AROUND THE TIME this letter rolls off the presses, an Air India Boeing 787 will take off from Amritsar for London Stanstead. In honour of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev, the aircraft will sport the iconic Ik Onkar (The One) on its tail. The current issue of THE WEEK, too, is in honour of this year’s historic Gurpurab and in tribute to a community that has always punched above its weight in everything from social service to sports.
I was moved by the fact that Air India chose the spiritual Ik Onkar icon over the more popular and martial Khanda Sahib. In these unquiet times we could learn much from the primal sound that demands that we look deep into ourselves, shed enmity and anger, meditate upon God and strive to achieve oneness with all beings. Long after the celebrations are over, may the Guru’s message stay with us and keep us warm in a world that is growing increasingly cold.
This issue, which explores the spiritual and temporal sides of the community, was anchored by Senior Special Correspondent Mandira Nayar, supported by several other reporters. Considering the scope of the subject, some articles have gone exclusively online. In addition to staff reporters, we had the generous support of writers such as Australian High Commissioner Harinder Sidhu, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, former ambassador Navtej Sarna and Brig Gurmeet Kanwal. My heartfelt thanks to everyone.
Artist Arpana Caur generously allowed us the use of her paintings on cover and on this page. In keeping with the Guru’s call, she donates all proceeds from the sale of the Nanak series. Currently, the series is touring the US.
The painting on this page depicts a miracle performed by the Guru in Eminabad, Pakistan. Legend has it that the Guru stayed with a poor carpenter named Bhai Lalo, which irked Malik Bhago, a usurious noble. To illustrate why he could not stay with Bhago, the Guru held up food from both homes in each hand and squeezed them. While milk flowed from Lalo’s dry millet roti, blood spurted from Bhago’s fried cake. Through the miracle, the Guru illustrated that honest work trumps tainted wealth any day.
Over the years, THE WEEK’s pages have been graced by eminent Sikhs. Former prime minister Manmohan Singh wrote the opening essay of our silver jubilee volume in 2006. Former Army chief Gen Bikram Singh was our columnist and is fondly remembered by the desk for being equally and unfailingly polite to everyone from subeditor trainees to the editor. So, in part, this issue is also our thanks to these and many other friends of THE WEEK.
By now, I am sure, most of us will be thinking of Sikh friends who have brightened our lives. For me it is undoubtedly Jaspal Singh, my friend for five years at St Stephen’s College, Delhi. Hailing from Fatehabad in Punjab’s Tarn Taran district, Jaspal kept us well supplied with paan—earning him the nickname paanwala. He joined the Indian Police Service in the undivided Andhra Pradesh cadre and was later with the Central Bureau of Investigation. When he married Renu, she, too, was absorbed into our circle. All was well until death claimed him a decade ago.
As I write this, I am in Delhi for my batch’s golden jubilee celebrations. I know it is silly, Jaspal, but I will still look for you in the old hallways. If you do make it, old friend, do bring a paan with you.