Patwant Singh is a well-established author who has written on a variety of subjects, including Sikh history and Sikh institutions. His most famous works in this regard are 'The Golden Temple', 'Gurdwaras in India and Around the World' and 'The Sikhs'. This time, he, in collaboration with Harinder Kaur (Sekhon), has written 'Garland Around My Neck', the life and work of Bhagat Puran Singh.

Garland Around my Neck is a compelling account of the superhuman efforts of Puran Singh, a rare humanist, who with incredible will power wholeheartedly devoted his life to the service of the disabled, the destitute and the diseased. It is amazing to read that this man had no time for a personal marriage or merriment and accumulated no personal property. All his time was spent in the care of his wards. If there was a free moment, it was spent in reading great minds like Ruskin, Emerson, Tyson, Thoreau, and Gandhi from the nearby library. However, he got his initial inspiration for social service from his mother, Mehtab Kaur. Later, his faith in Darbar Sahib, Amritsar, was a tremendous source of strength to him.

Puran Singh's father was a Hindu and his mother a Sikh, but he embraced Sikhism due to an early soul-touching experience. One day, on a journey by foot to his village, he had to spend a night at a Hindu temple where he swept, cleaned and washed - the usual volunteer work in a religious place.

When suppertime came, the priests enjoyed their meals right in front of him without offering Puran Singh a morsel although they knew he was hungry. After some time, in a similar situation, Puran Singh spent a night at a Gurdwara. There, not only a sumptuous meal was served to him, but also he was given a glass of hot milk, a typical gesture of hospitality in rural Punjab. This incident, in his words, "planted in my young mind the seeds of the Sikh faith from which I learned the lessons of social service, self-sacrifice and the dignity of human labor".

While a student at the Khalsa High School in Lahore, he would spend his spare time at Gurdwara Dera Sahib where, aside from cleaning, cooking and serving the langar, Puran Singh also tended the aged, the infirm and the sick devotees. Here, he had a unique experience, which proved a turning point in his life.

One day in 1934, he found an abandoned child near the Gurdwara. The four-year-old boy was deaf, mentally impaired, physically deformed and was suffering from acute dysentery with flies swarming all around him. Puran Singh washed, changed and fed him, and gave him the name, Piara.

For the next fourteen years, Puran Singh and Piara Singh remained inseparable. During that time, it was quite a common sight in the streets of Lahore, and later in Amritsar, to see Puran Singh making appeals for money for the unfortunate people in his care - with a collection box, bell in hand and Piara Singh on his back. This was in his words, "A Garland Around My Neck". By carrying Piara Singh, he felt as if he were carrying the aged, the infirm, the disabled and the crippled of the world, on his shoulders.

Another incident shows how sensitive Puran Singh's mind was for human pain. Asha Rani a patient suffering from acute tuberculosis, was too weak to take care of herself and her four-year old son, Jeeta. Puran Singh took charge of her and looked after her until her death. After she was gone, Jeeta, severely infected by the disease he had contracted from his mother, would cry and not sleep alone. Puran Singh carried the boy in his arms and slept with him until Jeeta's death. This shows how willing he was to risk his own life in order to provide comfort to the afflicted. What could be more self-sacrificing than such an action as this?

We are often told God helps those who help themselves, but Puran Singh helped those who could not help themselves. Overcoming impossible odds, he built Pingalwara in Amritsar, a home for those who would have been left to die by the roadside, uncared for and un-mourned. It is a monument to his selfless service to the poorest of the poor. In this regard, his work and achievements are comparable with those of Mother Teresa.

It is unfortunate that Bhagat Puran Singh did not get full public recognition and honor for the humanitarian mission to which he devoted his entire life. Whereas he deserved a Nobel prize, he was awarded a Padma Shri, the lowest category of civil honours, by the Indian Government in 1979, which he very conscientiously returned in 1984 when the Golden Temple, the source of his spiritual power, was attacked by India's army

Authors Patwant Singh and Harinder Kaur Sekhon deserve our gratitude for giving us in 'Garland Around My Neck' an inspiring story of Puran Singh's life full of compassion and care for ailing humanity. The book is well researched. The authors met and interviewed a cross section of people who had either benefited from Puran Singh's soothing hand, or had worked with him to provide comfort to the helpless. The book is illustrated with appropriate pictures from various stages of Puran Singh's life and work. There are pictures of his village, its people, Pingalwara and its inmates. One picture, however, that is notably missing, is that of his mother, Mehtab Kaur, whose dreams he fulfilled.

The book is extremely well written. The amazing story of this extraordinary man, told with anecdotal detail, makes very interesting reading and easily holds the reader's attention throughout.

Gurdwaras and Sikh institutions all over the world should buy the book in bulk. It could be to be presented with Siropas to distinguished visitors, especially in these times when the Sikhs are victims of mistaken identity and have been unjustly maligned as violent.

It would be appreciated if part of the sales of the book are donated to Pingalwara, the institution created by Bhagat Puran Singh, since people are buying the book as a token of respect to the selfless social worker.

Garland Around My Neck is available from the Sikh Foundation and the publisher's retail website gobookshopping.com.

Jagpal Singh taught Political Science at Khalsa College, Patiala, India from 1964-1969. He then became the Librarian / Cybrarian at Nova Scotia Teachers College, Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada until 1997, a post he now holds at The Maritime Sikh Society, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Jagpal Singh (Tiwana) is author of "The Maritime Sikh Society: Origin and Growth", published in 2000