Introductory Note

*

 

Prologue

I think we are all agreed that Pakistan is a pain in the neck for us, ever since 1947. It was created on the basis of religion, and the global situation has added another dimension to the issue. We have almost begun to nurse a very negative sentiment towards all Muslims, and this is an ugly situation for a country like India which is home to millions of adherents of Islam.

I was born in a place where Muslims were in an overwhelming majority, and so I began to think that our lives before the partition would have been very difficult. However, when I went through the books, diaries and letters left behind by our ancestors, I discovered that until as late as a couple of decades before partition, our social relations were very harmonious and civil. Given below is a slice of history. On 31 December 1925, a devout Muslim presented an invaluable artefact to the Golden Temple, and carved out a niche for himself for all times to come. This story supports my conviction

*

 

A Divinely Blessed Artisan

Mohammed Maskin was born in Lahore, in or around 1855. However, he spent most of his working life in Mecca, and so he came to be known as ‘Haji Maskin’. He was an unusually gifted craftsperson. Over the years, he learnt the fine art of drawing hair-thin strands out of wood. Towards the end of his life, he created an invaluable artefact. It is a whisk which has 1,45,000 strings of sandalwood, bound in a silver grip. In search of a suitable place for his labour of celestial love, he came to India. His search ended, when he met Bhai Hira Singh in Bharatpur (near Agra) where the eminent hymn singer had gone to perform kirtan at a function.

The rest is history. The whisk was ceremonially presented to the Golden Temple on 31 Dec 1925, and the event was widely reported by the press. In fact, it became a part of the forty-four items which are preserved in “Toshakhana”, the treasure trove of the Golden Temple. Given below is an excerpt from the Sikh Encyclopaedia (three pictures that appeared in the newspapers of that tme are placed at the end of the text) :

Toshakhana or tosha khana, from Persian (tosha = food or provisions for journey or food articles in general + khana = house or storage room) means, in Punjabi, a treasury or secured storehouse for valuables. It is now generally used for the storehouse in the Darbar Sahib complex at Amritsar where costly items presented as offerings to the Harimandar Sahib are kept. They are taken out for jalau (display) in the shrines on special occasions such as major festivals or anniversaries. They mostly comprise gold and silver ornaments such as chhabbas (domelike pendants), seharas (fringes of pearls and gems), chhatars (umbrellas), and other invaluable items, such as the door leaves of the Harimandar lined with gold sheets are also stored in the Toshakhana. Two particularly rare items kept in the toshakhana are a richly bejewelled canopy, a present from the Nizam of Hyderabad to Maharaja Ranjit Singh who reportedly considering it too lavish a gift, sent it to the Harimandar Sahib and a chandan da chaur (flywhisk) made of sandalwood  fibres, which took years for Haji Muhammad Maskin, a Muslim craftsman to prepare. He had made two similar whisks, one of which he had presented at the Holy Ka’aba at Mecca, and was in search of a holy place in India deserving of his offering. Guided by Bhai Hira Singh Ragi, a well-known exponent of gurmat kirtan (singing of sacred hymns of Guru Granth Sahib), he offered the second whisk at the Harimandar on 31 December 1925.

                                                                       

 

 Haji Mohammed Maskin with the ‘Chandan ka Chaur’

 

Bhai Hira Singh ji, holding the Whisk

 The editor of the paper, Maskin and Bhai Hira Singh ji

 

The whisk is exhibited and seen these with the same reverence as it was, when it was presented ninety years ago. A recent picture of the Chaur is given below:

 

 A recent picture of the Whisk.

