On Sunday morning, the otherwise busy junction at Gurudwara came to a halt as the young and old volunteers worked in tandem to serve chilled rose milk in glasses and ‘chana’ in cups to the passers-by.
As a group of elderly women sat in a circle to wash the tall glasses, another group of volunteers helped in filling the glasses with ladles of rose milk.
Once it was done, the youngsters came forward to serve the thirst quenchers to the people. Providing the much-needed respite from sultry weather, the volunteers distributed as many as 40,000 glasses of rose milk.
Marking the 408 anniversary of martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev, scores of Sikhs came together to observe the occasion at Gurudwara Sadh Sangat.
The 5th Guru, who preached humanity love and equality, was tortured to death when he refused to marry the daughter of the then Mughal emperor.
Guru Arjan Dev was made to sit over burning coals until he was tortured to death.
“By serving chilled drinks, the faithful aimed at bringing down the fierce flames of the fireplace where the Guru was made to sit over,” Balvinder Singh, secretary of Gurudwara Sadh Sangat, said.
‘Kitans’, 48-hour ‘akhandpath’ followed by a three-day ‘langar’ formed part of the occasion. The community has been following the custom of distributing chilled drinks for several decades now.
“Every year, we make sure to participate in the event. This not only helps us bring a smile on many faces, but also seek our Guru’s blessings,” Harmanjeet Kaur, one of the volunteers, said.
