New Uriean, LA On May 6,1992, I received, via mail from Stockton, a cassette tape named “Main Han Dharat Punjab Di (1 am the land of Punjab).” The memory of June 6, reached 4 month ahead, The writer (Dr. Harbhajan Singh Shergil), the Singer (S Jagat Singh Jagga), and the Musician (S. Manmohan Singh) had made this tape a milestone in the memory of June6. In the memory of the Sikh Mantyrs, each of the above mentioned Sikhs precisely aimed the gun of his own individual art at the oppressor and had hit the target successfully. Mentioning the manyrdom of a grandmother and her grandson is a great threat to the unity of India in the eyes of the then Government the writer “Bhaji” brought memories to many Sikhs who went to Gurdwaras with their grandmothers. The writer perhaps meant an infant’s first visit to the Golden Temple in this particular example, but certainly not Excluded many other children, under 10, accompanied with their grandmothers, At this age a child is innocent and really doesn’t care much about whether the Sikh demands were justified or the Government was justified not to fulfill them, While enjoying the congregation, a child may occasionally enquire from his grandmother about the time the Deg (Haiwa) will be served, Most of the time when he hears the recitation of Anand Sahib, he knows the rest of the time-table.
While listening to this tape, the emotions of one person may differ from the other. Many times one would hear the month “June” and the name “mother.” My wife, Rajinder, lost her mother on June 10,1964, when she was 10. At that time she was told, by the elders in the family, that her mother would be back. She said that she did wait for many years and at a certain stage she realized that her mother would not be back, and that the elders were saying this only to console her. For the moment was thinking about thousands of Sikhs children who had and are and are listening to such consoling explanations from their elders. By the time they would understand this, they might be considered grains of coarse sand in the eyes of the Government Referring to the memory of human beings, Oliver Wendell Holmes said, “A man must get a thing before he can forget it.” it seems to be a very tragic situation as the reader is well aware of what the Sikhs got.
Each stanza of the tape is pulling the listener closer to the Saffron Flag. After listening to this tape one would appreciate as to why Guru Gobind Singh had 52 poets.
Article extracted from this publication >> May 22, 1992
