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THIS ABOVE ALL
Tribute to Guru Nanak
Khushwant Singh
  As
is my habit, I was up in the early hours of pre-dawn on November
10, which was Guru Nanak’s birth anniversary. A full moon
shone on a silent world. At one time, a band of devotees led by
Dr I.P.S. Kalra used to go around the blocks in the morning on prabhat
pharee, singing shabads to the beat of dholaks
and chimtas. They have not been doing so for some years.
For me, Guru Nanak
has special significance. Despite my being an agnostic, I have
done translations of his morning prayers Japji and Bara
Mah. I remain an acceptable member of the community. I lay
no claims to be a scholar of Sikhism. But I do read the Bible,
both the Old and the New Testaments, regularly. Sikh scholars do
not. I am convinced that texts of all religions need be rendered
in Biblical phraseology to do justice to them.
Sarson ka saag
Come autumn and
the plains extending from the Sutlej to the meeting place of the
Yamuna and the Ganga turn into a vast expanse of golden yellow
mustard flower. Inhabitants of this region think of little
besides eating sarson ka saag for their mid-day meal. I
share this passion with them. No sooner do I see sarson bloom, I
ask my cook Chandan: "Saag kab banaugey (When will
you make saag)?" "Abhee nahin (Not just
yet)," replies he.
Other ingredients
that go into its making are not available. I go on nagging him.
He is reluctant to make it as it takes a lot of effort of
grinding leaves in pestle and mortar — with the right
proportions of garlic and ginger — to make it India’s best
health food. It gets tastier for the next three or four days.
When Rajinder
Kumar of Ambassador Hotel sent me a small plastic bowl of saag a
week ago, I was overjoyed. When I ate it, my joy subsided and I
decided it is best to eat vegetables when they are in season.
Urdu poetry
Kuldip Salil has
rendered great service to lovers of Urdu poetry who can’t read
the script and have trouble with some of its Persianised
vocabulary. In his recently published Great Urdu Ghazals (Hind
Pocket Books), he has selected ghazals of 55 poets, including
himself, ranging from Insha (1756-1817) down to Faizabadi
(1931-2009) in Urdu, Devnagri and Roman scripts along with their
translations in English done by him. It has replaced other books
in Urdu poetry by my bedside — one poet with my morning mug of
tea; another before I switch off for the night.
Two-year
guarantee
A solar-powered
computer wristwatch, which is programmed to tell the time and
date for 125 years, has a guarantee for two years.
There was a man
from Rajasthan’s Churu;
Who dreamed he was
eating his shoe;
He woke in the
night;
In a terrible
fright;
And found it was
perfectly true!
(Contributed by Reeten Ganguly,
Tezpur)
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