Women of Grace and Power 2014

www.gurufathasingh.
com
ISBN - 978-81-7010-393-6
Women
of
Grace and Power
Guru Fatha Singh Khalsa
Singh Sahib Guru Fatha

Singh Khalsa lives in
Toronto, Canada where he
serves as a member of the
University of Toronto
multifaith chaplaincy. He
is the author of several
books and articles. Guru
Fatha Singh also teaches
holistic living and Kundalini Yoga as taught by
Yogi Bhajan.
Woman of Grace and Power
What will I be when I grow up? Today, in the 21st

century, the possibilities for a girl are many times what they
used to be. Mother or missionary, doctor or diplomat, artist
or freedom fighter, space pilot or businesswoman, wife or
rights activist. Delving from the Sikh tradition and beyond,
here are twenty-one true stories of making the impossible
possible.
9 788170 103936
Hemkunt
Rs. 000.00
Women of
Grace and Power
Stories for Sikh Girls
Women of
Grace and Power
Stories for Sikh Girls
Singh Sahib Guru Fatha Singh Khalsa
Hemkunt
Author
First Published 2012
ISBN: 978-81-7010-000-0
Published by:
Hemkunt Publishers (P) Ltd.

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Cover Photo : Nyrmla's Wedding II
Copyright The Singh Twins
www.singhtwins.co.uk
Printed and bound in India by
HEMTECH INDIA
Custom Printing & Publishing

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Table of Content
1. Bibi Nanaki (1464-1518)
2. Bibi Amaro (1526-1589)
12
3. Bibi Bhani (1535-1589)
17
4. Mata Kaulan (1600-1652)
26
5. Mata Gujari (1624-1705)
30
6. Mata Krishan Kaur (1632-1701)
52
7. Mai Bhago (1675-1755)
57
8. Rani Sahib Kaur (1771-1799)
61
9. Princess Sophia (1878-1948)
65
10. Bibi Harnam Kaur (1886-1914)
69
11. Bibi Balbir Kaur (1901-1923)
75
12. Bibi Gursharan Kaur (1937 - )
79
13. Bibi Krishna Kaur Khalsa (1940 - )
85
14. Dr. Inderjit Kaur (1942 - )
88
15. Dame Anita Roddick (1942-2007)
94
16. Bibi Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa (1943 - )
99
17. Dr. Nikky Guninder Kaur Singh (1958 - )
102
18. Dr. Kalpana Chawla (1961-2003)
106
19. Bibis Amrit and Rabindra Kaur Singh (1967 - )
114
20. Bibi Amandeep Kaur (1968- )
119
21. Dr. Anarkali Kaur Honaryar (1984 - )
128
Bibi Nanaki (1464-1518)

Bibi Nanaki lived in the village of Talwandi, in Punjab.
Her father was Mehta Kalu, her mother Mata Tripta.
When Nanakis brother was born, he already sat and
meditated like a yogi. Nanaki loved her little brother. She
was five when he was born.
When Nanak went to learn his alphabet from his teacher,
the teacher sent him home because he already knew
everything. Nanaki could see that her brother was very
smart, smarter than anybody she knew, even though he
was just a boy.
Nanakis father was a businessman. He loved to buy
things for little money and sell them to others for more
money than he had paid. He called the extra money he
gained his profit.
One day he sent his son Nanak with some money to go
the town and do some business for a profit. On the way,
he saw some simple people singing Gods praises. Nanak
sat for a time and sang with them. Their music, their voices,
and the little one-stringed insturment they played, were
filled with joy.
Nanak left them feeling very happy, thinking what a
wonderful time he had had. He also asked himself, How
can I help them? They gave me joy. What can I give them
in return?
The answer came quickly. You can bring them some
food from the town. You can pay for it with your fathers
money. This will be a great profit. You will take money,

buy food, and make the saints happy. It is the best thing
a person can do.
When Nanak came home, his father asked him, What
business did you do, my son?
Nanak explained, I took your money and fed the saints.
This will bring happiness in this world and the next.
Nanaks father did not understand these things. He
wanted money and more money. He did not care about
saints or the next world. He became angry. Mehta Kalu
took a stick and began to beat his son with it.
Nanaki was upset to hear her father shouting and
beating her dear brother. Nanaks father had knocked him
down and stood over him. He hit him and hit him again.
Nanaki shouted, No, Father! Please dont beat my little
brother! And she put herself between her angry father
and Nanak. Their mother came, as well. Finally, with a
few more angry words, he retreated and left Nanaki and
her brother.
As was the custom in those days, Nanakis parents
found a husband for her when she was eleven years old.
She married Jai Ram and moved with him to his home in
Sultanpur.
All the time she was away, Nanaki never forgot about
her brother. She prayed for and thought about him all the
time. She was worried that her father would beat him up
again. Nanak was not a businessman like his father. He
did not think like a business person. He did not are about
making more and more money. Nanaki knew that this
often made their father upset.
Jai Ram knew about his wifes worries. One day, he
said to her, Dear wife, I think your dear brother may be
able to work at the granary of the governor. The governor
needs an honest man to keep track of his grain. Who can
be more honest than Nanak? He could come and stay here
8
Women of Grace and Power
with us. Then you would never have to worry.

Nanaki thought this was a great idea. Soon it was
arranged, and Nanak came to live in peace and happiness
with his sister, Bibi Nanaki and her husband.
Everyone was happy with Nanaks work at the
governors granary. The poor who came for food were
happy because Nanak gave them as much grain as they
needed. The governor was happy to have such a good
worker. And Nanaki and Jai Ram were happy to know
that Nanak was safe with them.
A few years later, Nanaks parents arranged for him to
marry Sulakhni. After a time, they had two children, Siri
Chand and Lakshmi Das. Nanaki, who had no children,
treated them like her own.
One day, everything changed. That day, early in the
morning, Nanak went for his usual meditation in the cold
waters of the Bein River, but did not return. For three
days, Nanak was missing. Sulakhni and Nanaki worried
what might have happened.
Finally, Nanak returned from his meditation. His face
was shining bright. He spoke little, but what he said was
great in wisdom. He shared beautiful poetry that God
sang to him in his heart. People came to see and listen to
him. From that time on, people called him Guru Nanak.
His followers were called his Sikhs.
Hearing the beauty of the Gurus songs, Bibi Nanaki
gave a Sikh called Mardana a rabab to play while her brother
sang. The rabab was round, stringed instrument like a guitar.
Nanak loved to sing while Mardana played this rabab.
One day, the Guru found his sister very thoughtful.
She looked sad even. He asked his dear sister what she
was thinking.
Bibi Nanaki told her brother that a dear friend had
just had a beautiful, baby girl. She was very happy, but
her husband and his family were not. When the baby was
Bibi Nanaki
born, they said, Eat ghur, spin your thread. We dont

want you, but a brother instead, and killed the baby by
feeding it ghur.
Guru Nanak looked deeply into the eyes of his sister.
It seemed a tear or two was coming into his own eyes,
together with a flash of anger. Be at peace, my dear
sister. I will speak to you tomorrow.
The next time Bibi Nanaki saw the Guru, he and Mardana
were playing a new song that had come to him from God.
He smiled when he saw his sister arrive in the sadh sangat.
Then he began to sing:
A man comes to life in the body of a woman.
Within a woman, his body takes shape.
With a woman, he is attached and married.
Man enjoys woman as a friend.
From mother to wife to daughter, his family goes on.
When his woman dies, man looks for another.
Man is tied to womankind.
Why say she is bad
Who is the mother of great men?
From a woman, even woman is born.
Without woman, there would be no one.
Oh Nanak, without a woman
There is none, only God.
Soon, everyone was singing. As Bibi Nanaki looked
around with teary ears, she could see her friend. She too
was singing. And her friends husband was singing, singing
and crying, too. And his parents were weeping too. It
seemed the family now understood what they had not
understood. And they were very sorry and would not kill
any girl babies again.
Guru Nanak went on four long journeys to teach the
message of Sat Naam, to live in kindness and courage.
While he was gone, Bibi Nanaki and her husband looked
10
after the Gurus oldest son, Siri Chand, while Lakshmi

Das, the younger son, lived with his mother.
Bibi Nanaki meditated on her saintly brother often
during the years that he was away in faraway lands. Guru
Nanak held her in his heart, as well. In their hearts, they
were never far apart. For her service and love of Guru
Nanak, Bibi Nanaki is remembered as the first Sikh.
Bibi Nanaki
11
Bibi Amaro (1526-1589)

Amaro was just six years old. She lived in the sleepy town
of Khadoor in Punjab. She had two older brothers, Dasu
and Datu, and a younger sister called Anokh.
One day, there was a great excitement at Amaros home
as her father shared the story of his finding a great holy
man in a town not so far away. This man was Guru Nanak
and according to her father, he was filled with the wisdom
of the world. Her father was so in love with the Guru,
that he proposed his whole family move to the town of
Kartarpur to live near near him.
Soon, Amaros mother agreed and the whole family
packed all their things. They loaded a cart, said good-bye
to their neighbours, and set out for Kartarpur.
Amaro liked her new life in the new town. There was
a blissful rhythm to each day. Every morning, many of the
townspeople would rise early and bathe. There was no
plumbing in those days, so some went and bathed in the
river. Others bathed at home with pots of water from the
well. Then they would gather together to say Guru Nanaks
Japjee Saahib, chant Gods Name together, and sing divine
keertan. After that, the Guru would always speak, and
after that, there was always prashaad.
It was a nice routine: the dark quiet morning, the peaceful
gathering of neighbours and friends, even little babies with
their mothers, the sweet sounds and rhythms of the
Gurbaanee, Guru Nanaks appearance and the sound of his
12
voice, and then, the sweet, yummy prashaad.

Evenings were almost the same, the same gatherings
with the setting of the sun, the reading this time of Rehiraas,
the keertan, Guru Nanaks wise and sometimes funny words,
and prashaad before bedtime.
Amaros father would serve Guru Nanak in many ways,
day and night. Whatever the Guru asked, her father would
do. He also made it his habit to join Guru Nanak early
each morning when he meditated year round in the nearby
Ravi River. The Guru had two sons who were older than
Amaros father. They did not follow and obey what Guru
Nanak said like her father.
One day, when Amaro was thirteen years old, there
was a special gathering. Guru Nanak stood before his loving
Sikhs. Looking around, Amaro could see there were young
children and older children. There were also boys and
girls a little older than her. Some she knew from her village.
Others must have come with their parents from another
place. There were adults, mothers and fathers and
grandparents too. Everyone was paying attention to their
white-bearded, loving Guru.
Nanak told everyone that a great day had come. He
told them how her father had served him without complaint
over the years. Then he told everyone that he had become
old and he would not be living with them for many more
days. Guru Nanak took one of his turbans and tied it on
Amaros fathers head. The great Guru said to everyone
that Amaros father, whom the adults had called Lehna,
would from then on be called Angad, and that he would
be the Guru.
Everyone was surprised. Everyone. Some people cried.
Mata Sulakhani, Guru Nanaks wife, looked sad. Some were
confused. How could Lehna be Angad? And how could
Angad take Guru Nanaks place? Amaro wondered and
watched her father closely.
Bibi Amaro
13
Guru Nanaks spirit left his body not long after that.
Soon after, Amaros father, who was now called Guru
Angad by many, but not all of Guru Nanaks followers
went to meditate for a long time. He needed to concentrate
and purify himself for the difficult job of being Master of
Guru Nanaks disciples.
After secretly meditating in a hut for six months, Guru
Angad returned from his hiding place. Amaro and her
family were happy to see him, as were many of the first
Gurus followers. Many of them respectfully called Amaros
father the second Guru. As for Amaro, she could see that
her father, whom she loved as her father, now glowed
with a special light.
Not long after his return, Guru Angad told everyone
that he would be moving back to Khadoor. Amaro looked
forward to seeing some of her old friends again in their
old home town.
Once they had moved, many people came to see and
talk with the Guru. Many treated Amaros father as their
own father. Meanwhile, Amaros mother became busy
feeding all the guests. Everyone called her mother Mata
Khivi and her special job was to see everyone who came
to visit was fed.
Amaro did not stay long with her family in Khadoor,
however. Soon, she became a teenager and then it was
time to be married. After a big celebration, she was married
to a handsome disciple of the Gurus. He was named Jasoo.
As was the custom, Amaro moved to her husbands
hometown of Basarke.
It was Amaros habit to rise in the amrit vela, bathe,
and sing the Gurus hymns. She had learned many of his
hymns by heart. People said Amaro had a beautiful voice.
So it was that early one morning, she was singing:
Actions are the paper and the mind is the ink. In this
way, both good and bad are written.
14
People act according to their habits. Gods virtues are

without end.
Why do you forget God, O crazy man?
By forgetting him, your goodness will melt away.
Out of the darkness of the night, Amaro heard a voice
call out, My daughter, I was dead. Then this life-giving
verse entered my ears and I became alive again. Please
sing the divine poetry again. And please take me to the
one whose holy words these are.
Amaro grew shy and became quiet at the sound of the
old mans voice. But her mother-in-law had heard them
both. The old man in fact was Amar Das, Amaros unclein-law. Her mother-in-law spoke to Amaro, There is
nothing wrong in doing this. Father and father-in-law are
the same. Do not be shy in singing Gurbaanee. You should
take Amar Das to Khadoor Sahib to see the Guru. It will
be a blessing for you.
Amaro replied, How can I go to see my father when
he has not called me? Why, I have just arrived here! But
her mother-in-law assured her it was okay.
Amar Das said to Bibi Amaro, Please be so kind as to
lead me to the Guru.
Amaro then agreed, As you wish. Tomorrow morning,
I will take you to see the Guru.
As agreed, early the next day, Bibi Amaro and Baba
Amar Das set out. Amar Das had powerful legs used to
walking long distances. He walked beside his young niecein-law at a steady pace. Around them, sometimes they
would meet people who would great them respectfully.
Sat Kartar! they would say. As they walked, Bibi Amaro
felt the calm wisdom of her older relative. He had a smile
for everyone and the strength of a man much younger
than himself.
By noon, they arrived at the hall where Bibi Amaro
knew her father held court. She shyly went inside where
Bibi Amaro
15
Guru Angad was receiving his disciples, leaving Baba Amar

Das outside.
When Guru Angad saw his daughter bowing at his
feet, he knew right away what was happening. He said to
her, Stop worrying that you have come here without my
calling for you. It is good that you have come. But why
have you left the one you brought with you outside? Go
and bring him inside also.
So it was that Bibi Amaro introduced Baba Amar Das
to Guru Angad Dev, the second Guru. Over the next twelve
years, Guru Angad tested Amar Das, who was twice his
age, in many ways. Again and again, Baba Amar Das proved
his love of the Guru. At last, Guru Angad retired his
earthly body and Amar Das became the third Guru, Guru
Amar Das.
In the time of Guru Amar Das, many people wanted to
know about the Gurus message of Sat Naam, living happily
in meditation and serving others. Before there was an
internet or books, people needed to go out themselves
and share the Gurus teachings. For this purpose, the third
Guru gave twenty-two of his best disciples the job of
teaching others in their town. One of the twenty-two he
chose was Bibi Amaro. Guru Amar Das never forgot her
service to him.
Bibi Amaro was in charge of the area of Basarke, which
included Amritsar. And Amaros mother, Mata Khivi
continued her loving service in the Gurus kitchen for
another thirty years. In Bibi Amaros loving memory, there
is now a sarovar near the village of Basarke named Bibi
Amar da Talab.
16
Bibi Bhani (1535-1589)

Bibi Bhani was born to a couple of gentle, old saints. Her
parents, Baba Amar Das and Mata Mansa Devi were fiftysix and fifty-one when she was born. Bhani already had a
slightly older sister, Dani, and soon two brothers would
be born. It was rare for people to become parents at such
an age.
Bibi Bhani was five years old when her father met Bibi
Amaro, who introduced him to Guru Angad. Her father
had always loved to meditate and loved hard work, but
since meeting the Guru, his life changed. Bibi Bhanis old
father would spend the middle of each night fetching water
from a faraway river for Guru Angads morning bath.
Baba Amar Das would also serve the Guru in any way he
could, day or night. He passed many tests given to him by
Guru Angad. Baba Amar Das was soon loved and respected
by everyone.
Bibi Bhani loved to help her father. Before, or sometimes
after, he had fetched the water for Guru Angads bath,
she would already have brought water for her fathers
bath. When Baba Amar Das would meditate, often she
would sit nearby to see he was not disturbed.
Bibi Bhani was a very thoughtful girl. Sometimes when
she found her playmates were acting silly, she would tell
them, We are thoughtless beings, skipping and playing
like lambs, while death, the butcher, watches over us.
Then she would then remember Guru Nanaks Baanee: To
Bibi Bhani
17
each and every home, the call is being sent each day. Oh
Nanak, meditate on the one who calls. The day is coming
near.
By saying this, Bibi Bhani meant we should not be
thoughtless. Life has a beginning and an end, and we
should be ready to leave when God calls us to go home.
Sometimes, Mata Mansa Devi would think her daughter
was worrying about dying. She would say to her, Do not
worry about death. Guru Nanak said we should eat and
enjoy ourselves in this life. But Bibi Bhani was not worried.
She was just being thoughtful.
When Bibi Amaro was fifteen and brought Baba Amar
Das to meet her father, Guru Angad, Bibi Bhani was five.
They must have met and been friends. When Bibi Bani
was seventeen and Bibi Amaro twenty-seven, something
amazing happened.
Guru Angad, the second Guru, after Guru Nanak, told
everyone that Bibi Amaros father would be the third Guru.
He called for Baba Buddha, who had been a Sikh since
Guru Nanaks time, and a short ceremony was done. Angad
Dev, the second Guru, then called for a big feast to be
held.
At the feast, Angad Dev told everyone that soon he
would breathe his last breath and be no more on this
Earth. He reminded everyone to live in love and kindness
and meditation. Bibi Amaros father, the second Guru,
told the thousands of people who had come that Baba
Amar Das, now Guru Amar Das, would look after them
when he was gone. He also told the third Guru to move
from Khadoor to the village of Goindwal. He should settle
and begin to teach and serve there.
Everything happened so quickly. Everyone was
surprised. Within a few days, Guru Angad, who was much
younger than old Baba Amar Das, had left this world.
Now Bibi Bhanis father sat in his place as their Guru. And
18
the Gurus family was moving, making a new beginning,

in Goindwal.
Those were exciting days. When her father became the
Guru, suddenly he had many more visitors. But some things
did not change. While others brought the water for the
Gurus bath from the river Goindwal was right on a
river Bibi Bhani continued to prepare his bath and to sit
with her father while he meditated.
Bibi Bhani found great peace and beauty inside herself
in her meditation, a beauty many others could not see.
One day, a Sikh came to Guru Amar Das and asked, May
I offer Bibi Bhani money so she can have pretty dresses
and decorations to wear like her friends?
The Gurus youngest daughter heard what was asked
and answered herself. First she spoke Gurbaanee, False is
gold. False is silver. False are those who wear them.
Then, Bibi Bhani said, Do not worry about how I look.
The Guru gives me everything I need. The best way you
can spend your money is to buy food for the langar, and
blankets and medicines for the people who come to visit
the Guru.
Two years after they had moved to Goindwal, Bibi
Bhanis parents began to talk about her marriage. It was
the custom for parents to choose their childs marriage
partner. As they were talking about what kind of match
would be right for their daughter, Bibi Bhanis mother
pointed out the window, He should be something like
that young man.
That young mans name was Jetha. He lived with his
grandmother since his parents had passed. He was poor,
but loved to meditate and serve the people.
People gave Guru Amar Das money and jewels every
day. They listened to what he said carefully. With Gods
help, the Guru was rich and powerful like a king. Kings
did not marry their daughters to young men with no money.
Bibi Bhani
19
Mata Devi did not think for a moment that Bibi Bhani
should marry Jetha the orphan. But Guru Amar Das looked
outside and watched Jetha carefully. He watched how he
stood and how he moved and how he spoke. He also saw
a sparkle in the young mans eyes and heard he had a
wonderful laugh.
The Guru made up his mind right there. He said to his
wife, There is no one to compare with Jetha. He shall be
a perfect husband for Bibi Bhani. There is no one like him
in the whole world. Why waste our time looking for another?
Our daughter shall marry Jetha.
Plans were made for the marriage. There were
excitement and celebrations. Before the wedding day, in
their quiet time together after his meditation, Guru Amar
Das spoke to his daughter. He said, I am not going to
give you away to Jetha with expensive presents for his
family, as others do. You yourself are a priceless gem.
There is no need of giving presents. But I will give you
three things to take with you into your marriage. They
will make your wedded life blissful and sweet.
Hard times come on every marriage. Sometimes the
husband and wife will even fight and shout at each other.
Now and then, difficult days are sure to visit you and
your husband as well. There will be days when things do
not go your way.
To keep your home happy and peaceful, there are
three things you should learn to say. Firstly, if you do not
agree with your husband, do not be afraid to say, You are
right. A mans ego is a brittle thing. It shatters easily, like
glass, and once broken, is difficult to fix. By saying your
husband is right, maybe not always, but in the things that
do not really matter, you are keeping peace in the home.
A husband who knows his wife does not like to fight with
him, loves her the more.
Secondly, do not be shy in saying, I am sorry. If you
20
make a mistake, say so. This is a brave and proper thing

to do, and brings peace and goodwill in the home.
Lastly, if something goes terribly wrong in your home,
do not lose the natural love and respect you have for your
husband by blaming him. Instead, always say, It is the
will of God. If you practice these three teachings, God
will grant you peace and happiness in your home.
Thousands of people came to celebrate the wedding.
Bhai Jetha rode to the ceremony on a fine horse like a
great hero. Bibi Bhani was by turns happy and blushing
and a little nervous. Guru Amar Das gave a wonderful
talk. Musicians played beautiful Gurbaanee. Afterwards, there
were huge pots of delicious Guru Prashaad and a big feast.
Many, many people pitched in and helped to decorate and
cook and serve and clean. So many loving servants of the
Guru! It was a beautful wedding.
For many weeks afterward, people talked about the
marriage of Bhai Jetha and Bibi Bhani. Even a few yogis,
who did not marry, had come out for the celebration.
Then, after a while, things started to quiet down.
Bibi Bhani, treated her husband Bhai Jetha like a saint,
and continued to serve her father, the Guru. One day,
something unusual happened. Guru Amar Das always
meditated on a wooden couch in his home. Bibi Bhani
would sit nearby to see he was comfortable and not bothered
by visitors. If it were hot, she would fan him. If someone
came to the door, she would tell them to see the Guru at
another time. If a fly buzzed around the Guru, she would
shoo it away. But on this day, a leg on Guru Amar Dass
couch snapped under his weight.
The Guru was deep into his meditation, but his daughter
moved quickly to stop the couch from crashing down under
his weight. To support Guru Amar Das, she held onto the
sharp shards of the broken leg with her hands while he
went on with his meditation. When the Guru came out of
Bibi Bhani
21
his meditation, he saw Bibi Bhani holding on to his couch.

