Jump to content

Nihang and the ticket collector


Gurpreet Singh
 Share

Recommended Posts

Nihang and the ticket collector

by Darshan Singh Maini

THE Nihangs are not often seen in cities, and we know, they are a very special tribe, with a hoary history in Sikh chronicles. It’s on some special occasions — festivals, village sports, gurpurb celebrations — that we watch them in action, attired in their full regalia. Their very clothes proclaim them, for they wear heavy blues and saffrons and always carry their weapons, particularly a long and sharp spear. Their turbans are worn like a pagoda adorned with Khanda, small steel swords etc. Now, one thing that’s not generally known to the people is their own home-grown rhetoric or idiom, and that language is often is amusing as it is confusing.

They generally live in their own deras, away from towns, and are known to have their own diet and drinks. Bhang, for instance, is their speciality, and after their repast, they practise gatka, a kind of martial game — sword-display, horse-riding etc.

But the encounter between a Nihang Singh a ticket-collector in a running train really forms the heart of our little story. This incident I’m going to recall here took place some 50 years ago. Accompanied by some members of our family, we boarded a train from

Delhi to Jabalpur to attend the marriage. ceremonies of a dear cousin.

And then, when we had been in a special compartment with reserved seats for sitting for six or seven hours, a Nihang Singh boarded our compartment, carrying his usual weapons and fully dressed in their tribe’s prescribed robes. His entry was so dramatic that most of the passengers looked awe-struck, and the children retreated into the laps of their mothers. His loud greetings, “Boley so N

ihal” woke up all those dozing or dreaming, He cast a roving eye around, but finding no empty seat, stood like a sentinal right in the middle of the train. He kept reciting sotto-voce some hymns or Nihang mantras, but, otherwise he remained calm, cool and collected. This produced a salutary effect, and the passengers began to feel somewhat at ease.

And then came that memorable encounter, the Nihang’s brush with a ticket collector in uniform and a punching machine in hand. He went on checking all the seated passengers, one by one, leaving Nihang Singh in peace. And, finally, before he was going to leave the compartment he suddenly turned round on his heels to confront the Nihang Singh. The conversation that followed is put down here somewhat in the manner in which it took place, “May I see your ticket, Nihang Singh Ji,” he said with due respect and salutation.

The Singh Ji stood gazing at his face, registering no emotion, a statue rooted in the middle of the floor. The ticket collector repeated his request. But he drew a blank again, Non-plussed, the ticket-collector bawled out: “Singh Ji, have you a ticket with you?” “Ticket, eh, what ticket?” he responded in a mocking tone. But the ticket collector was not to be intimated that way. He again repeated his demand, a little more stringently. And the Nihang Singh uttered those memorable words which sent the whole compartment into peels and peels of laughter. “No, I carry no ticket. But who are you to demand one?” “That’s my duty”, the ticket collector added. “Why, is this your train?” “No Nihang ji, it belongs to the Government”. “And the Government belongs to the people”, retorted Nihang Singh. “The people, the earth on which the train is running belongs to God. who’re you to claim it? Take you train off the lines, of the earth”, he quipped with an amused eye. The poor ticket-collector beat a hasty retreat, leaving the passengers laughing and laughing and laughing, the Nihang Singh’s circular, loony logic having done the trick.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

vwihgurU jI kw Kwlsw!

vwihgurU jI kI &iqh!!

Um... I don't know why you guys are so proud of that fool...

thats STEALING if you hadn't noticed. :wub:

it doesn't matter who owned the train. The bottom line is that the nihang hitched a free-ride: don't forget that we must -- kirth karo, vand chako, naam jappo. 2/3 isn't good enough no.gif

vwihgurU jI kw Kwlsw!

vwihgurU jI kI &iqh!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You guys are indoctrined in the "western" laws for private property, that allow a citizen to have ownership over something.

Nihang Singhs do not accept this 'law of private property'.

They haven't accepted this modern convention, and are more into the collective property thought.

