Issue 40 Vol II, May 31, 2007

F E A T U R E S

A Journey to the birthplace of Bhagat Singh
Chaman Lal

I had planned to visit Lahore on 23rd March, 2006 which was 75th martyrdom anniversary of Shaheed Bhagat Singh. I had a wish that Indian and Pakistani people should together commemorate this historic event. That could not materialize. But this year an unexpected invitation came to present a paper on Dr. B.R.Ambedkar on his birth anniversary at Lahore on 13th April. The invitation came from Ganga Ram Heritage Foundation. It fulfilled my desire to seek Pakistan as well visit the places associated with the great martyr Bhagat Singh.

Accompanied by Zubair, well known progressive story writer of Punjabi, I first went to Bradlaugh Hall, which few people know now. Hall is in dilapidated condition and some training school is being run from there. From the shape of building, one can well imagine that it was a grand building once. Fortunately, the foundation plate is still intact. The foundation of this headquarters of freedom movement was laid by Surender Nath Sen in 1900. Lajpat Rai Hall of Lahore, which housed famous Dwarka Dass library, now in Chandigarh, is now held by fingerprint bureau of Pakistani police. I could not visit this place; neither could I locate National College, where Bhagat Singh was a student during 1922-26. I could not locate Khwasarian village, nearby Lahore, which was the abode of Bhagat Singh family for many years. Even river Ravi bank, where Lala Lajpat Rai and later the remains of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev were cremated or Bhagwati Charan Vohra gave his life in bomb explosion, while testing, could not be located. Ravi has perhaps dried up and people say it has become a ‘nallah’. They also say that India has stopped releasing water to river Ravi. However I could easily locate the place of Saundras killing and DAV college hostel nearby. There is not much change in that area, except that DAV College and hostel have turned into Govt. Islamia College and hostel now. But the SSP office remains the same as was during Scott’s time.

I was also able to visit ‘Phansighat’, execution spot of Lahore jail, which has now been demolished and Shadman Chowk or’ Fountain Chowk’ instead has come up. It is a residential colony now, with no trace of jail or its historicity, where hundreds of freedom fighters were hanged. Democratic Pakistani activists do gather on 23rd March at Shadman Chowk and burn candles. They also plan to put a plaque nearby, indicating its historicity. Bhagat Singh lived in many houses of Lahore during his underground days and people still talk of those houses. One such house is said to be on Jail road. Najam hussain Sayeed, well known Punjabi writer lives on jail road, but he has no idea of that house.

I could go to birth place of Bhagat Singh with newly met local friends, who arranged a car, which took us first to Waris Shah’s mazar at Jandiala Sheikh. We crossed through Sheikhupura town, quite known and from distance I was shown ‘haran magar’, beautiful place built in memory of a deer, which got killed during shikar by Prince Salim. Visiting Waris Shah mazar was an experience, where every year competition of singing ‘Heer’ is held and it starts with singing of Amrita Pritam’s “ Aaj Aakhan Waris Shah nun………’. From Jandiala , we moved to Nankana Sahib. It is a small town, but the access road is huge. Pakistan has paid more attention to its roads and correctly boasts of its motorways from Lahore to Peshawar. But Pakistan lacks in railway services. Nankana Sahib has eight Gurdwars in its vicinity, including the main one, where in February 1921; morcha was started against Mahants, who were polluting the pious place. Mahants, supported by British colonialists had killed nearly two hundred Sikhs, before vacating the Gurdwara. Inside the Gurdwara, there is ‘Shaheed Jand(tree)’, where one protestor Lachhman Singh was burnt alive. In Nankana Sahib, most of the Gurdwaras relate to Guru Nanak’s childhood stories—where he was born, where he played, where he studied etc. I took ‘langar’ with my Muslim friends of Lahore, who had accompanied me there.

