N E W S
Sikh Parents Reach Out on Vaisakhi

May 5, 2003
Washington D.C.

Sikh parents in the D.C. area celebrated Vaisakhi by reaching out to the greater community. The purpose was to bring awareness of the Sikh identity to schools that have Sikh students.

In a preschool class, parents of one three-year-old Sikh boy, Jeevan Singh, went to his class and talked about holidays and the meaning of identity. They involved the class of about 30 kids in the discussion. As each student shared with the class what their favorite holiday was, the discussion was led to the Sikh holiday, Vaisakhi. The students were told that Vaisakhi is a big holiday for Sikhs because that was when they got their identity.

The class of three, four, and five-year-olds then went into a discussion of the meaning of identity. They were asked how they know if someone is a fire fighter, a police officer, or a mail carrier. As the class began to understand that outward appearance can tell what a person is, a Sikh can also be identified by his or her outward appearances.

The discussion focused on the kesh - long hair. The students were shown how Jeevan's hair is tied into a juhra under his patka. They were told that girls with long uncut hair and boys with juhras and patkas can be identified as Sikhs. The talk with the class was kept as secular as possible so as not to sound like a sermon. The children seemed very interested.

At the end of the discussion, Jeevan's parents asked if any of the children were interested in tying a patka on themselves - completely voluntary. Many of the children wanted a patka right away, especially the girls. One by one, twenty-two of the students had patkas tied on their heads. Needless to say, Jeevan Singh was thrilled.

At the end of the talk, more than two-thirds of the class was wearing patkas. This type of outreach to preschool and elementary schools is increasingly appealing to Sikh parents who want to help schools understand why Sikh kids look different and to show other kids that Sikh kids are just kids too. Parents around the country are tying patkas or chunnis on their children's classmates. And the children seem to love it.

In higher classes, middle school and high school, local parents opted to have an informal discussion with school administrators and teachers during a regular after-school meeting time. The parents provided snacks for the meeting and discussed the history of Sikhs - the tenets, the struggles and the identity. They discussed some of the uniqueness of Sikhism: the importance of God and faith, as opposed to religious preference; the purpose of bettering humankind; the teachings of equality and the family way of life. The talk also exposed the group to the five symbols of the Khalsa and what they mean. The Sikh kids who attend the schools also said a few words about how they feel about being a Sikh. Both the parents and the school officials felt that the discussion was very enlightening.

At the end of the meeting, the parents donated two books, "Bindu's Wedding" and "The Boy with Long Hair," along with a couple of fliers highlighting Sikhism. The parents said this was a positive way to help their kids from going through school feeling isolated.

This particular program of reaching out to school officials was sponsored by the Kaur Foundation which also succeeded in having three Sikh holidays - Guru Nanak's Gurpurab, Guru Gobind Singh's Gurpurab, and Vaisakhi - declared on all Montgomery County, MD school administrative calendars.

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