Indian Sikhs push 'turban pride'

[rug]

Although it is a visible sign of Sikh identity, young Sikhs in India are increasingly putting fashion before tradition -- cutting their hair short and shunning the turban completely. It has also been abandoned by many in Sikh diaspora in countries like the US, where Sikhs have been attacked over the mistaken belief that the turban marks them as Muslim extremists.



Monday, August 13th 2012, 06:33 AM

The evening turban-tying class in the Sikh-dominated Indian city of Amritsar is packed with pre-teen boys learning a centuries-old tradition -- that religious leaders fear is under threat.

Over the next 90 minutes, the instructors unfurl long strips of cloth in vibrant hues from indigo to burgundy, and proceed to knot, pleat and finally tie them carefully around the boys' heads.

The most visible symbol of Sikh pride and identity, the turban is an eight-metre (26-foot) piece of cloth, used by Sikh men to manage the long hair which their religion forbids them from cutting.

But in India, young Sikh men are increasingly putting fashion before tradition -- cutting their hair short and shunning the turban completely.

http://india.nydailynews.com/newsarticle/5028fa64c3d4cae81e000007/indian-sikhs-push-turban-pride

[CurtEastPoint]

1. Good for them! 'Turban renewal'!

[rug]

2. Ouch!

[dimbear]

3. When some American officers in Viet Nam reached the actual front, they removed their insignia.

Not as a fashion statement.

[msongs]

4. turban wearing is just learned behavior continued "just because" nt

[cbayer]

12. No it's not. It has deep social significance and serves a practical purpose as well.

[pnwmom]

18. What is the practical purpose of never cutting their hair?

Which is the reason they ostensibly wear the turbans?

[cbayer]

19. No practical purpose at all for growing the hair. They just don't want to cut their hair.

And the turban serves the purpose of containing that hair.

I think it's pretty cool

[Melissa G]

20. Not true

There is an energetic reason for not cutting one's hair and the turban also has energetic reasons.

[cbayer]

21. I understand that. I was more responding to her "practical" statement about it.

I have the utmost respect for Sikh's and their reasons for not cutting their hair and for wearing turbans.

No offense meant.

[bhikkhu]

25. Deep social significance is still "custom and tradition", not the religion itself

I find, reading of the belief system, far more about putting the spiritual ahead of the physical, and not becoming bound up in the things of this world - which a turban is.

[cbayer]

26. Read response #23 - very good explanation of the spiritual meaning of the hair and turban

traditions.

[bhikkhu]

27. Physical symbols of spiritual realities are disposable

...if they become barriers to understanding, if they become a substitute for what they are intended to symbolize, if they lead oneself or others into ignorance. If the symbol is a problem it should be disposed of - keeping in mind that there are about 700 hate crimes a year just in the US against Sikhs. How many are the result of ignorant misunderstanding, with "the symbols" as the immediate target? Its easy to say that people should be better educated, and easy to say that there is no excuse for violence, but the result is that things are just left to play out as they may.

In any crime with a victim, both the attacker and attacked are harmed. If harm can be avoided, it should be, and if a person knows how to avoid harm, they should avoid it.

[cleanhippie]

5. Traditions are nice, and may are good to keep in the collective memory.

But when those traditions get in the way of safety, or provide people with special privileges that no one else is allowed to have...


...like special exceptions to grooming standards (as in the military), etc...

then I do not approve.

Are these boys being forced to do this?

Sikh boys are expected to tie and wear the turban by the time they reach adolescence

(These are not Sikh boys, they are boys that happen to be born to Sikh parents. )

[rug]

6. I think you'd look good in a turban.

[cleanhippie]

7. You have no idea...

I wore one this entire past weekend at a festival to support those Siks that were killed due to bigotry and religious extremism last week.

Had a friend of mine (he is Sikh) help me with it Friday and I took it off only last night. (FYI, its a real PITA to sleep in)

[rug]

8. No shit!

These other ways of knowing are uncanny.

If there's a report on that festival, please post the link. These stories are powerful.

[cleanhippie]

9. Other ways of knowing?

[UnrepentantLiberal]

10. I don't think Rug believes your festival story.

[cleanhippie]

11. I find that to be hypocritically funny.

Considering he believe the supernatural nonsense found in a book, yet the simple act of wearing a turban is unbelievable to him.

I am never not amazed at just what hypocrites people can be.

[mr blur]

13. +1

[rug]

15. Don't be gulled. Read below.

[rug]

14. Actually I do.

I find it perfectly consistent with what I know of him. I'd still like to read about the festival though.

But this was simply a little joke on a coincidence.

Sorry there's no more drama there.

[cleanhippie]

17. It was not a festival for Sikhs, it was just a music festival.

The turban was just my own personal homage to those that lost their lives to religious extremism and bigotry.

Summer Meltdown was the name of the festival.

[Melissa G]

22. Turbans are not meant to sleep in

Tons of turban tying videos on you tube.

Here's one for tying a house turban

[cleanhippie]

24. Well, thanks, I guess.

[Cleita]

16. Frankly, I never got the point of wearing one.

Even long hair can be managed with braids and other methods. It has to be hot in hot climates too. Other than that, if they want to wear them for religious or aesthetic reason, I believe they have the right to and should feel safe doing so. When I was a young girl, I always wore a mantilla to church instead of a hat, as part of my Spanish heritage. Some didn't care for it and said I should dress like an American in America, but it didn't stop me as I felt I had a right to dress as I wanted.

[Melissa G]

23. I wore a mantilla as a child as well

The turban is part of the Bana http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Bana

Bana
Singh & Singhni in Bana

The "bana" or form, the personal appearance of a Khalsa, is one of the foremost ways that a Khalsa maintains his or her consciousness as the Guru Gobind Singh intended. The Guru has given his Sikh specific instructions to keep his or her natural form as created by God. Thus, all hair is maintained, uncut, and untrimmed. The Guru has given his Sikh a standard of dress which distinguishes him or her as a human being dedicated to a life of truthful living. The Guru has instructed his Sikhs to maintain high moral character, symbolized by the wearing of the steel bracelet, ("kara&quot and to stand prepared to defend righteousness, wearing the "kirpan" or sword.

If one has a question about Sikhism, you can probably find an answer here.
http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Main_Page

[sumit_kumar]

28. Spam deleted by gkhouston (MIR Team)