From Nankana Sahib, there was direct route to Jadanawala, though road patch was bad for few kilometers. Crossing Jadanawala, a tehsil town, we reached at the road leading to Chak No. 105, before we could ask someone on the way, a pleasant surprise awaited us. There was a tin board on roadside, painted with Bhagat Singh picture behind bars. Some Jasbeer Singh from Faislabad had put this signboard, with his email address. It became easier for us. When we were reading the signboard, some people came close to us and seeing our interest in Bhagat Singh told us the lane to his village. They suggested that before going to village, we should meet one Farhan Khan nearby. As it turned out, Farhan Khan is 82 year old gentleman, retired as Excise officer, having his factory named as Gulab Farm, adding Bhagat Singh town on the signboard. He belonged to Chak NO.107, Pathankot nearby. We reached his place and he welcomed us warmly. In his drawing room, there was old but framed, glass broken black and white photograph with the  typical hat wearing popular photograph. Farhan Khan was too happy talking about Bhagat Singh family. He was five years old, when Bhagat Singh was martyred, Bhagat Singh’ younger brothers, names he did not remember (Obviously Kulbir Singh and Kultar Singh), used to meet him. The man was an admirer of Bhagat Singh. We moved to Chak no. 105, accompanied by the man sent by Farhan Khan. It was getting dark. The road to village was not very good. When we reached there, it was not the old house; it was now being shared by three Virk brothers. Pakistan have as many Virks, Randhawas, Sehgals, Bhattis,Cheemas, Waraiches,Gills or Sidhus etc, as much we might be having in our part of Punjab. It was almost four canal land area, which is now shared by Iqbal Virk, Sadiq Virk and Mushtaq Virk families- the three brothers, who were allotted this house after partition. They had migrated from Virk village from Amritsar. Out of the three, Sadiq Virk is no more, but his family lives there. When we reached there were few women working near Chullah, later on we could meet Akhtar Virk, son of Mushtaq Virk, who is now advocate at Faislabad. He told us that not only this house, they also acquired 17 acre Mango garden of Kishan Singh, father of Bhagat Singh. Though family of Bhagat Singh had an orchard at Chak no. 105, was not known earlier to us, yet it came as no surprise to me. The judge, who wrote judgment for the execution of Kartar Singh Sarabha, has clearly mentioned that Kishan Singh (father of Bhagat Singh) has contributed one thousand rupees (nearly one lakh rupees of today) to the cause of Gadar party in 1914 or 1915.

The legend of Bhagat Singh and family becomes more fascinating, because their commitment to the nation overstepped their comforts in life. It is no wonder that Waqar Ahmad, a political science student from Peshawar becomes enamored of Bhagat Singh and reached me through mail, just to know more about Bhagat Singh. Waqar remained in touch with me on phone during my stay in Lahore and was hoping to meet me, as Peshawar University Teachers Association was trying very hard to get visa cleared for me, so that I could visit Peshawar. We had welcomed Peshawar University teacher’s delegation recently in JNU. And it was also during my stay in Lahore, Raza Naeem, a columnist for Dawn, reached me through mail to get a copy of ‘The Jail Notebook and Other writings’ of Bhagat Singh, compiled and introduced by me and published by Leftword on this 23rd March, for reviewing it in ‘Dawn’.

Lyalpur was built by British officers as a planned city. This area has very fertile land, so the peasants from other parts of Punjab were encouraged to buy lands here, just as many Punjabi peasants had gone to Terai area to buy lands. Interestingly more people from Doaba went there. They were allotted lands in villages named as Chak with numbers. The families which shifted here attached the name of their village or area to these numbered chaks. Thus Chak no. 65 is Mukundpur, Chak no 67 is Gidderpindi, Chak no. 104 is Samra, Chak no.105 is Bange(From Banga of Doaba),Chak no 106 is Khurla, Chak no. 107 is Pathankot, Chak no. 109 is Bajajanwala and so on. These names continue after partition as well. Only the landowners and inhabitants of the houses have changed. We were told that prior to 1965, there were not many restrictions and lot many people used to visit these places. After 1965, restrictions increased, recent years, there again has been some relaxation and people are again coming to visit these places. We were told that a bus full of Punjabis from Canada had come to visit the place last year. After partition Faislabad, became the centre of textile industry. It is now the third biggest city of Pakistan, after Karachi and Lahore.

