Modern Singh

[anonymoussingh13]

A term which is commonly used to portray a ‘sehajdhari’ Sikh, (cut hair Sikh), in Singapore, is ‘Modern Singh’.

 

Initially upon hearing this, I smirked at its simplicity. However, pondering on the term, it evoked a certain dissonance in my heart as it became evident that people segregate a Sikh merely by his looks. If someone cuts his hair does that make him modern? What is it to be modern?

 

Being modern is instilling those traditional values while living in the world we live today. As a ‘modern singh’, we should bring forward our views to befit the contemporary ways and adapt to the lifestyle today.  Times have changed, and we have to change with time, but our fundamental values should remain constant.  During the time of our 10 gurus, the common ideology and practices were different.  However, being the all knowing, the Guru Sahibs made it easy to practice Sikhism even today. Our three core principles are: Naam Japna, Kirat Karni and Vand Ke Chakna. They mean to pray, live an honest life and share. They are straightforward and easy to follow. But what does this got to do with being modern? People follow these principles, do their prayers, respect one and all, but they still cut their hair. Does that make them better than a Sikh who keeps their hair? What is the underlying difference?

 

Our Khalsa Panth can be viewed as a school. We all are sevaks/students of Guru Gobind Singh Ji. At every step of life, we are learning. If we treated it as a school, shouldn’t we all have a uniform; a sense of belonging to the school? Our image, is what defines us, it is what gives us that ‘school spirit’. If you loved your school and followed the teachings of your school won’t you support it? Guru Sahib has written:

Khalsa mero roop hai khaas.

The Khalsa is my complete image

Khalse maih hau karo nivaas.

I dwell in the khalsa

 

In this short shabad, Guru Gobind Singh Ji states that we are his image ;the image of a Khalsa. It does not mean that if we keep Guru Sahibs roop (image) we are superior to others, but it is a step, a uniform, that defines who we are, and what we stand for.

 

So to be modern, is keeping our image and teachings, but living in the contemporary world today. We wear jeans/shirts instead of Cholas/Kurtas, to adapt to the time we live in, but the teachings and our image has to the same. The people who fail to comply with these basics teachings are not modern but ignorant. Those who follow the traditional principles, and apply them today are in fact ‘Modern Singhs’.

[Paneer Monster]

i live in london, one time i was in gurughar talking to a freashie mona from punjab... in a conversation about gursikhi and kesh he mentioned that he was "modern", i asked him to explain. he said "im modern because i cut my hair"... i said... using your logic... your not modern because you are here in gurduara sahib now. my point: alot of punjabi's that come here use backward logic.

on another occasion a mona from punjab said to me "my parents are good, they dont force me to keep kesh" i said "my family dont force me, they dont keep kesh themselves"... he replied in a confused tone "then why keep it?"... :blink2: they clearly have not learnt from aardas that kesh is a gift from maharaj. from my personal interactions with freashies i do believe that they are generally conditioned to believe that keeping kesh is a burden.

ਫਰੀਦਾ ਦੁਨੀ ਵਜਾਈ ਵਜਦੀ ਤੂੰ ਭੀ ਵਜਹਿ ਨਾਲਿ ॥

Farīḏā ḏunī vajā▫ī vajḏī ṯūʼn bẖī vajėh nāl.

Fareed, the world dances as it dances, and you dance with it as well.

ਸੋਈ ਜੀਉ ਨ ਵਜਦਾ ਜਿਸੁ ਅਲਹੁ ਕਰਦਾ ਸਾਰ ॥੧੧੦॥

So▫ī jī▫o na vajḏā jis alhu karḏā sār. ||110||

That soul alone does not dance with it, who is under the care of the Lord God. ||110|

[pedrorizzo]

The use of the word modern is very interesting here. And it most certainly has to be challenged. Some people will be tempted to present sikhi suroop, dastaar, dara and 5Ks as being old fashioned, arachaic, and out of date.

However, their use of language must be corrected. Instead, it should be presented that Gursikhs are in fact the modern ones, as 'modern' values include introspection, spirituality and respecting diversity of faith and appearance, and also being an individual and standing apart from the crowd. It is also a modern value to want to maintain and nurture tradition. After all, history and tradition can only truly flourish in a modern society which would want to preserve them.

Conversely, the values of wanting to fit into the crowd, discarding that which is old and traditional and moving away from introspection and spirituality in favour of materialistic or 'practical' gain are far more dated and old fashioned concepts.

This is not just me talking a load of rubbish. Look at Sikhs in the UK. In the 70s, Sikhs immigrants thought that they were really modern with their shorn hair, believeing that this old fashioned appearance had to be discarded if they wanted jobs and to get married and to integrate into British society.

40 years later, many of their sons and daughters, and they themselves are keeping kesh in much greater numbers

[london001]

a few years back we had the term Craig David Singhs in the UK.....