The man they called ‘bearded Mother Teresa’ : The Tribune India

Join Whatsapp Channel

good news

The man they called ‘bearded Mother Teresa’

A biopic on Pingalwara founder Bhagat Puran Singh recounts how he touched the lives of those who had lost all hope.

The man they called ‘bearded Mother Teresa’

Pingalwara founder Bhagat Puran Singh.



Neha Saini

A four-year-old spastic child was found abandoned at the entrance gate of Gurdwara Dehra Sahib, Lahore, in a state of illness and covered in his excreta. The year was 1934. The mother of the child had died and the father refused to take care of him. The gurdwara management too expressed its inability to look after the boy, and so the head granthi left him in the care of Puran Singh, a sewadar. It was that day that the foundation of Pingalwara was laid.

Puran Singh, popularly known as Bhagat Puran Singh, showered all his love on the boy he named Piara Singh. This bond was to last till Puran Singh’s death. He would often be seen carrying the boy on his back, ferrying him around Amritsar, as he tried to help others like him. A visionary, humanist and philanthropist, Bhagat Puran Singh conceived the idea of a special home for the destitute, and that is how the All-India Pingalwara Charitable Society was born. Eh Janam Tumhare Lekhe, a biopic on Puran Singh that was released this weekend, recounts how he touched the lives of those who had lost all hope.

What started as a modest effort, now offers rehabilitation facilities to over 1,700 inmates and runs five schools for the needy, a library and a drug de-addiction centre. It also offers medical facilities, including an operating theatre, physiotherapy and prosthetics centre and ambulance service. “Bhagatji was a man of courage and compassion. He would always be on the lookout for people in need. And while doing so, he would clean roads and remove litter. He was also an environmentalist and would say ‘everything that pertains to all living creatures is of interest to me’’’, says his successor and adoptive daughter Dr Inderjit Kaur, director of Pingalwara. His love for nature prompted him to propagate eco-friendly practices. He never used cars, only bicycle or tonga. He wrote several books on natural farming and waste water management.

Not of the world
“Bhagatji was a sewadar at Gurdwara Dera Saheb for 24 years. He built Pingalwara, but never owned a room, not even an almirah. He would carry a bowl and seek donation for Pingalwara. He would carry the ill and homeless on his cart and clean them up. His mother was his strength,” she reminisces. Deeply spiritual, he would write religious literature sitting at the Golden Temple and returned his Padma Shri after Operation Bluestar. Dr Jasmine Nanda, a volunteer at the dental clinic at Pingalwara, shares, “When I was young, my father used to tell me to donate a part of my pocket money to Bhagatji, who would sit with a katora outside the Dharam Singh Market. Sometimes, we would see him walking in bare essentials during winter, carrying a destitute in a rickshaw, or even on his back.”

Pingalwara’s Bhagat Puran Singh Farm, spread over 32 acres at Dhirakot, near Jandiala, practices zero wastage and has a water treatment plant and dairy farm. It has taken a lead in natural farming techniques and gets the best sugarcane yields, without using pesticides. Rajbir Singh, a trustee and manager of the farm, works with 10 skilled workers and produces five yields a year. “We save 60 per cent water through scientific methods. We sow vegetables, fruits and other crops alongside, thereby increasing soil fertility without actually poisoning it,” he explains.

Network of do-gooders
Pingalwara functions on donations from patrons across the world. Its sewadars across India, US, UK and Canada are dedicated to the cause. “In spite of hardships, Bhagatji continued to work very hard because it gratified his soul. So, we approach every individual with divinity,” says Dr Inderjit Kaur.

Over the year, of the 400 inmates, 137 have been rehabilitated. Recently, seven inmates were selected for Special Olympics. Some others benefited from the skill development programme and are now working as technicians.
“Group Captain Rajinder Pal Singh (retd), a volunteer at our school, has brought out a book of sign language in Punjabi. Many like-minded individuals have joined us to make Pingalwara a success,” she adds.

Actor Pavan Malhotra, who plays Puran Singh, confesses to having a change of perception after the film. “I used to wonder how a penniless man could lay the foundation of a humanitarian institution. The film takes you on a journey through the streets of Lahore, refugee camps of Amritsar and mud walls of village Rajewal, where Bhagatji was born,” he says.

An extraordinary man, Bhagat Puran Singh’s life was full of great deeds, but for now, the biopic will give a glimpse of the man, who they lovingly called the ‘bearded Mother Teresa’.

Top News

Chief Judicial Magistrate's court in UP's Banda orders judicial inquiry into death of gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari

UP court orders judicial probe into gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari’s death, seeks report in a month

Ghazipur MP Afzal Ansari on Tuesday alleged that his brother...

‘Heart attack or poisoning’: The life and times of Mukhtar Ansari—crime and politics

‘Heart attack or poisoning’: The life and times of Mukhtar Ansari—crime and politics

Eastern parts of Uttar Pradesh are among the poorest regions...

Mahagathbandhan announces LS seat-sharing for Bihar; RJD to contest 26, Congress 9

Mahagathbandhan announces Lok Sabha seat-sharing for Bihar; RJD to contest 26, Congress 9

High-decibel contest seems on the cards in Hajipur, where RJ...


Cities

View All