After the dreadful news of the unexpected passing away of my brother-in-law Mr. Kuldeep Singh in Mumbai, India, yesterday, I was wondering how I could pay homage to his soul sitting here in Blackpool while my wife grieved at the loss of her brother in Mumbai. It was providence that I received a phone call from a new acquaintance of mine, a Sikh Punjabi man by the name of Gurdip Singh, who offered to take me to Preston as he was going there by car with his family. He had already previously met me with his daughter whom he had brought to the hospital for a check-up. I jumped at this chance, since I already knew, thanks to his previous conversations, that he usually also went to the local Gurudwara in Preston.
The entire experience was very satisfying. The Sikh community in the UK is fairly large, and today being a Sunday, there was a big congregation at the Guru Nanak Gurudwara in Turnbridge Street at Preston. The flag (nishan saheb) was the beckoner to the main door. Inside, you were expected to remove your footwear and wash your hands before ascending to the first floor where the Gurudwara is located. On the ground floor, they have the kitchen, where devotees or anyone else who wants to, can come to eat food - breakfast in the mornings, then lunch, then tea and then dinner ... depending on their time of arrival. The free food (known as "parshaad" or blessings from Wahe Guru - God) is known in their lingo as the "langar". I found the dining area very clean, and, unlike the langar in the various Gurudwaras in India, the place here had many tables and chairs, where people could even sit up and eat food.
I arranged for an Ardas prayer for the soul of Kuldeep singh, and stayed at the Gurudwara until this was finally done. In the end, we had lunch at the langar. It was delicious and consisted of Chhole, Chapati, Sweet rice and Bundi raaita.
The family with whom I was travelling also made two stops, one at a Gujarati-Indian run shop for sweets and Farsan, and one at a Kashmiri shop which stocks and sells Indian food. At the former, I picked up several items like khandvi, dhokla, salted shankarpara, as well as some other stuff. At the latter, I picked up stuff that is normally not available in Blackpool. In the end, when we returned to Blackpool, I had three bags full of provisions and food! Gurdip, his wife Amandeep and their 5-year daughter Harleen, were excellent company and very accommodative towards me.
Earlier in the morning, we also paid a visit to the local Hindu temple, where my hosts wished to do darshan of Goddess Saraswati. The temple is quite big, and their complex also has a large hall where they have Navratri festivals, wedding receptions and the like. I will try and put up photos of my entire trip in a day's time, once I have uploaded the pictures from my cell phone on to my laptop.
Thank you for reading this entry. Do leave your comments in the section below the entry for some interaction. Cheers!
The entire experience was very satisfying. The Sikh community in the UK is fairly large, and today being a Sunday, there was a big congregation at the Guru Nanak Gurudwara in Turnbridge Street at Preston. The flag (nishan saheb) was the beckoner to the main door. Inside, you were expected to remove your footwear and wash your hands before ascending to the first floor where the Gurudwara is located. On the ground floor, they have the kitchen, where devotees or anyone else who wants to, can come to eat food - breakfast in the mornings, then lunch, then tea and then dinner ... depending on their time of arrival. The free food (known as "parshaad" or blessings from Wahe Guru - God) is known in their lingo as the "langar". I found the dining area very clean, and, unlike the langar in the various Gurudwaras in India, the place here had many tables and chairs, where people could even sit up and eat food.
I arranged for an Ardas prayer for the soul of Kuldeep singh, and stayed at the Gurudwara until this was finally done. In the end, we had lunch at the langar. It was delicious and consisted of Chhole, Chapati, Sweet rice and Bundi raaita.
The family with whom I was travelling also made two stops, one at a Gujarati-Indian run shop for sweets and Farsan, and one at a Kashmiri shop which stocks and sells Indian food. At the former, I picked up several items like khandvi, dhokla, salted shankarpara, as well as some other stuff. At the latter, I picked up stuff that is normally not available in Blackpool. In the end, when we returned to Blackpool, I had three bags full of provisions and food! Gurdip, his wife Amandeep and their 5-year daughter Harleen, were excellent company and very accommodative towards me.
Earlier in the morning, we also paid a visit to the local Hindu temple, where my hosts wished to do darshan of Goddess Saraswati. The temple is quite big, and their complex also has a large hall where they have Navratri festivals, wedding receptions and the like. I will try and put up photos of my entire trip in a day's time, once I have uploaded the pictures from my cell phone on to my laptop.
Thank you for reading this entry. Do leave your comments in the section below the entry for some interaction. Cheers!
It's good that you've made this new friend! I am so sorry to hear the news of your brother in law's death; please give my condolences to your wife. I'm sure it gives her comfort to know that you took time to arrange for these prayers. I feel that my sister in law and two brothers in law are my own sister and brothers, and I'm glad that you have this kind of closeness in your family, as well. It's hard, but the thing about grief, I've learned, is that it means we had someone special in our lives for a time - the more it hurts, perhaps, the luckier we were for a while.
ReplyDeleteHow nice that you've discovered a place to stock up on good food, too! :)
I will be looking forward to the pictures.
Dear Holly,
DeleteThank you so much.
Taher