Guru Amar Das asked, What are you doing, my dear
daughter, holding onto this couch?
Bibi Bhani told the Guru, The leg of your couch had
broken and I was holding up hour couch so your meditation
would not be disturbed.
Guru Amar Das noticed that his daughters hands looked
bloody and sore. It must have been painful to hold up the
broken couch. He said, My dear daughter, to keep me in
my meditation, you must have suffered great pain. Good
must come from good. Ask me a favour.
Bibi Bhani had, as yet, no children. Maybe she wanted
her fathers blessing on her womb. Perhaps she remembered
still how Guru Angads two sons had been jealous when
Baba Amar Das became Guru after their fathers death.
For whatever reason, Bibi Bhani said, I want one thing
only, and that is that the next Guru and the next, and all
the following Gurus in the line of Guru Nanak, should be
from our family.
Guru Amar Das made a promise. He said to his
daughter, A child of yours will be loved and served far
and wide. From your womb shall be born a great saint to
save the world. But you have dammed the clear, flowing
stream of the Guruship. From this, great trouble shall result.
As it happened, Bibi Bhani and Bhai Jetha had three
children. The first was Prithi Chand. Then came Maha
Dev. And the last was Arjan Dev. When Arjan was born,
his older brothers were five and three years old.
Prithi Chand, whom everyone called Prithia wanted
power. Maha Dev was shy and liked to meditate. Arjan
Dev was filled with energy and zest for life.
One day, when Arjan was still a baby, his mother lost
track of him for a moment. Looking around, she quickly
found her son had entered Guru Amar Dass bedroom. He
had playfully woken the Guru up from his nap. Bibi Bhani
22
apologized and went to take Arjan Dev from the Gurus

bedroom so he could continue his sleep.
Guru Amar Das spoke lovingly, Let him come to me!
This grandson of mine will one day be a boat to carry
people across the ocean of life.
Early one morning, after the Guru had taken his bath
and before he settled into his meditation, he asked Bibi
Bhani, What would you do if your husband died? The
health of Bhai Jetha had not been very good. His parents
had died while Jetha was young. Sometimes Bibi Bhani
worried that her husband might also leave this world at
an early age, before their children had grown into men.
Bibi Bhani answered the Guru, I must accept whatever
happens. If my husband dies, I might either die with him
or do whatever you tell me to do.
Guru Amar Das watched carefully and saw the deep
love in his daughter as she answered his question. In return,
he replied, There is no need for you to die. I will give
you a blessing that is far better than that. I will give your
husband the Guruship and a few more years of life.
The third Guru then called for Bhai Jetha and told him
to bathe and put on new clothes. When her husband
returned, Bibi Bhani looked into his eyes. Powerful feelings
were sweeping over her: deep thankfulness for the gift
Guru Amar Das had given her; deep sadness that her dear
father, the Guru was now going to leave this Earth; great
pride that her own husband was to become the next Guru
in Nanaks line; and great relief that her children would
have a living father for at least a few more years.
Just as Guru Angad had called for Bhai Buddha to
perform the ceremony of the passing on of the Guruship,
so now Guru Amar Das called for him. Again the ceremony
was done. Amar Das, the third Guru, then told everyone
there that Bhai Jetha would have a new name as fourth
Guru of the Sikhs. He should be called Guru Ram Das, the
Bibi Bhani
23
servant of God. Then, the white-bearded old saint stood

up and left the simple throne where he always sat and
taught his Sikhs. Taking Guru Ram Das, who was less than
half his age, lovingly by the arm, Guru Amar Das brought
him and made him sit on the throne.
Bibi Bhanis husband lived seven more years as Guru
Ram Das. Each day, they thanked God for the blessing of
life as a Sikh, the blessing of meditation, and the blessing
of service. Year by year, their three sons grew into very
different kinds of men.
One day, a Sikh came from the big city of Lahore and
asked Guru Ram Das to come with him to celebrate the
wedding of his son. The fourth Guru said he could not
come because his disciples were always coming to see him
in Goindwal. Some came from long distances. They would
be disappointed if he were away when they came to see him.
Guru Ram Das offered that his oldest son might go
instead. He called Prithi Chand, and asked him, My Son,
would you go to this Sikhs wedding in my place?
Prithia replied and gave many excuses. In reality, he
knew that his father was unwell. For this reason, he wanted
to always be nearby so he could claim the Guruship for
himself when Guru Ram Das left this Earth.
Guru Ram Das then asked his second son, My Son,
would you go to this Sikhs wedding in my place?
Maha Dev said he only wanted to meditate alone and
did not like large crowds of people. He begged not to
have to go.
Guru Ram Das finally, asked his youngest son, Arjan,
who was then just eighteen years old, My Son, would
you go to this Sikhs wedding in my place? Afterwards, I
would like you to stay in Lahore for a time and teach my
Sikhs how to properly meditate and to serve in Gods
Name.
Arjan Dev gladly replied, What you want is my pleasure.
24
This is only a wedding and a time of happiness, but even

if you sent me on a mission where I might risk my life,
still I would be happy to go.
Bibi Bhanis youngest son went to Lahore and did not
return for many months, while Prithia did his best through
trickery to keep him away. When Arjan Dev finally returned
in victory, he had passed his father, the fourth Gurus test.
In her holy meditation, Bibi Bhani was lifted up into
the heavens. The whole world looked to her example and
her grace. Great was her blessing to be the daughter of
the great Guru Amar Das, the wife of the loving Guru
Ram Das, and the mother of the brilliant Guru Arjan Dev.
Bibi Bhani
25
Mata Kaulan (1600-1652)

Mian Mir was a Sufi saint and friend of the Sikhs. Guru
Arjan had invited him to lay the cornerstone of the
Harimandir Sahib when it was being built. Mian Mir had
many followers. One of them was the daughter of Rustam
Khan, a Muslim judge in the city of Lahore. In India in
those days, people of the Muslim religion were very
powerful. They ran the country, decided who should go
to jail, even who should live and die. From her childhood,
Rustam Khans daughter had loved to spend her time in
prayer and meditation.
The judges daughter was beautiful, friendly and good,
but spent her days by herself in her room, except when it
came time to go out and see Mian Mir, her spiritual teacher.
She refused her parents advice that she should marry.
Instead, she decided to give her life to God.
In Mian Mirs sangat, the judges daughter heard him
speak highly of Guru Hargobind, the sixth in Guru Nanaks
line. However, when she began to praise the Guru at home,
her father became angry with her. He was upset with his
daughter for two reasons. Firstly, she had refused to marry.
Secondly, his daughter was praising the Guru, a non-Muslim.
Rustam Khan was a religious fanatic. He hated anyone
and anything from any religion other than his own. To
him, all non-Muslims were evil and deserved to die.
O Infidel, he said, you praise an infidel and disobey
the law of Muhammad, according to which it is forbidden,
26
under penalty of death, to praise an unbeliever.

To the judge, an infidel was anyone who did not live
as a Muslim. Muhammad was the first Muslim. The girls
father was telling her that by Muhammads law anyone
who said nice things about a non-Muslim should be killed.
The judges daughter replied, Father dear, the law of
Muhammad does not apply to holy men or to me. It applies
to those who neither know nor obey anything besides.
Saints are Gods servants. At the same time, the Lord
obeys them and they do as they please. Saints have no
concern with the law of Muhammad.
Hearing these words, the judges heart burned with
pride. That very day, he spoke with other judges and gave
an order for his daughter to be killed for disobeying the
law of Muhammad.
When the judges wife heard of this, she told both her
daughter and Mian Mir. The saint replied, It looks like
there is no hope of saving you here. You will be put to
death by these tyrants. It will be better for you to go at
once to Amritsar and seek the protection of Guru
Hargobind. At this time, there is no one but him who can
save your life.
The judges daughter quickly returned home and packed
her things. Mian Mir then arranged a safe escort. She,
along with a fellow disciple, secretly went to Amritsar.
In the Gurus sangat, the judges daughter was given
every respect. Guru Hargobind arranged that she should
have a house of her own, and told her to spend her time
as she pleased. He also gave her a new name, Kaulan,
meaning promise.
Rustam Khan asked the Jahangir, the emperor of India,
to help return his daughter. People however told the
emperor that the judge had made his daughter miserable
and beaten her every day. They explained that for fear of
him, his daughter would not return from the safety she
Mata Kaulan
27
had found with the Guru. Hearing these reports, the

emperor gave no help to Rustam Khan.
Kaulan learned to love her new home. Often, she would
be heard singing the following Gurbaanee in a mood of
thankfulness:
O Mother, joining the saints, I have woken up!
Seeing my Love, I repeat the Name of the One I love.
Eager for Gods sight, my eyes are only on him and
have forgotten all other things.
Now, in my heart I easily enjoy peace and the Guru,
the giver of peace.
Seeing God, my mind is filled with joy.
O Nanak, sweet and holy is the Word of my Beloved!
After some time had passed in this way, Kaulan offered
her dowry of valuable jewels to the Guru, so he might use
them for some holy work. The year was 1621. The Guru
told his Sikhs to dig a pool where people might meditate
in peace near Kaulans house. It was just a short distance
from the Harimandar Sahib, which was surrounded by a
pool of its own. This second pool became known as Kaulsar.
Years later, Gurdwara Mata Kaulan Sahib was built on the
site of her home.
When Guru Hargobind was forced to move from
Amritsar because of the danger of attack from the Mughal
army, Mata Kaulan came with him to Kartarpur, a short
distance from Jalandhar.
After many years, Kaulan became sick. When Guru
Hargobind heard of her sickness, he came to offer his
help. In a weak voice, Kaulan said, Thank you, Guru ji.
Thank you for saving my life. Thank you for giving me the
teachings that put me on the path to happiness in God.
Guru Hargobind replied, Meditate, my daughter!
Meditate on the God inside you. You have only twentyfour hours to live. You must meditate on your Maker. I
will return to you at your final hour.
28
When Guru Hargobind returned to Mata Kaulans home,

he said to her, Be ready. Your time has now come. Prepare
yourself. Give up thoughts of your body, and focus your
mind on God, the unborn and deathless One. The world
is unreal and shines only with his Light. The soul is pure,
real, conscious and happy. As long as one is proud of
ones body, one is chained to birth and death. But when
one learns perfect knowledge, one goes beyond the back
and forth of love and hate, hate and love... and is liberated.
Meditating on the Gurus words, Mata Kaulan opened
her eyes one last time, to say, Thank you! Thank you!
You are the Home of the homeless. I have found shelter in
you. In a moment, you raised me to the heights yogis try
many years to achieve without success. You took away the
ignorance that hung over me for millions of births like a
very long disease. She then closed her eyes, said Wahe
Guru! and passed painlessly from this world. The day
was May 29, 1652.
The Guru told Mata Kaulans servants to prepare her
body for the last rites. They bathed and clothed Kaulans
body in a simple, cotton cloth and an expensive shawl.
While a ragi sang the Gurus hymns, her friends and servants
took her body to the garden, outside Mata Kaulans home.
It was respectfully place in a heap of wood and burned
there. As the flames surrounded Kaulans used-up body,
someone sweetly recited Kirtan Sohila. The Guru then prayed
with everyone that her shining soul might forever be with
God.
Mata Kaulan
29
Mata Gujari (1624-1705)

A girl baby was born in Kartarpur in 1624. She had a
brother named Kirpal Chand. Their parents were Bhai Lal
Chand and Bibi Bishan Kaur. They named her Gujari after
the music of mid-morning in the Indian scale.
Soon, little Gujari was helping her mother separate out
the stones from the dried beans when making dahl. At
five or six, she was already sweeping the house. At six or
seven, she was making rotis at her mothers side in the
kitchen.
Gujari loved to play with her brother and friends. Hide
and seek was a favourite. There were also other games
girls liked to play in Punjab. In kikli a group of girls would
join hands in a circle and sing. Gheeta pathar was played
inside with pebbles or broken pottery. When the rains
arrived, the girls would make swings from the branches of
the huge fig trees.
Gujari grew to be a happy and graceful young lady.
She was smart too, always curious and learning quickly.
She learned to read early and loved to read and sing
Gurbaanee.
When Gujari was seven years old, Suraj Mall, a son of
Guru Hargobind, was married in her town of Kartarpur.
It was a time of much happiness and excitement. Thousands
of people, even the neighbouring Hindus and Muslims,
came to celebrate.
30
As a good mother, Bibi Bishan Kaur was always looking

for a happy match for her daughter. In those days,
engagements and marriages were much earlier than today.
At seven, Gujari was already old enough to be matched
with a boy she would later marry.
Gujaris mothers eyes fell on the grooms younger
brother, Tyag Mall, the only son of Mata Nanaki, the Gurus
devoted wife. Tyag Mall was ten years old, polite, gentle,
and strong. He also had a beautiful smile.
Bhai Lal Chand and Bibi Bishan Kaur went to Guru
Hargobind and humbly asked if their daughter might marry
his youngest son. After speaking together, the Guru and
Mata Nanaki agreed to the marriage.
How happy and excited was Gujari! How excited were
her friends! Gujari was to be married to the family of the
Guru! The date of the marriage was set. It was to be held
in Kartarpur in just two years.
In her daily meditation, Gujari thought of the future
before her, a future she must get ready for. Her mother
told her as much. She was going to marry a saint, so
Gujari did extra meditation and made a special effort to
live like a saint herself. Each day, she was thoughtful,
kind, and helpful to everyone she met.
Gujari listened to the stories of great women of the
Gurus line. She learned of Bibi Nanaki who first recognized
her brother Nanak as Guru. Gujari heard the story of the
devoted Mata Sulakkhani, the first Gurus wife, who waited
long years for her husband to come back from his teaching
missions in Assam, Sri Lanka, Arabia and Tibet. She learned
of Mata Khivi, who fed thousands and thousands in the
Gurus langar. Gujari heard about Bibi Amaro who
introduced the second and third Gurus. Gujari also listened
in amazement at the story of Bibi Bhani, at once daughter
to the third Guru, Amar Das, wife to the fourth Guru,
Mata Gujari
31
Ram Das, and mother to Guru Hargobinds father, Arjan

the fifth Guru. And she heard the stories of the sixth
Gurus mother, Mata Ganga, who had learned to be humble
from Baba Buddha, and lived to know both the joy of holy
motherhood and the great sadness of her husband, Guru
Arjans painful passing.
Hearing the stories of these greathearted women,
something stirred in Gujaris heart. She was at once amazed
and humbled. Gujari was filled with a deep longing and a
prayer to serve the Guru and live to the memory of these
wonderful women.
As the months of waiting turned to weeks, then just
days, the excitement in Kartarpur increased. Talk of the
coming marriage was on everyones lips. Gujaris relatives
and neighbours were happy for her.
Finally, Guru Hargobind and his family arrived, and
the marriage began. Tyag Mall was beautifully dressed
with a jewelled turban as he came to the ceremony on a
horse. Gujari was so happy she was glowing. Her parents
and brother Kirpal shared her happiness. In the diwan
hall, the Guru gave a talk. In his talk, he said that woman
is special, she has the power to keep a man close to God.
Finally, the marriage was done. Everyone came forward
and shared Tyag Mall and Gujaris happiness. There was
a big feast. All night, lamps were lit in every home.
Fireworks filled the sky. Musicians played all night.
Everyone prayed for the happiness of the new couple.
Gujari and Tyag Mall lived happily in their new home
in Kartarpur. Mata Nanaki loved her new daughter-inlaw, the wife of her only son. Love and respect and peace
abounded.
A year had passed when suddenly a Sikh horseman
arrived from Lahore. He brought news that a large army
of Mughal soldiers were coming. There had been twenty32
two years of peace with the Mughals, but under the new
emperor, Shah Jahan, war was in the air.
Like all the men of Kartarpur, Tyag Mall had been
practising fighting with a sword and wrestling. They knew
that the long years of peace might end any day, so when
the call came to defend Kartarpur, they were ready.
As the men formed into their fighting groups, the women
prepared food and first aid for them. As they heard the
rumble of Mughal horsemen, Gujari and Mata Nanaki
climbed onto the roof of the tallest house in Kartarpur to
see better.
The battle lasted two days in all. Tyag Malls job was
to protect the rear of the Sikh army. Many times, the
Mughals tried to attack from behind, but every time, Tyag
Mall and his group fought back fiercely and forced them
to retreat.
When the battle was over, many fighters on both sides
had died. A number of Mughal generals had been killed.
The brave defenders chased them out of Kartarpur.
The Gurus soldiers all praised Tyag Mall for his courage
and skill in beating off the Mughal attackers. From that
time on, he was called Tegh Bahadur, meaning great
sword.
For the sake of peace, Guru Hargobind told his followers
they must move further away from the Mughal highway.
For this reason, Gujari and Tegh Bahadur travelled east
and made a new home in the town of Kiratpur. Gujaris
brother Kirpal also came along. Kiratpur was surrounded
by forests and hills, and easy to defend against a large
army.
For nine years, they lived in peace. One day, Guru
Hargobind, who had grown old and tired, picked his
grandson Har Rai to be the seventh Guru. The Guru then
breathed his last.
Mata Gujari
33
Tegh Bahadur congratulated his cousin. A month later,

he and Gujari and her brother Kirpal, as well as Tegh
Bahadurs mother Nanaki set out for the village of Bakala.
Bakala was where Nanakis parents, Tegh Bahadurs
grandparents, lived. It was also a quiet place where Tegh
Bahadur and Gujari could meditate, and that is what they
did for most of the next twenty years.
For her part, Mata Nanaki spent much time in wonder.
Her husband, the sixth Guru, had said Tegh Bahadur would
one day also be Guru. But Tegh Bahadur spoke very little
and saw only a few people in those days.
One day, a stranger came to see Tegh Bahadur. He
said told Gujari, Sat Kartar! My name is Makan Shah and
I am looking for the Guru. Guru Har Rai passed his light
onto Guru Har Krishan, and that the eight Guru has also
passed on his light... but no knows exactly who the ninth
Guru might be. I think it might be Tegh Bahadur. I would
like to see him.
Gujari told Makhan Shah, My husband is meditating.
He cannot see you. He is not the Guru. You should find
him somewhere else. My husband is busy.
But Makhan Shah would not be sent away. He said,
Please let me speak with your husband, even for a few
minutes. I can come any time when he is not meditating or
busy.
Finally, Gujari told this Makan Shah he could see Tegh
Bahadur after he had finished his meditation.
When the man returned, he bowed his head to the
ground in front of Tegh Bahadur and gave him a valuable
gold coin. Gujari watched in surprise as her husband laughed
at their guest. What is this, my friend? One gold coin?
What kind of business is it you run? You promised me five
hundred coins!
Makan Shahs face lit up as he heard Tegh Bahadurs
34
words. He said, I am so sorry. There are so many false

gurus all saying they are the light of Guru Nanak. I went
to all of them, and they all accepted my offering. I am so
sorry. I will bring you the rest of the coins right now.
And the man ran out, then came back with bags of gold
which he humbly offered to Tegh Bahadur as the Guru.
Gujari continued to be amazed. She had heard Mata
Nanaki long ago say that Tegh Bahadur would one day be
Guru. Could it be true? Was the Tyag Mall she had married
now Guru Tegh Bahadur?
Things changed very quickly. In minutes, Makhan Shah
was shouting and banging a drum on the roof of their
home, telling everyone in the village that Gujaris husband
was the ninth Guru, the true light of Guru Nanak. People
gathered to see the Guru.
Makhan Shah climbed down from the roof and humbly
asked Tegh Bahadur to speak with the gathered people, to
teach them, to tell them about God. Tegh Bahadur, who
for twenty years had said very little, agreed. He came out
and taught the people as Guru Tegh Bahadur for the first
time.
Storm clouds of trouble and jealousy started to gather
around the village of Bakala. The ninth Gurus nephew,
Dhir Mal was very angry. He wanted to be Guru. The
sixth Guru, Hargobind had been his grandfather. To Dhir
Mal, it did not seem fair.
The Gurus jealous nephew gathered together a gang
of men. One day, they attacked the darbar of Guru Tegh
Bahadur. One of the gangsters even shot at the Guru,
wounding his shoulder a little. The gangsters stole
everything they could carry away.
Kirpal Chand, Makhan Shah, and a number of the other
Sikhs had fought bravely to defend the Guru, but they
had been outnumbered. When more men had gathered
Mata Gujari
35
together, they went off to catch Dhir Mal and his gangsters.
Before long, the jealous nephew and his men had been
caught and tied up and brought to Guru Tegh Bahadur.
The loving Guru forgave Dhirmal and his ruffians.
The next morning, however, Guru Tegh Bahadur was
gone. Mata Gujari knew he must had gone into meditation
somewhere. Thinking of her husband, meditating without
food, she also stopped eating, while his Sikhs looked
everywhere to find him.
Five days passed until finally a farmer found the Guru
meditating in a grassy forest. The farmer ran back to Bakala
to tell everyone. A group of Sikhs went and brought food
for Guru Tegh Bahadur. Mata Gujari, too, began to eat
again. Soon everyone was happy again.
Some weeks later, everyone got ready to go to Amritsar,
the holy town of the Harimandar. Guru Tegh Bahadur and
some of his men wrote on horseback, while his wife and
mother sat in a wagon. They looked forward to seeing the
beautiful Gurdwara. When they arrived in Amritsar,
however, the priests inside closed the doors, locked the
gates, and stopped their keertan.
Makhan Shah was angry that at the bad behaviour of
the priests. Guru Tegh Bahadurs grandfather, the fifth
Guru, had build the Harimandar, and now the priests were
being very disrespectful.
The Guru told his Sikhs to be at peace. The disgraceful
priests would one day pay for what they did. Guru Tegh
Bahadur and his Sikhs meditated under a big tree near the
Harimandar and waited.
Finally, as the day grew into evening, a Sikh named
Mata Hariyan asked the Guru if he would stay in her
home in the village of Walla that night. Guru Tegh Bahadur
happily agreed. With his mother and wife, the Guru went
to the womans small, simple house.
36
Meanwhile, the women of Amritsar heard about the

disrespect the priests had shown the Guru. They came
together in the hundreds at the gate of the Harimandar
made the priests let them in. The women then told the
priests they should have let Guru Tegh Bahadur in and
shown him proper respect.
The women of Amritsar then collected food and gifts
for the Guru and the Sikhs travelling with him. Next, they
went all together to Walla singing songs and hoping Guru
Tegh Bahadur would forgive them. Mata Nanaki and Gujari
were the first to hear the sounds of their voices as they
came to see the Guru. When he saw and heard the women,
Guru Tegh Bahadur was happy. Because of their courage
in speaking with the priests, he said, The women of
Amritsar will always be blessed.
Guru Tegh Bahadur and his followers returned to
Harimandir Sahib. This time, the priests let him. We are
sorry, said the priests. Some said, We did not know if
you were really the Guru. Others said, We were afraid
the Mughal army would attach us if we let you inside.
This time, the priests were very polite and the Guru
forgave them. Next, he and Gujari and his Sikhs went back
to Bakala.
The people of Bakala were happy to see the Guru and
his family again. There was also a message from Mata
Krishan Kaur, the mother of the eighth Guru, Harkrishan,
who had just left this Earth a few weeks before. She asked
Guru Tegh Bahadur to come back to Kiratpur, where the
sixth, seventh and eighth Gurus had made their home.
On arriving in Kiratpur, the ninth Guru was given all
the important things that had belonged to Guru Harkrishan,
Guru Har Rai, and Guru Guru Hargobind. He received a
special jewel for his turban, a hawk, a sword, and the
Gurus army with its generals. Guru Tegh Bahadur bought
Mata Gujari
37
some land to begin a new city. He first named it Nanaki

