Pingalwara

Pingalwara Center: A Place for Hope, Health and Happiness

This was a remarkable place, and the story behind it is even more compelling. Pingalwara's formation was sparked in 1934 by Bhagat Puran Singh Ji in Amritsar, Punjab.

For over 14 years, Bhagat Puran Singh tirelessly carried an abandoned, spastic child, usually on his back. The Partition of Punjab in 1947 (to form Pakistan) resulted in massive bloodshed. Millions of people were forced to leave their belongings in Pakistan to cross into India. My own grandparents survived the Partition but lost many of their children on the difficult journey. It was a traumatic and dark period in India's history.

Bhagat Puran Singh went through rough periods, and in 1948 when Pingalwara was taking shape, he stood along the streets requesting money. With the money he managed to collect, he bought food, clothes and medicines for the sick. He fed and bathed them, and took them to the hospital for treatment. He never allowed war, plague, or extreme weather to get in his way, and he continued to pick up stranded people (whether they were infected, sick, dying, etc).

Pingalwara means a house or asylum for the disabled, handicapped or crippled. We learned the Center also houses and takes care of the elderly, abused, people suffering terminal diseases, etc. The Center houses a humble museum dedicated to Bhagat Puran Singh depicting photographs of his early years and his simple belongings. He leaves a powerful legacy, one full of wonder and hope.

It is said that, "...Pingalwara is full of legends that would never make newspaper stories- for they are success stories about people picked up in their infancy from garbage bins, girls abused and abandoned by their families, and those mentally retarded grown-ups normally sent to harsh asylums for their lives" (All India Pingalwara Charitable Society).

Bhagat Puran Singh was well beyond his time. While no one gave attention to threatening environmental issues, he tirelessly advocated against deforestation and soil erosion. He stressed the need for planting trees, preserving natural resources, limiting the use of diesel and gasoline, and leading a good, simple life.

We spent a day in Pingalwara where Dr. Inderjit Kaur (who runs Pingalwara now) graciously provided us with a tour. We saw the main branch where they had living quarters and daily classes for neglected children and mentally impaired women. We also visited the branch just on the outskirts of Amritsar, where they house the school for the underprivileged and the prosthetic and physical therapy center. The employees and volunteers of Pingalwara were hard at work teaching, repairing, building, and providing services to people. We were very moved and impressed with their dedication to Bhagat Puran Singh's legacy. We donated to their cause, and felt that this help would go far. Pingalwara needs these funds and creates a wonderful environment to those who need it most.

Photos

Conjoined twins on all vital organs who can never be separated. Pingalwara Center, Amritsar, Punjab. October 26, 2006.


Young girls at the school for the underprivileged; Child of a mentally impaired woman


Rebecca and cognitively impaired children dancing to Bhangra music


Lovely children in class at the school for the underprivileged


Sweet girl in class at the school for the cognitively impaired


Children having a nice chuckle and drinking their milk


At the Pingalwara old school print shop where people are provided with small employment opportunities to publish Bhagat Puran Singh's manuscripts for free public distribution.


Team with Pingalwara President Dr. Inderjit Kaur (pictured in the blue). Dr. Inderjit Kaur has been wonderfully leading Pingalwara since the passing away of Bhagat Puran Singh in 1992.