See the one reflected in the other

Seerat Kaur Gill

These days, talking about religion has become synonymous with walking the tightrope. One wrong, distracted step or word, and you plunge right through the ground, several notches below the deemed social order. 

Very recently, there was a social discussion on how we, the minority Sikhs, need to preserve our culture. The bone of contention was the hullabaloo over Christmas, instead of remembering the great sacrifice of Guru Gobind Singh. Messages berating the Sikh youth for forgetting their culture were circulated with great enthusiasm on social media. Guru Sahib lost his four sons around this time. Hence, this certainly was ‘no time to celebrate Father Christmas’. Instead, we Sikhs bore the greater responsibility to grieve the loss and remember the sacrifices our Guru made to keep the religion alive. His supreme sacrifice has seen no parallel in history. Losing all his children for the purpose of keeping an identity, an idea alive, has been immortalised in Guru Gobind’s words, ‘Chaar muey toh kya hua, jeevat kayi hazaar’ (if I have lost four sons, grieve not, thousands of my sons remain alive to fight for the cause). 

Along with such rich history, comes a sense of deep pride and gratitude. Sikhs around the world are respected for their ability to work hard, and live life with a heart much larger than their pockets usually permit. This largesse exhibited by the community dates back to its rich history and strong traditions of langar and dasvandh (donating one-tenth of one’s earnings for the welfare of others). Then how can such a beautiful, strong community not happily embrace another community which stands on similar principles of equality, community service and love? 

My liberal, but limited understanding makes me believe that it is not only important for all of us to embrace one another and live in harmony. It is even more important for the minorities to shoulder an added responsibility — to keep the traditions of their faith alive, but at the same time, embrace others in the same spirit. Beyond the religious community lies a bigger community, that of humanity. We are ultimately bound by that. To remain globally relevant, we should keep the turban on the head, but more importantly, endeavour to widen the horizons of the mind. 

Whilst we were partaking of langar in the historic Fatehgarh Sahib gurdwara on a freezing December afternoon, among thousands of people belonging to different faiths and walks of life, the phone beeps. It is a video gone viral. A Sikh gentleman dressed as Santa Claus is winning hearts, spreading joy and distributing sweets on the snow-covered streets in Canada! Why, he even breaks into an impromptu bhangra!