Chak after his mother.
Once the building of the city was begun, Guru Tegh
Bahadur set out with his mother, his wife, her brother,
and some other Sikhs to travel and teach from village to
village, and town to town. Everywhere, people came to
see the Guru and hear him speak words of wisdom.
People also came to serve Guru Tegh Bahadur. One of
them was Bhai Mihan. He always brought water from the
well, firewood from the forest, and did anything he could
to serve the Guru. Bhai Mihan kept a cushion on his head
to help him carry heavy loads. This cushion was always
wet from water dripping on it.
One day, when Bhai Mihan was putting down a jug of
water, Mata Nanaki and Gujari both saw that the Sikhs
head was sore and bleeding from all the work he did.
They told the Guru. The Guru then healed Mihan by putting
his hand on his head. Guru Tegh Bahadur told Bhai Mihan
that he should be a leader of the people and he gave him
beautiful clothes and other presents.
One day in their travels, the Gurus mother told him
all that she was very happy with her life. There was only
one more thing she wished for. Mata Nanaki told her son,
the Guru, that years before her husband, the sixth Guru
had told her a great saint would be born in her sons
house. Guru Tegh Bahadur and Gujari, however still had
no children. The Guru told his mother to meditate each
day on Guru Nanak and she would have a brave and
saintly grandson.
The Gurus family remained in the city of Allahabad
for six months. At this time, Gujari did become pregnant.
From there, they went on to Patna to the east. In Patna,
Guru Tegh Bahadur was met by a Rajput general named
Raja Ram Singh. The general had been sent by the emperor
38
Aurangzeb to lead a large army against the kingdom of

Assam. It was a very dangerous mission and the general
asked if the Guru would bless him by coming along.
Guru Tegh Bahadur decided to go with the general
and leave his family in Patna. In this way, he could teach
in faraway places where Guru Nanak had visited many years
before. He also hoped that he could help make peace between
the rebellious King of Assam and the Mughal emperor.
First Mata Nanaki, then Mata Gujari, protested to the
Guru that they could not be without him. Tegh Bahadur
spoke to them kindly, but firmly. To Mata Nanaki, he
said, There are many Sikhs waiting for me in a distant
land and I must go to see them.
To his wife, he said, The words of my father, Guru
Hargobind are about to become true. A son shall be born
to you who will be great and powerful. He will help the
saints and uproot the wicked. You must stay here to give
him birth. Travelling would be very difficult for you. I
will soon return from my tour.
While Guru Tegh Bahadur was away, Mata Gujari was
well taken care of. She was given special food and one
gentle lady came and took her for a walk every morning.
At last, Gujari had her baby. All the Sikhs in Patna and all
around celebrated. It was a boy. He was named Gobind
Rai.
Far to the west, in a village called Kuhram, there was
a Muslim saint named Bhikan Shah. Muslims always bow
their heads in prayer in the direction of Mecca. One day,
his followers saw their teacher bowing in the opposite
direction, away from Mecca. When they asked Bhikan Shah
for his reason, he said, There has just been born in Patna
a great spiritual and worldly king. He will serve what is
good and destroy what is bad. Bhikan Shah promised
himself that he would not eat until he had seen this child,
Mata Gujari
39
then set out to the east with his followers.

What Mata Gujari heard that a Muslim wanted to see
her baby, she was at first afraid. She knew some Muslims
disliked people who were not Muslim. What could he want
with her dear child? Her brother went and asked Bikhan
Shah, Respected Sir, why have you come here?
The tired and hungry saint replied, I have come a
long distance to see with my own eyes the great soul who
has come to Earth in the form of this child. I am just a
humble man. Please allow me this pleasure and my heart
will be satisfied.
When Kirpal Chand was sure there was no danger, he
told his sister and Mata Nanaki. At last, Bikhan Shah was
allowed inside to see Guru Tegh Bahadurs son. He had
brought with him two covered pots, one filled with milk
and the other with water. He put them in front of Gobind
Rai to see what he would do. When Mata Nanakis grandson
crawled toward the pots and put his two hands, one on
each pot, Bhikan Shah was happy. To him, this meant that
this future king would have respect for all religions, not
just his own.
Three years after he had left, a messenger arrived with
a message for Mata Gujari. Guru Tegh Bahadur is returning
from his travels in the east. He is a days distance away
and will arrive early tomorrow morning. She and Mata
Nanaki put on their best clothes to welcome him. When
the Guru arrived, all the Sikhs of Patna came out to see
him and to celebrate. Guru Tegh Bahadur was happy to
return and to see his followers, his family, and his handsome
young son.
When the family was alone, Mata Gujari asked her
husband, How far did you go into Assam?
The Guru replied, We went as far as Guru Nanak had
gone. At Dubri, we made a big hill. To celebrate our peace,
40
every soldier brought their shield filled with earth. Together,

the thousands of soldiers made the hill. On top, we built
a peace temple that can be seen from far and wide.
Guru Tegh Bahadur also told his wife, I went to Assam
as a servant of God. Three things I did. I was a friend to
Raja Ram Singh, I was a teacher of truth, and I was a
maker of peace.
The Guru stayed for a time with his family in Patna. In
that time, he taught young Gobind Rai how to shoot an
arrow with a bow and how to use a sword. After a few
joyful weeks, he asked his mothers permission to return
to Punjab and teach there. Mata Nanaki tearfully told her
son it was dangerous in Punjab, that he had only returned
and it was too soon for him to leave again. Guru Tegh
Bahadur reminded his mother, Love of things and people
is not forever. By singing Gods happy songs, we cross the
ocean of life.
The Guru then spoke to his wife, My good wife, I am
going to Punjab. The city of Anandpur which has been
built, must now be filled with people. Stay here, raise our
son, and do not go against his wishes. After a time, I will
send for you. The reason I ask you not to go against his
wishes is because Gobind Rai is a helper of God. When he
grows up, he will do many great things. He will destroy
evil and help the good. God has told me to go to Punjab.
There is much work for me there. Always remember God,
who never dies.
Mata Gujari became very sad to hear that her dear
husband was going away again and so soon. With tears in
her eyes, she said, My husband, I have no one else. Our
child is still young. My mother-in-law is old. Who will
take care of me?
Guru Tegh Bahadur said to his wife, This body is not
forever, but the soul inside is. The life in the body, flows
Mata Gujari
41
like a river. Only a fool loves the body. Be happy with

whatever God does. This will give you peace of mind.
Always love our son and meditate on Sat Naam.
Before the Guru left with a group of followers, Mata
Gujari asked if he would only go a short distance on his
first day of travel. In this way, Gobind Rai could join him
for a day and their parting would be easier. Guru Tegh
Bahadur agreed to his wifes idea and the first day traveled
with his son to the other side of Patna, a short distance.
The day after the Guru had left, their son returned
from his father to stay with his mother in Patna. Mata
Gujari lived a simple life of meditation and service. While
there were many Sikhs willing to help, she liked to grind
her own grain and make roti herself.
Gobind Rai practiced martial arts every day. One day,
a woman came to Mata Gujari and complained that he had
hit her on the forehead with a stone from his slingshot.
The woman cried and said she would tell the emperor
about Gobind Rais pranks.
Mata Gujari said to the woman, My son is still very
young. He does not know what is right and what is wrong.
Finally, she gave the lady money to buy butter and sweets
so she would not complain any more about Gobind Rai.
After the woman had gone, Mata Gujari chased after
Gobind Rai. He was faster than she, however. He ran up
the stairs and closed the door behind him. Gobind Rais
mother scolded through the door, Arent you afraid of
the emperor?
Through the door, her son said, I am not afraid of
anybody except God, who never dies. Hearing this, Mata
Gujari began to calm down. Mata Nanaki quietly went
upstairs to make peace with her grandson. Afterwards,
Nanaki told her daughter-in-law, The boy will be a great
warrior like his grandfather, Guru Har Gobind.
42
As time passed, Guru Tegh Bahadur thought of his

coming death and that his son should come to Anandpur
to be with his Sikhs. At the same time, Gobind Rai was
speaking with his mother, Father said he would write
when he arrived in Punjab, but we have not heard from
him. I want to go now.
Mata Gujari replied, We will go when your father
writes and says we should go, not before.
Her son said, I dont like Patna.
Gobind Rais mother said, The Sikhs here are good
and look after our needs. In Punjab, there are jealous people
and the danger of the emperor. We will not leave here
until your father tells us to.
Gobind Rai did not like the masands who were collecting
money from the Sikhs and giving only a little to the Guru.
He wanted to show his mother how dishonest they were.
It was for this reason that he asked a masand named Bulaki
to have an expensive carriage of gold and ivory made for
their journey to Punjab.
Soon the carriage arrived. Mata Gujari looked at it and
thought it was wonderful. Gobind Rai, however, looked
closely at the carriage and found that the part that was
supposed to be made of pure gold, was made mostly of
cheaper copper. It looked like gold, but was not. Gobind
Rai burned the carriage to show how cheaply it was made.
Just then, the Gurus letter arrived telling his family
and his Sikhs to come to Punjab. Everywhere was excitement.
Those who were going, were excited to be going. Those
were were staying, were excited to see the Gurus family
one last time before they left for faraway Punjab. There
were many good-byes. At last, Mata Gujaris brother, Kirpal
Chand led the way, from city to city, on to Anandpur.
When finally, after weeks of travel, the Gurus family
arrived in Anandpur, they were warmly welcomed by Guru
Mata Gujari
43
Tegh Bahadur. His sister, Bibi Viro also came to Anandpur

with her five sons. She would be a good friend to Mata
Gujri. Her oldest boy, Sango Shah quickly made friends
with Gobind Rai. Every day they went off to practice
sword fighting, and shooting bows and arrows. Meanwhile,
the Guru spoke each day in his darbar about the need to
stand up for what is right and to not be afraid of bullies,
even bullies with large armies.
Mata Gujari and Mata Nanaki were loved and respected
everywhere in Anandpur. They came out and visited with
all the families, all the women, of their growing town.
Gobind Rai, for his part, had a daily plan of meditation
and learning. In the mornings and evenings, he would
meditate. At night, before bedtime, verses of Gurbaanee
would be read to him while Gobind Rai listened carefully.
And in the daytime, he would be taught Gurmukhi and
other languages. Gobind Rai was also taught to use all
kinds of weapons and ride a horse.
A coupleof years after they had arrived in Anandpur,
there came a Sikh named Bhai Hari Jas all the way from
the big city of Lahore. He came with an offer that his
daughter might marry young Gobind Rai. Mata Gujri and
Guru Tegh Bahadur talked about this and decided to accept
Bhai Hari Jass daughter, Jitoji as a wife for their son
when he became older.
While the Sikhs built strong forts in Anandpur, far
from the Mughal armies, they heard terrible stories about
the cruelty of the emperor. People were being killed, their
bodies broken, their homes and temples destroyed because
they would not join the emperors religion.
One day, a group of Hindu leaders came to Guru Tegh
Bahadur, asking for his help. As the Guru thought to himself
about what must be done, his son came into the room.
Seeing his father so serious, he asked him what was the
44
matter. The Guru explained what was happening to Gobind,

and finished by saying, My Son, some brave person must
go to the emperor and show him what a terrible mistake
he is making. If he succeeds, our country will be in peace.
If he fails, he will die.
Gobind Rai bravely looked into his fathers face and
said, Dear Father, who is greater than you? Who else has
the courage to face the emperor, to bring peace, and possibly
to die?
So it was that Guru Tegh Bahadur told the Hindu
leaders, Rest in Anandpur for a day or two. Then tell the
emperor in Delhi that if he can make Tegh Bahadur join
his religion, then all the Hindus of the whole country will
also join his religion. But if he cannot, then he must stop
hurting and killing people to get more followers.
A few days later, the Guru said a final good-bye to his
family and the Sikhs of Anandpur. He old Kirpal Chand
and Bibi Viros sons to help Mata Gujari look after Gobind
Rai. The Gurus wife and his mother did their best to be
brave. The Guru said to his mother, Life has an end and
we should not be attached to it. Whoever comes into this
world, has to go as well. Only word of the saints lives
on.
Mata Gujari begged to come with the Guru to Delhi,
but he told her to remain in Anandpur and help their son
grow into a man. To his wife, the Guru said, Our son,
Gobind will be a great teacher. He will give you great
courage and always keep your spirits up. He will lead all
people to peace and freedom. Mata Gujari could not help
crying.
The Guru then hugged and kissed his son. There was
no fear in Gobind Rais eyes when he said his final goodbye. Guru Tegh Bahadur then left Anandpur with four
Sikhs.
Mata Gujari
45
For the next few weeks, Mata Gujari and everyone else
at Anandpur received news of her husbands travels. He
visited many villages and towns. Then they received news
that the Guru and his four Sikhs had arrived in the city of
Agra and been taken to prison by the emperors soldiers.
For two weeks, they waited and prayed, and prayed and
meditated, and received no more news.
Finally, a message for Mata Gujari arrived from the
Guru was held. It said, The emperors men have me in a
prison in Delhi. As Guru Nanak had said years ago, I am
here to take away their cruel power. Do not worry for me.
Love our son and see the Guru in him. Mata Gujari and
Mata Nanaki both cried when they read the message. They
knew it was a good-bye letter, but they did not want to
say good-bye.
One day, in her meditation, Mata Gujari saw her husband
bow in respect before her son. Then she saw the Gurus
head separated from his body. Mata Gujari asked Gobind
Rai to quickly send a Sikh to Delhi to see if there was any
truth in what she saw.
There was a long time of no news. Then a messenger
came, out of breath. By emperors order, Guru Tegh
Bahadur has been beheaded. All the Sikhs of Delhi are
very sad.
A day later, a Sikh named Bhai Jatha arrived carrying
with him in a cloth the head of Guru Tegh Bahadur. It was
the end of a great story and the beginning of another: the
story of the tenth Guru, Guru Gobind Rai.
Mata Gujari remained sad for some time after her
husband gave his life. But as the Guru had said, young
Gobind Rai gave her courage and helped lift her spirits
each day. Time passed, and soon came the day when Gobind
Rai should be married to Jitoji. The wedding was the first
really happy day at Anandpur since Guru Tegh Bahadur
had left.
46
The next year, Mata Nanaki, who had lived so long

and seen the death of her husband, Guru Hargobind and
then also her son, finally breathed her last. Mata Gujari
thought of all the years they had been together in Kartarpur,
in Bakala, and in Anandpur, and all the memories. Gobind
Rai also remembered his life with his dear grandmother.
The Sikhs respectfully made a fire. After loving prayers,
they turned her old body to ashes.
Six years later, a Sikh offered to Mata Gujri that his
daughter, Sundari might marry Gobind Rai. The Guru did
not wish a second wife, but kings in those days had more
than one wife, and his mother liked the parents and the
girl, so the Guru was married a second time.
Gobind Rai lived like a great and wise king. Many
kings came to visit with presents for the Guru. A king
came from faraway Assam, where Guru Tegh Bahadur
had been. Among other gifts, he brought an elephant that
was very smart. It could wash the Gurus feet and dry
them with a towel. It could also carry a torch in its trunk
at night, the better to see. When Rattan Rai gave the Guru
his present, he made him promise to keep it and never to
loan it to anyone else. The Guru named the elephant
Prasadi.
All this time, Guru Gobind Rai wanted two things.
One was powerful poetry to inspire his Sikhs. Much of this
Gurbaanee he wrote himself. The Guru was also helped by
poets who arrived at Anandpur from Delhi, where they
were afraid of the cruel emperor.
The other thing the Guru wanted was a strong army to
stand up against the armies of the emperor. More and
more men came to Anandpur to help. More and more men
trained and practised fighting and riding horses. Guru
Gobind Rai then decided he must have a very large drum
that could be heard from far away, to go with his army.
Mata Gujari
47
When the drum was nearly finished, some masands began

to worry. The job of the masands was to bring money from
the sangats and give it to the Guru. They said that if the
neighbouring king heard the sound of such a powerful
drum, he would not allow them to stay at Anandpur.
These Sikhs were too afraid to speak to the Guru, so they
came to Mata Gujri.
The Gurus mother then spoke with her brother, Kirpal
and asked her to tell his nephew not to finish the drum.
Her brother said he would not, and that she should speak
with Gobind Rai herself. The next morning, Mata Gujari
spoke with her son, We are people of God and must be
humble. Even if you finish the drum, do not beat it outside
where everyone can hear it.
Guru Gobind Rai replied, How long should I stay in
hiding? I am not going to take the neighbouring kings
land. If they are jealous for no reason, I cannot help it.
This is the Gurus castle where everyone receives what
they deserve.
When the drum was finished, Guru Gobind Rai
celebrated with prayers and sweet Guru Prashaad for
everyone. When it was beaten, everyone came to see it for
themselves. When Bhim Chand, the proud king from the
neighbouring kingdom arrived, he became jealous of all
the presents the Guru had received from his Sikhs. He
especially wanted Guru Gobind Rais elephant.
The selfish masands spoke with Mata Gujari. They said,
The Guru is very young and has never fought a war. He
is making Bhim Chand an enemy by not giving him the
elephant. The mountain kings are not afraid to fight and
die. Tell you son that it is not good to make trouble with
them.
When the Gurus mother tried to tell her son to do
what the masands said, Guru Gobind Rai spoke to her, I
48
have been sent here by God, who never dies. Raja Bhim
Chand is trying to scare me, but I fear only God and no
one else.
Bhim Chand talked other kings into joining him in
fighting the Guru and his followers. Finally, there was a
big battle between the Guru, his Sikhs, and the hill kings.
Gobind Rais uncle, Kirpal fought bravely. Many others
fought bravely. The Gurus cousin, Sango Shah was killed.
Guru Gobind Rai showered the battlefield with deadly
arrows. Many were killed before the remaining enemies of
the Gurus enemies rode away in defeat.
All this time, the Gurus family was growing. Sundari
had had a son named Ajit a year before the big battle.
Jitoji had three boys, one after another: Jujhar, Zorowar,
and Fateh. Guru Gobind Rai respected his wives equally
and lovingly taught all his sons to be fearless saint-soldiers.
In 1699, when the Guru was a grown man, he gave his
Sikhs a big test. At the big Baisakhi celebration, when
many thousands of Sikhs had come to Anandpur, he asked
for their heads. One by one, a few fearless followers of
the Guru came and offered him their heads, which he
chopped off with his sword.
While he was doing this, some timid Sikhs came to
Mata Gujari and complained. They said the Guru had lost
his mind and that she should make their oldest son Ajit
the Guru. Mata Gujari send a message, but no one was
reading messages that day. Everyone was paying complete
attention to Guru Gobind Rai. In the end, Guru Gobind
Rai created the Khalsa. A few days later, when he asked
the Khalsa to let him join them, he became Guru Gobind
Singh. All the Khalsa women were Kaur meaning princess,
and the men were Singh meaning lion.
All the years of the tenth Gurus getting ready to fight
were put to the test the following years. At that time, the
Mata Gujari
49
enemies of the Khalsa gathered and surrounded the forts

of Anandpur. For months, they cut off food and made
everyone hungry. Prasadi the elephant became so skinny
and hungry that the Guru killed it so it would suffer no
more. Mahan Singh and his forty men ran away to save
themselves.
Finally, the Mughal generals promised Guru Gobind
Singh that they would let him and his Khalsa escape from
the fort. The Guru did not believe the Mughals promise,
but his Sikhs were so hungry that they made him agree
with the Mughals. As Guru Gobind Singh had warned,
once everyone was out of the fort, the Mughals attacked
them from every direction.
The Guru and his Khalsa scattered to get away. Mata
Gujari crossed a river with her grandsons, Zorowar Singh
and Fateh Singh. Their cook, Gangu offered that they could
sleep at his house. Instead, he sold them to the Mughals.
Mughal soldiers took Mata Gujari, then eighty-one years
old, and her grandsons, seven and nine, to the governor
of Sarhind. Wazir Khan, the governor ordered that they
should be kept in a cold tower. There, the three of them
shivered while Mata Gujari kept up the spirits of the boys.
You are the greatgrandsons of Guru Hargobind, the
grandsons of the Guru Tegh Bahadur and the sons of
Guru Gobind Singh. Your spirit is strong. The Mughals
cannot break your spirit.
Wazir Khan wanted the Gurus sons to give up give up
their fathers religion. He told Zorowar and Fateh Singh,
If you join the emperors religion, if you bow to Mecca
and do the five Muslim prayers, you will have lands and
power. You can live and be happy. If you do not, you will
die.
With one voice, Fateh and Zorowar replied, Our
grandfather would not join your religion and we will not.
Oh Fool, why do you try to tempt us with things that are
50
useless in this life or the next? We will never be fooled by

you. Our grandfathers death created a fire to burn this
empire to ashes. Our deaths will add wind to that fire so
it burns faster and hotter.
The governor ordered that the two brave Khalsas be
made into a brick wall where they could breathe no more.
The wall fell instead before it could cover their heads.
When that failed, the cruel Wazirs men killed the Gurus
sons the next day.
Mata Gujari was kept in the cold tower. Once she knew
in her heart that her grandsons had left their bodies, she
gave hers up as well and returned her spirit to God, who
never dies.
Mata Gujari
51
Mata Krishan Kaur (1632-1701)