From Chak no. 105, we moved to Faislabad, it was night now. After a while, we took the motorways to Lahore and reached in about two hour’s time. Only limited vehicles are allowed on the motorways, so the traffic moves fast, smoothly and safely.

[The writer is professor at the Centre of Indian Languages JNU, New Delhi]

BACK

Bhai Santa Singh
A Unique Exponent of Guru’s Hymns-2
Harjap Singh Aujla

AFTER the creation of Pakistan, Bhai Samund Singh also joined Bhai Santa Singh in the service of the Golden Temple. They had very different styles of performing “Shabad Kirtan”. Bhai Samund Singh used to perform a modified version of “Khayal Gayaki”. He used to leave the “Alaap”, “Jorh Alaap” and the “Vilambhat Lai” as well as the climax “Dhrut Lai” and sing the entire “Shabad” in “Madh Lai”. On the other hand Bhai Santa Singh either sang in the traditional “Reets” handed down from generation to generation or he created his own “Reets” by improvising new tunes from the source “Ragas” and “Raginis”. Bhai Santa Singh used to rehearse the tunes for hours at a stretch to the accompaniment of “Taan Pura”.

Bhai Santa Singh lived a simple life. He used to ride a by-cycle on his way to perform “Shabad Kirtan”. One day an admirer presented a car to him, which he retained for a few days before returning it back to him. The reason given for spurning the offer was that he used to recite a path while riding a cycle and he used to complete the path while riding the bike. But when he started being driven in the car the same distance was traveled in 5 minutes and he could not complete the path. Such was the simplicity and lack of greed in Bhai Santa Singh. Once the famous Bhai Chand was supposed to perform last of all in a special “Kirtan Diwan” in pre-partition Lahore and Bhai Santa Singh was the penultimate singer. But Bhai Chand got so much impressed with the “Shabad Gayan” by Bhai Santa Singh, that he requested to skip his own turn and requested Bhai Santa Singh to finish the “Diwan” by singing “Raga Darbari Kanra”. Bhai Santa Singh completely mesmerized the audience with his soulful rendition of “Raga Darbari Kanra”. This story was narrated to me by Bhai Gurdip Singh ji, the head priest of New York’s famous Richmond Hill Gurdwara.

Round about in 1949, Bhai Santa Singh abruptly left the service of the SGPC and temporarily moved to New Delhi. Soon he tried his hand at becoming a building contractor in Assam, but contractorship did not suit his temperament and he took employment in Gurdwara Sis Ganj Old Delhi. Delhi was fast becoming a city of refugees from West Pakistan. Some of his most ardent admirers had moved from Lahore, Gujjranwala, Lyallpur, Montgomery, Sialkot and Sheikhupura to Delhi. For them it was a pleasure to listen to the “Shabad Gayan” by Bhai Santa Singh. On hearing about Bhai Santa Singh’s joining the service of Gurdwara Sis Ganj Delhi, the crowds at that historic gurdwara started swelling each morning.

The refugee “Sangat” of Delhi got so much hooked to listening to Bhai Santa Singh’s “Shabad Kirtan” at Gurdwara Sis Ganj Chandni Chowk that they insisted that the early morning “Chawnki of Asa Di Vaar” must always be performed by the group of Bhai Santa Singh. The only other group allowed to perform “Asa Di Vaar” in the absence of Bhai Santa Singh was Bhai Avtar Singh Gurcharan Singh and Swaran Singh, formerly of Sultanpur Lodhi in Kapurthala District.

