On March 13, 1990, I, along with my friend Gurvinder S. Kapur, gave a presentation on “Sikhism” to 40 eighth graders. Gurvinder and I gave this presentation to students at JCN Middle School in Nortonville, Kansas. Nortonville is a very small farm town, located 35 miles south of Lawrence, KS.

Our presentation began with a brief introduction to the Sikh religion which was given by me. My introduction followed a chronological order, beginning from Gum Nanak in 1469 to the creation of the Khalsa in 1699 and then to the present. I also talked about the “Five K’s and their significance,” the three golden rules,’”” importance of the “Adi Granth,” Sikhs role in the Indian independence, the population of the Sikhs worldwide, definitions of various terms, and the Gurdwara and interfaith events in Kansas City.

Having listened to me, the students watched a part of the documentary, “The Red Waters of Amritsar.” This video documentary was prepared by Sikhs Serving America, an organization of Sikhs in the mid-west and also with the help of numerous Sikh families in Kansas City. The main purpose of this documentary is to introduce Sikhism to people of other faiths and to inform them about the consequences of the Indian Army’s attack on the Golden Temple in 1984. The video availed’ our presentation as it reinforced many concepts which had been introduced by me.

What came next was the most interesting part of the class —a demonstration of turban tying by Gurvinder. Before he began his illustration, Gurvinder, a junior from Singapore at the University of Kansas, talked about the historical significance and need of a turban. He explained the need for a valorous and distinct group of people (Khalsa) who could overcome religious persecution by Muslim monarchs during that time. Subsequently, Gurvinder took his turban off, combed his hair, and retied his turban, clearly displaying each stage until completion. Following, this, Gurvinder tied turbans on two voluntary students from the class.

Overall, we were successful as we made two classes of eighth graders knowledgeable of a new faith and culture. It is especially important to inform people, specifically youngsters, in this part of the country because they do not get many opportunities to interact with people of other religions and cultures. Both Gurvinder and I were amazed at the student’s receptiveness and attentiveness. Many of them could remember the name of the five K’s by heart. It was a wonderful experience and I encourage Sikh youth living in different parts of the country to go for similar events.

Article extracted from this publication >> April 6, 1990