History Of Guru Nanak Charitable Trust (Regd.)

It is said....." Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed people can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that has." In the early eighties , a few elderly elderly persons would gather in the evenings at Adda Mullanpur Dakha near Ludhiana Ferozepur highway. These gatherings could have been passed as any other village " Sath " (an informal place where people sit in small groups for gossiping)but there 2as a difference. This was a group of learned citizens with there collective wisdom , knowledge and experience wanted to change the lot of the people of the area .

Dr Gurmel Singh Deol, with an idea that more people should reap the benefit of these discussions, persuaded the group leader, Baba Gursewak Singh, to organize the meetings in a more formal manner. The later was his tutor of Divinity in his school days. Thus the venue shifted to Dr Gurmel Singh's residence on Thursday evenings. What started with half a dozen individuals, soon crossed four dozen mark and it was now referred to as "Veervar Satsang". Not just the numbers increased, the topics of discussion also diversified from religious to historical, social, environmental etc . A treasure , hitherto neglected and under-utilized started giving dividends.

It was in 1983, during his visit to UK, that Dr Gurmel Singh faced this query about the welfare schemes for senior citizens back home, time and again. One evening in Glasgow , with his friends, S Balwant Singh Saggu, S Ajit Singh, S Gurbachan Singh Sidhu and others, most of them nearing retirement, this topic was discussed in detail. In the next few days, they visited some Day Care Centres in the city and the suburbs. They studied their working and conceptualized a Senior Citizen Day Care Centre at Mullanpur Dakha.

Once back home , the project was discussed and approved in Thursday Satsang . It was also decided to form a trust, to run the project. Thus, Guru Nanak Charitable Trust was formed and duly registered with the Government in 1987 . Baba Gursewak Singh ji was made the first Chairman and Dr Gurmel Singh the first Gen. Secretary. Schemes and concepts started transforming into action on war footing.

Baba Bhagwan Singh's family donated a plot of 600 yds for the building. Dr Gurmel Singh, after winding up his Clinic, would move from street to street and from village to village, along with Lala Chanan Dass Luthra and S Mohinder Singh Sanghera, to collect funds for the project .Lalaji had an excellent knack for extracting donations. Thus the construction of the building started, under the supervision of S Mohinder Singh.

Now the trustees didn't have to explain to the donors what they planned to do, they were telling what they were doing, and it was for everyone to see for themselves. Donations started pouring in from NRI friends and well wishers. The financial and moral support from local people was overwhelming.The first building was ready by the end of 1989.

It had a Public Library, a Reception Lobby, a Free Dispensary and an office on the ground floor. A big hall on the first floor, that had Siri Guru Grant Sahib Prakash in it. It was aptly named "Gurmat Bhawan", and was dedicated to Human welfare on 10 December 1989.Volunteers, donors, friends, well wishers and general public from the adjoining areas came in huge numbers. It was a sort of festive occasion, something different, something unique was in the offering.

Baba Gursewak Singh performed the Ardaas and Bhagat Puran Singh from Pingalwara, Amritsar addressed the gathering. Dr Sahib had a very long association with Bhagat ji, having worked with him as a volunteer in Refuge camps in 1947 in Khalsa College, Amritsar . He always considered Bhagat ji his mentor and his service towards humanity his inspiration . Bhagat ji goaded the Gurmat Bhawan team to look beyond senior citizens welfare. The world, he said, was in need of welfare work in a lot many other fields too, all one needed was, to just look around . From that day onwards, there was no looking back. Gurmat Bhawan's was a formidable team now .

"Main akela hi chala tha jaanebe manzil, log milte gaye ,caaravan banta gaya" ( I started alone towards the Destination , people kept joining on the way and a caravan was formed ) and that's the story of our team .

Suggestions were invited from every corner, healthy criticism was welcome. Every point was discussed and debated, plans were made and implemented , new projects added.. ....and the rest, as they say, is History .

On the last page of Dr Gurmel Singh Deol's Diary was written "Maana ke is jahan ko na gulzaar kar sake, kutch khaar kumm to kargaye, guzare jidhar se hum." ......admittedly ,we couldn't transfer this world into a garden, but we did manage to pick few thorns the way we went."