Rickety knees & jangling phones

Col IPS Kohli (retd)

WOBBLY knees and ‘mobiles’ have blurred the line between maryada and comfort inside gurdwaras. Like the latest mobiles, a spanking new set of knees is the latest acquisition of the old and not-so-old to flaunt.

I had arrived in time for the kirtan at a gurdwara. I was surprised to see just a few people sitting cross-legged. When I turned around after paying obeisance, I saw there were many more ensconced on stools and benches along the wall. What started in a few gurdwaras in the West, soon caught up with the “ghutne peedit sangat” in India. The SGPC gave the approval, provided the chairs were not higher than the cot on which Guru Granth Sahib is placed. My mind went back to the training methods in the Army and the high fitness levels of the cadets. During outdoor training, on the command ‘sit’ you jumped up in the air and in a trice landed cross-legged on terra firma. If a rock lodged itself somewhere, so be it. Life of a cadet in any case alternates between a rock and a hard place.

From days as a cadet to the present, along with fitness levels, the gurdwara scene has undergone a sea change. When you entered a gurdwara then; on one side of Guru Granth Sahib was a sea of turbans, and on the other side dupatta-covered heads. The devout gathering sat cross-legged and swayed with the kirtan or the hymns read out from Guru Granth Sahib. The ritual of bowing and touching your forehead to the ground was done with utmost humility and the offering quietly placed. With the passage of time, turbans started becoming fewer, replaced with handkerchief-covered heads. The scene on the other side of the divide was not much different.

While there is no arrogance in sitting on a stool if your physical condition so demands, the age at which knees are packing up is declining. It was amusing to see the way a few perched on stools sprang up and walked out  to take a call. Their gait hardly suggestive of much disability. Some sitting cross-legged along with those on benches and stools were constantly distracted by the messages they received on their mobiles.

Near kirtan samapti, and just before ardaas, there is a surge. This is the time when most people arrive to mark their presence. The turban and jeans-clad man’s gait suggested he was embarrassed since he was late. He bowed before Guru Granth Sahib, but did not touch his head to the ground. His phone was ringing. He flung a currency note and hurriedly walked out. His wife touched the ground with her forehead. She did not realise that due to the jeans, for a second, she had exposed herself.

A granthi sauntered in for ardaas. Switching off his mobile, he was heard saying “changa baad vich gal karaange”. A hukumnama from the sanctum sanctorum is awaited.