The prayer meeting was to pay tribute on the untimely death of the wife (herself a doctor) of a popular, very competent, second generation doctor and a very fine human being, known for treating all with empathy and invariably a smiling face. Naturally, there were huge crowds. The hall wasn’t too big but the hosts had arranged for lots of chairs inside as well as on all the wide verandahs around the hall — at places in double rows — and also on the front balcony for those not comfortable sitting cross-legged on the carpeted floor. I would estimate the number of those seeking chairs was probably double of those who sat on the floor. Now, that is a big change that I have seen for the first time as our aging population grapples with stiffer knees and the consequent difficulty in getting back on their feet.
My wife and I deposited our shoes at the designated joota ghar, washed hands and climbed up the comfortable wide stairs, paid our floral tribute on the framed photo of the dear departed soul, entered the hall and walked up to the granth sahib (the sanctum sanctorum) for obeisance before the Almighty and looked around for a place to sit. There was still space on the beautiful pristine white clad carpeted floor but all chairs in the hall were occupied. We came out into the front verandah and moved in different directions — ladies and gent’s wings — and again saw that all chairs had already been taken. Thankfully, a not so old lady graciously got up and offered her chair to my wife; on the other side a middle aged kind man got up and I got his chair. Our benefactors seemingly sat on the floor without difficulty.
As, more people kept arriving, someone would vacate a chair for them. Soon enough most of those seated on chairs were in their nineties, eighties and seventies and the younger ones either found place on the ground or kept standing. There is always lots of grace and respect for the elderly, especially in the Sikh religious places. It may not be long before the gurudwara managements have to consider chair seating for at least 80 per cent of the people. Flip side of the demographic dividend!
And, in passing, I saw another new trend. As everyone is supposed to cover their head, one could see more people with the orange crested scarves provided by the establishment than the usual personal handkerchiefs. Sadly, increasing reliance on paper tissues!
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