Dr. Parneet pays her homage to the Bard, telling us how he eulogised the last Sikh Guru Gobind Singh, as a brave warrior. A special feature, exclusively for Different Truths

Burn the oil to get the light
that radiates through your being,*
Surrender the ripe fruit to the hungry stomach,*
Build a wall touching the sky to lose sight of the self.**

The bard knew what the nation needed –
An unity that would bind all –
transcending borders-barriers
of caste and religion.

The tale of a valiant martyr –
he wrote ‘Bir Guru’
to spread the effulgence  of faith,
the egalitarian life we all dream of.

In the court of Aurangzeb,
an imperial diktat brought Guru Tegh Bahadur,
tortured him to open up on the secret
or show a miracle;
the Guru offered to be beheaded than to rupture
the laws of nature or to surrender.

The young son, Gobind, taking the reins in his hands
organised the Sikhs into a strong nation,
resolving hoary disparities.
Contemplation, resolution, resilience –
Took all along – the high and the low as his men.
Shook the empires and swept the rulers.

The bard saw the role of Guru
as an ignition for the wood
to emit the light of nobleness
the nation needed in all ages.

He awakened his people
quoting Guru Gobind’s Zafarnama (the Epistle of Victory)
to rise from their slumber,
hear the warning bell,
lift their heads high dauntlessly
for the nationalist struggle.
 
My tribute to the bard who is all-inclusive
For all that is worthy and needed for the nation.

*‘The Problem of Self’
 **Gitanjali song no. 72 

Poet’s Note: The poem is based on Rabindranath Tagore’s essay, “Bir Guru” (in Itihas), first published in Balak, in 1885. The essay describes the unifying approach of the Sikh Gurus and looks at Guru Gobind Singh as an epitome of leadership.

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Dr Parneet Jaggi

Dr. Parneet Jaggi is Associate Professor of English in Rajasthan, India. She has four collections of poems in English and two research books to her credit. Her historical fiction The Call of the Citadel (2020) is well-acclaimed. Her poems have been anthologised in various journals. Her name appears in the Directory of Writers in America’s famous magazine Poets and Writers. She is Associate Editor of International Journal of Education and English Literature, Montreal, Canada.