 On the handle, the following words are inscribed in Urdu letters. I have transliterated them in the Devanagari script:

 पांच बरस सात महीने में संदल के एक लाख पंचतलीस हज़ार बालों का यह चौर साख्ता हाजी मुहम्मद मसकीन दस्तकार नें बनाया और शाह की खिदमत में लाया गया

I consider it necessary to mention that Haji Maskin stayed in the residence of Bhai Hira Singh ji for over two weeks when the details of the ceremonial presentation ceremony were being worked out. There is little doubt that they developed a close personal equation, and their different religions did not make a difference to their ‘ human bondage’ 

*

An Introduction to Bhai Hira Singh ji

In our family, we had two ancestors, who were blessed with long lives. Our great-grandfather, Bapu Bhag Singh ji (1843-1947) and our father, Maj Balwant Singh ji (1911-2004) lived long and healthy lives without any of the modern medical facilities. Ensconced between them was Bhai Hira Singh ji who emerged as a flame between 1879 to 1926. Within a brief span of 47 short years, he left a lasting impression on the sands of time. Several books and articles have been published on him over the years. Our father compiled all these into a book which has been printed three times. The cover of the latest version is given below. On the sides, you see pictures of two of his illustrious sons, our father and Maj Agyapal Singh ji (1922-99)

 

Cover of the latest printing of the biography of Bhai Hira Singh ji.

A few years ago, I made a brief summary of the book and hosted it on our blog. A link to it is given below:

http://amolak.in/web/a-glimpse-of-our-roots/

 

*

A Moot Question

Bhai Hira Singh ji passed away on 2^nd Sep 1926. In his memory functions are organized in several places. On my part, I go through the books and diaries left behind by our ancestors. This year, as I was going through the papers, I discovered that several Muslims were very close friends of our family. Bapu Bhag Singh ji learnt music from an Ustad whose name was Hasna. The school project was actively supported by Mian Allah Yaar Kalyar. Our uncle graduated from Islamia College and during partition, Capt Nazar Mohammed risked his own life to save our father. The list is endless…

Haji Mohammed Maskin was true to his faith. In presenting the whisk to the golden temple, he did not compromise his allegiance to Allah.

And of course, everyone went to Sir Ganga Ram hospital in Lahore.

My unrequited question is, “Who started this fight in the name of religion. And why?”

Epilogue

Our father, the late Major Balwant Singh ji began his book with a quote from Gurbani. It is about the treasure inherited by worthy sons from their ancestors. I am impelled to end this piece with that ‘Shabd’ from the Sri Guru Granth Sahib. The words are easy to understand, but the meaning is very profound. We in our family believe that the books, diaries, letters and pictures which have come down to us are far more precious than the ranches of land and palatial houses which have become legal disputes in many unfortunate families all around us. The ‘shabad’ taken from page 185 of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib is given below:  

पियो दादे का खोहल डिठा खज़ाना          तां मेरा मन भया निधाना  

खावे ख़र्चे रल मिल भाई                     टोट न आवे वरतो जाई  

रतन लाल जाका कछु न मोल               भरे भण्डार अखुट अतोल  

कहो नानक जिस मस्तक लेख लिखाये       तां इस ख़ज़ाने लया रालाये 

 I opened the treasure trove of my ancestors; and I was overwhelmed by what I saw.

We savour and spend it altogether. The fund does not diminish even when we are lavish

We have inherited invaluable gems and rubies. We can not weigh or count them

Says Nanak, (only) those who are blessed can enjoin the ranks of such bequeath.   

 

 

The Tailpiece. Allah Tero naam; Ishwar tero naam

This lyric was written for a Hindi film by Sahir Ludhianvi. I like the expression on the face of Nanda as she performs it on the screen and my personal favourite couplet is:

 ओ सारे, जग के रखवाले ;  निर्बल को बल देने वाले 

बलवानों को दे दे ज्ञान ; अलाह तेरो नाम ईश्वर तेरो नाम  

Now, if you have three minutes to spare, see the video:

 

The Value and Worth of the Whisk

As I look at the fly-whisk and compare it with the other artefacts in the ‘Toshakhana’ I find that the economic worth of this piece of sandalwood is insignificant in comparison with the gold and diamond jewellery pieces presented by Kings and Princes. Haji Maskin (the word Maskin means humble) was a ‘fakir’. It is also evident that if this whisk were to be manufactured with modern machines and tools, the end-product would take no more than a few days, and the strands might be finer. Haji Maskin made this about a hundred years ago, and had nothing more than some primitive knives and cutting tools. But his commitment to the project is awesome. Equally significant is his secular outlook. He had no hesitation in attending the kirtan of Bhai Hira Singh ji, and then strike a spiritual friendship with the Sikh singer of hymns.

