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I am reminded of a story – call it a fable -  dating back to 1986. A middle-aged Sikh, travelling from Toronto to Delhi, had a memorable encounter with a young boy at an international airport in Europe. As the India-bound passenger was absorbed in reading a newspaper, the boy, who emerged from nowhere, started watching him closely. The boy's eyes were focused on the face of his unknown elderly co-passenger. When caught in his act of close admiration of his stranger elderly guest, the boy apologized profusely. Initially reluctant to reveal his curiosity, he opened up and innocently expressed his inquisitivity. “Don’t your moustaches get burnt when you smoke?”, he asked.

“No, they don’t because I do not smoke. Further, my religion prohibits smoking,” was the reply that shook the boy, who retorted back “How come you do not smoke? Everyone smokes. What is your religion? Are you Muslim?” were the questions that followed.

“I am a Sikh and we do not smoke.”

The short and crisp reply baffled the boy who was a little hesitant to accept that any religion can prohibit smoking.

He got enthusiastic and started asking questions about Sikhism, its origin and who all are Sikhs. As the boy and the man got engaged in an animated conversion, the mother of the boy, begged intervention to take away her son for the flight that was ready for boarding.

The boy could not contain his excitement and was vociferous in sharing with his Mom about “Sikhs” who do not smoke. She took the Sikh passenger aside to confide in him that she lost he husband to smoking. That she said was the reason her son gets overwhelmed on seeing people not smoking. Before leaving, the boy extracted a promise from his new friend for correspondence to share further knowledge about “Sikhism”. The Sikh passenger wrote down his address on a piece of paper with an assurance that any correspondence from the boy would not go unresponded. While both went their ways, a new relationship was established. The boy, as promised, got some books about Sikhism gifted from his unknown Sikh friend in the subsequent years. So much so that he embarked upon a journey to visit the sanctum Sanctorum Sri Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple) in Amritsar. Subsequently, he and his friends embraced Sikhism and set up a gurdwara in their home town in Europe.

Like this boy, not many know what Sikhism founded by Sri Guru Nanak Dev is all about. Sindhis follow Sri Guru Nanak Dev and are in general parlance identified as "Nanak Panthis" - believers and followers of the teachings of the first Sikh Guru. The Prakash Utsav - birth anniversary - of Sri Guru Nanak Dev ji is celebrated the world over as a festival of humanity and not of Sikhs alone.

Hundreds of Sikhs and Sindhis besides others converge at Gurdwara Janam Asthan (birthplace) every year to participate in the Prakash Utsav celebrations.

Guru Nanak was a pioneer, a social reformer, a scientist and above all, a committed family man. He raised an awareness about issues that the contemporary world is talking now.

Advanced countries like Canada that take pride in promoting and supporting multiculturalism, diversity, gender equity, volunteerism, and environment conservation are perhaps drawing their inspiration from the teachings of Guru Nanak’s Sikhism, one of the youngest, most modern and scientific religions that accord wholesome respect to all other religions and faiths.

It was he who not only advocated for universal brotherhood, the gender equity, but also for one God, the Almighty, or Waheguru, or Allah as believers and followers of different faiths and religions call him. It is his philosophy of “oneness of humanity” that prompted the US-based Bindra family to institute an Interfaith Peace award in 2008. Dalai Lama was the first recipient of this prestigious award.

Guru Nanak taught that we discover our oneness with humanity by exploring the differences that separate us. The Guru Nanak Interfaith Prize recognises and supports the efforts of those individuals and organisations who work to advance that vision.

According to Guru Nanak, religions are paradoxical. They help us to discover and cultivate what is best and most hopeful about one another and the world that sustains us. And yet, they often spark conflict and violence. The Guru Nanak Interfaith Prize is based on the conviction that religious dialogue helps to minimise religious conflict by cultivating awareness that we each view the world from the limitations of our own traditions, and we have much to learn from the traditions of others.

