, today Anarkali loves to go to theremaining Gurdwaras in Kabul where Guru Nanak visitedmany years ago. For her work protecting people in troublein her country, she has won the hearts of many. Someorganizations have also given Anarkali Kaur prizes forwhat she has done. Sometimes people call Anarkali “theLioness of Afghanistan.”

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