Mata Krishan Kaur was a wife of the seventh Guru. She
and Guru Har Rai lived together in Kiratpur for twenty
years. In 1661, her husband passed the guruship on to
their youngest son, Har Krishan.
When Guru Har Rai breathed his last, he was only
thirty-one years old. Mata Krishan Kaur was just twentynine. Guru Har Krishan was only five years old at the
time. When her husband, passed from this world, Mata
Krishan Kaur did her best to cheer up all the sad and
crying Sikhs. Dont be sad, she said. This is all a part
of Gods play.
Mata Krishan Kaur made herself busy helping and
serving her son, now the eighth Guru. She and her husband
had taught him well. He was already waking up three
hours before sunrise to take his bath and meditate.
Afterwards, he would sit with the sadh sangat, chant Gurbaanee
with them, and enjoy the keertan.
Guru Har Krishan had an older brother, Ram Rai, who
was very jealous. He made friends with the emperor
Auranzeb. Ram Rai hoped the powerful emperor would
help him defeat his little brother so he could be Guru.
One day, a messenger came with gifts and presents
from a friendly Rajput general in Delhi. Raja Jai Singh
invited Guru Har Krishan to visit him. He told the Guru
that the emperor wanted to see him, but that he should
52
not worry. Raja Jai Singh had a large army and he would
see Guru Har Krishan was safe.
Everyone knew what a dangerous man the emperor of
India was. Many of the Sikhs worried that something bad
might happen if their young Guru went to see him. Hundreds
of Sikhs wanted to come with Guru Har Krishan to keep
him safe, but the Guru asked only his mother and about
twenty Sikhs to come along.
Raja Jai Singh was a good man. He gave his special
guests a big house to stay in. The house was surrounded
by Raja Jai Singhs soldiers, who also lived in Delhi. It
seemed safe from the emperor.
Although Guru Har Krishan had come to Delhi because
the powerful emperor wanted to see him, he did not want
to see Aurangzeb. Instead, Mata Krishan Kaur and the
Guru spend their days visiting the poor, the sick, and the
homeless. All the money his Sikhs gave Guru Har Krishan
was used to buy food, clothes and medicine for the suffering.
Everyone was happy to see the Guru. Some said, that
just by seeing him, their sadness and worry went away.
Such was the power of Guru Har Krishans meditation.
Raja Jai Singh told the emperor what he saw. He told
Aurangzeb that Har Krishan was very different from his
brother Ram Rai. While Ram Rai wanted to be powerful,
Guru Har Krishan only wanted to help the helpless and
serve the poor.
While the general did his best to keep the Guru safe
and out of the emperors hands, Aurangzeb was impatient.
He demanded Raja Jai Singh hand Guru Har Krishan over
to him.
It happened that there was a terrible sickness in Dehli
at that time. Smallpox are like chickenpox, only deadly.
Thousands and thousands of people were dying.
The next morning, Guru Har Krishan had a fever and
was not feeling well. He was so sick that he could not
Mata Krishan Kaur
53
even speak when Raja Jai Singh asked him to see the emperor.
The day after that, his body was covered with pox and he
knew his time on Earth would not be many more days.
Mata Krishan Kaur began to worry. She had seen her
husband pass away just three years before. Now it looked
like even her youngest son would leave her. She said, My
son, why do you want to die? You only just became Guru.
You are still a child. It is too soon for you to go. I wish
you would live a full life, have a wife and children, and
then go to God! Why at such a young age are you turning
away from this world?
The Guru said to his mother, Mother dear, it is natural
you should feel this love for me, but you should not worry.
We must do what God wants. Guru Arjun once said:
The Master may harvest the crop whether it is green,
half-ripe, or ripe and ready to be cut.
When God, the Farmer, feels it is time, He cuts down
the crop. There is no rule that says it cannot be young and
green. What torture Guru Arjan suffered, but he did not
say a word! Why should we be sad about the body when
God wants to take it away. Whatever God does is best.
While the Guru lay sick in bed, everyone was told to
chant and read Gurbaanee. When he could, Guru Har Krishan
sat up and taught the Sikhs gathered around his bed. He
told them about life and the importance of death. All this
while, Mata Krishan Kaur was busy bringing special food
and medicine to her son. She also worked day and night
to look after all the people who came to visit.
Some of the Sikhs worried. They said, Great King,
your brother Ram Rai is friends with the emperor. In Punjab,
there is Dhirmal and others who want the Guruship. They
are only waiting for your passing to try and take over.
Simple Sikhs will fall into their traps and smart Sikhs will
be hurt. In this way, the tree which Guru Nanak planted
will wither away. Every one will be a guru in their own
54
home and Sikhism will fall apart. Please give us someone

like you to help us.
Guru Har Krishan said, Why do you worry? The tree
planted by Guru Nanaks holy hands will never wither.
Bad weather, storms and heat may come, but that tree will
live on. One Guru will blend with another.
The eighth Guru then asked for a coconut and five
pennies. Then, in the same way Guru Har Rai and all the
Gurus before him had done it, he made three circles as he
meditated on the ninth Guru, and said, The Guru is in
Bakala. At that point, he lost his voice. When the Guru
was able to speak again, he told the ragis to sing Gurbaanee
and chant Gods Name.
Each day, Guru Har Krishan became weaker. One night,
the Gurus mother said to him, What should I do alone
in this world, once I have lost my good son and my kind
husband? How will I live without them?
The Guru replied, Mother dear, do not worry! Most
of your life to now has been filled with happiness. For the
rest of your life, serve God. Guru Arjan has said:
Where the doctor cannot do anything, and where
there is no sister and no brother, only God can help.
By remembering God, you will arrive at a place where
you will never be unhappy, and never be without us.
Hearing her sons words, Mata Krishan Kaur felt peace.
The Guru finally told his Sikhs not to cry for him. Instead,
he wanted them all to sing Gurbaanee.
After Guru Har Krishans cremation, Mata Krishan Kaur
took all her sons important things and went back to
Kiratpur. There, she send a Sikh to the village of Bakala
with a message to the ninth Guru:
Please come to Kiratpur to receive a special jewel for
your turban, a hawk, a sword, the army, and the horses
which have passed to you through Guru Hargobind, Guru
Har Rai, and Guru Har Krishan. These are now yours.
Mata Krishan Kaur
55
A few weeks later, Guru Tegh Bahadur arrived with

Mata Nanaki and Mata Gujari and many Sikhs. Bhai Gurditta,
the grandfather of the eighth Guru, and older brother to
Guru Tegh Bahadur, gave him all the things from Guru
Har Krishan. The ninth Guru took most of the things, but
gave the things that were special to the eighth Guru, his
clothes and other things, to Mata Krishan Kaur to keep.
While the ninth Guru went on to build the city of Chak
Nanaki, which he would later call Anandpur, Mata Krishan
Kaur stayed in Kiratpur. She lived there and taught the
Sikhs how to live and how to die, and how to live on
while others die. Mata Krishan Kaur was a great teacher
for many Sikhs.
While Guru Tegh Bahadur travelled far to Patna and
Assam, Mata Krishan Kaur kept serving and teaching the
Sikhs in Punjab. When the ninth Guru was martyred in
Delhi, it was Mata Krishan Kaur who came to Anandpur
and lovingly put the turban on Gobind Rais head in the
ceremony that made him Guru.
The wife of the seventh Guru and mother of the eighth
Guru was a humble, peaceful, and noble lady. Mata Krishan
Kaur was a great role model. She gave loved and served
and gave hope to many people.
56
Mai Bhago (1675-1755)

Bhag Kaur could hardly believe her ears.
Her husband had told her that he and his friends had
just come back from fighting alongside Guru Gobind Singh
and many brave Khalsa. In the fort of Anandpur, they had
been hungry and cold and missing their families. Then
they, forty of them, had told the Guru they wanted to
return home. Guru Gobind Singh had agreed they could
go, but only if they declared they were no longer his
disciples and he was no longer their Master. Mahan Singh,
their leader, had signed a piece of paper that said as much.
That night, they slipped away from Anandpur Sahib.
Bhag Kaur spoke with the women of the surrounding
villages and asked them about their husbands, brothers
and sons who had just returned. They all told the same
story. Their men had deserted Guru Gobind Singh.
Bhag Kaur felt ashamed for her husband and her whole
family. She felt sorry for all her women friends. She told
them not to welcome their men home. This was not a
happy time.
Bhag Kaur spoke to Mahan Singh, her husband Nidhan
Singh, and the other men. Why did you leave the Guru
to fight without your help. Why did you turn your back
on the Guru? Why, if you wont fight, we women will give
you our aprons. We will go and fight for you!
The men looked at each other. Life had been very hard
at the Gurus side. They had thought that if they just left
Mai Bhago
57
Guru Gobind Singh, everything would be easy. This was

not easy. This was very, very hard. Now their women
were making them feel ashamed to be men.
One by one, the men decided to return as quickly as
possible to the Gurus side. Bhag Kaur announced that she
would set out with them in the morning to find Guru
Gobind Singh and his Khalsa.
Their saddles and horses were prepared. Their armour
was repaired. Their weapons were sharpened. In the
morning, there was a great langar. Then, the forty set out
in high spirits. Bhag Kaur, dressed as a man and armed
with a spear, lead the way.
What they did not know was that Guru Gobind Singh,
his army, and his family had left the fort of Anandpur
Sahib. They had left and spread in all different directions,
chased by the Mughal hordes. Many had fought and died
along the way. The Gurus four sons had been martyred,
his mother as well. Now Guru Gobind Singh was wandering
the forest with the Mughal army looking for him.
Bhag Kaur and her followers had travelled all day
when they came to the village of Khidrana. Their horses
were tired and thirsty, and so were they. At Khidrana,
they expected a pool of refreshing water.
A large Mughal army of hundreds of thirsty soldiers
and horses was also coming to Khidrana. And in the nearby
forest was Guru Gobind Singh.
Soon the Mughals and the Sikhs spotted each other.
They prepared to do battle. The Guru also saw them and
prepared to rain arrows on the soldiers from his forest
hideout.
The battle was furious. The horses kicked up dust in
every direction. Soon, Mai Bhago and each of her men
were surrounded by dozens of well-armored Mughal
soldiers on horseback. Bhag Kaur struck her spear to the
left and right, protecting herself and her horse from the
58
sword strikes of the soldiers. Nidhan Singh and Mahan

Singh and the others fought quickly and bravely. Though
they were outnumbered, they emptied many Mughal
saddles. All the while, deadly arrows also rained on the
Mughals from the Guru. Almost every arrow made its
mark.
After a long fight, Bhago Kaur and her fighters lay
dead or wounded on the ground. They were surrounded
by many dead Mughal soldiers. It was night now.
The still living horsemen went to where they expected
to find water for themselves and their horses, but the pool
was dry. The nearest water was an hours ride away.
Leaving their dead, the Mughals rode off quickly.
Guru Gobind Singh came out of the forest from where
he had killed many soldiers with his arrows. He went to
each of Bhag Kaurs men. Her husband and the rest were
all dead, excepting Mahan Singh. He was barely breathing.
Guru Gobind Singh kneeled beside Mahan Singh and
took his head onto his lap, Do you have any final wish?
My dear Guru, I have only one last wish. Please tear
up the note I had signed and accept us as your Khalsa
again.
The Guru reached into a pouch he had with him where
he had kept that note. Before Mahan Singhs eyes, he took
it out, tore it to pieces and threw it to the wind, where it
quickly scattered in the air.
The Guru looked deeply into his Khalsas eyes and
said, It is done as you wish, my dear son.
Mahan Singh smiled and breathed his last.
Guru Gobind Singh walked between the bodies of the
dead and dying, until he found Bhago Kaur, who was
badly hurt. He kneeled beside her and stroked her forehead.
She opened her eyes in surprise to see her Guru.
Through her courage, Bhag Kaur had saved the honour
of her husband and all the men from the surrounding
Mai Bhago
59
villages. They became known as The Forty Liberated Ones.

Afterwards, Bhag Kaur was called Mai Bhago. Her
wounds healed and she travelled south with Guru Gobind
Singh. They went with a few Sikhs to Nander in Maharashtra.
Mai Bhago was there when he made Siri Guru Granth
Sahib the Guru for all time. And she was there when his
spirit left his body.
After Guru Gobind Singhs passing, Mai Bhago went
further south to the village of Jinvara in Karnataka. There,
she found a simple hut and happily meditated for the rest
of her years. The loving Sikhs of that place build a Gurdwara
to remember her by. It is called Gurdwara Tap Ashtan
Mai Bhago.
60
Rani Sahib Kaur (1771-1799)

Sahib Kaur was a princess of the Kingdom of Patiala. When
she was two years old, her brother was born. He was
named Sahib Singh, and together, they were the prince
and the princess of their fathers kingdom.
Their father was a smart general named Raja Amar
Singh. His mother was Mai Hukman, a wise old woman.
Their mother was Raj Kaur, a smart woman who could
read and write a horse.
Often their father would be fighting other armies with
his soldiers. While they were still young, Sahib Kaur and
Sahib Singh learned to ride a horse and how to use a
sword and shield. Their father knew it was important that
they learn to fight. One day the kingdom would be theirs,
and they would have to know how to fight to keep it.
Sahib Kaurs parents arranged for her to marry Jamail
Singh. He lived 300 kilometers away. For this reason, Sahib
Kaur left her own family to live with her new husband in
Fatehgarh village, near the town of Gurdaspur. Those were
dangerous days. Armies, large and small, would visit out
of nowhere. Sahib Kaur continued to practice her gatka
and horse-riding.
Sahib Kaurs father died a year after she moved away.
Her younger brother became the king. Because he was
only eight years old, his grandmother, Mai Hukman helped
Rani Sahib Kaur
61
him do his job. Sahib Singh and his older sister often sent
messanges back and forth.
Year after year, however, things became worse in
Patiala. The people became restless. Neighbouring kings
threatened Sahib Kaurs brother. When Mai Hukman died
of old age, the chiefs of the kingdom of Patiala said they
would break away and not pay their taxes to Sahib Singh.
When he was twenty years old and his sister was twentytwo, Sahib Singh did something unusual. He sent for his
sister and gave her the important job of prime minister.
When Sahib Kaur arrived, she took charge. She went
to every village, getting to know them and seeing they
were at peace. Sahib Kaur also made the chiefs pay their
taxes. Lastly, she had men make two new forts to protect
the kingdom.
Sahib Kaurs messengers told her what was happening
all over her kingdom and beyond. One day, a messenger
arrived out of breath. He said, Your husbands cousin has
stolen Jarnail Singhs ;and and put him in prison.
In no time at all, Sahib Kaur put together a small army
to rescue her husband. They rode quickly to Fatehgarh
village. Seeing Sahib Kaur and her soldiers, the cousin
surrendered and released her husband. Afraid of what
she might do to him, he also returned the land he had
taken.
When Sahib Kaur arrived back in Patiala, there was
more trouble. A Maratha army of 12,000 men had arrived
no far away. The Maratha general, Nano Rao wanted Patiala
to surrender to him. He sent three Sikh chiefs to meet
Sahib Kaur.
Sahib Kaur told the Sikh chiefs to tell the Marathas
that Patiala was very powerful and he should not challenge
them. Then she went to meet the kings of Jind, Nabha and
Kalsian. None of them wanted to fight the Marathas, but
62
Sahib Kaur told them what would happen to them if they

did not join and fight together. Finally they agreed. Sahib
Kaur sent a message to Nano Rao, warning him that if
their army came any closer, their armies would meet in
the battlefield.
Sahib Kaur and her friends prepared for war. Together,
they had 7,000 men. Before going forward to meet the
enemy, Sahib Kaur spoke to her chiefs and soldiers. She
said, I have made a promise that I will not return without
beating the enemy. Will you allow a lady to be killed
fighting? Will you yourself turn your back on the enemy?
In this way, she readied them for the coming battle.
The armies meet at Mardanpur, fourteen kilometers
outside of Patiala. There was a great clash of horses and
steel. A great noise, great cries, mangled men, blood in
the field, in the air, everywhere.
Sahib Kaur herself took on a brave Maratha chief, Ranjit
Rao. They fought one-on-one on their horses with their
swords and shields. At last, she outwitted the chief and
landed him a fatal blow.
The soldiers fought until evening, then went to their
camps to rest and prepare for the next days fight.
ahib Kaur and her allies lost one third of their men on
the battlefield, while the Marathas lost one half. Everyone
was sore and hurting, with many injuries.
In their war council that night, Sahib Kaur and her
chiefs worried the Marathas might have more soldiers coming
to help. Instead of waiting till morning, they decided to
attack the enemy at midnight.
Quietly, they gathered themselves, their weapons and
their horses. Sahib Kaur and her soldiers approached the
Maratha camp in the stillness of the night. Hardly any of
the Marathas were on guard. When they saw the thousands
of Sikhs on horseback descending on them in the darkness,
Rani Sahib Kaur
63
they turned and ran. Soon the whole Maratha camp was
overrun by the army of Patiala and its allies.
The Marathas woke up and gathered themselves together
as best they could. Then they retreated, went back where
they had come from, never to return again. Sahib Kaur has
saved Patiala and everyone was grateful to her - and to
God and Guru who had protected them.
64
Princess Sophia (1878-1948)

Princess Sophia Jindan Alexandra Duleep Singh, daughter
of Maharaja Duleep Singh and Maharani Bamba, was born
in England at the mansion called Elveden Hall, in 1876.
Princess Sophias father had been the last maharaja of the
Sikh kingdom of Punjab.
The armies of the British had twice defeated the armies
of Punjab. The British then took Duleep Singh, aged just
eleven, away and educated him as a Christian. He was
stripped of his religion and his kingdom, but given a large
allowance and allowed to keep his title, maharaja, meaning
great king. Five years later, in 1854, Duleep Singh was
sent into exile in Britain.
Sophia and her brothers and sisters lived the lives of
princes and princesses. Their father decorated their large
home to look like a Mughal palace and kept a collection of
exotic parrots, falcons, peacocks, and buzzards. Being
favorites of Queen Victoria meant the family was popular.
There were always visitors, and rich and royal
entertainments.
In 1907, Sophia went with her older sister, Bamba to
visit Amritsar and Lahore, and meet members of their
fathers family for the first time. Everyone they met showed
them much love and respect, although they only spoke
English. They needed an interpreter with them wherever
they went.
Princess Sophia
65
A couple of years later, Princess Sophia visited the

home of a friend, Una Dugdale, who inspired her to join
the movement for womens rights. In those days, women
could not vote and they could not be prime minister or
president. Only men could run the country and decide
who ran the country. It was unfair and had always been
unfair. Now women were becoming educated and
demanding their rights.
Sophia joined the Womens Social and Political Union.
These women were known as suffragettes because they
wanted womens suffrage the right for women to vote.
There was to be an election at the end of 1910. Prime
Minister Asquith stopped a law that would have given one
million wealthy British women the vote. Sophia and her
new friends decided they would march to Parliament to
tell the Prime Minister women deserved the right to vote.
On November 18, Sophia and Emmeline Pankhurst and
other well-known suffragettes led a delegation of 300
women. Before reaching Parliament, rows of police roughed
them up, beat them, and threw them to the ground. Some
of the women had their bones broken. Still they tried to
press against the lines of police toward Parliament. The
police arrested over one hundred, put them in paddy
wagons, and took them to jail.
The next day, a photo in a newspaper of the brutality
of the police was so shocking that Winston Churchill, an
important member of the government, ordered the arrested
women should be let go. Otherwise, he knew his government
would become even more unpopular. Sophia and the other
women were more determined than ever to fight on.
Next, Sophia joined a group of women who refused to
pay their taxes: the Womens Tax Resistance League. In
May of 1911, Sophia was ordered to come to court for
refusing to pay her taxes. She declared, Taxation without
representation is a tyranny! If a woman paid her taxes,
66
she should also have a right to participate, by voting or

being elected, in her government. Her protest was ignored
and she was made to pay a fine.
In July and again two years later, when Sophia again
refused to pay her taxes. In her defense, she said, If I am
not a fit person for the purposes of representation, why
should I be a fit person for taxation?
The police came and took away her diamond ring and
other jewelry to be sold at auction. Many of her friends
came to the auction. They bought and promptly gave them
back to Sophia. The suffragettes used these events to put
their story in the newspapers so more people would
understand the unfairness of the laws. At that time, most
people still did not agree that women should vote.
Princess Sophia used her popularity to gain friends
and supporters for womens right to vote. She gave out
thousands of Votes to Women pamphlets around London.
Sophia also raised money for the Womens Tax Resistance
League and sold copies of The Suffragette newspaper on
the street.
In August of 1914, Britain entered the First World War.
The government agreed to let go all the hundreds of
suffragettes from prison. In return, the women agreed that
until the end of the conflict they would stop their protest
and help the country win the war. The next year, Princess
Sophia took part in a march of 10,000 women calling for
their right to do the work that men had always done.
With millions of men away fighting in the war, their
jobs were not being done. Factory workers and postmen,
drivers and office workers had all left their regular jobs to
go to war. As a result of their protest, many women began
doing jobs women had never done before. This was a
great help to the war effort. It also proved that women
could do just about anything a man could do just as well,
and sometimes better.
Princess Sophia
67
During the war, Princess Sophia made many visits to

