A weekend with God

This Saturday happened to be Vaisakhi which is the Punjabi new year and marks the beginning of the harvest season in Punjab. Vaisakhi falls on the 14th of April every year. Vaisakhi is the day on which the Khalsa (The Pure Ones) was born and Sikhs were given a clear identity and a code of conduct to live by. The event was led by the last living Guru, Guru Gobind Singh Ji, who baptised the first Sikhs using sweet nectar called Amrit. Around the world at Vaisakhi time, Sikhs and Punjabi's reflect on the values taught to them by their Gurus and celebrate the birth of the Khalsa.

This time around I happen to be in Canada and got the opportunity to visit the local Gurudwara here. It's around 6-7 Kms from my house. I went there with my aunt, uncle and cousin. We reached there at around 4:30 in the afternoon by car. It looked like not may people had turned up yet as the parking lot was almost empty. The Gurudwara building itself did not look like a conventional Gurudwara building as you can see in the picture. But it was the same calm and serene atmosphere as it is in almost all Gurudwaras. We entered the building and walked into a room to remove our footwear and jackets. Unlike India, there was no one to take the footwear and stack it in the shelves. We did that ourselves and put the jackets on the hangers provided. We then proceeded towards the main hall. It was largely empty with 1-2 people sitting. After offering prayers, we sat there for some time. I took the opportunity to thank God for everything he has given me in the past few months. I couldn't have asked for more. After a while we walked out towards the hall. This was the langar hall. It was a big carpeted hall with a neat row of washbasins on one side and a kitchen on the other. Lots of people were busy cooking food for the evening celebrations. We ate some pakoras and had nice tea. After a few hours the program was to start and a large number of people were expected. But unfortunately we had to leave. After my uncle showed me around a bit, we collected our jackets, put on our shoes and walked out. This is when I took the picture you are seeing above.

So this was one of my infrequent visits to the Gurudwara. I'm not an atheist, but somehow over the past few years I haven't visited the Gurudrawa much. Before this I had been to the Gurudwara in Bangalore. But then I had gone there for the first time in the 4-5 yrs that I spent in Bangalore. I believe that God is everywhere and as long as I am true to myself and good to people, God will not mind me not going to the Gurudwara. Maybe that's why he is making things work for me. But sometimes it does feel good to go there and sit in the calm environment. It gives lots of peace of mind. Anyway, I hope this was not the last time I visited the Gurudwara here. I definitely need to go back again to try the langar :-)