“Your mind is a garden. Your thoughts are the seeds. The harvest can either be flowers or weeds.” — William Wordsworth
What was our first and instant reaction when lockdowns were announced worldwide last year? The answer is - panic buying. What did we need the most? The answer is, food. As the lockdown got extended from a week to fortnight, fortnight to month and then months altogether, many of us had an epiphany while cleaning, cooking, working and surviving the emotional atrocities of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The epiphany was regarding food, the importance of each grain of food we were using, because the pandemic made the rich, less rich, and unfortunately, the poor, poorer. One did not know which grain or food item would fly off the shelves amid panic buying. Yet, our farmers didn’t get a single day off. They were and still continue to be our lifeline, which also signifies the importance of Vaisakhi, because Vaisakhi means that the harvest is complete and crops ready to sell, representing a time of plenty for the farmers. While you worked from home, they worked for you so that you could stay comfortably at home and be well fed.
Yet, students were hungry, school going kids were starving for food, while the rich were baking banana bread and dalgona coffee. It was then when people from all faiths in the South Asian community came forward to fight the crisis together. During Christmas, when France, Poland and other European countries had shut borders with the UK, leaving many trucks stranded, it was the Khalsa Aid charity that went on to feed people on the borders, once again proving the spirit of selfless community service within Sikhs.
A special tribute goes out to the Sikh community for opening the doors of Gurudwaras for vaccination drives, and for producing unlimited amounts of food in langar to feed every single person who came forward to seek help.
For centuries, the Sikh community has fed free food to people irrespective of their religion, caste, gender, economic status or ethnicity. When the world needed saviours, the Sikh brethren arrived much before time and continue to save the world as you read this.
The auspicious occasion of Vaisakhi is also a day to celebrate 1699 - the year when Sikhism was born as a collective faith. In 1699 the tenth guru, Guru Gobind Singh, chose Vaisakhi as the occasion to transform the Sikhs into a family of soldier saints, known as the Khalsa Panth. Guru Gobind Singh founded the Khalsa in front of thousands at Anandpur Sahib.
To honour and remember the significance of Vaisakhi and Guru Nanak Dev, for our special feature this Vaisakhi, we bring you the stories and accounts of some renowned Sikhs who continue to enrich the cultural heritage of the community. Asian Voice spoke exclusively to the High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s Spokesperson, for this issue, while also exploring the historic relevance of Sikh women during partition, festive food and more. We also bring you messages from Lord Rami Ranger, Gurudwara Singh Sabhas, among other esteemed members of the Sikh community in Britain.