So can that be stealing? It is funny wonderul...seeing how ideologies crash. (or maybe it is just me, since i study economics, where they all take laws for private property as granted)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

  • advertisement_alt
  • advertisement_alt
  • advertisement_alt


  • Topics

  • Posts

    • Net pay after taxes. If you don't agree, think about this: If you were a trader and started off in China with silk that cost 100 rupees and came to India, and you had to pay total 800 rupees taxes at every small kingdom along the way, and then sold your goods for 1000 rupees, you'd have 100 rupees left, right? If your daswandh is on the gross, that's 100 rupees, meaning you have nothing left. Obviously, you owe only 10% of 100, not 10% of 1000. No, it's 10% before bills and other expenses. These expenses are not your expenses to earn money. They are consumption. If you are a business owner, you take out all expenses, including rent, shop electricity, cost of goods sold, advertising, and government taxes. Whatever is left is your profit and you owe 10% of that.  If you are an employee, you are also entitled to deduct the cost of earning money. That would be government taxes. Everything else is consumption.    
    • No, bro, it's simply not true that no one talks about Simran. Where did you hear that? Swingdon? The entire Sikh world talks about doing Simran, whether it's Maskeen ji, Giani Pinderpal Singh, Giani Kulwant Singh Jawaddi, or Sants. So what are you talking about? Agreed. Agreed. Well, if every bani were exactly the same, then why would Guru ji even write anything after writing Japji Sahib? We should all enjoy all the banis. No, Gurbani tells you to do Simran, but it's not just "the manual". Gurbani itself also has cleansing powers. I'm not saying not to do Simran. Do it. But Gurbani is not merely "the manual". Reading and singing Gurbani is spiritually helpful: ਪ੍ਰਭ ਬਾਣੀ ਸਬਦੁ ਸੁਭਾਖਿਆ ॥  ਗਾਵਹੁ ਸੁਣਹੁ ਪੜਹੁ ਨਿਤ ਭਾਈ ਗੁਰ ਪੂਰੈ ਤੂ ਰਾਖਿਆ ॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥ The Lord's Bani and the words are the best utterances. Ever sing hear and recite them, O brother and the Perfect Guru shall save thee. Pause. p611 Here Guru ji shows the importance of both Bani and Naam: ਆਇਓ ਸੁਨਨ ਪੜਨ ਕਉ ਬਾਣੀ ॥ ਨਾਮੁ ਵਿਸਾਰਿ ਲਗਹਿ ਅਨ ਲਾਲਚਿ ਬਿਰਥਾ ਜਨਮੁ ਪਰਾਣੀ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥ The mortal has come to hear and utter Bani. Forgetting the Name thou attached thyself to other desires. Vain is thy life, O mortal. Pause. p1219 Are there any house manuals that say to read and sing the house manual?
    • All of these are suppositions, bro. Linguists know that, generally, all the social classes of a physical area speak the same language, though some classes may use more advanced vocabulary. I'm talking about the syntax. That is, unless the King is an invader, which Porus was not. When you say Punjabi wasn't very evolved, what do you mean? The syntax must have been roughly the same. As for vocabulary, do you really think Punjabis at the time did nothing more than grunt to express their thoughts? That they had no shades of meaning? Such as hot/cold, red/yellow/blue, angry/sweet/loving/sad, etc? Why must we always have an inferiority complex?
    • I still think about that incident now and then, just haven't heard any developments regarding what happened, just like so many other things that have happened in Panjab!
    • There was a young Singh from abroad who went to Anandpur Sahib Hola and got into a fight with some Punjabis who were playing loud non-religious music. He had bana and a weapon or two. There were more of them than him.  He ended up losing his life. Don't be like that. Not worth it to fight manmukhs. @californiasardar1 ਮੂਰਖੈ ਨਾਲਿ ਨ ਲੁਝੀਐ ॥੧੯॥ Argue not with a fool. p473
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use