Starting from 1st Guru, Guru Nanak Sahib ji, Sikhs had living Guru to guide them how to live their life. The light of Guru Nanak Sahib shifted through 9 more living Gurus. When time was near for 10th Guru sahib, Guru Gobind Singh ji to leave the physical body behind and merge with Akalpurakh, Sikhs around him expressed their sadness and asked Guru sahib for guidance to live by. Guru Sahib laid down 52 Hukams for them and afterwards performed the ceremony of giving the Guruship to our current living Guru, Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji. Later on these wisdom words became foundation of the current Sikh Rehat Maryada that is Sikh Code of Conduct.
When the idea to prepare our kids with these hukams was expressed by organizer, Amarjit Kaur Nijjar to a few sangat members, many Sangat members were not even aware themselves that these hukams existed. In order to preserve and pass on the knowledge of these hukams and in order to honor and celebrate the prakash purab of Guru Gobind Singh ji, the Khalsa school students memorized and recited these ‘52 Hukams’ during Diwan on January 5th, 2020. The whole preparation and presentation went very well with Kids, parents, organizers and Sangat’s co-operation. The meaning of hukams were shown as slide show in English as well.
The 52 Hukams can be seen below, in Gurmukhi and English, respectively.
The Khalsa school kids who memorized and recited these Hukams were divided amongst 3 groups based on their ages.The introduction was given by Harneet Kaur who is TA for Punjabi and Kirtan Classes.
Group 1 – Small/Elementary School Kids
Hridhveer Singh Khurana, Jastej Singh, Mohkam Singh, Gursahai Singh, Nihal Singh, Haransh Singh, Prabhnoor Kaur, Keerat Kaur, Gurnoor Kaur, Achal Kaur, Paras Kaur, Asees Kaur, Divraj Singh, Jasvir Singh, Syan Singh, Rajveer Singh, Livnoor Singh, Gurasis Singh.
Group 2 – Middle School Kids
Asreet Kaur, Harjas Kaur, Maskeen Kaur, Gurmann Kaur, Meher Kaur, Mansa Kaur, Hartej Singh, Harjus Singh, Samir Singh, Harman Singh, Jaskeerat Singh, Kirpal Singh, Rajveer Singh, Bhumeet Singh.
Group 3 – High School Kids
Harleen Kaur, Harsonica Kaur, Riya Mahanta, Manraaj Singh, Agam Singh, Suchnoor Singh, Samar Singh, Jashika Kaur, Tanisha Kaur, Ria Singh, Danveer Singh.
The first step towards truly living these principles starts with a genuine effort to know them by heart. Knowledge becomes understanding, and understanding becomes practice, and practice becomes a way of life.
All the Khalsa school kids not only memorized these Hukams but also tried to learn and understand the meanings of these Hukams. This was a great way to make kids and sangat aware of Sikh Rehat Maryada, Sikh code of conduct. Sangat’s feedback was to present these every year on the same occasion. That is a great idea as it gives chance to prepare different kids and hence different parents get to learn these as well while preparing their kids.