English hospitals where she gave comforted and encouraged
Indian soldiers who had been wounded fighting the war
for the British. The recovering soldiers enjoyed her visits
because they knew she was the granddaughter of the great
Sikh Maharaja Ranjeet Singh. Sophia also sometimes worked
as nurse.
Near the end of the war, in February of 1918, a new
government with a new prime minister, finally passed a
law that gave all men over the age of twenty-one and
those women over thirty who owned a house, the right to
vote. This was a victory for working class men and for
most women. During the war, they had shown their worth
to the entire country.
Ten years later, the laws were again changed, giving
men and women equal rights to vote or to become an
elected representative, even prime minister. Through their
hard work, courage, and intelligence, Sophia and the
suffragettes had won.
68
Bibi Harnam Kaur (1886-1914)

Around 1900, Canada and India were sister colonies of the
British Empire. Both were ruled from London, England by
Parliament and Queen Victoria. They were different also.
Many millions of people lived in India. It was famous for
its spices and arts and temples. India was called the crown
of the British Empire. Canada was filled with wild forests
and grasslands. It was twice as large as India, but not
many people lived there.
In 1897, a group of Sikh soldiers travelled to London
to celebrate sixty years of Queen Victorias rule. There
was to be a festival and they, mounted in fine horses and
with smart-looking turbans, were going to be part of a big
parade. On their way to England, the soldiers rode a train
across Canada from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean. They
liked the big, open land they saw. The soldiers decided
one day they would come back to cut down the trees and
farm the land of Canada.
After they had returned to their homes in Punjab, the
Sikh soldiers told their families and friends about the great
country they had seen. They described the wide, open
spaces and the rich, tall forests.
Soon they did come back, several hundred of them. By
1906, there were 1,500 Sikhs working in the province of
British Columbia. The men worked mostly in sawmills,
cutting the logs of the great trees into planks for making
wooden houses and buildings.
Bibi Harnam Kaur
69
Far away, in the city of Peshawar, to the west of India,

a girl was born. When she went to Gurdwara for the first
time, her parents named her Harnam Kaur. When she grew
up and was twenty-two years old, her family married her
to Bhag Singh. Harnam Kaurs husband had settled in British
Columbia and come to India to marry her. He wanted to
bring his new wife back home to Canada with him. They
were to travel together with Balwant Singh and his wife
and two children. Back in British Columbia, he served as
the granthee at one of the two Gurdwaras.
Harnam Kaur was a little worried about the long distance
she would have to travel to her new home. She felt that
she might never see her parents and friends and family
again. But she did her Nitnem each day and the Nitnem
told her that every ending has inside it a new beginning,
so she was not too afraid.
Bhag Singh and Balwant Singh were bringing their wives
to Canada for a reason. The Caucasian people of Canada
were afraid of all the new people coming to their country
from Asia. They thought they would soon lose their country
to millions people coming from China, India and Japan.
It was natural that the pink-skinned people of Canada
should think others might come from far away and take
their land from them. That, in fact, is exactly what they
themselves had just done to the tribal peoples who had
lived in Canada for thousands of years. To prevent this
from happening, the government of Canada had made laws
that made it difficult for people from Japan, China and
India to move to their country.
Harnam Kaur and her companions set out on a steamship
that went from India to Hongkong, and from Hongkong
to America. America was another big country on the same
continent as Canada, but to the south of it. In this way,
her husband hoped to come first to America, then to secretly
to Canada.
70
Every morning, they would gather on the ship and

recite their Nitnem. In the evening, as the sun sank behind
the clouds and into the ocean, they recited Rehiras, and at
night sweet Kirtan Sohila. Every morning and evening,
they would do a prayer for a safe journey and Gods help
in coming to Canada.
Kartar Kaur, who was Balwant Singhs wife, and Harnam
Kaur became close friends as they crossed the ocean on
the ship full of all kinds of people. When Harnam became
pregnant, they became even better friends. They talked
about how homesick they were, about being a mother,
and about their future lives in Canada.
After many weeks, they landed at the port of San
Francisco in the U.S.A. It was good to finally smell the
land and see the green of the forests and the blue-grey of
the mountains after weeks aboard the ship. Kartar Kaur
had grown rolly-polly with her new baby inside. She joined
a line of passengers with her husband and Kartar Kaur
and her family. At the end of the line was an importantlooking person in a uniform. It was his job to look at their
identification papers and welcome them.
When they reached the end of the line, her husband
spoke in English she did not understand with the
immigration officer. Soon it was clear that things were not
going well. The immigration officer did not welcome them
to America. He told them they must stay on the ship.
Everyone was disappointed, but they did not give up.
What happened? Harnam Kaur asked her husband.
They are not allowing us to come to America, her
husband told her.
What will we do now? she asked.
We will continue on the ship to Seattle. If Waheguru
wills it, we will be allowed to enter America there, he
said.
Bibi Harnam Kaur
71
Two days later, the ship entered the harbour of the

misty city of Seattle, not far from Canada. Again, they
formed a line, a shorter line. Once again, a grim man in a
uniform told them they could not leave the ship. They
would have to stay on board. They would have to return
to India.
Harnam Kaur cried a few tears. She was so looking
forward to stepping off the ship onto land. She could smell
the wonderful scent of the pine forests. Harinam Kaur was
looking forward to coming to land and making a home for
her new baby.
Harnam Kaur was becoming bigger every day and the
journey back across the wide ocean took weeks. Finally,
they arrived in Hongkong. Soon after she and her
companions had left their ship, Harnam Kaur gave birth to
a baby boy. Instead of starting their family in Canada,
Harnam had had her first child in China! But she and her
husband continued to do their prayers. They did not give
up their dream of coming to Canada.
Harnam Kaur and Bhag Singh returned with their baby
to his home village near Amritsar. For two years, they
regained their strength, talked and planned. Bhag Singh
sold some family land to pay for the long trip back to
Canada. This time, they decided to sail direct for Vancouver
harbour.
Once again, Harnam Kaur met her friend Kartar Kaur
and her husband and their growing children. This time,
they set off secretly from India to Hongkong to Canada,
hoping to surprise the immigration officer in Vancouver.
After another long, long journey aboard a steamship,
they saw mountains far in the distance. There were eagles
in the sky and whales and fishing boats in the waters
around their steamship. They were approaching Vancouver
harbour.
72
Once again, Harnam and her companions organized

themselves into a line to meet an Englishman or was it
a Canadian? - in a uniform at the front. This time the man
took a long, hard look at Bhag Singh and Balwant Singhs
papers. He called another officer. They spoke in serious
tones for what seemed like a long time.
Finally, they decided that the men could return to
Vancouver, but their wives and children would have to
return on the next ship to India! The law said no women
from Asia were allowed to enter Canada. It was a very
unfriendly law made by the frightened people of Canada.
Harnam Kaur finally was able to step off the ship with
her son and husband and Kartar Kaur and her family.
How nice it was! At least a hundred Sikhs, including the
only two women, came out to welcome them. And soon
they set out to read Sukhmanee day and night, praying for
a change of heart by the immigrant people and their heartless
law.
Many people began to talk about the case of Harnam
Kaur and Kartar Kaur. The Sikhs in British Columbia began
to talk and discuss. The pink-skinned people in British
Columbia began to talk. The thousands of Chinese and
Japanese in Canada began to talk. The tribal people of
British Columbia began to talk. And the people in the
government, thousands of miles to the east, also began to
talk and talk. For weeks, telegrams tapped out messages
to the east and back to the west.
Finally, there was a decision that Harnam Kaur and
Kartar Kaur and their children could stay in Canada. The
government would not change its rules, at least not yet,
but Bhag Singh and Balwant Singhs families would be
allowed to live Canada.
Harnam Kaur and Kartar Kaur will always be
remembered as brave women. By coming to Canada, they
Bibi Harnam Kaur
73
challenged the countrys unjust laws. Because of their

sacrifices, Canada today is special country of many peoples
from many lands living in peace together. And thanks to
Harnam Kaur and Kartar Kaur, immigration laws today
are kinder and friendlier than they were when these ladies
were twice challenged to abandon their dreams of a new
life in a new country.
74
Bibi Balbir Kaur (1901-1923)

Everyone was excited. There was freedom in the air. You
could almost smell it.
The Akalis were standing up to the British, telling them
to leave our Gurdwaras alone. The British and their guns
controlled all of India the army, the roads, the schools,
the prisons, the police. The rulers even had their henchmen
in charge of the Gurdwaras, making sure nobody spoke a
word against them.
Thousands had been beaten up and sent to the prison
for standing up to the British. The prisons were packed
with many more thousands of protesters and the rulers
were running out of prisons. At Jallianwala Bhag, hundreds
of Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims had been machine-gunned
by the British to scare the people into letting the foreigners
stay in charge of India.
The year was 1923. Fifty thousand or more people came
out to the Akal Takhat in Amritsar as five hundred Akalis
did their ardaas and promised to walk to Jaito peacefully,
no matter what the cost. Everyone knew the British were
killing Indians. Everyone knew the British were scared to
be kicked out of India one day. But they, the Sikhs, were
not scared. They were in cherdi kalaa.
Thousands followed as the shaheedee jatha walked
barefoot, sometimes chanting, sometimes meditating quietly,
along the way. Balbir Kaur joined the parade along with
Bibi Balbir Kaur
75
many, many others. She hoped to do some seva, maybe

cook or clean or be of some help somehow.
All along the way, tens of thousands of people came
out to see the brave Akalis. Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims,
Christians, all showered flower petals and rose water on
the five hundred. At every stop, they were given delicious
water, milk, sweets and fruits. People gave piles of money
out of love and respect.
They travelled, day by day. Every night, they slept in
a different Gurdwara. Slowly, they walked toward their
destination of Gurdwara Gangsar at the village of Jaito
Mandi.
Balbir Kaur could see there was little she could do for
the shaheedee jatha. She just marched alongside them. And
sometimes she would share the joy of her one-year-old
son with the Akalis. His playful smiles and laughter brought
happiness to everyones heart.
Eleven days they walked. Each day was more exciting
than the last. Finally, they knew they were coming close
to their destination.
On the morning of the twelfth day, the jathedar of the
great procession stood on a high place and spoke, With
Wahegurujis blessing, we have come this far knowing that
death likely awaits us. We have been told that the British
have machine guns set up between here and Gurdwara
Gangsar. I am now asking anyone who has not made their
promise before Akal Takhat Sahib to please give way. Allow
the shaheedee jatha to continue without you.
Many people obeyed the jathedar, but not everyone,
not Balbir Kaur and quite a few others, even Hindus and
Muslims. Some continued on a parallel path a little distance
away. Many others continued alongside the garlanded
shaheedee jatha..
When the jathedar came to know that Balbir was still
marching, he left the front of the procession to speak with
76
her. Bibi, he said, you should not go further. There is

a chance we will be fired on.
Balbir Kaur replied, Veerjee, do not stop me. I am
thirsty for seva. Do not worry. Let me enjoy this seva.
There are five hundred Singhs with me, all ready to meet
death, why should they not be joined with a Kaur? I have
also taken Amrit. I will feel blessed to give my life along
with my brothers and meet Guru Gobind Singh with them.
Up to now, I have done no seva at all.
But, Bibi... began the jathedar.
My child? This is what you want to point out? He also
is Gurus blessing. She hugged her son and he gave out
a squeal of laughter. And if he too serves the Panth, what
greater blessing can there be?
The jathedar and others too tried to make Balbir Kaur
change her mind and go back.
Not including a Singherni with five hundred Singhs in
a shaheedee jatha will be an insult to Guru Gobind Singh
who made us equal. How can this be? I will not allow this
insult.
At last, the power of her arguments forced Balbir Kaurs
brothers to accept her right to continue with the shaheedee
jatha. The jathedar took his place again at the front of the
procession of more than five hundred. They began to chant
as one voice, Satinaam Waheguru, Satinaam Waheguru,
Satinaam Waheguru, Satinaam Waheguru...
They came to a checkpoint. A British officer tried to
force the procession to enter in groups of fifty,
unsuccessfully. The group hardly paused, but continued
forward, continued forward even as shots rang out in
three directions. Machineguns.
A bullet grazed Balbir Kaurs forehead. Akalis were
being hit to the left and right of her. Many fell and picked
themselves up again. They continued chanting, Satinaam
Waheguru, Satinaam Waheguru...
Bibi Balbir Kaur
77
Balbir Kaurs child played with the blood gushing down

her face. To him, it was all a game. Time moved slowly.
A bullet hit her child in one ear and entered her chest.
Balbir Kaur kissed her child on its forehead and put it
down carefully by the side of the road. She prayed, Oh
Waheguru, you have given this child to me. Now please
take care of its soul.
Balbir Kaurs face became yellowish. Her walk became
wobbly, but she would not stop. She kept chanting over
the noise of the guns, Satinaam Waheguru, Satinaam
Waheguru...
A last bullet, a messenger of liberation, entered Balbir
Kaurs body and it crumpled to the ground. She gave a
smile and breathed her last.
On that one day, about one hundred were martyred
and twice as many wounded. More than seven hundred
peaceful demonstrators were beaten up and put in prison.
Many of their bodies were hurt and broken by the cruel
police.
A week later, another shaheedee jatha of five hundred
plus started out from the Akal Takhat. Volunteers were
coming from Canada and China to join be a part of the
movement. In the months that followed, another fourteen
groups of five hundred made the same procession from
Amritsar to Jaito, beatings and prison.
Only the last procession, which left the Akal Takhat on
April 27, 1925, was allowed to go peacefully. At the end,
the British finally gave up and let the Sikhs control their
own Gurdwaras. The thousands who had been arrested
were set free. The courage of Bibi Balbir Kaur and many
others had finally won the freedom of the Sikhs.
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Bibi Gursharan Kaur (1937 - )

Gursharan Kaur wanted to be a school teacher when she
was a girl, but she was not very good with her studies.
She liked to sing keertan and play with her friends instead.
Gursharan went to a Sikh school near Peshawar, which
today is in Pakistan. When she was ten years old, her
family moved to the holy city of Amritsar. That was just
before India and Pakistan, which had been one country,
were separated into two. It was a very bloody break with
Sikhs and Hindus being killed and chased out of Pakistan
and many Muslims being chased out of India. It was a
dangerous time. Gursharan Kaur and her family were lucky
to be safe in India when the split happened.
Gursharan Kaur went to school in Amritsar and Patiala,
and returned to Amritsar, where she earned her teaching
degree from Khalsa College. But her parents had another
idea. They wanted Gursharan to get married. She had two
older sisters, and a younger brother and two sisters. The
older sisters had already married and started families of
their own.
Gursharans parents told her it was now her turn to be
married and they said they had found a nice young man.
His name was Manmohan Singh and he was so smart that
schools gave him prizes for his school work. In no time,
they were engaged and married and moved to Chandigarh,
Bibi Gursharan Kaur
79
where her husband taught about money at Punjabi

University. Soon after, Gursharan and Manmohan were
expecting their first child.
The new couple had a baby girl they named Upinder.
They planned to live in their new house in Chandigarh,
near the university. Instead, Manmohan won his biggest
prize yet through his hard work and smart thinking
about what money does for people. The prize was to go
to study at Oxford University, one of the best schools in
the world. Gursharan and her husband and baby Upinder
went to England so Manmohan could learn from the best
teachers.
In a short time, Gursharan was having three big
adventures: being married, being a mother, and living far
away from her family in India. Sometimes she was homesick,
but mostly Gursharan was too busy to be homesick. Besides,
there were lots of Sikhs in England they could meet, and
she was still able to play keertan in the Gurdwara. Sikhs
had lived in England since Maharaja Daleep Singh. Unlike
the maharaja and most of the other Sikh men in England,
Manmohan Singh kept his turban. Gursharan liked to wear
her salwaar kameez.
Four years later, Upinder was already reading and
curious about all things. But it was time to leave the land
of fog and Santa and dresses to return home to Chandigarh.
Gursharan was happy to hear the sound of people speaking
Punjabi again. It was nice also be feel really at home and
to visit with her sisters and friends, all of Upinders auntijis and uncle-jis. And soon another baby was born, a sister
to Upinder. She was named Daman.
While Gursharan Kaur was busy looking after their
children with the help of a servant or two, Manmohan
Singh was becoming famous. There were many poor people
in India and in many other countries. He had good ideas
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to help people work better and become less poor. Soon, he

was invited to go to America to help people from around
the world. Gursharan was proud of her husband.
Soon, they were packing and moving again. Gursharan
and Manmohan and Upinder and little Daman flew all the
way to New York City. The important place where her
husband would work was called the United Nations.
In New York, Gursharan and Mohinder made new
friends from all different countries, from the east and the
west and the north and the south. Almost every country
in the world sent some of its smartest people to the United
Nations to work together for peace between nations. In
the New York harbour was the Statue of Liberty. It
reminded everyone of how important it is to live free and
without fear. There was also a big playground called Coney
Island near the big statue in the harbour. And snow in the
winter.
Three years was a long time to be away from family.
Even to call India for ten minutes in those days cost a lot
of money. Gursharan and her growing family returned to
India with a happy heart.
The year was 1969 and this time they settled in Delhi,
in the north of India. Gursharan and her husband sold
their house in Chandigarh and bought a flat with a big,
shady fig tree across the street. It was near the Delhi
School of Economics, where he would be teaching. The flat
was big enough for five. Soon, another baby girl came
along and made them five. She was named Amrit. Now
there were three girls: Upinder, Daman and Amrit.
Upinder was almost grown up. Unlike her parents, she
did not wait for them to find someone to marry. She and
a fellow student fell in love. His name was Vijay Tankha
and he was studying philosophy. Now they were studying
each other. Gursharan and her husband were upset at first
Bibi Gursharan Kaur
81
that Upinder did not choose a Sikh. But they could see
Vijay was a nice young man, so they gave them their blessing.
They also gave them their flat in the heart of Delhi.
Those were difficult days to be a Sikh in India. The
newspapers were filled with stories that Sikhs were bad
people, that they wanted to break India apart. Then one
day, the Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, sent the army to
attack the Harimandir Sahib. Many, many people died
women and children, old people and young. Army people
died too in the fight to take the Golden Temple.
Then, five months later, the Prime Minister was shot
dead. Everyone said her Sikh guards had done it. Soon, a
mob of angry young men attacked the Sikhs in Delhi.
They burned the scooters and taxis of the Sikhs. They
killed the Sikhs and burned their homes. Many thousands
died.
At that time, Gursharan and her family were safely in
Mumbai, thousands of kilometers away. But her brother
was in Delhi and he was burned to death. And those same
mobs came to Upinders home. Someone shouted, This is
a Sikh house! Burn it! But Viyay stepped out of the
house and said, This is my house. I am Hindu. The
crowd looked at Vijay passed by without touching the
house.
For many Sikhs, mostly the young men, and mostly in
Punjab, those were dangerous times. Many were picked
up by the police and put in jail. Many were tortured. Many
were killed by the police for no reason. Gursharan and her
family returned to Delhi when it was safe again.
For Sikhs to be safe in their own country, it naturally
helps if Sikhs help to run it. With this idea, and to help the
poor of India, Gursharan and her husband agreed that he
should run in an election to become a member of Indias
Parliament, called the Rajya Sabha. The year was 1991.
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Manmohan Singh won election. The Prime Minister asked

him to be his Finance Minister, in charge of all the business
and money in India. Everyone said Manmohan did a
great job, even when the Prime Minister was voted out a
few years later in another election. India, once a poor
country, was becoming a country whose people were not
so poor.
In 2004 there was another big election. This time, Sonia
Gandhi won the election. In 1984, Sonia Gandhis motherin-law, the Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, had also been
killed. Her husband had been killed as well. Like Gursharan,
she was able to forgive and to think what was best for the
country.
After the election, which she had won, Sonia Gandhi
surprised everyone. She gave the job of Prime Minister of
one billion Indians to Manmohan Singh. When he came
home from meeting Mrs. Gandhi to tell her the news,
Gursharan was so surprised she could not speak for several
minutes. She was also very humbled and very proud of
her husband.
As the wife of the Prime Minister, Gursharan Kaur
changed some things. Some things she kept the same.
Instead of Punjabi salwaar kameez, she began to wear Indian
saris. She continued to cook for her husband, though a
servant began to buy the groceries. She also liked to make
tea for guests, though now she had a secretary to organize
her appointments. She and Manmohan also kept the old
car they had driven for twenty years, their Maruti 800.
And she still loved to go to Gurdwara Rakabganj, near her
home, on Sundays with her friend, Isher Kaur.
As the Prime Ministers wife, Gursharan Kaur sometimes
went to meetings of world leaders with her husband. In
England and Canada, in Germany and France, she met the
wives of presidents and prime ministers.
Bibi Gursharan Kaur
83
Gursharan Kaur never became the school teacher she

wanted to be. Instead, she married a great teacher and a
leader of her country. When her girls grew up, Amrit
became a lawyer in America to help the helpless in that
countrys prisons. Daman became a writer. And, through
her hard work and study, Upinder became a famous teacher
of Indias history at the University of Delhi.
To her surprise, Gursharan herself is now a part of
that history.
84
Bibi Krishna Kaur Khalsa (1940 - )

