Nostalgia - Gurdwara Bazaar Nairobi Kenya

Big Love 2 Guru Nanak / My Parents

Gurdwara Bazaar- Juja Road / Nairobi, Kenya

The time was 1960, when my parents arrived in the capital Nairobi, Juja Road and settled in a small room on rent from Mombasa. I was about 3-4 years old, their first child and the first thing my parents did was go to this old Gurdwara Bazaar near our temporary home to do ‘Ardas & Parshad’ (built around 1950). We were in line to go to abroad from the capital airport after passing immigration regulations and getting passports. This is where I first met “The Full Guru Granth Sahib in a Gurdwara”. My parents had already had one in possession, this Guru Granth Sahib from my late grandfather, which was in two halves. But, this was a single book version in a Gurdwara, I was excited & overjoyed to see this.

Other Gurdwaras also were existent at the Time, noticeable Pangani, Landhias, Singh Sabha & South-C. Many Sikhs also regularly traveled to Makindu Gurdwara halfway between Nairobi and Mombasa the main port of Kenya. What attracted me was that a Gurdwara was a place for meeting other Sikhs, did my nursery there, learnt Sikh religion & history, learnt a little about Gurbani (Divine Scripture) and taking part in the many events throughout the year especially Gurpurabs. After a short stay in Nairobi my parents and I left the country, their dream of emigrating to a foreign land complete.

Despite all our Sikh history, the Gurdwaras, The Gurus given Divine Scripture (Gurbani), kirtan, katha, langar, all the traditions we practiced, culture, rituals, ceremonies attached, I never found an iota of ‘peace, happiness, stability or contentment’ inside by body, heart, mind and soul.

The dry, hot and burning season in my life neared an end. I needed answers to the questions, but I never found the answers meeting many priests, religious minded scholars, going to places of pilgrimage, holy shrines, gurdwaras, churches, mosques, temples and mandirs, traveled the world seeking, looking, searching for answers. No….nothing…the pain, burning, grief, sorrows, hardship, remained stagnant rock solid in body, heart, mind and soul. Walked to the edge of the cliff many times, but ‘something’ kept telling me that you are a coward, a pathetic worm, a loser and a nobody in this world, who gives up before even trying to find out the Truth.

Q. What was causing me to be this way?

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This is what I needed from The Guru’s Gurdwara. I needed to find a way to get rid of this filth from my mind and clean, make it pure again. That consecration can only be done by the TrueGuru (SatGuru). A Gurdwara is just a four walled building like our body, that cannot clean. purify or consecrate me. A creation from bricks, mortar, cement, tiles, sand, utilities, washrooms, car parks, langar halls, seating halls and administration, are there to serve the body needs. The Guru resides within The Gurdwara, and that is The Guru Granth Sahib.

From a young age then, I was raised in a small Gurdwara at home, went to many Gurdwaras where I lived or traveled in my life. All those so called ‘spiritual deeds’ I did, didn’t clean, purify or consecrate my body, heart, mind and soul. Instead my pain, suffering, grief, sorrows, anxiety, doubt, fear and depression only increased day by day. How ironic that was, I was told repeatedly throughout my life, that ‘sukh – peace & happiness’, was going to the Gurdwara, listening to ‘Kirtan & Katha’. Then why was my ‘dukh – multiplying in life, never decreasing’?

Over Time, I was given ‘realization’ by the TrueGuru that going to ‘The Gurdwara’ was like going to school or work everyday, but if I hadn’t learnt the subjects from the syllabus, teacher, books maybe some tuition, then I was going to ‘Fail’ 100%. Those who wholly sacrifice themselves, commit to learning their subject matter with intent, belief, trust and faith, they will surely pass. Then where is The Guru that leads me out of this Hell? Where are His Divine Teachings that I must read, learn, know, contemplate and understand?