DERA, a word of Persian extraction, has several connotations. The original Persian word derah or dirah means a tent, camp, abode, house or habitation. In current usage in rural Punjab, a farmhouse or a group of farmhouses built away from the village proper is called dera. Even after such an habitation develops into a separate village or a town, it may continue to be called dera, e.g. Dera Bassi in Patiala district of the Punjab, or Dera Ghazi Khan and Dera Isma`il Khan in Pakistan. Where colloquially used in place of Hindi dehara, the word will carry the connotation of a temple or memorial over a cremation site.
DHESI, BHAI, and Bhai Jodh, both Brahmans converted to Sikhism, once came to Guru Arjan and complained, "0 True King ! other Brahmans treat us as out castes, for they tell us that by taking a Khatri as a guru, by discarding Sanskrit, the language of the gods, and singing hymns of gurbani composed in the common dialect, and by the nonobservance of fasts and other rituals and prayers, we are no longer fit to sit and dine with them. They are especially sore because in preference to the traditional places of pilgrimage like the Gariga and Kashi, we come to Amritsar. Pray, tell us how should we answer them." "Caste," said Guru Arjan, "has no meaning.
DHINGAR, BHAI, a carpenter, was a devoted Sikh of the time of Guru Hargobind (1595-1644). According to Bhai Mani Singh, Sikhan di Bhagat Mala, Bhai Dhirigar, along with Bhai Maddu, a fellow worker in the craft, came to serve at the Guru`s feet. During the day they hewed wood for Guru ka Langar, community kitchen, and made cots and other articles for use by the disciples; in the divan they attentively listened to recitations and discourses; and early in the morning they drew water for Sikhs` ablutions.