In the beginning, Krishna was not a Sikh and Krishna
was not her name. But Krishna always loved to sing. Her
love of singing took her all the way from her home with
her family to a big stage in New York City. People loved
the way she sang. Krishna was a star.
But Krishna was not happy. She was Afro-American.
That meant her skin was dark. Most Afro-Americans at
that time were poor. Many could not even read. Hardly
any could sing as well as Krishna, and for them, life was
hard. They did hard work and earned little respect. This
made Krishna want to do something to make the lives of
her people better.
Krishna tried different religions and different kinds of
meditation and yoga. Finally, she decided to go to Africa,
where her people came from many thousands of years
ago, to see what she could learn. After a year in Africa
and more study, Krishna thought, I am not a child of
Africa or America. I am a child of the universe.
When she returned from Africa, Krishna found a great
yoga teacher who was a Sikh. His name was Harbhajan
Singh - Yogi Bhajan. In just few months, Krishna followed
her new, brown-skinned teacher to Punjab and to the
Harimandir, the Golden Temple.
It was a hard trip and a dangerous trip. Some jealous
people tried to kill Harbhajan Yogi. For protection, Krishnas
Bibi Krishna Kaur Khalsa
85
teacher told her and the hundred other students who had
come from America to chant, Guru Guru Wahe Guru,
Guru Ram Das Guru. Krishna was a very good student
and she hardly stopped chanting. She lovingly chanted the
mantra day and night. It sounded beautiful and somehow
everyone returned safely home to America.
Back in America, Yogi Bhajan sent Krishna Kaur to
teach her people in the Afro-American part of the big city
of Los Angeles. Krishna was afraid. How could she teach?
How could she help her people?
Just then, a rusted little fork spoke to her. She used
that fork to loosen the earth around the plants in her
garden. Krishna thought, If this old fork can be useful,
then surely God can find some use for me too!
To pay rent, Krishna Kaur made and sold sandwiches.
Evenings, turbaned and beaming, she gave classes in
Kundalini Yoga. When someone would say that yoga was
not a part of black culture, she would smile. Krishna Kaur
could see there was no need to go to Africa. The knowhow she shared with her students was universal. And it
worked.
Eight years later, in 1980, Krishna Kaur made another
pilgrimage to Amritsar. It was the birthday of Guru Ram
Das and she found herself sitting right inside the Harimandir
Sahib singing the Gurus hymns with an group of Sikhs
from America, surrounded by thousands and thousands
more.
When the music stopped, the group leader nudged
Krishna Kaur to take to the mike and lead the sangat in
keertan. She held back. No woman had ever led the chanting
in the Golden Temple although for no good reason anyone
could think of.
When the man who had just finished playing also coaxed
her to come forward, Krishna Kaurs shyness melted away.
86
In her heart, she bowed to Guru Ram Das, and with her
beautiful voice took hold of the microphone, the moment
and the sacred temple. For all women everywhere, for all
Sikhs, and for people of every color, she sang on that
special day for a most humble servant of humanity.
Bibi Krishna Kaur Khalsa
87
Dr. Inderjit Kaur (1942 - )

Inderjit Kaur was born January 25, 1942 in the city of
Sangrur, Punjab. She was the first born and therefore the
oldest of her two brothers and six sisters - still waiting to
be born. Inderjits mother was named Ranjit Kaur and her
father Harbans Singh. Her father was a doctor, Doctor
Harbans Singh. They were very happy with their new
baby.
As little Inderjit grew up, she loved to go for morning
walks with her father in the farmers fields around her
house. Her father taught Inderjit that physical work is
respectful. She loved to feed and clean the buffaloes, and
to milk them and to make curds and butter from their
milk. Inderjit also loved to jump rope and skip and play
with her friends.
Inderjits mother was a kind lady. Their family had
servants to help with the chores of the house. One of the
servants children lived together with Inderjit and her
brothers and sisters. They ate together. Inderjits mother
treated them all like her children. There was no
discrimination.
Doctor Harbans Singh knew many people and he read
many books which made him learned. Well-known Sikh
leaders like Sant Harchand Singh Longowal, Bhai Vir Singh,
Master Tara Singh and Professor Sahib Singh sometimes
came to visit. Inderjits father was special because his parents
88
were Hindus and he chose instead to become a Sikh when

he grew up.
Inderjit Kaur loved to go to school and to learn from
her teachers. Her teachers loved Inderjit and looked after
her. One teacher once asked, Did you have your breakfast
today?
Inderjit did well at school. She was good at the high
jump and long jump and discus throwing. Her marks allowed
her to go on to Government Medical College in the nearby
city of Patiala, where Inderjit was one of the very first
women to study to be a doctor.
Inderjits father liked to drive to the holy city of
Amritsar. He enjoyed visitting Harimandir Sahib, the
Golden Temple, but he especially loved to visit the hospital
of Bhagat Puran Singh. At the Pingalwara Hospital, Bhagat
ji looked after the homeless, the hopeless and the very
sick. He gave them a home, a hope, and a kind of family.
When possible, his patients would be made healthy again.
Inderjits father loved to talk with Bhagat ji and watch the
great work he did. To him, Pinglawara was a special place,
a place of love where God lives.
One day as Inderjits father went for a walk in Sangrur,
he came across two men who were bitterly fighting. Being
a man of peace, Doctor Harbans Singh tried to separate
the two shouting men. One of the angry men pushed him
and it caused a great pain in Inderjits fathers chest. He
was a heart patient, so could not take the strain and his
heart stopped.
Everyone was surprised and saddened. Inderjit, as her
fathers oldest child sent out invitations to the Bhog of the
Akhand Path for the peace of his departed soul. One invitation
went out to Bhagat Puran Singh in Amritsar. To her
amazement, Bhagat ji, who never attended any marriages
or funerals, arrived at her home in Sangrur. It was the
beginning of a special friendship.
Bibi Inderjit Kaur
89
Bhagat Puran Singh said to Inderjit Kaur, You are my

daughter. Fifteen days later, she went by bus to Amritsar
to visit Bhagat ji and see his work. From then on, twice a
month Inderjit would visit the selfless saint of Pingalwara.
Bhagat Puran Singh and Inderjit Kaur often sent each
other letters. In his letters, Bhagat ji set a high standard
for his adopted daughter to follow. He told her to never
forget to do her paath, and to wear simple, home-spun
cotton clothes. He did not like stealing, lying, cheating, or
showing off.
After graduating from medical school, Inderjit began
helping sick people as a doctor for the Punjab Civil Medical
Services. A few years later, she started her own nursing
home in Sangrur, where new mothers and old people could
be looked after. She kept on visiting Bhagat Puran Singh
at Pingalwara every second week and, bit by bit, her
responsibilities grew.
In 1987, Doctor Inderjit Kaur became one of the seven
members of the committee that organized and ran
Pingalwara. The next year, there was amazing rain and
flooding in Punjab and Inderjit Kaur collected money and
distributed food, clothing and tents to needy people who
had lost their homes in the floods. She was made Vice
President that year.
All kinds of needy people came to Pingalwara. Some
were unable to walk and were carried there. Some were
orphans. Some were very sick. Some were very lonely and
sad. Some were very old with no one to look after them.
Some were blind. Some had had terrible accidents and
needed help to recover. Bhagat Puran Singh and his doctors
and nurses and other helpers helped everybody. From
Bhagat ji, Inderjit Kaur learned compassion.
Bhagat Puran Singhs teacher was Piara Singh. Piara
was a grown man, but when Bhagat ji had first met him,
he was a four-year-old boy, deaf and very sick, and unable
90
to speak or walk. At that time, Bhagat ji had adopted him.

For fourteen years, he then carried Piara Singh on his
shoulders everywhere he went. Because Piara could not
look after himself, Bhagat Puran Singh did it for him.
Just because Piara was virtually helpless did not mean
he did not have a strong personality. One day, as Bhagat
ji was becoming old, he decided he needed to take some
time to rest as he was not feeling well. He arranged for
someone else to look after Piara, but still, it was the first
time they had ever been separated. Piara did not like it a
bit.
A few days later, when Bhagat Puran Singh finally felt
better and returned, he begged Piara to forgive him, but
Piara would not. He said, I dont want to forgive you!
Bhagat ji replied, But please forgive me! In typical
Punjabi style, he had fallen to the floor and was holding
Piaras feet in his hands begging forgiveness. And so it
went. For fifteen minutes, Bhagat ji and Piara were locked
in a fight. Finally Inderjit Kaur came and helped make
peace between the humble, old saint and his stubborn Piara.
One day, Bhagat Puran Singh said to his adopted
daughter, Bibi, if and when I die...
Dont talk to me about dying, she scolded him
affectionately.
Oh ho, everybody has to die, so when I die, please
keep a broom with my body when it goes to be burnt.
Why? Inderjit asked.
So people should know a servant of the Gurus home
has passed away. I am no one special. Just a servant. They
should know that.
So it was that in the summer of 1992, Bhagat Puran
Singh went to hospital with a stomach ache, but never to
return. And at the funeral, some wise people asked Inderjit
if she remembered whether Bhagat ji had had any last
wishes. That is when she remembered the broom and asked
Bibi Inderjit Kaur
91
for someone to find one and put it under his shawl as his
body lay waiting to be cremated.
With Bhagat Puran Singhs passing, Inderjit Kaur became
responsible as the President of Pingalwara. There was so
much to do: so many people to look after and so many
people to look out for. In one of Bhagat jis pockets, one
of her staff found a slip with various names. Against each
name was written: has taken a lot of money, is still
taking money, has stopped taking money, says needs
money.
With all her work at Pingalwara, Bibiji stopped her
regular trips between Sangrur and Amritsar in order to
focus on her growing workload caring for the truly needy.
As well as people care, Pingalwara also had an active press
which continued to print leaflets in English and Punjabi
- about deforestation, pollution, the value of education,
the dangers of nuclear war, and many other important
subjects. Pingalwara also had a tree nursery where trees
were grown from seed. Bhagat jis mother had loved to
plant trees.
Bibi Inderjit Kaur did not limit her work to the residents
and patients of Pingalwara or Punjab. When a huge
earthquake struck Maharashtra State in September 1993,
leaving 20,000 dead and 30,000 injured, Bibiji travelled the
2,000 kilometers with a truckload of food, clothes, blankets
and medicines to give to the needy.
In 1999, Bhagat jis teacher, Piara Singh too passed
away. But Pingalwara continued to grow and grow.
Pinglawara hospitals were opened in other Punjabi cities
and towns: Jalandhar, Sangrur, Chandigarh, Goindwal, and
Manawala. In 2006, Bibiji oversaw the start of an organic
farm outside of Amritsar, where fruits and vegetables are
grown to feed the 1,200 more residents of the hospitals
and 900 students of three schools.
Bibiji has a pet dog now. Jimmy arrived at Pingalwara
92
one day and announced he was staying. He loves to jump

up whenever he sees his Master coming.
When Bibiji is not looking after the patients or the
students, there are also 340 caregivers and 40 paramedics
to take care of. While the Pingalwara Press prints 30,000
pages of teaching materials, the nursery now plants 100,000
saplings each year. There are adult tricycles for those who
can no longer walk and a workshop where hands and feet
are made for people who have none. And trips to Canada,
America and Britain to raise money to pay for everything.
Bibi Inderjit Kaur
93
Dame Anita Roddick (1942-2007)

Anita Roddick (1942-2007) grew up as one of four children
in an Italian family in Littlehampton, on the south coast of
England. Like everyone else in her home, she worked in
their family restaurant. That is where she learned how to
serve people and to run a business.
Anitas mother was a rebel. Mrs. Perilli dressed her
daughters in pants, not dresses, to go to school. When the
nuns sent her girls home, she just sent them back, still in
pants. After Mr. Perilli died, the priest, whom she did not
like, came to tell her how lucky she was that he was going
to be given a Catholic burial. In no time, the priest standing
at Mrs. Perillis door found himself dripping wet from a
bucket of filthy washwater.
Anita Roddicks first taste of moral outrage was when
she was ten years old and she picked up a paperback book
about the Holocaust. Those photographs from concentration
camps went unforgettably into her brain. They inspired in
young Anita an endless thirst for social justice.
At school, Anitas activist spirit led her to support of
the Campaign for Freedom Against Hunger, to march with
the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, and to contribute
to many other causes.
While going to college to learn to be a teacher, Anita
became restless. She ended up in Switzerland, where she
talked her way into a job at the United Nations. After an
94
eye-opening year at the womens rights division of the

International Labor Organization, Anita set out on a world
tour. She went to Tahiti, Australia, and parts of Africa..
After her tour, Anita returned to Littleton. There, her
mother introduced Anita to a hopeful childrens story writer
named Gordon Roddick. For three long autumn days, they
talked and walked through the parks, on the beaches, and
in the cafs of Littleton. After that, Anita and Gordon
realized they agreed on many of the basics of life. Soon,
they would get married.
Together, Gordon and Anita made several tries at
starting a business. They tried a picture framing shop,
then a restaurant and a hotel. While they worked, Anitas
mother looked after their young daughters, Justine and
Samantha. Anita and Gordon came home exhausted each
night. Finally, they quit to try something else.
While Anita planned a little shop to sell the kind of
natural cosmetics she had seen women using in her travels
around the world things like cocoa butter, almond oil
and aloe vera Gordon got ready to do something he had
always wanted to do: ride a horse thousands of kilometers
from Buenos Aires to New York. Anita was less than thrilled
at the idea of being left for two years with the children.
But she admired her husbands spirit of adventure.
Anita Roddick began her business with both eyes open.
She knew cosmetics was a really huge business based on
false needs and needless fears. It was an ugly business
that made women feel they need to buy products to make
them look beautiful.
Anita wanted a different kind of store, a business not
based on fear and greed. Located right between two funeral
parlors, she called it The Body Shop. She sold her products
at in simple-looking jars. Many came in bulk. Although
most companies tested their creams and lotions on animals,
The Body Shop never did. While the large companies spent
Dame Anita Roddick
95
millions on ads, people did Anitas advertising for her.

They told their friends about The Body Shop for free because
they liked it so much.
It worked! While Gordon came home early because his
horse fell off a cliff, their business did great. Soon, they
opened a second store, then a third, then a fourth.
Instead of running the company with a heavy hand,
Anita did something unlike most business owners. She
listened to her workers and encouraged them to do what
they felt was right. People began to ask Anita if they could
work with her. Some wanted to open a Body Shop in
France or Italy or India. After eight years had gone by,
Anita and Gordon had thirty-eight stores in the United
Kingdom and fifty-two in other countries.
Anita knew she could do more to help people than just
run a nice store with nice body products. She began to
work with people doing important work for the planet
and for brave people unjustly put in jail. The front window
of every Body Shop began to show posters for Friends of
the Earth, Greenpeace, and Amnesty International. In this
way, thousands of people learned about these great
organizations every day.
Anita Roddick did her best to have people who worked
at her stores help out in their neighbourhoods. In Melbourne,
Australia 500 people pitched in to plant 250,000 trees. In
Sweden, one store stayed open late so people who were
blind or deaf or challenged in some other way could come
in and shop. In Brantford, Canada, the workers at one
store helped out at a school for differently abled students.
Many of her workers, though not all, loved to help others.
One Earth Day, the Roddicks tried to persuade their
workers at the warehouses and offices in Littlehampton to
clean up the nearby beach. Only thirteen showed up to
help. A cyclist who came by only made matters worse by
asking what was going on. Anita suggested the man get
96
off his bicycle, take a bag, and help out.

Not on your life, he said over his shoulder as he
rode off. Clearly, not everyone understood the idea of
doing something for nothing and being happy about it.
Another idea of Anitas was to buy things her store
needed from people in poor countries so the poor, too,
would have money. She began in Nepal, one of the worlds
poorest countries. There, Anita went with a friend who
knew how to make paper. Together, they made a deal
with a local papermaker to buy his baskets made from
banana leaves.
Nut oil and beadwork from the Kayapo tribe in Brazil,
shea butter from women in Ghana, jute pots from women
in Bangladesh, sesame oil from a village in Nicaragua, foot
rollers fromTamil Nadu, and soap from Glasgow. Every
one of these ventures brought good money and honest
work to places that used to have little of either.
In 1987, The Body Shop was called Company of the
Year in the United Kingdom. Even though she now owned
a large company, Anita still said that people with big
companies needed to treat people well and to look out for
Mother Nature. She spoke powerful words and people
listened.
Three years laster, Anita and her daughter Samantha
went to Romania where they had heard there were
orphanages of thousands of unloved, unwashed, and bored
children. They visited one orphanage after another. What
they had heard, was true. Returning to England, they
organized people and money to help. Soon, there were
three new orphanages with lots of people to help and
teach and play with the Romanian children. Samantha
returned with dozens of volunteers to hug and entertain
the children.
In 1997, Anita Roddick started the biggest fight for
social justice of her life. This fight was against all the TV
Dame Anita Roddick
97
and movies, ads and magazines that told women they

needed to be super skinny to be beautiful. The purpose of
this fight was to help girls and women think differently
about their beauty and stop fighting their bodies. Anita
knew that seventy-five percent of girls and women went
on diets. Most diets did not work. And most women and
girls did not need to diet. They were not fat. They just
thought they were!
The artist who helped Anita with this media fight was
Kiki Kendrick. The year before, Kikis best friend had
starved herself to death. To the end, her friend thought
she looked fat. For this reason, Kiki took this fight very
seriously. The Body Shop came up with Ruby, a beautiful
size-16 doll who was created as a role model for real
women. Everyone loved Ruby because Ruby looked like a
real woman, not like a Barbie.
Anita received many more prizes. In 2001, Anita was
asked to come to Peace Prayer Day at Ram Das Puri in
New Mexico, USA. This was where thousands of western
Sikhs came each June to meditate and pray together. At
Ram Das Puri, Anita Roddick was given the Woman of
Peace of the year prize on a stage in front of hundreds
of people. In receiving the award, Anita admitted she could
never meditate, never sit still even, but she thanked everyone
for the honoring her work.
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Bibi Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa (1943 - )

Gurmukh Kaur was born Mary May Gibson in a small
Illinois town in America. She had a brother named Bruce,
who was two years older. When she was two, a sister
called Anna Marie arrived, and when she was four, her
baby brother Charlie was born.
As they grew older, Mary like to put on make-believe
shows with her brothers and sister. They would sing. They
would dance. They would pretend lots of things.
Mostly it was fun. But sometimes they would lose their
tempers and blame and call each other names. Whenever
that happened, their wise mother would walk to the cabinet
that held all their special plates and dishes. From the china
cabinet, their mother would take out one special little bowl
with a message written on it. When they were old enough,
she would have her children read it out loud: If you cant
say anything nice, dont say anything at all.
Mary also loved to spend hours of each day sitting by
a window as she gazed outside or playing with her dollies.
Sometimes her family called her Mary Sit-and-Do-Nothing.
That name made her feel that she was a disappointment to
them, that she was not be very smart, and that something
must be wrong with her because she was the only person
she know who liked to be quiet.
When she grew older, Mary went to live on a noisy
beach in California called Big Sur. There were hippies there.
Bibi Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa
99
They wore tie-dyed clothes and sometimes very little. It

was their idea of being free. From there, Mary went to
Mexico to live with the village people, in their simple huts.
They ate corn and beans and watched the sun rise and fall.
Then to Hawaii. For two years, Mary danced, chanted, ate
little, took hippie drugs, body surfed, and owned nothing.
But Mary was still not truly happy or free.
Mary then joined a Zen monastery where people
meditated. Everyone there sat and did not say a word for
seven hours every day. The men, and even the women,
had no hair on their heads. It was shaven off every few
days. Theirs was a simple life. Mary thought she might
become a Zen nun and find peace.
Mary returned to America to visit her family before
joining the monastery. On her way, she met an old friend.
He said that God had told him in a dream to take her to
an ashram in Arizona. At the time, Mary did not know
what an ashram was, but she trusted her friend. They
packed up his little van and drove over the mountains,
into the desert. Mary was always having adventures.
Once they arrived, Marys friend paid for her stay at
the large Sikh ashram in Tucson. He stayed and meditated
for a week, then drove off. She never saw him again. But
it did not matter. Once Mary had entered Maha Deva
Ashram, she felt free and at peace at last.
The place was one of many live-in meditation centres
in America that had been started by a great teacher named
Harbhajan Singh Khalsa Yogiji. Americans called him Yogi
Bhajan. The Sikhs in the ashrams rose early each morning,
showered, then spent two and a half hours in meditation.
They did not cut their hair, helped each other, and ate
only vegetarian food. Yogi Bhajan called it the healthy,
happy, holy way of life.
When Yogi Bhajan met Mary, he gave her a new name.
He called her Gurmukh Kaur: the princess who helps
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many others cross the ocean of life. He told her she would
help mothers deliver their babies.
Years passed. Gurmukh helped a friendly doctor deliver
babies at mothers homes. She also learned to live as a
Sikh. Instead of shaving her head, she let her hair grow
long. On top, she put a graceful, white turban. And Gurmukh
gave classes in living healthy, happy and holy Guru
Nanaks way.
In 1977, Gurmukh went on a long trip to the Harimandar,
the Golden Temple in Amritsar. To Gurmukh, it felt like
home. She loved the peace and blessings of the holy place
where Bibi Bhani and Guru Ram Das had lived.
When Gurmukh returned to America, Yogi Bhajan told
her to move to Los Angeles. Gurmukh had never liked
that city. It was smoggy and noisy and unhealthy. But
because her teacher told her to, Gurmukh went to live in
Los Angeles.
In Los Angeles, she met the man who would become
her husband. She and Gurushabd Singh would be married
in 1982. Next year, Gurmukh became pregnant. They had
a beautiful baby girl with the help of a midwife. Yogi
Bhajan named their daughter Wahe Guru Kaur.
When Wahe Guru Kaur was little, her mother tied a
white turban on her head too. When she was old enought
to go to school, her parents sent her all the way to Amritsar
to study in the homeland of Khalsa
In Los Angeles, Gurmukh taught classes to many famous
music stars and actresses. She taught them yoga and
meditation. She also started classes for first-time mothers
to keep their bodies and minds healthy and happy. Gurmukh
taught thousands of classes to many thousands of yoga
students. She even wrote a book and made a video.
Wahe Guru Kaur is grown up now. But her mother
still travels all over the world teaching mothers and others
the healthy, happy, holy way to live.
Bibi Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa
101
Dr. Nikky Guninder Kaur Singh (1958 - )

