In Today's Issue Of Time Magazine - Sikhs, Sikhi, Sikhism

[spnadmin]

Kind of amazing and long over due, comes this article in an established national news journal and magazine:

India 'Idol' Launches a New Turban Legend



Ever since 18-year-old Ishmeet Singh won the glitzy American Idol-inspired Voice of India contest on Star TV last month, the phone hasn't stopped ringing at his family's home in Ludhiana, the busy industrial hub of Punjab. But the kudos is about more than Singh's impressive singing prowess; he has earned it by the fact that he is a keshdhari (turban-wearing) Sikh. "It is his sabat-surat [appearance conforming to the Sikh ideal] that has brought him where he is today," says his proud father Gurpinder Singh. "He has shown other Sikh boys that they don't need a trendy hairstyle to attain stardom." At a time when more and more young Sikh men are relinquishing the turban — considered the very core of a Sikh man's cultural and religious identity — community leaders have hailed Singh's win as, literally, a godsend. Sikh blogs have been pointing out that Singh was declared a winner on Guru Nanak Jayanti, the anniversary of the birth of the founder of Sikhism. And he has been honored by the Akal Takht, the highest seat of the Sikh clergy... read more at this link: India 'Idol' Launches a New Turban Legend - TIME

 

[dalbirk]

The reason why Sikh boys r cutting hair or stopping wearing turbans is due to many factors
1. Indian movies portray romantic storylines , each film is having a hero ( always clean shaven ) & a hero . If any Sikh is shown girl always fall for clean shaven hero & Sikh boys r given inferior roles portraying them as comedian , dumb or simply as an accomplice of clean shaven hero . Girls in colleges think clean shaven boy as attaractive & boys in villages craving for those girls cut their hair & thus they find themselves comfortable looking as majority
2. The lack of knowledge in Sikh principles , beliefs & Sikh history makes the young boys think that perhaps clean shaven is a better look little knowing that they r only destroying their uniqueness , the identity due to which the world calls them Sardars ( Chiefs )
Dalbir Singh

 

[Randip Singh]

I have spoken to many Monay, and many of them still consider themselves Sikh, don't drink, pray, either vegetarian or jhatka eaters etc. Ask them why they don't keep the turban they say they no longer need to show outwardly to everyone they are Sikh. Also we should not forget in the past there were many that could be described as Sikh and described themselves as Sikh and had shorn hair. The so called Sehajdhari's.

I think it's good to keep the Kakkar's but lets try and make an effort to bring those into the fold that do not have the Kakkars, or these people will stray to organisation with Vashnavite leanings such as Radhaoswami etc.