‘Seva Hi Saadhana Hai’ : Corona Chronicle #049
He was sitting in the dark in a remote tribal region.
For almost 150 kilometres behind and 300 kilometres ahead, was nothing as decent to even call a dhaba.
A simple ochre coloured board was hanging above his head on the wall.
The board said “Guru ka Langar”.
It is linked with the historic Gurudwara Bhagod Sahib, Wai.
This is the spot where Guru Gobind singh had stayed in 1705.
He was assigned to manage this restaurant.
It was a regular langar for years but now, when the every person we know is in crisis, the langar has been a solution to most of them.
He became a saviour for hungry people like stranded migrant workers, travellers, truck drivers and even some villagers.
He welcomed every person with open hands and warm smiles.
He has a team of 17 ‘sevaks’ out of which 11 are cooks.
They are working around the clock to serve hot food to anybody who needs it.
His youngest brother is settled in New Jersey, USA.
He has donated huge amounts for the fires of their langar to keep burning even during the lockdown.
They provide a breakfast of tea and some biscuits and all meals are plain rice with tuvar dal, aloo vadis and aloo vanga.
They even provide soap and borewell water for their weary visitors.
He was so shocked to say that in the first 10 weeks, they fed more than 15 lakh people and more than 5 lakh had taken away parcels.
He has another quality, he is emphatic towards the animals.
He feeds jaggery and chappati to almost 250 dogs and even other animals around him.
He had gone to countries like Germany and Europe where he collected funds for the langars after which he was assigned here.
He is illiterate but he can speak fluent English, Hindi, Punjabi, Arabic, Dutch, German and Marathi.
He sits under the blazing sun and works hard to serve humanity.
He think that we are all instruments of God to serve humanity.
The devotees have donated three vehicles for his pure actions but he says that his only belongings on earth are his three pairs of clothes.
He lives and sleeps here and he eats the food that’s served to these migrants.
His name is Baba Karnail Singh Khaira.
His langar is set up near Karanji on National Highway 7.
Khaira Babaji is 81 years old and has served more than 2 million people during the lockdown and the graph is still going up.
He believes in ‘seva hi saadhana hai’.
Disclaimer: Based on true events.
– Tanisha Agrawal