While in Delhi Bhai Santa Singh became the staff artist of All India Radio Delhi and his live performance of “Shabad Kirtan” became a regular feature of its Punjabi Program. Some years after 1947, one of the most important members of his group Bhai Surjan Singh parted company and formed his own group. This incident affected him badly, but he trained his brother Bhai Shamsher Singh to sing alongside him. This did not diminish the popularity of his group. In the meanwhile Bhai Surjan Singh’s newly created group also became very popular. To this day the best selling records of “Asa Di Vaar” are Bhai Surjan Singh’s.

On the death of India’s First Prime Minister Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru in 1964, Bhai Santa Singh was the only Sikh religious musician, who was especially invited to perform “Shabad Kirtan” during the period of mourning at All India Radio Delhi. Some of these recordings are still preserved in the archives of the Delhi Station of All India Radio. At one time or the other every great maestro, be it a vocalist or an instrumentalist of India, had the honour of singing at one or the other stations of All India Radio. Some of those artists were recorded and many others were not. Even those who’s performances were recorded, their recordings were destroyed later on due to the callousness of the authorities. If all the recordings of Bhai Santa Singh and Bhai Samund Singh would have been preserved, we would have had at least 300 hours of recordings of each. Such musicians are not born every day. We are sorry to lose their historic moments.

Late Yogi Harbhajan Singh was a great admirer of the “Kirtan Shelley” of Bhai Santa Singh. In order to train his followers, the American Sikhs, in the art of performing “Shabad Gayan” he wanted to bring one of the students of Bhai Santa Singh’s school of music to America. Bibi Amarjit Kaur, who had honed her skills under the guidance of Bhai Santa Singh was brought from India to America for the purpose. She now works in the World Bank and lives in Northern Virginia, in one of the suburbs of the American Capital Washington D.C. By listening to her you can get a glimpse of her great mentor. The way she modulates her voice, it appears that she is coming true on the teachings of her great mentor.

In 1965, Bhai Santa Singh’s former companion Bhai Surjan Singh suddenly left for his heavenly abode. Although they had parted company years ago, but still Bhai Santa Singh took this loss to heart. For several days he felt very much dejected. But according to the “Gurus” message the life must go on and Bhai Santa Singh did not miss his “Kirtan” schedules.

Bhai Santa Singh was in great demand for his unique style of “Shabad Kirtan” all over India, but he seldom stepped out of Delhi. Once in 1966, on the persistent request of the “Sangat” of Bombay he was allowed to go to Bombay for a couple of weeks. On hearing this welcome news, the knowledgeable “Sadh Sangat” of Bombay was electrified. They had the once in a lifetime experience of listening to Bhai Santa Singh live. They requested for more of his time, but the management of Gurdwara Sis Ganj in Delhi refused to extend his stay, because the “Sangat” in Delhi also wanted to listen to his “Shabad Kirtan”. On the day of his departure for Delhi big crowds gave him a tearful sendoff in Bombay. On his way back to Delhi, while still in train, he suffered a massive heart attack. Before any medical care could be administered, he had already left for his heavenly abode, in the feet of his divine master. Bhai Santa Singh’s funeral saw the community in deep mourning. This story was narrated to me by his pupil Bibi Amarjit Kaur.

After Bhai Santa Singh’s death, his brother Bhai Shamsher Singh took over his group. Bhai Shamsher Singh could sing in all the tunes of Bhai Santa Singh, but he lacked the range and modulation. After the death of Bhai Shamsher Singh about two decades ago, Bhai Santa Singh’s nephews Bhai Harjit Singh and Bhai Gurdip Singh are keeping his tradition alive. They can not match the dexterity of Bhai Santa Singh, but they have kept all his “Reets” alive. Today they are the leading musicians of Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee are held in a high esteem. The life may not be perfect but it is, nevertheless, going on.

[The author lives in New Jersey USA.  harjapaujla@gmail.com

BACK