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Summary of Question:	Re:Son - Let Your Neighbourhood Know Roots Of Sikhism:
Category:	General Sikhism
Date Posted:	Monday, 4/04/2005 9:09 AM MDT

http://www.sikhreview.org/september2002/youth.htm

Let your neighbourhood know roots of Sikhism:

"Kesh Darshan" demo in USA

By Sardarni Manjit Kaur, KBS*


FULLERTON, CALIFORNIA. It all began last year (May 2001), when we registered our six-year-old son, AnupHarji Singh, in first grade in Wagner Elementary School of Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District. He was the only Sikh boy who attended this school with long hair covered with a ‘Patka’. Several times, inquisitive parents stopped me to know as to what was it that Harji was wearing to cover his head. At times some students addressed him as a girl. Harji experienced the same situation at the Wagner Child Care center that he attended after-school with K-6 students. His day-care peers had similar questions. Some wanted to touch his ‘Jura’ (hair knot on top of the head) while some others called him a ‘girl’ even after knowing that he was a boy. Ms. Karen Robinson, Director, thought it was because of their ignorance about the new religion and culture that some of the students acted the way they did. She requested me to bring a doll with a ‘Patka’ and tried to use it as a teaching tool to the pre-school kids about this new culture. It worked well for some time. A few months later Harji complained that some older students in the day-care were bothering him.

We contacted Capt. K. Harbhajan Singh, (known to the world Sikh Community as ‘Bhapa ji’ or IGS Papa), founder of International Institute of Gurmat Studies (IIGS), to discuss the issue. He immediately suggested the ‘Kesh Darshan’ demonstration in front of these students. "Kesh Darshan demonstration has been a very successful tool to teach students about the Sikh faith, its distinct features and traditions", he said, and assigned the job to his tall and handsome son, Sardar Kavi Raj Singh, who had carried out several such demonstrations in the past for other Sikh children facing similar problems at their schools.

Mrs. Joan Bonn, Principle Wagner Elementary School was very co-operative and open and to this. She arranged for two such demonstrations, one with First grade class in the morning and another for the day-care students in the afternoon. That week happened to be the ‘Cultural week’ at Wagner Elementary.

In the morning, Sardar Kavi Raj Singh, my husband Sardar Kanwarbir Singh and I, dressed in beautiful Punjabi attire, met with Harji’s class. Harji proudly wore a Chola, traditional Sikh attire to the school that day. First grade teacher, Mrs. Janet Sheehan, dressed in a farmer’s dress, greeted us cheerfully. Harji introduced us to his classmates while Sardar Kavi Raj Singh gave a brief introductory talk on Sikhism and displayed the beautiful oil paintings of Guru Nanak Dev ji, Guru Gobind Singh ji, Chhotte Sahibzaade – Jorawar and Fateh Singh ji, Golden Temple and Maharaja Dalip Singh. Mrs. Sheehan graciously took several photographs, before and during the demonstration, while asking a few cultural and regional questions about the Indian people. The students listened carefully and participated by asking several intelligent questions about Kara, Khanda on Harji’s Chola, Punjabi Salwar-Kameez, different kinds of turbans Sikhs wear, meaning of ‘Singh’ and ‘Kaur’ etc. All were happy to know that Harji did not cut his hair because of his love and respect for God’s design. One student intelligently connected the long hair to ‘Samson’s story from the old Testament. The 20-minute discussion ended most happily with Harji distributing some goody bags to his class mates who promised never to bother him again.

The second session that afternoon was even more exciting. It was attended by a group of almost sixty students of various age groups (K-6). During this session Sardarni Gurpreet Kaur and Sardar Monty Singh of the IIGS also joined in. Mrs. Robinson, Director Wagner Child-care and four Day-care Teachers stood there through out the session. As soon as Kavi Raj Singh started talking about ‘One Universal God and His followers called ‘Sikhs’ (seekers of truth), almost 90% of students had their hands raised. These were the little hearts full of curiosity and hunger for knowledge. One student repeatedly asked ‘You mean you never, ever, ever cut your hair’, another asked ‘how often do you wash them’, another was just curious to know how long they were and requested if they could see it.. Sardar Kavi Raj Singh explained the Sikh concept of love and respect for all castes and creeds by showing the painting of the Golden Temple. The concept of saint-soldier was explained while telling about Guru Gobind Singh ji and that of equality by explaining the meanings of ‘Singh’ and ‘Kaur’. He also told them that Sikhs were not supposed to drink, smoke or do drugs.

At the end of the discussion, the much-awaited moment came when Sardar Kavi Raj Singh took off his turban and let his long, waist-length silky hair roll down his back. Children were screaming with joy. There was a spontaneous expression of excitement with words like ‘cool’, ‘awesome’, ‘wow’ and ‘oh my God’ by the students and teachers alike. And then came the time for a turban tying demonstration. As Kavi Singh started to put his turban back on, the students counted till 72. An intelligent first grader girl, Angie, immediately stood up and said, "It took him one minute and twelve seconds to tie his turban" Explaining that the ‘Turban’ was like a crown for a Sikh, Kavi Singh politely asked the children to respect Harji’s hair and Patka.

Mrs. Robinson was amazed to see that children sat so attentively for 45 minutes and participated so actively in the discussion. She requested us to come back to hold such discussion-cum-demonstration on regular basis at Wagner Elementary. It was an eye-opening event for all the students and the parents that came in to pick up their kids and joined in. All students were given candies at the end. Some of them hanged around and asked questions from all of us on personal basis. A few girls requested even Sardarni Gurpreet Kaur and myself to show them our hair, so we opened our hair to them. It was such a wonder full experience for all of us.

I would request IIGS to hold camps for parents where more volunteers may be trained to give such demonstrations at various schools to educate people about Sikhs. Let us create support groups in every city so Sikh kids may attend school proudly and feel special amongst their peers.

(REPLY) Sat Nam. God bless you! Thank you so much for providing this inspiring information. SP