Gurbachan Singh Sethi
Lovingly known as “Bauji”
26 February 1939 — 14 August 2019 · aged 80
Northern Railway clerk, hockey man and Partition survivor who fed thousands at langar
New Delhi, India Born in Rawalpindi, Punjab (now Pakistan) Resting at Ashes immersed at Kiratpur Sahib, PunjabAbout Gurbachan
In August 1947, an eight-year-old boy walked out of Rawalpindi holding his mother's dupatta, with a steel tiffin carrier and a promise that they would be back by winter. They never went back. Gurbachan Singh Sethi arrived in Delhi on a refugee train, grew up in the tents of Kingsway Camp, and rebuilt his life one clean, patient step at a time, which is also how he later did his sums.
In 1960 he joined Northern Railway as a clerk in the Divisional Railway Manager's office at New Delhi station, a post he held for thirty-seven years. Colleagues said he knew the timetable the way priests know scripture; he could tell you, without looking, which platform the Kalka Shatabdi would use. He played centre-half for the Northern Railway hockey team through the sixties, a quiet, dependable defender, and every Sunday morning he served in the langar kitchen at Gurdwara Bangla Sahib, peeling garlic and wiping thalis for thousands of strangers.
At home in Rajinder Nagar, Bauji was famous for his gajar-shalgam pickle, jarred every January and delivered by scooter to anyone who looked unwell. He loved Mohammad Rafi songs on an old Murphy radio, hated waste, and flew the tricolour from his balcony every Independence Day without fail. He and Harbans Kaur were married for fifty-eight years. He died in his sleep on 14 August 2019, the eve of the holiday he loved, and is survived by Harbans, his son Vikram, his daughter Simran in Toronto and five grandchildren who have promised to keep making the pickle.
“A full plate shared is a full life.”
- Faith
- Sikh
- Place of birth
- Rawalpindi, Punjab (now Pakistan)
- Resting place
- Ashes immersed at Kiratpur Sahib, Punjab
- Passed away
- 14 August 2019, New Delhi
Antim Sanskar & Ardas
Thursday, 15 August 2019 at 11:00 UTC
Add to calendarLife journey
Crossed to India at Partition
1947 · Rawalpindi to Delhi
Arrived in a refugee train with his mother and a steel tiffin carrier.
Bachelor of Arts (evening course)
University of Delhi1957 – 1960 · New Delhi
Studied at night while working at a printing press by day.
Clerk, Divisional Railway Manager's Office
Northern Railway (Indian Railways)1960 – 1997 · New Delhi
Handled timetables and staff rosters at New Delhi station for thirty-seven years.
Married Harbans Kaur
1961 · Delhi
A marriage of fifty-eight years.
Sevadar in the langar
Gurdwara Bangla Sahib1962 – 2019 · New Delhi
Served at the community kitchen every Sunday for fifty-seven years.
Meritorious Service Award
Northern Railway1990 · New Delhi
For decades of error-free work in the divisional office.
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Family & connections
Gurbachan is survived by
- Harbans Kaur Sethi· Spouse
- Vikram Singh Sethi· Son
- Simran Kaur Gill· Daughter
- Inderjit Singh Sethi· Brother
- 5 grandchildren· Grandchildren
Tributes & memories
6 people have shared a memory of Gurbachan.
Knew Gurbachan? Share a memory with the family and everyone who loved them.
Sign in to write a tribute- JS
Granddaughter in Toronto
Dadaji taught me to roll rotis when I was nine and said the first one is always for the guest. I am making his pickle this winter with my mum's help. It will not taste like his, but the first jar goes next door, as he would want.
- C(
Teammate on the Northern Railway hockey team
Against Services in 1965 he held our left flank like a wall for seventy minutes. Off the pitch he carried the oranges and the first-aid box, and after the final whistle he would shake every opponent's hand and ask after their mother.
- SB
Childhood friend from Kingsway Camp, now in Southall
We shared one blanket in the Kingsway refugee camp in 1948, two boys with a single steel tiffin between us. He grew up to feed thousands; I always knew he would. Seventy years of friendship, and he still owed me a laddoo. Waheguru, my brother.
- RM
Former colleague at Northern Railway
Thirty years at the next desk. Gurbachan-ji knew the timetable the way priests know scripture. When computers arrived in 1994 he learned them in a month, then taught the rest of us, and still kept the old paper registers as a backup 'just in case.' He was right more than once.
- GS
Fellow sevadar at Gurdwara Bangla Sahib
For fifty-seven years he came at six on Sunday morning and washed thalis without being asked. Not once did anyone see him sit down before the last person had eaten. We have lost a pillar of the langar.
- HK
Neighbour in Rajinder Nagar
Every January a jar of Bauji's gajar-shalgam pickle appeared on our doorstep with a note: 'for the children, no chilli.' He remembered every child's allergy and every neighbour's anniversary. Our lane has lost its unofficial mayor.
