Tribute

Three Gursikhs, all belonging to the same family have passed away last Saturday.
Daas has himself met Bhai Satvir Singh Ji. Although the meeting was short, i felt so inspired just by his presence..

Taken from http://www.sikhsangat.org/publish/article_1382.shtml :

Three young GurSikh men sadly passed away in the bitterly cold waters of Ullswater after a boating trip in the Lake District turned to catastrophe. The victims were part of a group of six who had spent Saturday afternoon enjoying the warm weather and the tranquillity of the lake. After returning their hire boats, they went back to the lake, stepping fully-clothed into the knee-high water near the shoreline to play about.

As they swam Satvir Singh was in the middle, with Harvinder Singh, on one side, and Tajinder Singh on the other supporting him. However, Satvir Singh stepped off a shelf they were standing on and, unable to swim, became submerged in at least 18ft of deep, cold water. Three of his friends, without fearing for their own lives immediately followed in to swim and rescue him but tragically also got into difficulties. They had a lot of love for each other. Harvinder and Tajinder were trying to save Satvir from drowning and would not leave him. When their bodies were recovered by the rescue teams, they said they found them at the bottom still with their arms locked with each other.The three victims of the accident – Harvinder Singh, 15, Satvir Singh, 17, and Tajinder Singh, 21, from Wolverhampton – were staying in the nearby village of Glenridding.According to the local coastguard, the incident is the worst tragedy on the area’s lakes for 17 years. Members of the public and a lake warden went into the water to help after the alarm was raised, and they were able to rescue a 15-year-old boy. He was taken to hospital and his injuries are understood not to be life-threatening.

Zak Ratcliffe, 26, who works at Saint Patrick’s Boat Landing, 50ft from where the three young men drowned, had earlier hired three boats to the group.

“They were in a big circle holding hands – I think there were about 20 of them in the group. A woman shouted to me, ‘There’s somebody drowning over there’. I got to the shore and there was a boy coughing up water. I got in a boat and went in after them, but the water was so black you couldn’t see anything. I felt bad that I couldn’t do more.”

Mr Ratcliffe said he jumped into the water to try to rescue them. “I have since been told it was the wrong thing for me to do and it put me in danger,” he added.

Some locals expressed concerns that there were no signs at the lake warning of the shallow water suddenly becoming deep. One shopkeeper, who did not want to be identified, said: “It looks shallow, but after about 20ft it just drops away.”

Graeme Connacher, HM Coastguard station officer for the north Lakes area, described the accident as “the worst tragedy I have known on these lakes in 17 years”.

All three are described as charismatic GurSikh Amritdharis that has a lot of love for their Sikh religion and community. Tajinder Singh, the eldest, like the others was very active in selfless service. Satvir Singh had taken Amrit a few weeks prior and was described as full of energy. Harvinder Singh was well known for his excellent skills in Gatka, the traditional Sikh martial arts and other sports as well as for being an uplifting positive person.

May Akaal Purakh Waheguru Ji bless these souls.