As the celebrations have already begun for the 400th Prakash Purab of Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji, everyone is contributing his or her share either by cash or kind. Meet this 37-year-old Mansa-based Tejinder Singh, who is doing his bit by travelling on his bicycle to different Gurudwaras in Punjab, Haryana and Delhi to spread the message and teachings of the ninth Sikh Guru.
Tejinder started his cycling expedition on March 28, he aims to visit over 50 Gurudwaras related to Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji, based in Punjab, Haryana and Delhi. So far, he has travelled around 500-800 km, and has visited around 15 to 16 sikh temples in Punjab’s Malwa region.
Interestingly, Tejinder Singh has dual objective behind this cycling expedition as he not only wants to show different Gurudwaras to people and narrate the history of such places through live streaming but also he is promoting Punjabi language among youngsters in the areas he visits and motivating people to live a healthy life.
In a telephonic conversation with the TrueScoop News, Tejinder Singh revealed that he will conclude 35-day long cycling expedition on May 2 i.e. on the day of the Prakash Purab of Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji. Besides, by then he will cover over 25 districts across Punjab and Haryana and will travel around 3000km in total.
A postgraduate and BEd in Punjabi language, Tejinder’s mission is encourage youngster to speak their mother tongue. In addition, at every bus stand or railway station, he holds placards conveying the message ‘Punjabi Bolo, Punjabi Padho and Punjabi Likho’ and the teachings of the ninth Sikh Guru.
He also has a pen drive in which he has stored videos depicting the history of Guru Tegh Bahadur and the Punjabi literature. He shows the video to the youngsters that come in his way during his journey.
Moreover, he also holds online Punjabi classes for the students based in foreign nations. Everyday around 9:00 pm, he holds online sessions of Punjabi literature for the international students. Besides, in Punjab too, in the recent past he has conducted many lectures for students of the government schools in which he makes them aware of the grammatically correct Punjabi language. In other state schools, he motivates students to use cycle instead of two-wheelers, in order to save environment and for a healthy life style.
He said that “now it’s been over 18 years and on every pious occasion I decide to pedal and the love for my language and the state keeps motivating me. Also, someone among us has to take the plunge to promote our mother tongue. So, I feel that God has chosen me for this and I am happy to serve,” he said.