Nikky Guninder Kaur Singh grew up with her mother and
father and grandmother, her fathers mother, in Punjab,
India. Early in the morning, her dear mother would chant
with her the morning Nitnem. In the evening, her sweet
father would say the Rehiras with her. Later in the morning,
Nikkys grandmother would take her to the Gurdwara.
They would walk to the Gurdwara and together they would
bow before Siri Guru Granth Sahib. Then she and her
grandmother would receive Guru Prashaad with open hands.
Together, they would sit meditatively for a time in the
open space of the Gurdwara.
Bibiji, as Nikky called her grandmother, also told
her great stories late at night. Nikkys favorite stories
were about her grandmothers aunt. According to Bibiji,
her aunt had been a tall and brave woman who was not
afraid of anything. With her intelligence and kindness, her
aunt won the love of everyone. Even robbers and cobras
respected her and did not hurt her. Bibiji told her
granddaughter that a cobra guarded a buried treasure near
her aunts house. The brave aunt would feed the cobra
with a bowl of milk every day.
This was the rhythm of Nikkys life: Nitnem with her
mother, then school, then playing with her friends, then
Nitnem with her father, then stories with Bibiji into the
night.
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Nikkys father was a scholar of Sikhism at the University

of Punjab. Nikky always wanted to be a professor of religion
like him. When she was just a teen, she met an American
student who was studying in Punjab. Before long, Nikky
decided that she too would like to study in a distant country
in America. Her father had been to America and liked it,
so plans were made for Nikky to study at a boarding
school in Virginia.
Bibiji did not agree that her granddaughter should go
so far away at so young an age. She wished Nikky would
stay in Punjab a few more years, visiting her simple home
in the country without electricity and with monsoons and
sandstorms and many more stories late into the night. But
everything was arranged and soon Nikky flew off to
America.
America was a big surprise for Nikky. Everything
seemed so different. There was a smoking room in the
school for the girls. Nikky never smoked. In India, people
thought light skin was prettiest. But in America all the
light-skinned people went to the beaches to lie in the sun
and get tanned. Nikky was self-confident and sure of herself.
She studied hard and made friends and school went well.
Everyone who saw Nikky was curious about this selfconfident young woman from India. She was the only Sikh
in her school. For dinner, she would dress in her exotic
salwaar kameez. Before long, Nikky was asked to give
talks about her religion at churches and schools, which she
was happy to do. She became an ambassador of Guru
Nanak, strong as steel, steady as stone.
Nikky excelled at her studies. She earned the highest
marks in her class. Nikkys love of United States history
was so great that she won a prize for it: The Daughters of
the American Revolution Award.
After her first school year, Nikky went back to spend
time with her family. Everyone she met said to her, You
Dr. Nikky Guninder Kaur Singh
103
havent changed a bit. You are still a Sikh. You are still one
of us. And Nikky would smile. She knew that even in
faraway America where there were very few Sikhs, Guru
Nanak was with her.
Nikky grew and studied and graduated. Then she
studied and graduated some more. She wrote books about
Sikhism. Nikky translated Gurbaanee into English. Hardly
any other Sikh woman was doing that.
She wrote from Japji:
Through His Will He creates all the forms,
But what the form of His Will is,
None can say. (verse 2)
and
True is He, true His Court,
There the dutiful are lauded... (verse 34)
Everyone liked her translations.
One time, Nikky went to a meeting of women scholars
of all different religions. They opened her eyes and helped
her to see her own religion differently. God is not woman
and not a man, she realized. God is just God:
God is not a he only,
God is too a she.
God lives in my brother, yes,
But just as well in me!
Nikky then began to rewrite her translations without
using His and He. Instead, she wrote:
By the divine Will, all forms are created;
but what that Will is, no one can say. (verse 2)
and
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The One is true, Its verdicts truly just.

Those who are accepted become radiant... (verse 34)
Nikky went on to become a famous scholar of Sikhism
and women in Sikhism. She now has her own family in
America and gives talks around the world, always proud
of her religion.
Dr. Nikky Guninder Kaur Singh
105
Dr. Kalpana Chawla (1961-2003)

Her mother thought she was going to have a boy for sure.
The baby was kicking so much from inside. But to her
mothers surprise, on July 1, 1961, a healthy baby girl was
born. Kalpana already had two older sisters, Sunita and
Deepa, and a brother, Sanjay.
Her parents were Banarasi Lal Chawla and her mother,
Sanjyothi. They lived in the town of Karnal, in the state of
Haryana in India. Her sick grandfather had been blessed
by a Sikh saint named Sant Nikka Singh. Instead of dying
as the doctor had predicted, he became healthy. Instead of
being poor, Kalpanas father slowly became wealthy from
his hard work. Banarsi Lal Chawla started the first factory
in India to make rubber tires. At home, he loved to read
Siri Guru Granth Sahib for its wisdom and the peace it
brought to his mind.
Kalpana was a bold and brave young girl. She loved
everything about flying and space. At her school, Tagore
Bal Niketan School, she enjoyed making paper airplanes
and models of planets and stars. During a class, she once
asked her teacher if she had ever flown in an airplane.
When the teacher said, No, Kalpana asked, Are you
afraid of flying? Kalpana was not afraid.
Sanjay loved to ride bicycles with his younger sister.
Together to would go near the the local flying club. Theirs
was one of just twelve in all of India at that time. As they
106
rode their bikes, they would crane their heads to watch

the planes flying overhead, though they knew it was
dangerous to do so.
One day, Kalpana and her brother asked their father if
they too might fly in one of the planes, and to their delight,
he agreed. Up, up, they went, and swooped and dived,
and dipped and shimmied, and spun upside down. Flying
over the earth was the most amazing experience they had
ever had. Kalpana and Sanjay never forgot it.
When it came time to graduate from her high school,
Kalpana decided she would study to be a flight engineer
at Punjab Engineering College. PEC was in Chandigarh,
120 kilometres (80 miles) from her home in Karnal. Her
father tried to make Kalpana change her mind. Even the
professors tried. Only boys studied aeronautical
engineering, they said. Kalpana insisted that it was her
first and only choice, so they relented. Her marks were
very good and she was able to join the engineering college
in Punjab on the condition that her friend Daisy Chawla
also attend.
At PEC, Kalpana was the only girl in her classes, but
she worked extra hard and excelled at her work. Whatever
a boy could do, I can do too, she reasoned. Kalpana
focused on her studies. Instead of feminine salwaar kameez,
she wore jeans. She wore no makeup, and refused to cook
or iron. A vegetarian and harmless at heart, Kalpana also
learned to defend herself. She practised karate and earned
a black belt.
All the while, Kalpana secretly paid the tuition of two
students less fortunate than herself. This was her style:
working hard and sharing freely, but quietly. She lived for
science, adventure, and the progress of others. In 1982,
Kalpana Chawla became the first woman to graduate from
Punjab Engineering College with a degree in aeronautical
engineering.
Dr. Kalpana Chawla
107
While her fathers business took him overseas, and

Sanjay with him, Kalpana took up a short-term teaching
position at PEC. Really her sights were on studying at a
university in America, but for this, she would need her
fathers help and support. Kalpanas mother was already
behind her.
When Kalpanas father finally returned with Sanjay,
there was no time to spare. The Department of Aerospace
Science and Engineering at the University of Texas at
Arlington offered to accept her and help with her school
fees, but the school year was about to begin.
At first, Mr. Chawla was not happy that his youngest
daughter was planning on studying so far from home.
After speaking with a couple of her professors, however,
he agreed and hurried to prepare the money, tickets and
visas. Once again, Kalpana would be joined by her dear
brother Sanjay.
On the first day of her new life in America, Kalpana
and Sanjay settled in her new home and got ready for her
next course of studies. There were already many students
from India at the university. On that first day, Kalpana
also met Jean Pierre Harrison, born in France and a flight
instructor. At six feet, he was a foot taller than her, but
they found they had many things in common. Within a
year, Kalpana and Jean Pierre decided to marry. It was
Sanjay who convinced their parents to accept Kalpanas
new life partner.
In 1984, Kalpana graduated with a Master of Science
from the University of Texas. She and Jean Pierre moved
several times to learn more and to work in the advanced
field of aircraft and space engineering. In Colarado, Jean
Pierre taught Kalpana learned to fly at last. Together, they
explored the clear skies and winding trails of that mountain
state.
In 1988, Kalpana found work at the National Aerospace
108
and Space Administration (NASA) research centre in

California. Finally, Kalpana had a chance to really try to
go into space. She was one of two thousand who applied
and, luckily, one of only twenty-three chosen for the training
program. The next months were spent in hard preparation
for a real space mission.
In the offering plate of the sky, the sun and moon are
votive lamps
And the starry constellations offerings of pearls.
(Guru Nanak - Sohila)
The would-be astronauts learned how a space shuttle
works. They studied physics, mathematics, astronomy and
other sciences. They learned scuba diving, parachute jumping,
land and sea survival training. They learned how to work
with and to fix satellites. Kalpana and the other astronauts
also put on space suits and practiced floating like in space.
At the beginning of the training, Jean Pierre and Kalpana
made the difficult choice not to have children so she could
focus completely on becoming an astronaut. Their parents
were disappointed, but supported Kalpana in realizing her
dream.
After two and a half years of preparing, Kalpana Chawla
and five fellow astronauts set off on a fifteen day adventure
on the space shuttle called Columbia. It was the eightyseventh mission since the beginning of the space shuttles
in 1981.
The shuttle carried inside experiments to watch the
effects of weightlessness on all kinds of things like flames
and metals. How ants lived and how soybeans grew in
near-zero gravity was also studied with interest.
One of Kalpanas experiments was to watch how two
heated metals mixed to understand how to make better
alloys. She also did an experiment to learn how to make
better silicon chips, like the chips in your computer. Another
Dr. Kalpana Chawla
109
experiment was to understand how to make engines that

pollute less.
All the while, as Kalpana and her fellow crew members
circled the Earth, family and friends and well-wishers looked
up into the sky and thought of them. In her hometown of
Karnal, the house where she was born was decorated with
lights. Since it was the middle of the night, the whole
town was bright with lights and celebration. Although
Kalpana was hardly aware of it, all of India was proud of
her accomplishment. She was the first female astronaut
from India.
One of the toughest parts of Kalpanas journey on the
space shuttle had to do with releasing a satellite into space.
To do this, she used a large robotic arm that picked up the
satellite and let it go into space. The satellite, however,
would not go where it needed to go so it could do its job
of studying the sun. On a following orbit, three of Kalpanas
fellow astronauts captured and brought back the satellite.
It turned out that it had been broken. Everyone said Kalpana
did a terrific job with the broken satellite. It was not her
fault that it did not work properly.
The astronauts celebrated the American Thanksgiving
holiday during their flight. The crew ate a traditional turkey
dinner out of vacuum sealed pouches. Vegetarian Kalpana
instead enjoyed a feast of raisins and nuts, cornflakes and
cookies, with tea.
Finally the space journey came to a close. After fifteen
days, sixteen hours, thirty-five minutes and one second,
the space shuttle floated like a glider and landed at the
Kennedy Space Center.
Having looked down below at our blue-green planet,
Kalpana had gained a feeling for the delicate life systems
on our one-of-a-kind, little planet. Her ecological awareness
was aroused. Kalpana also had another awakening up in
space.
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When in space, she said, The only thing I feel is my

thoughts. There is nothing else touching me, telling me I
have limbs. Its so natural. Its not anything special.
Kalpana was ready to go up again. First, however,
there were a lot of people to see, her family first of all.
Now famous, Kalpana also took the trouble of finding the
phone numbers of her teachers in India who had encouraged
her. She called them and gave them her thanks. Kalpana
even helped two students from her elementary school come
and visit her at NASA each year.
Kalpana Chawlas next trip into outer space was to
take place aboard the one hundred and seventh space shuttle
mission. It was first going to blast off in 2002, but was
delayed for months as engineers checked and rechecked
the shuttle craft.
The Columbia was the first shuttle spacecraft. It was
first launched in 1981. It was one of five original space
crafts made to take astronauts into Earth orbit for
experiments, or to ferry people and supplies to the
International Space Station. Four of these craft, the Columbia,
Atlantis, Discovery, and Endeavour, were still being sent
up. The Challenger had blown up killing everyone on board
during its final lift off in 1986.
The Columbia was the same shuttle craft Kalpana had
taken on her first mission into space. This was to be its
twenty-eighth flight. The spaceship was getting old. Parts
of it were needing replacing or repair. The engineers were
being extra cautious.
Before boarding, Kalpana recorded a special message
for children. In it, she said, The journey matters as much
as the goal. Listen to the sounds of nature. Wishing you
the best on your treck toward your dreams. Take care of
our fragile planet!
Finally, on a clear day in January, the shuttle crew of
Kalpana Chawla and six others put on their suits and
Dr. Kalpana Chawla
111
boarded the space craft. At 12:39 local time, the Columbia

shook and slowly rose into orbit. And the mission began.
Out of the seven astronauts, Kalpana was one of three
on their second mission. For four of them, it was just their
first time in space. As Flight Engineer, Kalpanas job was
to see all the computer systems on board worked and to
fix any problems. She also helped the Commander with
steering the shuttle.
This time, there were eighty experiments in all, out of
which Kalpana did twelve by herself. She did more work
on engines and alloys, and new work making crystals and
proteins. Kalpana grew cell cultures to better understand
how to fight prostate and make plants give bigger harvests.
She also looked at tiny molecules to see if they might help
make stronger buildings that would not be destroyed in
earthquakes, floods and hurricanes. Kalpana switched on
a video camera so people on Earth could watch the
experiments.
Kalpana also helped with others experiments. Many
were with animals and plants: giant ants, fish, spiders,
bees, silkworms, mice, and roses and rice flowers. These
interesting experiments were designed by school students
from Australia, China, Israel, Japan and the U.S.A.
There were regular video communications between the
space shuttle and Earth. Astronauts and presidents and
family members spoke with one another. Kalpana and the
other crew members also emailed to friends and family
when they found time.
Finally, on the fifteenth day of the mission, after an
amazing two hundred and fifty-five orbits of Mother Earth,
it was time for re-entry into the atmosphere and the return
home. Jean Pierre and other members of Kalpanas family
were at the Kennedy Space Center waiting for Kalpanas
return. So too were the families of all the other crew
members. And, of course, in Karnal and many parts of
112
India people were also watching over their televisions.

The space craft started its re-entry over the state of
Hawaii, far over the Pacific Ocean. The crew felt a slight
jolt and took their seats as the shuttle craft turned tail first
and fired its thrusters to slow down and be drawn closer
to Earth. The shuttle then turned nose first again to begin
landing. It took forty-five minutes to circle the Earth. In
sixteen minutes, it was supposed to land in Florida.
Then, the unthinkable happened! The space shuttle broke
into thousands of pieces in the heat and pressure of reentering the atmosphere. It was over in a few minutes.
The astronauts were helpless. All they could do was
meditate or pray as they watched their lives unfold before
their eyes in their final moments. Their bodies and the
pieces of the shuttle scattered through the sky and landed
far across the states of Texas and Oklahoma.
Kalpana Chawla touched many hearts with her spirit
of adventure and kindness. The Creator honoured Kalpana
by joining her with his own Infinite Spirit right in the sky
where she wanted more than anything to be.
Dr. Kalpana Chawla
113
Bibi Amrit and

Bibi Rabindra Kaur Singh (1966 - )
The Singh Twins, Amrit and Rabindra Kaur Singh were
born in London, England but moved to the Wirral, near
Liverpool, when they were four. Growing up, they had a
number of pets: a baby chick, a pony, two goats, a budgie,
two rabbits, chickens, a cat who had eighty- one kittens,
and a scorpion who hitch-hiked his way back from Iran
with their Chacha, Uncle Marn.
The twins grew up in a loving family, which included
their older sister Nyrmla, their father and a number of
dear uncles who treated them more like sisters than nieces.
It was a close and extended family.
But things were not always good however. Once,
someone threw a brick through the window of their house.
The police were no help. The policeman who came to see
the broken window said, You should keep a low profile.
That was all the help he gave them. They were the only
Asian family in town. This only made them closer and
more protective.
When The Singh Twins were old enough to go to school,
they went to Holt Hill Convent, a Catholic school. The
twins, who were each others best friends, had a problem
at Holt Hill. Best friends were always allowed to sit together
in class. But the Singh Twins, because they were twins,
were forced to be in separate class rooms every year.
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The twins and their elder sister were the only nonChristians in the school, and the only Sikhs. For this reason,
they were told they could not join all the other students
for the daily prayer and meditation. The twins protested
about not being allowed to take part. Finally they were
allowed to sit in the back of the school chapel, behind
everybody else, for the service.
The chapel was the most beautiful part of the school
and the twins enjoyed being surrounded by all the lovely
art: in the stained glass windows, on the walls, everywhere.
They also liked singing the hymns, so much so that they
became lead singers in the choir.
One year, the rules changed and students were no
longer forced to go to chapel for the daily services. Oddly,
it was the twins, the only non-Christians in the school,
who continued to come, and whom everybody counted on
to do the jobs that needed to be done in the chapel. Each
day, they would lay out the priests special outfit, decorate
the altar, set out the song books, sound the bell at the
proper time during the service, and design the notices that
told everyone what each service would be about.
When the much-loved head of the Catholics, Pope John
Paul II came to the nearby city of Liverpool, the principal
was supposed to pick one student to represent their school
and go to see the pope. Instead, both Amrit and Rabindra
were chosen to go together. The twins were picked because
of all their loving work for the schools Catholic services.
They felt greatly honoured to be going to see the Pope of
all the worlds Catholics. The celebration was held at the
big Catholic church in their home city of Liverpool. Many
thousands of people came.
When twins were thirteen years old, their father and
uncle built an amazing motor home. They then took the
twins and their sister out of school and on a long trip to
India. It was a huge eye-opener for the twins. They visited
Bibi Amrit and Bibi Rabindra Kaur Singh
115
all the places out of history they had only read about.
They visited where Guru Nanak was born, where the Khalsa
was created, where Mai Bhago had fought her battle, and
where Mata Gujri had spent her last hours with her
grandsons. Amrit and Rabindra saw temples and
monuments, landscapes and galleries and museums
everywhere they went. They travelled for eight months.
When The Singh Twins first saw the Taj Mahal by
moonlight, it took their breath away. They found the Golden
Temple to be one of the most peaceful places on earth. At
Gurdwara Baba Atal, they also saw a kind of art they
liked very much, little paintings called miniatures that
told stories. They took photos of these paintings and brought
them back to England to study over and over and again.
As they grew older, the twins began to think about
what they wanted to choose to study and what work they
would do when they grew up. Actually, their minds were
already made up. They wanted to be a doctor like their
father, whom they adored. There was a problem however.
A teacher of theirs wrongly thought the twins were being
pushed by their family to study medicine. She did not
agree with their wish to study medicine at university.
Because of that they were forced to study art instead.
Rabindra and Amrit did excellent work at University
College Chester. But here, too, there were problems.
Teachers did not mind other students creating the same
kind of art if it was like the work of famous western
artists. But the twins were picked on for both making
pictures that were different from everyone elses.
The two of them made art that was different from
everyone elses, but like each others, because that was
how they thought and felt. In one of their exams the teacher
snapped, Havent you ever tried to be different? Like at
Holt Hill, at university people were always trying to keep
the twins apart.
116
In protest, they said, If you want us to be different,

were actually going to be the same. From then on, they
called themselves twindividuals and dressed completely
the same. Whoever got dressed first, decided for them
both. Other professors did not like the art they chose to
do. They said the miniatures were not modern and not
Western enough.
The Singh Twins fought back. How can you tell us to
express ourselves and then tell us how to express ourselves?
We will express ourselves as we choose. If we choose to
paint Indian miniatures, we will. Our roots are in India,
and Indian art is just as good as Western art!
In protest, the twins began to make miniature paintings
with modern people and situations: their family, pop stars,
and people in the news. Sometimes, they even painted
themselves into their pictures. In one of their first works,
they painted their sister Nyrmlas wedding. At the centre
were Nyrmla and the twins, surrounded by many, many
details: a cousin sister dancing, a cousin brother playing a
drum, an uncle videotaping, an aunt bringing fruits, Ronald
Mcdonald, a doll, a Batman action figure, someone reading
from Guru Granth Sahib, and much more.
The twins liked to paint stories that showed their pride
in their own Indian Sikh culture. Their paintings showed
their love of old-fashioned values such as arranged
marriages, and community, and being friends with aunties
and uncles and cousins and grandparents, as one big family.
These were important things to the twins, things they felt
many British people didnt understand because TV programs
and newspapers often made fun of them.
Instead of making the kind of art they were told to
make, The Singh Twins continued to make more and better
paintings in their modern Indian style. Their unusual art
brought together the best of new and old, east and west.
This created a big problem when a tutor at their university
Bibi Amrit and Bibi Rabindra Kaur Singh
117
refused to mark their final art exam.

