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Sikhs saying goodbye to Turbans and going in for Haircuts


Guest Harman SIngh

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Guest Harman SIngh

On my last visit to Punjab, I was shocked to see the current plight of youngsters with their haircuts and clean shaven faces.

Why are sikhs so reluctant to keep their hair intact these days as it is one of the most important article of Sikh Faith and identity. 

Not only youngsters even the mature and older adults have had their Kesh cut.

However outside Punjab some sikh families I met in Delhi and UP 95% of them have unshorn hair and wear turban.

You will hardly find any youngsters especially in the Jat Sikhs wearing a turban and with unshorn beard, why is this happening. 

What will happen to our youth in next coming generations and how we will convince them to carry this important aspect of sikh identity.

And also if anybody knows who were the first sikhs to cut their hair. 

Sangat please share your views,

wjkwjkf

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I think its all about educating them , have sikh role models , and let them share their stories regarding the positives of keeping kesh , how it helps ones mind , body and soul.

The youth need to see the true Sikhs , the chardi kala sikhs , sikhs who are on the path , living it daily ,practicing it daily and how it impacts there lives on a daily basis.

A bit like Basics of Sikhi parchar , which i believe has been setup in Indian/punjab and sevadars do street parchar and other activities.

Also I think we all have a sense of duty , when we go and visit India /Punjab. The pend/village we are from , lets setup camps/events in the local Gurudawara with the help of locals and ask them these questions , ask them how "we" can help each other , get them to keep their kesh and do seva at their local Gurudawaras in their pend/village. Setup kirtan,tabla,gurbani santhiya,sikh gurus stories , trips to main gurdawara ( harimandir Sahib,anandpur sahib,hazoor sahib etc..) etc,,, this can be funded by us here abroad but run by the locals who are trustworthy , passionate and want to see a change.This selection process as who can be trusted can be vetted by our elders who know the people from the village , setup a criteria for the roles and objectives and see  if the person selected meets them.

All we can do is try and educate and motivate them , obviously the decision will be theirs at the end of the day.

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23 hours ago, Guest Harman SIngh said:

On my last visit to Punjab, I was shocked to see the current plight of youngsters with their haircuts and clean shaven faces.

Why are sikhs so reluctant to keep their hair intact these days as it is one of the most important article of Sikh Faith and identity. 

Not only youngsters even the mature and older adults have had their Kesh cut.

However outside Punjab some sikh families I met in Delhi and UP 95% of them have unshorn hair and wear turban.

You will hardly find any youngsters especially in the Jat Sikhs wearing a turban and with unshorn beard, why is this happening. 

What will happen to our youth in next coming generations and how we will convince them to carry this important aspect of sikh identity.

And also if anybody knows who were the first sikhs to cut their hair. 

Sangat please share your views,

wjkwjkf

I think your thinking highlights the issue perfectly. People are focused on the physical appearance side of Sikhi in a VERY unbalanced way compared to the deeper internal spiritual and social aspects. So we've had people who've been wearing the roop with no real grasp of what the beliefs behind Sikhi are. If you don't really have strong beliefs as your foundation in the first place, what do you expect?

 

In my opinion Sikh society has always been made up of a mixture of monay, sehajdharis and amritdharis. Here is an early observation of Sikh society by an outsider, note that it was written only about 70 years after dasmesh pita's passing:

 

 

Quote

 

The Sicque nation is composed of 2 distinct sects or orders of people; those who compose the most ancient one are denominated Khualasah and adhere, with little deviation to the institutions of Nanock and the 8 succeeding priests; in obedience to which the Khualasah Sicques are usually occupied in civil and domestic duties. They cut off the hair on their heads and beards and in their manners and appearance resemble the ordinary classes of Hindoos.  

 

The modern order of the Sicques entitled Khala were founded by Govind Sing; who deviating from the original ordinances of his predecessors, imparted a strong military spirit from his adherents....

 

George Forster (1783) 

 

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