In the picturesque hills of Shimla, a ‘vella’ (an expression in Punjabi for a person, who roams around carefree) has been taking care of both living and dead. In his official documents he may be called Sarabjit Singh, but humanity knows him as Bobby Vella, a name given by his mother and the people of Shimla.
But why this name? I asked. “I was always very fond of driving. And this fancy for wheels got me in touch with an NGO, which used to drive a dead body van for charity. They had a paid driver, but I still offered them my services. That driver used to drive the van between 9 to 5 pm only, my fascination for wheels was such, that I offered them my services for 24 hours. My family could not understand my reason of driving a dead body van. They would often say do something else. But somewhere within, a huge change was taking place. It was almost… like meeting life in-face every day. Meeting with families who have lost their dear ones some time ago, and taking them to the cremation ground, made me realise that life is too precious and we must make it more meaningful.”
While talking to Bobbyji, I was reminded of hills of Shimla. So enormous, yet so calm. There’s a certain sense of serenity in his voice. Maybe it emanates from the big task he has on hand.
While serving the dead, Bobbyji found a way to help those who are alive. “Shimla has the biggest government run cancer hospital of Himachal Pradesh. Hundreds of people come here every day for their treatment. We started the Langar seva for patients and attendants at this cancer hospital. Initially we started with morning tea and biscuits, within three months, we could serve them dinner as well.” Today, almost 500 to 700 people eat here every day and that too all three meals of the day. Bobbyji’s organisation, which is called Almighty Blessings, is operated at a professional level with the help of 11 employees.
Langar Seva is one of the most significant aspect of the Sikh religion. World over, Gurudwara kitchens are known for serving millions of people every day. Bobbyji believes that the Langar seva should be brought out of Gurudwaras to common places like hospitals. “The idea is to feed the hungry. In our Gurudwaras today, we are feeding all those people, jinke pet bhare hue hain. People, come and donate lakhs of rupees to their respective Guru. Once that guru dies, all the money gets transferred to inheritors. We are serving those who are already contended. The Langar Seva is a very beautiful concept. We need to bring Langars out, from Gurudwars to common places like hospitals. Our government hospitals are loaded with people who can’t afford food and medicines. We need to create the right channel, so that poor and hungry people get benefitted by these donations.”
Bobbyji is clearly on a goodness marathon. In the process of setting up Langar Sewa at the cancer hospital, he also started a novel concept called – Roti Bank. “We requested the school kids to get one roti extra in their tiffin. I had asked for just one roti, today kids bring 10 rotis and donate to our Roti Bank. There have been occasions when, kids donated us their own tiffin, just in case they forgot to bring any,” said Bobbyji, who is running six such roti banks across Shimla.
Bobbyji has appeared on several popular forums like TEDtalks. I asked him, what is the easiest way to start with? “Get 5 litres milk. Make tea. Buy some biscuits. And stand in the nearest government hospital to distribute. Kisi bhi hospital main subah subah ki chai pila kar dekhiye… aatma ko alag hi shaanti milti hai,” he said.
And just in case you are keen to be part of his benevolent task, please feel free to call him at 91 9418061000 or get it touch through his Facebook page.
By Princy Jain
connect@princyjain.com