As a precautious child, Guru Nanak demonstrated his concern for the poor and needy at an early age. Guru Nanak pioneered volunteerism and the concept of “tera, tera” meaning that everything belongs to the Almighty. When he was given 20 rupees by his father for doing a profitable business, young Guru Nanak, instead of multiplying the amount through trade as was the common practice, he set up a community kitchen to feed the poor and hungry. It was the beginning of “langar” or community kitchen that has since then grown from strength to strength and has come to be known as the USP of Sikhism. In natural and manmade calamities, followers of Guru Nanak are always at the forefront of organising “langar” and other relief measures voluntarily.

When asked to explain his conduct, young Nanak’s simple reply was, “I have made a true bargain”, which in the Sikh parlance is known as Sacha Sauda.

When his father realised that his son was unfit for business, he sent him to his sister’s house in Sultanpur Lodhi where he was employed as storekeeper by the local chief.

During his stay in Sultanpur Lodhi,  Nanak got enlightenment on the banks of a rivulet named Kali Bein. The first words he uttered after his enlightenment were:

'Na koi Hindu nako Musalman' thus clearly indicating that his mission was to unite humanity by asking them to transcend the boundaries created in the name of religion, caste and colour. It was on the banks of Kali Bein that Nanak, the Guru, recited Mool Mantara - the Primal creed of the new religion.

Guru Nanak’s God is One without a second, His name is Truth and he

alone is the Creator of the Universe. As children of one God, all have to be

treated as equals in whatever station of life they are.

To share his message of unity of mankind, Guru Nanak went on long journeys to   parts of India and the neighbouring countries. He travelled far and wide in the high Himalayas covered with snow, the sandy deserts of Rajasthan, the neighbouring countries Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq and Sri Lanka.

In the Himalayas, he visited Leh Ladakh and Chung Thang where now stands Gurdwara Nanak Lama. I had an opportunity to visit one of his lesser known transit at Kargil.

He even travelled to Mecca in the blue garb of a Haji to join the faithful in prayer at Kaaba. During his interaction with the Muslim divines, the Guru was asked to tell as to who was superior – a Hindu or a Muslim? His simple reply was “Without good actions, both were of no consequence.”

Japna, Kirat Karni, and Wand Chhakna – hard and honest labour, meditation, and sharing fruits of one’s earnings with others – form the gist of his teachings. To put his teaching into practice in daily life, the Guru established a new town on the banks of river Ravi and named it Kartarpur – the city of God. It was here that a model society based upon Guru’s teachings and those of other saints especially the concept of Begum Pura by Bhagat Ravi Das was established.

Begum Pura in the words of Bhagat Ravi Das was a land without worry, where people lived happily without any excessive taxes, undue interference of the State, and greed to amass wealth.

More than any other period of human history, the need for unity of thought and action today is the most urgent. When the world is fragmenting, and fragments clash with fragments surrendering all sense and purpose of living for the larger humanity, it is the humanity which seeks transcendence from narrow limits and boundaries. The world today is beseith violence and rejection. The cries and pains of millions from all parts of the world remind humanity to revert to the teachings of the universal Baba, Guru Nanak. More than Sikhs as his disciples, there are Sindhis and others who religiously follow his teachings. The moral core of our being is being invoked as if to look beyond our narrow confines and provide succour to the large number of people who are being ejected from their land, from their hearth and from their historic associations. The cries of the refugees and children born out of conflicts are too loud to be ignored.

At a time when the world is facing serious challenges resulting from unchecked exploitation of natural resources, a growing race for arms, continued exploitation of the poor by the rich and growing environmental degradation, it will be worthwhile to work for an alternative model of society based on truth, gender equality, protection of the environment and universal responsibility as advocated by Guru Nanak and his Sikhism.

For lasting peace in the turbulent world that we live in, a divine message from the Guru looks more relevant than ever before :

ਜਗਤੁ ਜਲੰਦਾ ਰਖਿ ਲੈ ਆਪਣੀ ਕਿਰਪਾ ਧਾਰਿ ॥

ਜਿਤੁ ਦੁਆਰੈ ਉਬਰੈ ਤਿਤੈ ਲੈਹੁ ਉਬਾਰਿ ॥

This world is burning O’ Lord, Show Thy mercy, Thy Grace

And save it through whatever Door Thou can.