Fields of Flowers

It had been 3 days, long hot summer days. Sukh Nidhaan Singh was close to dyeing, as he lay there in a wooden cage on a cart drawn by two horses.

He had been captured by the mughal forces near the jungles of afhgan. He hadn't slept or eaten properly for days so he was weak when he was pounced upon by the mughal soldiers. he had put up a good fight and even killed a few of them, but he was injured and he was overpowered and captured. The mughal soldiers had tied him upside down from a tree and beaten him severely. the mughal Soldiers thought that instead of killing him they would take him to their Nawaab, he would be pleased with the fine specimen of Sikh warrior they had caught. They thought it would be a good challenge to try and convert this Kafir.

It had been 5 months of travelling since Sukh nidhaan had seen another Sikh. the last time was 5 months ago he met a Sikh messenger travelling to take news to Baba Deep Singh ji. When he met the gursikh he fell to the floor and cried at the gursikhs feet. the gursikh embraced him and comforted him. the gursikh had to leave immediately as his message was of great urgency. Sukh Nidhaan Singh told him that he was travelling towards Amritsaar to meet his brothers once again. they both said there fateh! and departed. and that was five months ago... and how he longed to be with his family of Sikhs once again.

he remembered the times when he was together with his band of fellow Sikh Warriors. they were a band of Sikh warriors who had been given the duty to uproot certain mughal bases and strongholds to damage the great mughal force. they were given the task of also rescuing any kidnapped women taken as slaves by the mughals and returning them to their villages. He was now the last of his Jatha and now, even he had been caught and was being taken to the nawaab of this District.

He lay in the small cage barely big enough to sit in and he was dyeing slowly. the energy had been sucked from him by the beatings and the immense sun. Suddenly he was awoken as water splashed onto his face. A mughal Soldier on horseback trotting alongside the carriage laughed and drank some water form his pouch and spat at Sukh Nidhaan Singh once again.

"Not long to go now.... you DOG!" the mughal laughed again at Sukh Nidhaan Singh.

Another mughal ahead shouted "We're almost there I can see the tower from here"

two other mughal soldiers pulled up alongside the moving carriage on horseback from behind and they mocked Sukh nidhaan Singh;

"HaHa! you'd better be ready, soon, you will have the honour of becoming one of US! and not a dog like your kind"

Sukh Nidhaan Singh stared at the soldier fiercely, and as he struggled "Never...ever.. I will die... first" the mughals continued to mock him...

"yes we've caught many of your kind, and most of them chose the wealth and the riches. after a few beatings they always come round to OUR way of thinking"

"Yes! even last month there was that big one, one of your Sikhs, he was beaten in public and after he was begging to be accepted by us."

"Yes countless Sikh have changed, and they now live in luxury with good homes and women, a big reward awaits you if you make the right decision.

Sukh Nidhaan Singh was hurt at the thought of his Sikh brothers giving up and betraying their Guru and the Khalsa. It seriously damaged his esteem and he started to wonder.. if he had the strength to keep his love for Gurujee until death... if so many had given up.. then what would become of him.. Who was he? was he any different.... He pondered on his situation and the anxiety he felt deeply as he heard the mughals laughing and telling stories of how many Sikhs had been converted and now served the mughal empire.

As he looked into the distance along the long rough road, he saw fields and field of flowers in the distance, he wondered what place this was. his eyes were to weak and damaged to see properly. But he could make out the many fields stretching into the vast horizon. he lay back in the cage and wondered about his Sikh brothers and what would become of him and he made a plea to Satguru...

"Oh Guru! teacher of truth. great warrior from the heavens.. I know now that my end is near. Please Gurujee, PLEASE! bless me with the courage to uphold justice and dharam to the end. May I Die but never let go of your hand. You are my mighty guardian and now Satguru I ask of you, please bless me with the strength and valour to persevere to the end and die a noble death but never give up my beloved Sikhi and the hair on my head. And Satgurujee Dyaal! please bless me with the darshan of gursikhs once again, my eyes are thirsting for the vision of my beloved Khalsa warriors, my family the Khalsa" And at that he lay back lifeless in his cage. With Gods name on his Mind... he repeated again and again... Vaaahegrooohhh.... vaaaahegroohhh... Vaaahegroohh..... vaaahegroohhh...." ...A few minutes and he lost himself in meditation.

Suddenly!! the cart jolted and Sukh Nidhaan Singh ji was awoken from his lazy meditation. He looked out into the fields and saw the Flowers. He couldn't believe his eyes... he sat upright and he looked in amazement! He could not contain the emotion and the tears started to pour from his eyes.... every single pore on his body stood to attention... and he felt them shiver..... through his soul....

THE FLOWERS.. he had seen were not flowers... but they were fields and fields of Spears stuck into the ground... ..and on each spear he saw the Head of a Khalsa Warrior. Some scalped, some beaten, some without the eyes, some burnt, some boiled.. and some he recognised.... alas. he had the darshan of the khalsa once again.. and the sight was too beautiful.... there ware fields and fields of Gursikhs heads on Spears as far as he could see into the distance... the tears he could not contain....

The mughals thought that this site would break Sukh Nidhaan Singh down... but Sukh Nidhaan Singh Sat upright in the cage with a firm look of Strength and nobility on his face... he thought he should show a brave face to his Sikh brothers.... the Emotion powerful... he felt his spirits rise to the skies.. his strength came back.

He Was so proud of these great warriors, his brothers the, KHALSA, They had dies but not given up their Love for Sikhi, Truth and justice. They had not wavered in the face of torture... and had kept their faith till the end. this Gave him strength and Courage and he thought to himself. "I was a fool to even doubt for a second, that my true khalsa would give up and lose. they fought till the end and maintained there principles." he smiled and wiped away the tears and out of joy he let out the war cry of the Khalsa, to pay homage to the great martyrs.

"SAT SREEEE AKAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLL!!!!!!!"

GUR BAR AKAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLL!!!!!!

DEGH TEGH FATEH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sukh Nidhaan Singh over the few coming days was offered many pleasures and riches and he was also tortured and beaten terribly. but at every moment he remembered the flowers in the fields... IT gave him Strength.

He was tortured severely and on the third day when the mughals had given up , they left him to die a painful slow death as they tied him to a tree and left him to die in the sunlight overlooking the fields. bruised, battered and barely alive, Sukh Nidhaan Singh lifted his head and again he saw the fields. He smiled and welcomed Death. The pain was immense but he knew that it was worth it, as he had beaten the mughals. they could kill him but they could not take away his faith.

As hours went by Sukh Nidhaan Singh continued to meditate on the lords name. He looked out into the fields to his khalsa one last time... and he saw in the distance a figure walking through fields. He saw that it was a Khalsa Warrior in blue dress decked with weapons. as the figure slowly came closer he saw that the warrior was approaching each spear and kissing the forehead of each shaheed. As he came closer Sukh Nidhaan Singh ji saw from a distance that it was Guru Gobind Singh ji himself.

He remembered that the Sikhs were like flowers and when they reached their most beautiful form, Gurujee would come to pick the flowers as shaheeds - martyrs.