Caravansarai : Short Stories from the GT Road (04)

Day 02

Date: 1^st June, 2012, Location: Lal Masjid, District: Fatehgarh Sahib, Punjab

Chhabeel ka Pani

Photos: Author , The Lal Masjid, Fatehgarh Sahib (nr. Railway Station)

Lal Masjid

The Chabeel volunteers

Stopping at the chhabeel tent

Lal Masjid, Beside FategarhSahib Railway Station

The month in which we visited the GT in Punjab was called “Saawan” or “Shravan”- the month named after the monsoons. It is supposed to be the hottest month of the year according to the Hindu calendar which is evident by the relentless Loo winds that blow across the plains of the country during this period.

The time of the year when we visited Punjab was also religiously significant to the Sikhs as the Shaheed/ Shahidi Purab- the day marking the martyrdom of the fifth  Sikh guru- Guru Arjan Dev was around the corner. 

It is said that the Guru was made to go through five days of extreme torture which saw him being subjected to sitting on a hot plate, boiling water and with hot sand poured over his forehead.

Guru Arjan Dev had refused to give the hand of his stunningly beautiful daughter in marriage to the son of Chandu- the financial advisor and a courtier of Akbar’s, and had in return earned the fury of the courtier who subjected the Guru to such grotesque suffering.

The Guru was said to have taken a dip in the river Raavi flowing nearby on the insistence of Chandu who “reveled at the thought that the Guru's body full of blisters, would undergo greater pain when dipped in cold water… Crowds watched the Master standing in the river and having a dip. The light blended with Light and the body was found nowhere.” (Source:www.sikhiwiki.org). 

To commemorate his act of martyrdom Shaheedi/ Shahidi Purab is celebrated. The people of Punjab set up stalls called Chhabeels which distribute sweetened water/ butter milk to the passers-by on the roads as well outside Gurudwaras all across Punjab. 

The Fatehgarh Sahib Station

The act of philanthropy and good will was touching for travelers like us. It has no monetary gains. It has just the satisfaction of serving society and a faith, a respect for the ideology one follows. The water was slightly rosy, and in places tasted like rose-flavored lassi… but it was hard to miss, and was welcome stoppage for almost the whole of our trip.