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The Devipujak Community –

Worshipping the Goddess

(Gathering of the Devipujak Community, Bedipara,
Rajkot. February 8, 2004)

I have worked in different regions of Haryana, Himachal
Pradesh, Punjab and Chandigarh before coming to
Gandhinagar. I have learnt through my work and interaction
with people that we all have a very strong tendency to succumb
to temptation, no matter how much we talk about sacrifice. I
used to often crave for Gujarati food when I lived there.
Unfortunately, all I got was Punjabi food. There was only one
place where I would get Gujarati food, and that was at the homes
of members of the Devipujak community settled there.

I visit Ludhiana whenever I travel to Punjab. There are quite
a few Gujaratis in Ludhiana. One of our workers who lived there
used to insist on my having lunch at his place. I explained to
them that since I hardly get Gujarati food here, I truly relish it
at the residences of my fellow Devipujak brothers. These are
the people who worship the Mother Goddess. I have seen two
communities which I would like to discuss here. One is the
Sindhi community and the other is the Devipujak community
which worships the Goddess. After the partition of India, the
Sindhis had no place to settle down. They had left their native
land, were left homeless, and yet I am sure you have never seen
a Sindhi begging. You will find them selling peppermints or
roasted papads, if worse comes to them, but never begging.