His Sacred Burden : The Life of Bhagat Puran Singh/Reema Anand.
Reprint. New Delhi, Penguin, 2004, xvii, 140 p., photos, $14 (pbk). ISBN 0-14-303193-7.
His Sacred Burden : The Life of Bhagat Puran Singh/Reema Anand.
Reprint. New Delhi, Penguin, 2004, xvii, 140 p., photos, $14 (pbk). ISBN 0-14-303193-7.
Contents: Preface. I: 1. Birth of a phenomenon. 2. Grooming as a philanthropist. 3. The first transformation. 4. Fate ceases to smile. 5. Destination Lahore. 6. Self education. 7. Arrival of Piara Singh. 8. The partition. II: 9. From Lahore to Amritsar. 10. Loving Piara to eternity. 11. Conception of the Pingalwara. 12. Stooping to conquer. 13. The Pingalwara--at last. 14. Raising his stature. 15. The Pingalwara grows. III: 16. The first Sikh environmentalist. 17. Knocking at doors and hearts. 18. Settling at home. 19. Death and after. 20. A Cosmic bond. 21. Grooming Daya Singh. 22. A formidable writer. 23. Epilogue. In appreciation. Appendices.
"It was several years before the Punjab Government became aware of Bhagat Puran Singh's selfless enterprise and the Pingalwara was sanctioned an annual grant from the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, enabling him to expand the institution. For his unmatched service to humanity, Bhagatji was awarded the Padma Shri in 1979, which he returned in 1984 as a protest against Operation Blue Star.
His Sacred Burden is a well researched and moving biography of this great man whose legacy continues to inspire some of India's best minds. Profusely illustrated and anecdotal, it also carries a compilation of Bhagatji's personal jotting and the letters the author shared with him."