AdminAt a mere age of twelve.
He woke up to an intense desire to change,
And to tread on the path his mentor had laid,
Only to dedicate a lifetime to create a better world.
Indian mythological stories narrated by his mother impacted young Iqbal Singh so much that his only dream was to use his life for a better world.
Iqbal Singh chose to stay in his country to serve the mankind over procuring a PhD from USA, unlike most people in his fraternity. He secretly used to admire Guru Angad Dev for his total submission to Guru Nanak Dev ji.
From his early days of being a Research Inspector in Himachal Pradesh, till being promoted as the Director of Agriculture, he gave away himself, ensuring that there is relentless progress in the field of Agriculture, all the time remaining committed to serve his Divine Master.
Most people after retirement aspire of reading newspapers in the luxuries of their homes, to soothe weary nerves. This legend, lovingly called as Babaji instead opted to make his master’s dream come true, creating every bit of the seemingly impossible dream of Baru Sahib, and used the robust endowment of education to uplift the society.
He ensured that the Kalgidhar Society attained success at every step it took towards social welfare programs. The first school was established in a rickety classroom with a mere strength of 5 students in 1986. It is a wonder that this tiny seed of knowledge, has flourished to 129 CBSE affiliated English medium Akal Academies that benefit around 60,000 rural kids and two Universities.
Doing justice to his passion to empower women, Baba Iqbal Singh has started a Teachers Training Institutes program wherein, girls receive free training and are also given employment benefitting around 2000 girls.
Babaji’s idea to ensemble modern education and spirituality, thus creating ideal global citizens is turning out to be a boon for youth of North India. His only mantra is to educate, enshrine, empower.
With his unrivalled contributions, in 2013 he was recognized as the fifth most influential Sikh by UK’s top 100 Sikh Organization.
In 2014, in the New York State Assembly cited him to be worthy of esteem of the USA for promoting tolerance to all people irrespective of culture or race.
Age of 90, which rather remains a mere figure for him, did not fatigue his body, nor did it conquer his mind. It is as though that contentment was a thought that never occurred to him. With an advancing age, came an unrelenting valor and unrivaled experiences, and another feather to his cap was added when in 2012, the Akal University Guru Ki Kashi at Damdama Sahib, Punjab was announced. The cost was $100 million, the worth being living upto the divine words of Guru Gobind Singh ji after 308 years. Another wonder was that Akal University saw its first academic session in 2015.
The young really need to learn from this noble man with unwithering enthusiasm. Everytime he has a new aim, a new dream; motive, only one, to make this society a better place to live in.
He has now set a target for his team to take the count of Akal Academies to 500 in the next decade! This target is yet another step towards shaping his master’s dream with utmost caution.
The entire life of this living legend conveys a profound message to the common men:
With colossal strength of the heart, dream on
With illuminating ideas weave your path;
With your soul in everything, give the world some more,
Only to let the world around you turn phenomenal.
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