People

Routine Under His Hukam:
A Day In The Life of A Sikh

by PAWANBIR SINGH

Jaz and I tied the knot on a beautiful sunny morning in Delhi, exactly an year and a half after we first met.

It’s just over a year now.

It was a typical Punjabi wedding with a myriad of ceremonies in the presence of our extended families, friends and, of course, distant relatives whom I had never even seen before. For all the guests, it was just another wedding and a reason to have fun together, while flaunting their wardrobes at the same time.

However, for us, it was the most special day of our lives which will remain etched in our memories forever. There was tension, confusion, indisposition, along with a lot of anxiety in the air, but just the sight of each other and thinking of the days to come brought in a lot of calm and delight.

After the big day, we stayed with ma-pa for a couple of weeks before we embarked towards settling in our new life a few thousand miles away from apni dilli.

Once we were in the U.K., it was only a matter of days before my intensive work routine started. However, this time it was a lot different in comparison to my previous khulla sher days. No more twelve-fourteen hours a days at work, no more inclusion of weekends with official travel schedules to explore the place, no more after-work chilling with colleagues, no late night movies, no more meatball subs or dinner and no more weekend get-aways with friends.

Now it takes something really important which would keep me in the office after six. I jump onto the very next flight to get back home after a client meeting abroad and late night movies have changed to reasonable-hour romantic flicks. Now
it’s either home-cooked food or dinner reservations at swish restaurants and weekends are spent with maneuvering the hoover around the apartment or grocery shopping for the upcoming week.

Altogether, it's massive life-style change, but at the same time very pleasant and satisfying. Of course, this happened
due to the delightful companionship which changed the previous chaotic life-style into a structured way of living.

I get up at around six in the morning to get started for the day. While getting ready, I switch on nitnem on my phone. As soon as the dulcet tone of Bhai Satvinder Singh ji reciting the Japji Sahib gets into Jaz' ears, she gets up instantly.

Once ready, she sits down with me to recite the five baanis of nitnem to start our day on a positive note under His hukam, followed by ardaas.

Our ardaas is a plea to Waheguruji to support, assist and facilitate our proceedings of the upcoming day and the tasks which we will undertake during the course of the day. Though at instances we alter this devotional text according to any major activity for a particular day, we always remember the lives and achievements of the Gurus and the accomplishments of the martyrs who gave their lives to preserve our Sikh way of life. Apart from our own welfare, we make an appeal to Waheguru for his care and protection through a supplication for the wellbeing, happiness
and prosperity of all mankind: sarbat da bhalla. Finally, it is a means for us to thank Him for all that He has done for us and a humble request to keep us within his shadow, grant us compassion, humility and strength to deal with our challenges.

I see ardaas as a direct personal and honest communication with my Guru in which I can seek His guidance and support to tackle whatever life throws at us.

On a note of positivity and gaining strength from the morning prayers, we embark upon the rest of the day. Breakfast is a quick bowl of cereal or an occasional sandwich time permitting. I hurriedly grab my stuff and take a quick look on my checklist mount on the main door. This check list has also changed now. Earlier, it was a mere list of things. Things like specs, watch, phone, house and car keys, jacket and wallet - things I used to forget at home and would not realize they were misssing before being seated on my desk at the office.

So I came up with the idea of this check list and mounted it on the main door which I could check just before leaving.

And now Jaz, in another of her wondrous take on things under the auspices of gurbani, has noted the five virtues of the Sikh way of life alongside each of those items: sat (truth), santokh (contentment), daya (compassion), nimrata (humility) and pyar (love). She has added naam on the top as well. She suggests naam simran can help us in developing these positive human qualities which will help our souls in their pursuit of getting closer to our Guru. All human beings have these qualities that their souls need to reunite with Parmatma but we constantly have to train our minds to make the most of these, and what better way to remind myself of these virtues than through the checklist I have that I go through each
morning.

A normal day at work involves devising new strategies, meetings with clients, liaising with colleagues and training the team. Altogether, pretty much similar to what happens in most offices. At around noon either of us tends to send a text to each other to remind us to go through the day’s hukamnama from Darbar Sahib.

Most days I am back just after six and on the days when Jaz is working I pick her up on my way back. We talk about how the day at work was and make plans for the night. After an exhaustive day, I must say mostly the plan is to eat dinner, watch a little TV and sleep (!) before embarking on the routine the next morning.

The weekend routine is a bit different when there is indulgence in relaxed sleeping hours. Breakfast and lunch morph into a massive brunch. Household chores take precedence and to get some sun and/or rain, depending upon the unpredictable Manchester weather, we go for a walk around the city centre. The highlight is the weekend diwan at the local gurdwara which we attend regularly. We get to meet some of our local acquaintances, participate in seva and, above all, it helps us in getting connected with the Guru, which is the ultimate goal.

June 4, 2011

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