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hi. i am new to sikhi and i going over the rehat maryada, i still have few questions about amritdhari living, hoping i could ask. 1) i've read it is mandatory to do cold bath in the mornings? is that true or do warm showers work? 2) during bathing, ive also read that you need to keep your head covered with a cloth until you wash your hair and then tie it again as soon as the soap is out. i'm confused on this, is it mandatory? what does it mean? how does the hair dry? 3) do you have to wash with soap everyday, or soap in main parts, and water on rest work? 4) as someone who has heavy and curly hair, it takes a long time to manage and dry. do i have to wash my hair everyday before doing paat because i need to go to work after as well? 3) i tried to keep my head covered at night with a patka, but it slips off during the night. is there any way to keep it on or is it ok? thank you for any responses.

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh, I come from a Hindu family, but have never been very attached to Hinduism. I was born and raised in India, and I lived in Punjab through my childhood and adolescence. Since I was in Punjab, I was surrounded by Sikh people. Naturally, I also learned Punjabi during those years. Over the years, I gradually got more and more fascinated by the Sikh faith. I really liked the Sikhi ideas of equality and sharing with everyone regardless of their background. I would watch my neighbor tying his patka; I would watch another neighbor tying his turban, so that I could learn to tie them myself. I even borrowed (technically, stole) a patka from my landlord's son, so that I could tie it on myself (I know I shouldn't have done that, but I just wanted to put to practice what I had been learning). The point is, my connection to Sikhi grew stronger as I went on. Naturally, my family never knew about all this, so it was all a secret exercise. Four years ago, I moved to Germany for my studies. In the beginning, I forgot much about Sikhi, but in the last few months, the connection has been stronger than ever before. Since I had my privacy, I ordered 2 patkas, turbans and a kara online to start to tie them. I'm still learning to tie a turban (watching someone tie a turban and actually tying it are two very different things). But in the meantime, I am trying to wear a patka every day when I'm home. When I'm outside, I'm my original self -- the guy with cut hair who has a job, but at home, it's like I'm another person -- I have a patka on (with a fake joora, but I love the feeling of having virtual hair on my head). I go to sleep in a patka but I'll be learning how to tie a keski. I am also learning turban tying on the weekends and am learning Japji Sahib, so that I can chant the Guru's name every day. I have also chosen an alternative Sikh name for myself - Amritpal Singh. Deep within, I feel like Waheguru has been leading me to get closer to him through all these experiences. It's just that I have two lives -- one where I am Sikh, and the other where I am a not-so-religious Hindu. My question is: What can I do to be a better Sikh while I am a Sikh? I know I am not a baptized Sikh and don't keep the 5 Ks, but I do respect Sikhi and try to follow it seriously in my private time. If you have any other general comments, I'd be glad to hear them and take them into account. Thanks for your help! Amritpal Singh

Sat sri akal sangat ji I have been on this forum since last 15 days and now i am addicted to it.. its a good one...read some very good posts but due to some technical glitch wasn't able to post my views....so i am going to do it all in one go now... I have migrated from india to australia recently but this change has been a big one...i wasn't much into sikhi in india...my family is a sehajdhari punjabi family with good values but not much into sikhi....but last 5 months have been the most fortunate ones of my life....after moving from punjab my mindset made a flip and now all i think about is sikhi...i want to be a amritdhari sikh....all i can say is this is guru sahib's kirpa...my mom has suffered from chronic ailments since her marriage...so basically we tried every way to cure her from doctors to babe...nothing worked. ..and now with guru sahib's kirpa i learnt not to worry and left everything in my guru sahib's hands...mom does 5 bania every morning in amritvela and she is in chardikala now...u might be wondering why i am posting my life story here...the reason is there is no one else to talk to..if i talk to my family they would say i am trying to escape from my studies and would discourage me from the path...(although they said that i could do amrit paan after 3 yrs but they get worried if i talk much about spirituality so i stopped talking to them about it) so i am into sikhi now but i am also worried that will guru sahib accept me as his child...i have heard so many sakhis about gursikhs who were so blessed by guru ji..guru sahib himself helped them in their path...inspired them..helped them in their rehat, amritvela...and sangat ji i don't feel so blessed...nor i am surrounded by gursikhs whom i can look upto...some of u guys are so lucky being born into gursikh families...having darshans of guru sahib...but i am such a karamheen person...i don't know why but i feel guru ji doesn't like me...specially guru gobind singh ji...this feeling puts me off u know...i feel if was to be blessed i would have been already...