How One Sentence From Raja Saboo Gave A Man
His Life Back
Gurdaspur, Early 1977
A tired old man walked back into the District Jail,
Gurdaspur, and asked the jailor to take him back inside.
"This is the only place I can call home," said
Gurbax Singh.
He was not a criminal who wanted to re-offend. He was a
paroled lifer who had nowhere to go.
Six years earlier, in a drunken brawl, he had killed a man.
He was sentenced to life. Inside the jail, he had time to think. He turned to
religion, to scriptures, to remorse. For that one dark moment, he had led a
clean life.
He was released on parole after six years, hoping to start
again. But life outside was a bigger prison.
His family had sold off all his property while he was
inside. When he returned, they refused to take him back. Society had already
branded him - *a killer, a lifer, an unclean man*. No one would give him work.
No one would even talk to him.
He had lost everything. So he went back to the only roof he
knew - the jail.
The jailor did something unusual. He said, "Go meet the
Rotary Club. They have been talking about helping a reformed ex-convict."
Gurbax Singh thought - what more can I lose? At worst they
will say no. At best, maybe, just maybe...
A few weeks earlier, the newly appointed Governor of Rotary
District 308, Rajendra K. Saboo, had come to Gurdaspur for his official visit.
In his speech, he had thrown a challenge to the clubs:
"Don't just do charity. Adopt a human being whom society
has discarded. Rehabilitate a prisoner."
It was a radical idea in those days. Rotary built hospitals,
gave scholarships - but ex-convicts?
The Rotary Club of Gurdaspur took the Governor's words to
heart. They decided to act on it.
When Gurbax Singh came to them, they verified his story. It
was true - one mistake, six years of genuine repentance.
The Club decided: what harm can it do? If we fail, we lose
nothing. If we succeed, the community gains one useful member.
With great difficulty, they persuaded a local bank to give
Gurbax Singh a loan of Rs. 4,000 - a princely sum in 1977 - to buy two
buffaloes. No bank would lend to an ex-convict. So the Rotarians themselves
stood surety for the loan.
With those two buffaloes, in the photo you see above -
Gurbax Singh on the left, his hand on his animal - a new life began.
He started selling milk. He was honest. The milk was good.
From his earnings, he started paying back Rs. 300 to the bank every single
month, without fail.
Seeing his sincerity, the Club intervened again - this time
to secure a similar loan for his son, who was also an ex-convict.
The Indian Express reporter who visited Gurdaspur a few months later
found a different scene:
Gurbax Singh and his son are known in Gurdaspur for
the *best milk available*. There is a long queue outside their small dairy
every morning and evening. The same people who once looked at him with
suspicion now respect him.
The Club later invited Gurbax Singh - the man once branded a
social discard - to address the Rotarians. He stood before them and told them
how one helpful gesture had altered the entire course of his life.
He then wrote a letter to a man he had never met - District
Governor Rajendra K. Saboo - to thank him. He wrote, "Your words gave me a second
life."
That letter, as the newspaper reported, was circulated by
Governor Saboo to all clubs in District 308, with a simple message: *Follow the
Gurdaspur example. Adopt an ex-convict.*
One speech. One club that listened. One bank loan of Rs.
4,000. Two buffaloes.
And a man who wanted to go back to jail became the most
respected milkman of his town.
This is Rotary. This is Raja Saboo - the man whose words
don't just inspire meetings, they rebuild lives.
