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NRIs bring new life to disabled kids (Go to Top) Phagwara: A group of Non Resident Indians (NRIs) have given a new lease of life to scores of physically-challenged children in Punjab, by funding a special school. Housing over 60 children, most of them, visually impaired, orphaned and belonging to extremely poor families, the sprawling campus has full residential facilities, including a state-of-the- art computer lab. Open to all the poor and the destitue, the school runs entirely on individual sponsorships by the NRIs. Mostly undisclosed, the grants have even gone upto the tune of a million dollars. Having
gained immense popularity, the school has been flooded with impoverished
parents wanting to enroll their children, even those who have no physical
disability, into the school. Gyan Singh Surjeet, one of the founder
members of the school, said they were now trying to expand the facility
and appealed to the NRIs for continued help. "The institution is running
well, having achieved a lot in a short time. We'd like to promote it
further. Efforts in this direction require money after all. I appeal
to non-resident Indians coming to India to donate for a noble cause
like this one. This is the highest form of human service," Surjeet said.
Meanwhile for the children it has been their first tryst with a regular
school and needless to say, they are thrilled. "I like it here. The
studies are also going well. I have stood first in my class. My ambition
is to become a doctor," Kripal Singh, a young boy said. "My parents
have passed away. I came to live in a Gurdwara and they suggested that
I should live here. This is my third year here. I aspire to become a
raagi (holy singer). We have been given good facilities here," Gurmeet
Singh, another child, added. According to statistics from the Blind
Foundation in India, there are more than 13 million blind people in
India, constituting one- third of the world's blind population. Out
of this, 2 million are children and only five percent of them receive
any education. Golden Temple, service before self (Go to Top) Amritsar: Sewa, the Sikh term for service, involves people coming together for social service with a feeling of selfless devotion, celebrating the glory of the divine. Perhaps the biggest event providing this opportunity is the cleansing of the "Grand Sarovar" (Tank) of the Golden Temple here. It is a unique sight, as this is being done after a gap of 16 years. The enthusiasm, the fervor, the excitement of partaking in an event so rare and far between, has its own magical aura. Over 100,000 people - Sikhs and non-Sikhs from round India and the world, old and young, men, women and children, rich and poor joined hands to clean this religious and historical landmark, this mythical pool of nectar. Since construction of this tank in 1577, this is the fifth time that a total cleansing operation is being carried out. The earlier four instances were in 1923, after formation of the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee, in 1973, in 1984 after Operation Blue Star and in 1988. Besides the huge turnout here, there were millions watching the sewa being telecast live around the country. For those taking away the silt from the tank to be preserved as a treasure and those pouring in almost round the clock, the magic of the occasion will live on forever. "Doing sewa here today has been so satisfying. We've also been here on previous sewas to clean the sarovar. It gives so much pleasure and satisfaction...It has nothing to do with politics. The thousands of people who come from around the world here do so out of faith for the gurus. They perform service from the heart," says Rajat Sharma, who has come to Amritsar with his wife from Sri Ganganagar in Rajasthan. "The atmosphere here is something to be remembered for a lifetime by an entire generation. A person participating in sewa here enriches his soul and reduces suffering in this lifetime. This kar sewa at the Harmandir Sahib is a memorable event, which devotees from around the world should not miss for anything," says Parminder Singh, a resident of Amritsar. A
feature of the sewa this time is the installation of a state- of-the-art
water treatment plant, to filter and purify every drop that passes into
the main tank. Conceived by a Canada-based-Sikh, Sital Singh, in 1973,
the system has been installed in the temple premises at a cost of over
a million dollars. And, it stands for the Sikh community's acceptance
of modernity and science. The sewa operation also aims to repair the
foundations, and the bathing ghats on the tank, and renovation of the
bridge that leads from the outer periphery to the temple at the center.
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