Septuagenarian Baba Charanjit Singh had a tough time for nearly six hours when a bid to change the cloth wrapped around the 110-foot high Nishan Sahib Ji at Gurdwara Sarabha Nagar went awry. Singh got stuck midway up around 11 am, and it took a great deal of effort to bring him down safe around 5 pm.
Singh was sent up through a pulley controlled at the ground level, but things went wrong when he reached 70 feet high: the cloth got stuck in the pulley and it stopped moving. Those on the ground made every effort to make Singh feel comfortable despite the scorching heat: water and a cellphone was sent up.
Around 5 pm, the gurdwara authorities could finally bring him down. Once on ground, Singh burst into tears and sent prayers up to God for saving his life.
The gurdwara management, meanwhile, did not spell out the age limit (if any) for persons entrusted with the task of changing the cloth of Nishan Sahib. It is deemed risky for elderly persons. They were also noncommittal about plans to buy rescue equipment and only said such an incident had occurred for the first time and accidents could happen anytime.
“Even though I felt scared for some time, I kept on praying and was sure that God will save me,” Singh said.
One Palwinder Singh had volunteered to bring Baba Charanjit down, citing his expertise in changing the Nishan Sahib cloth at Gurdwara Dukhniwaran Sahib, but the administration deemed it to be a risky proposition and turned it down.
Palwinder told Newsline: “Such incidents have occurred in many gurdwaras; but others always go up and rescue the individual. In this gurdwara, it has happened for the first time. The fire brigade had arrived soon after, but they had no equipment to bring Charanjit down. Finally, Assistant Commissioner of Police Raj Kumar contacted private builders in Ludhiana and Khanna, who make highrise buildings.
A team of workers came from Ludhiana along with iron rods and aluminium sheets. They took about two-and-a-half hours to erect a scaffolding and Singh was brought down safely.”
Once on ground, Singh was examined by a team of doctors from CMCH, who declared him to be fit. His daughter, Sukhwinder Kaur, said: “He has been offering this service for almost 15 years now. Such a thing has happened for the first time.”
An ardas was performed once Singh was brought down. SDM Prem Chand, Joint Municipal Commissioner Kuldeep Singh, Municipal Commissioner A K Sinha and many other officers were present on the occasion.
with thanks : indianexpress : taken from : sikhsangat
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