Anecdote | by Owais Wani

To the general population he is the Sikh. No, that is not only his religion that is his name. A name that has served him better than any proper noun can. Nobody (almost) knows what his real name is. i myself had to ask him his name personally when my curiosity overtook me. when the thought of writing this came to my mind i asked my mother

"Mummy yi sikh kari pethi chu batmaelni?".

"amis gai waens akh yeth. yeli bi yor ayes yi ose tami wezi ti yeth", she replied with a distant gaze.

the sikh(with enormous respect) worked as a surgical assistant in one of the valley hospitals and is a RMP ( registered medical practitioner). he runs a small medical store from- God knows which year. Every afternoon he comes riding his bicycle. his bicycle being as austere as him. the handdle of the bicycle supports a basket made of light cast iron. the cycle frame is old but healthy and the torn seat is covered by a shiny "seat cover" to improve the aesthetics.

The most important thing about the bicycle is the fact that it was never replaced by a scooter.

Our sikh’s shop competes with his bicycle in austerity. It is a small room like thing with wooden shutters of the old type. the wall behind the counter is burdened with ill shaped shelves. shelves which hold up small boxes of medicine. He never keeps more than the bare minimum. A cursory look reveals he only keeps the routine over-the-counter stuff in his store. Add to that routine blood pressure controller-talmisartan , some botles of vitamin B complex an some antibiotcs. The highest i have ever seen or heard him prescribe is serratiopeptidase.

Sikh has got an uncanny ability to cure common disorders. More than once have i heard the prefix 'luqman' ascribed to him , this combined with his minute knowledge of the people of our locality , their family problems, and medical history has made him a panacea.

The trust which people especially old aunts place on sikh is immense. Sikh too has mastered the art of treating such patients. For example, his experience has taught him that most ladies complaining of 'blood pressure' only require a few soothing words. Hence he checks their blood pressure without using a stethoscope and sends them off with a placebo.

Legends galore of sikh's dedication . It was the time of the gulf war and Kashmir was hit by a flu epidemic. Sikh took it upon himself to immunize the locality. He would go to each house on his bicycle and vaccinate every family member at no extra cost. my dad has always been scared of hypodermic needles. As sikh tried to inject my dad he started fidgeting around. After a few unsuccessful tries. Sikh turned the needle skyward and emptied the contents of the syringe with the these words,

" cze karnawakh shothas athi fail".

My day rejoiced in the heart of his hearts, but not even twenty minutes had passed when sikh was back at our doorstep.

"sikha cze kiho aakh wapas",said my dad (people of our locality talk with sikh with informality that might be put down as crude manners by an outsider).

" agar yeti kaensi infection go bi kya jawab dimi khodayas? ", was sikhs reply.

And thus it happened that my dad agreed to get vaccinated, surrendering to sikh’s benevolence.

Sikh’s life is so intimately entangled with the people of our locality that no marriage passes without Sikh being an invitee. When sikh’s brother -in -law died in a road mishap i saw special buses plying from our locality for people, especially women folk, to visit sikh’s house.

i remember as a child my grandmother once sent me with the orders ," tala sikh wuchun aamut cha, agar aamut aasi depzes yuer yun '.

i went out half scared , half confused . Will he come on the request of a small kid ? Even if he agrees to come who would i tell him is calling him ? sure he doesnt know who i am?. As i stepped into the shop ,

" dadi chew dapan toer yun ". he got hold of his kit and came out.

"cze chukh na waanew manzi? " .

“ahnaaz aa, tohi keth kaen chew pai ?”

“gobrya me che pai yeti kath garas kecz kokri che , ti mares kaper chukh darwazi"

"i know which house possesses how many hens and which direction their coops open from"

i was too amused to consider this a lesson in eloquence then.

Talking of more recent times . i with my uncle was trying to get out of the curfew. Our car was stopped and just in front stood a bulwark of barbed wire. My uncle showed his essential services card.

" sorry sirji hum apko nahi jane de sakte".

As we stood there i saw the sea of security men parting and through them came our sikh , pedaling his way towards us.

i turned towards my uncle and said jokingly

"uncleji i thought you were the third most important person in this city's municipal council , see they allowed sikh but not us'

" I may be , but when it comes to serving people Sikh has been second to none"

"beyi cha yi sikh ye ha chu musalman!! "

Need to know more about sikh :
The Sikh Religion (Forgotten Books) 
The Sikhs of the Punjab (The New Cambridge History of India) 
Sikh Spiritual Practice: The Sound Way to God 
Sweatshirt Black " Sikh Attitude " Religion LargeLions of the Punjab: An Introduction to the Sikh Religion (The Los Horizon Series)