An evening with our Sufi expert Bakshish Singh from Ajmer
Last week, I got to meet our prolific writer in Ajmer, Bakshish Singh. He is a retired engineer from Indian railways who was born in Baluchistan (Pakistan), studied for some time in Agra and now rules with his understanding of Sufi in all Ajmer and nearby areas. There is much more to know about him apart from this which I got to know while I was talking to him over coffee at his home in “Shalimaar colony” of Ajmer.
He writes in Hindi, Punjabi and his collections have been published by several publishers. His well known works in Hindi include “ darwaaze girvi rakhe hain”, “tukda — tukda khayal” and “Dastak”, “Badla te likhi ibadat” in Punjabi. The titles itself seem so interesting that one can’t resist to read him more. His diligent personality is something that doesn’t make you feel small as you are sipping a cup coffee sitting beside this great personality.
As we got high on caffeine and his poetic nuances while discussing “Sufism”, I almost forgot that I needed to go back to Pushkar and it was already 10:30 in the night. He told me about what it takes to delve into Sufi and what actually it is. If I may sum up, i could possibly describe it as in his own words as “feeling so light in yourself that your very soul has united with the soul of the world and now you don’t feel any burden of your body, daily routine or even words when you tell about it to others while giving a strong message through your creations”. Quoting from his book “ Apni — Apni Zameen Par” which is currently on my table, you will be able to feel what I’m trying to say:
Ke, Arz Kia Hai..
“अब
अक्सर
फ़ैल जाती है
कोरे कागज़ पर
स्याही
तुम्हारे जाने के बाद”
“ मैं ढून्ढ रहा हूँ
बूँद में..
समुद्र,
ज़र्रे में..
पहाड़,
और
बीज में वो..
बरगद का पेड़”
Continuing further, when we asked him about “how to become a writer”, his eyebrows got frowned a bit and he strongly emphasized that if you are pursuing literature for name, fame and money, better forget about it as your very direction is wrong. But if your primary objective is to build an amazing character out of it and evolve your thinking then you must definitely pursue it by first identifying your interest area in the field or following any writer that you admire. The character or the personality you develop as a result of it is much more valuable than what you would earn out of writing.
Although it was getting late, I didn’t want the evening to end but as it is said, “ time and tide waits for none”, he concluded by suggesting me a list of books and writers that one can read if he/she wanted to know more about Sufi and wanted to pursue it. Here is the list:
1. Sufi Lyrics (Murty Classical Library of India)
by Bullhe Shah (Author), Christopher Shackle (Editor, Translator)
2. Sufi saint aur unki kathayein (Hindi)
by Shiv Sharma
3. सूफीमत: साधना और साहित्य
by Rampujan Tiwari
4. ‘tasavvuf athava soofimat’
by chandrabali pandey
Apart from this, he told me that only by practicing Sufi you can reach to its core which you can do best by beginning your morning with Sufi music. With this, I bid adieu to an expert whom I would admire the most for the rest of my life, not just as a writer but also as an amazing person. After all he had to go to bed early at this age so that he could wake up early and tune into his favorite channel and surrender himself to that soul which is one and ultimate, which he thinks can be easily united with yours by being getting to know more about Sufism.
Ps: If you have any other doubt or query about Sufism, the writer or anything other connected interest, do comment! I will try to answer it to my best.
Edited by: Gaurav Singh, Community Curator (Arz Kia Hai)