This only made the twins more sure of what they wanted
to do. They wanted to express themselves, but differently.
At first, they hardly sold any paintings or made any money,
but their family said, Dont worry. We will support you.
Do your art.
Slowly, as the years passed and The Singh Twins became
better and better at their art, people everywhere, Sikhs
and non-Sikhs both, began to see and like their special
paintings. They began to sell their art and have exhibitions
in galleries all over England, and in Canada, the United
States, even India. They also won prizes and awards for
making beautiful art.
These days, The Singh Twins make serious paintings,
funny paintings, thoughtful paintings, paintings like no one
has ever seen before. They spend anywhere from fifty
hours for a small painting to one thousand hours making
a grand work. Before starting a painting, Rabindra and
Amrit talk to each other about their ideas. Then each will
take a part, painting and working together. Sometimes
they make paintings separately, but they prefer to make
beautiful art together.
Together, The Singh Twins have shown that you can
make something special and have people like it eventually,
even if it is different from what they know. They have
also shown the value of family, having sisters and uncles
and more, to help and support you through good times
and bad. Lastly, The Singh Twins have shown that you
dont have to be what somebody else says you should be.
You are always best to be yourself.
118
Bibi Amandeep Kaur (1968- )

Amandeep Kaur was twenty years old, the smartest student
in her school and the captain of her girls hockey team.
Her father was well-known and respected. They lived near
the city of Jalandhar in Punjab. Amandeep lived a good
and easy life. She never thought about politics.
That all changed when Harjinder Kaur Khalsa came
from Australia to marry a cousin of Amandeeps. Harjinder
was arrested at the airport and martyred.
Then Gurmukh Singh, the captain of the boys hockey
team at Amandeeps school, was picked up by the police
and tortured. His family took him to the hospital. After
five days, he died.
Amandeep Kaur went to Gurmukh Singhs house
afterwards. He had four younger sisters. They were all
crying. It made Amandeep angry inside. She was angry at
the cruel police. And she was angry at all the coward
Sikhs who did not stand up to the cruelty of the police.
Guru Gobind Singh had taught we should be noble and
brave. Who was being noble and brave? Nobody, it seemed.
Amandeep was also angry about the discrimination she
saw all around. It seemed like many good Sikhs were not
being allowed to move forward and succeed like the nonSikhs.
One day, a Gurdev Singh, a distant cousin of hers,
spoke to her. He knew Amandeep could be trusted. Gurdev
Bibi Amandeep Kaur
119
Singh told her some bullets needed to be taken somewhere.

Would she do it?
Yes, I will do it, Amandeep Kaur said. At last, she
felt she could do something brave to help fight the cruel
police and the cruel people who were killing and torturing
Sikhs. Amandeep decided not to tell her family because
she was afraid they might stand in her way. She was not
sure her friends were as serious as she was. They might
just make fun of her if she told them, so she told no one
what she was going to do.
There were two police check points on the way to
where Amandeep needed to deliver the rounds of bullets.
Amandeep still wore her hair in two braids like a girl and
she looked like she was sixteen. She hid the rounds under
her track suit and rode up to the first check point on a
borrowed scooter.
The policeman asked, Where are you going? Where
are you coming from? They were looking for Gurdev, the
one who had given Amandeep this mission, and another
young man. She said nothing, but told the policeman her
fathers name and he let her go through. At the second
post, the policeman who spoke with Amandeep Kaur knew
her father well and respected him, so he also let her pass.
In this way, she was able to take the bullets and bring
them to the place she had agreed with Gurdev Singh. On
the way home, Amandeep was very happy.
In her happiness, Amandeep Kaur began to think that
if she could do this, why couldnt she join her Sikh brothers
in fighting also? After all, she thought, Sikh girls are as
brave as Sikh men, and they always stand by their brothers
and husbands in times of need. Amandeep felt she was
capable of taking any chance, that nothing would scare
her, but she did not know of any women who were actually
involved in fighting.
Amandeep Kaur asked Gurdev Singh to let her join
120
him in the movement. I will be with you through thick

and thin, she said. I am able to take as many chances as
you are.
Gurdev Singh replied, You are a girl. You cant join
us.
Amandeep felt that in India to be a girl must be a
really big sin. But through her repeated asking and showing
her courage, Gurdev finally said, Okay, you can join us,
but we cant take you on any battles with us. That was
good enough, but Amandeep Kaur knew what she really
wanted to do.
The first thing Amandeep did was join the Sikh Students
Federation. Then it became her job to take guns and bullets
from one place to another. She was never afraid, and always
very happy to do her work.
All this time, Amandeep never breathed a word to her
family, not even her mother. She felt that women could
not keep secrets, even though she was herself keeping a
great secret. Amandeep also promised to herself that she
would never allow any police to touch her body. She was
not afraid of death, but she worried that under torture
she might be made to tell her secrets.
In those days, there was so much fear in Punjab that
even parents of young men or women killed in police
stations would not come to claim the bodies. If they did
come, the police would make them say that their son or
daughter was a terrorist. And even if the parents said
what the police wanted them to say, the police would
torture them as well. For this reason, Amandeep would
not tell her family about her new path. She did not want
to disturb the peaceful life of her little brothers and parents.
At college, Amandeep Kaur began to speak forcefully
about the teachings of Siri Guru Granth Sahib. She talked
with those students who had fallen away from the life of
a Sikh, who were drinking, gambling, or taking drugs.
Bibi Amandeep Kaur
121
Then Amandeep noticed that some spoiled boys were

making life hard for some of the college girls by teasing
and following and calling them names. She decided to
teach them a lesson.
One day, a girl complained to Amandeep that a couple
of boys had stopped her on her path, chased her, and
made her feel bad. Amandeep told the boys to meet her
at the library. She warned them and told them to stop
annoying the college girls. The boys did not listen. They
said to Amandeep, We will do whatever we like, and
you can do whatever you want about it.
In her mind, Amandeep Kaur thought how girls took
everything silently. She blamed girls as well as boys for
their bullying. The girls took everything too quietly.
At the end of the day, Amandeep Kaur went to the
bus stand near the college where the girl who had been
teased would catch a motor rickshaw to take her home.
There was the girl, and soon one of the boys who had
teased her came and started to speak rudely to her. The
girl looked at Amandeep for help. Amandeep then walked
up to the boy, grabbed him by the collar, and punched
him in the nose.
The boy fell at her feet and Amandeep Kaur began to
kick him in front of all the people in the bus stand. She
kicked him so badly that one of his teeth broke, but the
bully never fought back, he was so surprised that a girl
could hit him and teach him a lesson. After that, the bully
and his friend never came again.
A teacher at Amandeeps college had watched the whole
thing. Afterwards, he came and patted her on the back,
saying, You are a brave girl. If you can teach these boys
a lesson in front of these people, you might do even more
if you are properly taught.
Amandeep replied, Sir, I want to do something. I
want to ask for answers from the police. I want to know
122
why they are killing so many good people. Please show

me the right path.
The teacher said, If you ask the police that question
in an honest, peaceful way, you will be dead.
Amandeep Kaur said, The police martyr all these young
men who are a good match for them, but I am just a
helpless girl.
The teacher knew what Amandeep wanted to do. He
himself had been secretly helping the Singhs. He said, On
the path you are choosing, there is no place for crying and
softness. Those closest and dearest to you may be killed.
Women are naturally softer than men and it may be hard
for a woman to follow this path.
There was a painting of the tenth Guru, Guru Gobind
Singh, on the wall of the office where Amandeep Kaur and
the teacher were speaking. She prayed in front of the tenth
Guru, Oh, tenth Master, give me strength so I can fight
against cruelty along with my brother Singhs. If I cant,
then tell if why you gave me so much courage and strength,
why you made me a girl. Why didnt you make me a
boy?
The teacher decided that Amandeep was fit to join the
freedom fighters. He said, Promise before the picture of
Guru Gobind Singh that you will never be captured alive,
and that if this somehow happened, you would stand all
the pain and torture, but never leak any secrets. And she
made that vow.
Amandeep Kaur afterwards became even stronger in
her teaching. She was tired of big professors with mighty
turbans on their heads who acted disgracefully, drinking
alcohol and caring for no one. Amandeep spoke with them,
face to face. She knew that fighting alone would not bring
a change in Punjab. The people themselves would have to
change.
One day, some time later, Amandeep Kaur was taking
Bibi Amandeep Kaur
123
rounds of bullets from place to place as she often did,

when she was stopped by a famous, torturing policeman.
He was called Rolling Pin since he like to crush peoples
legs with a wooden roller. Rolling Pin said he wanted to
frisk Amandeep, to run his hands up and down her body
to see if she was hiding anything.
Amandeep Kaur knew that if she showed any fear,
then this policeman and his companions would frisk her
and her secret would be out. She made up her mind to act
boldly. Amandeep said to Rolling Pin, If you want to
frisk me, first show me the paper that says you are arresting
me.
We dont have any warrant, but we are going to check
you anyway, said the policeman.
Amandeep Kaur replied, Havent you read in your
police book that if a woman is to be frisked it can only be
with a woman police officer present? Without a warrant
and without a woman police officer around, you cant frisk
me.
Hearing her strong words, Rolling Pin and the other
police were a little shaken. They were not so brave as
Amandeep, and they let the girl in the braids and track
suit go.
When Amandeep Kaur made it to the place she was
going and told her story, one of the Singhs was bothered.
He said, This could happen again, and next time you
might not be so lucky. I know the name of the shopkeeper
who told the police to look out for you. You can take care
of him if you like.
Amandeep thought carefully. She thought how God
had protected her so far, but she might not be safe in the
future. Amandeep Kaur decided to do something.
In the darkness of night, two boys, two girls, and
Amandeep went to find the house of the snitch. She told
her parents that they had to practice field hockey till late
124
so no one worried where she was. The five finally found

the house. His family was out and he was home alone.
Amandeeps four friends went ahead of her, but when she
joined them, the shopkeeper said, Oh, its you?
Why did you speak against me to the police?
Amandeep spoke strongly. The police were not able to
get anything out of me, but now you will know who I
am.
The shopkeeper began to cry. Untruthfully, he begged
forgiveness, You are like my daughter! Forgive me! Forgive
me! Amandeep Kaur shot him once with her revolver.
Amandeep used to go to a village where the Singhs
practiced with their weapons. At first, the young women
would cook meals for their Singh brothers, but after a
time, they also taught Amandeep and the others. The Singhs
respected her courage and all the work she had done.
In her mind, Amandeep Kaur was thinking about
shooting the shopkeeper, thinking that if every Sikh woman
punished those who did bad things to them, the world
would be a more peaceful place. She also saw that the
Singhs in her group were amazed at her bravery, and that
it gave a boost to their own courage. If girls can be so
brave, then we can be even more brave, they probably
thought.
She went on thinking, In the Sikh religion men and
women are equal. But if the woman is not brave, how can
she blame the man for not giving her equal respect? If a
man takes a step ahead, a woman should be brave enough
to take two steps ahead. Sikhs who believe in Guru get all
the respect they deserve. Those who are sitting behind
and not joining in the fight may look at the brave Sikhs
and follow them.
One of the young men who had gone with Amandeep
Kaur during the killing of the shopkeeper was Manpreet
Singh. He went to Guru Nanak Dev University in Amritsar.
Bibi Amandeep Kaur
125
Manpreet Singh was picked up by the police two or three

months later. The police threw his body in front of Lyallpur
Khalsa College in Jalandhar. By looking at the body, you
could see how they had tortured, then killed him. Leaving
his broken body there, the police hoped to scare the
students.
Amandeep Kaur and the others were not afraid. Since
he was their friend, they asked if they could have an
Akhand Paath for him at the college, but the cruel police
would not allow it. They students would not give up.
Instead of having the Akhand Paath in the college, they
started the reading right on the roadside where Manpreet
Singhs body had been left. Soon, hundreds of cars and
trucks were backed up in both directions as drivers stopped
to pay their respects. Finally, a police officer came and
told them they could have the Akhand Paath inside the
college after all.
Around that time, the Sikh Students Federation held
many meetings at Amandeep Kaurs home. They would
pretend they were celebrating birthdays, so many birthdays!
Really, they were meeting and planning new actions.
One day, the cruel Rolling Pin stopped Amandeep Kaur
on the road. Luckily, she had nothing to hide at that time.
There were two lady police with him. Amandeep
remembered them. They often stood at the bus stands so
girls would not be teased or bullied, but nobody listened
to them. If a girl was in trouble, they called for Amandeep
and the bullies would run away. She thought they might
be jealous. The police ladies frisked Amandeep Kaur and
brought her to jail.
A man in the government who knew Amandeep was
the best student in her college told the police to let her go.
Afterwards, Amandeeps brother Singhs found out who
had told the police about her, and once she was free again,
they told her who it was. He was a rich businessman.
126
The next day, Amandeep Kaurs mother told her that

freedom fighters has killed the rich businessman in Tarn
Taran. She said nothing, but in her heart, Amandeep was
happy.
On Monday, when Amandeep Kaur returned to school,
she felt like the students were looking at her in a different
way. In her dreams, she started seeing dead bodies left at
the roadside, and hers among them. It disturbed her mind.
She began to think, Even if I did the right thing, if people
found out, they might say my parents were not good parents,
that they had raised a bad daughter who did bad things.
These thoughts began to bother Amandeep.
One day a chance came to leave India secretly, to move
far away. Amandeep took that chance. She knew that the
relatives of freedom fighters could be tortured and killed
by the police, even distant relatives. For the love of her
family, she decided to disappear.
Still, Amandeep thought, Yes, I am a woman and my
feelings are gentle and kind, but I know that whenever
my Sikh nation will really need my help, I can break through.
If need be, I will break through. I will be back there in a
second with a gun in my hand, and no one will stop me!
Bibi Amandeep Kaur
127
Dr. Anarkali Kaur Honaryar (1984 - )

The year Anarkali was born, there was war in her country
of Afghanistan. Afghan men with guns were fighting Russian
soldiers with tanks and helicopters, along with their Afghan
friends. The Russians were slowly being pushed out of
Afghanistan.
Anarkali and her parents and four sisters and brothers
lived in the beautiful province of Baghlan in Afghanistan.
In the fields were grapes and pomegranate trees and cotton
plants. There was cold and snow in the winter, and hot
days in the summer.
Seeing the powerful jet and helicopters of the Russians
thundering overhead, Anarkali wished that one day, she
too could fly. Then she would defend her country and its
people from invaders. Anarkali asked her father one day
if it could be possible. Her father said to Anarkali, My
dear sweet daughter, it is difficult for a woman to be a
pilot in Afghanistan. It does not fit in with this countrys
culture.
Hearing her fathers words, Anarkalis wish to be a
pilot did not go away. But now she wished she were a
boy.
Anarkali and her family were the only Sikhs in their
town. Everyone else was Muslim. They greeted each other,
Salam allaykam! and celebrated a holiday called Eid
when everyone received sweets and presents. Anarkalis
128
friends gave her sweets on Eid, even though she was not
Muslim, and her mother gave her sweets for her Muslim
friends on Guru Nanaks birthday.
Anarkali studied hard at school. She knew that a pilot
needed to have excellent marks. She also knew that in
some parts of Afghanistan, girls were not allowed to go to
school. They had to stay at home. Knowing this, and that
one day she might not be allowed to study, made Anarkali
study even harder. She earned excellent marks.
Anarkali studied so well that she finished high school
four years early, when she was just twelve years old. From
her town, she went to the Afghan capital of Kabul to learn
at the university. Anarkali then decided that since she
could not be a pilot, she would be a doctor and help her
people in that way.
While Anarkali was going to university, she made many
girl friends. The boys went to separate classes and lived
separately. Many of her friends shared their problems with
Anarkali.
The girls had many problems. Some did their school
work at home, then to cooked and cleaned until late at
night. If they became sick or tired, they would be beaten
up. Many of the girls were afraid their parents would take
them out of school and make them get married.
When Anarkali was seventeen, her country was faced
with another foreign army. The Americans destroyed the
Afghan government with thousands of their bombs and
missiles. Then the foreign soldiers Americans, British,
Canadian, French, German, Qatari and others arrived by
the thousands.
The foreigners promised the Afghans a new government
and a country where girls could go to school. In the new
country, girls might even pilot planes. Because everyone at
the university respected her, Anarkali was allowed to go
to an important first meeting to decide who would govern
Dr. Anarkali Kaur Honaryar
129
Afghanistan. Soon after that, there were elections so

everyone in Afghanistan could decide together who would
serve as their government.
Back at university, Anarkali knew that she could do
anything a man could do, but she decided to be a dentist.
Then, a couple of years later, she joined the human rights
commission. Anarkalis new job was to listen to peoples
problems and to help them have peace and respect in their
lives. She had already being doing this for years. Now it
was her job.
Anarkali loved to serve as peacemaker, to listen to
both sides and help them come to peace. Sometimes a
husband beat his wife because he did not know how to
control his anger. She taught him to control his angry
mind. Sometimes a family would want their daughter to
marry someone, but the girl would not agree. Anarkali
would do her best to help everyone have the respect and
peace they needed. When she was not successful, Anarkali
would bring a lawyer to help everyone receive their rights.
Anarkali went on radio and television to tell everyone
about womens rights. She also looked after the rights of
the few thousand Sikhs and Hindus who still lived in
Afghanistan after years of war and violence. Anarkali made
sure their children could go to university the same as the
Muslim students.
Many, many Sikhs left Afghanistan in the years in the
1990s when the Taliban government was against nonMuslims. Even so, today Anarkali loves to go to the
remaining Gurdwaras in Kabul where Guru Nanak visited
many years ago. For her work protecting people in trouble
in her country, she has won the hearts of many. Some
organizations have also given Anarkali Kaur prizes for
what she has done. Sometimes people call Anarkali the
Lioness of Afghanistan.
130
www.gurufathasingh.com
ISBN - 978-81-7010-393-6
Women
of
Grace and Power
Singh Sahib Guru Fatha

Singh Khalsa lives in
Toronto, Canada where he
serves as a member of the
University of Toronto
multifaith chaplaincy. He
is the author of several
books and articles. Guru
Fatha Singh also teaches
holistic living and Kundalini Yoga as taught by
Yogi Bhajan.
Woman of Grace and Power
What will I be when I grow up? Today, in the 21st

century, the possibilities for a girl are many times what they
used to be. Mother or missionary, doctor or diplomat, artist
or freedom fighter, space pilot or businesswoman, wife or
rights activist. Delving from the Sikh tradition and beyond,
here are twenty-one true stories of making the impossible
possible.
9 788170 103936
Hemkunt
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Grace and Power

Guru Fatha Singh Khalsa

Singh Sahib Guru Fatha

Woman of Grace and Power

What will I be when I grow up? Today, in the 21st

Guru Fatha Singh Khalsa

Singh Sahib Guru Fatha Singh Khalsa

Hemkunt Publishers (P) Ltd.

Printed and bound in India by

Custom Printing & Publishing

2. Bibi Amaro (1526-1589)

3. Bibi Bhani (1535-1589)

4. Mata Kaulan (1600-1652)

5. Mata Gujari (1624-1705)

6. Mata Krishan Kaur (1632-1701)

7. Mai Bhago (1675-1755)

8. Rani Sahib Kaur (1771-1799)

9. Princess Sophia (1878-1948)

10. Bibi Harnam Kaur (1886-1914)

11. Bibi Balbir Kaur (1901-1923)

12. Bibi Gursharan Kaur (1937 - )

13. Bibi Krishna Kaur Khalsa (1940 - )

14. Dr. Inderjit Kaur (1942 - )

15. Dame Anita Roddick (1942-2007)

16. Bibi Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa (1943 - )

17. Dr. Nikky Guninder Kaur Singh (1958 - )

18. Dr. Kalpana Chawla (1961-2003)

19. Bibis Amrit and Rabindra Kaur Singh (1967 - )

20. Bibi Amandeep Kaur (1968- )

21. Dr. Anarkali Kaur Honaryar (1984 - )

Bibi Nanaki (1464-1518)

money. This will be a great profit. You will take money,

Women of Grace and Power

with us. Then you would never have to worry.

born, they said, Eat ghur, spin your thread. We dont

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after the Gurus oldest son, Siri Chand, while Lakshmi

Bibi Amaro (1526-1589)

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voice, and then, the sweet, yummy prashaad.

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People act according to their habits. Gods virtues are

Guru Angad was receiving his disciples, leaving Baba Amar

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Bibi Bhani (1535-1589)

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the Gurus family was moving, making a new beginning,

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make a mistake, say so. This is a brave and proper thing

his meditation, he saw Bibi Bhani holding on to his couch.

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apologized and went to take Arjan Dev from the Gurus

servant of God. Then, the white-bearded old saint stood

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This is only a wedding and a time of happiness, but even

Mata Kaulan (1600-1652)

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under penalty of death, to praise an unbeliever.

had found with the Guru. Hearing these reports, the

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When Guru Hargobind returned to Mata Kaulans home,

Mata Gujari (1624-1705)

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