I find a parallel in our lives. My wife attended the Presentation Convent School in Jammu and graduated from Sacred Heart College in Dalhousie. We both recite the word ‘Om’ during our daily sessions of ‘pranayam’ and sing the ‘aarti’ whenever we are in a temple. And, indeed who can resist saying ‘Subhan Allah!’ when someone recites a soulful ghazal? None of these practices have diminished our reverence to Guru Nanak and our faith in the tenets which the Gurus taught us. I, for one, will remain perennially indebted to those who drafted our secular constitution. 

Now have one last look at this whisk, which continues to give celestial fragrance, whenever it is taken out of the glass case in which it is preserved.

 

 *

 

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

2^nd of September is a notable day in our family calendar. On this day, in 1926, Bhai Hira Singh ji left the world of mortals.  Commemorative functions are held on this day, and we recount events from his life. It is more than evident to me that Bhai Sahib was not the greatest of all singers. In the field of classical music, our great grand father touched much greater heights of excellence. What carried Bhai Hira Singh’s word farther was his selflessness and devotion to the Creator. He practiced what he preached.  I once heard the following anecdote narrated by an elder.

‘On the eve of a ‘gurpurab’ a ‘kirtan sammelan’ was organized for a restricted audience of connoisseurs. About a dozen eminent ensembles were requested to perform and the condition was that every ‘shabd’ (composition) must be rendered in the specific ‘raga’ in which it is recorded in Sri Guru Granth Sahib. At the end of the programme all the hymn singers were honoured, but when Bhai Sahib came to accept the robe of honour, there was a widespread request for one more rendition. He bowed to the wishes of the congregation, and during this performance, the ‘sangat’ was literally swept off their feet. The organizers managed to procure a very special shawl and amidst loud applause, it was draped around him. The story goes, that when the event was over, he told the tonga driver to take him to the Golden Temple, instead of his abode. There, he took off his ‘dupatta’ and got down to cleaning and swopping the inner passage with it. He kept on doing it until late at night. When at last he reached home, our grandmother found his clothes soiled, and his hands mucky. Upon being repeatedly interrogated, Bhai Sahib told her that for a brief instant he had given the credit for the honour bestowed on him to his ability to sing. As per his schooling, he had sinned and to atone for it, he had rendered a bit of service…’

In the books written on our saintly ancestor, this attribute is referred to as ‘kathani te karni da prabhav’ (the combined effect of word and deed).

 In this very context, permit me to mention a little dialogue between a TV interviewer and the redoubtable Lata Mangeshkar. The person observed that a film song is created by the combined efforts of the following personages:

• The singer

• The music director

• The musicians who form part of the orchestra

• The lyricist

• The actor who renders the song on the screen

The question was, “Who contributes the most towards the success of the number?” Lata ji gave a detailed thought and said, “I think the lyricist is the key”

I am in total agreement with her verdict. There are scores of singers who sing the composition of the masters in many different tunes. But at the end of the day, the words survive, and not the voice of the singer or the notes of the instrument. Thus, be it the carols in the Bible, the verses from the Ramayana, the Buddhist chanting or the Gurbani, the artistes who perform are lesser mortals than the Masters who gave us the words.

Bhai Hira Singh ji often said, “I am only chirping creature. The soul of the kirtan is the Holy scripture”. The Punjabi word for this humble creature is “Kooker”. It is actually a bird which chirps aimlessly.  And so we find that the letters which he wrote to his friends invariably ended with his name signed as, “Hira Singh Kooka”