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Conversation about this article
1: Irvinder Singh Babra (Brampton, Ontario, Canada), August 05, 2010, 9:00 AM.
I can understand your story well, similar to mine in the Catholic schools and college in Calcutta. My life, after my great puggh and flowing, black beard, is painful and shameful to me, but it has given me insight into how others think, believe and feel about the turbaned and bearded Sikhs in North America. That I am more with the Sikhs today, and reflect the way they are, mostly without their turbans and beards, the so-called Sehajdhari, who are accepted within the Sikh fold, and that they have no guilt-complex for being away from the discipline of Sikhi, I find that all of them, each one of them, is a proud Sikh, they are some of the best donors, sevadaars, etc. Their money muscle and guts also push forward many projects to complete successfully. None of them ever wanted to convert to any other religion. So putting such visible matters together, anyone who says that he or she is a Sikh is fine with me.
2: Sangat Singh (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), August 05, 2010, 9:36 AM.
Like you, dear Sher Singh ji, my first school was the Sacred Heart Convent School, Lyallpur that happily admitted us in neatly assorted braided 'guts' or buns, in a gender friendly atmosphere. That went happily for a couple of years until I decided to tie turban, emulating the older boys. That was all right until playtime when it was retired into the 'basta' - satchel - for the rest of the day. That ambivalent stage went on for another couple of years until I was broken into the full dastaar. That was the time when Mother Superior thought it was time to go to an exclusive boys' school. I thought I was quite harmless but never mind the puppy love. Just a year after that, came Partition and time to move as refugees with only one turban and three clothes to some dismal land. But we picked ourselves up in Chardi Kalaa. In 1949 I gained admission into Govt. College, Ludhiana, Punjab, and joined the NCC (National Cadet Corp) because of the two free uniforms to keep me thenceforth in full military glory in full readiness for the next 2-3 years. We had no 'patka' stage in those days. You went straight from 'gut' to 'puggh' effortlessly and then waited for the beard to sprout.
3: Pashaura Singh (Riverside, California, U.S.A.), August 05, 2010, 10:53 AM.
Very interesting personal narrative, Sher Singh ji. Regarding the patka, it was introduced in the late 1960s by the students of Guru Harkrishan Public School, New Delhi (India Gate). I joined the GHPS in 1973 as a teacher and the patka was worn by all the young Sikh boys. It had already become part of the school uniform. From there, it was picked up by the general Sikh population in New Delhi. In my childhood, I used to wear a white handkerchief on the joorah and then went straight to the turban in late 1950s. This was in the village setting. Your experiences reflects the urban setting of Patna.
4: Balbir Singh Sodhi, JP (London, United Kingdom), August 05, 2010, 2:16 PM.
According to S. Pashaura Singh, the patka was introduced in the late 1960s by the students of Guru Harkrishan Public School. But, as a matter of fact, it was worn by boys belonging to only rich families, including the royal family of Patiala - well before the independence of India. In fact, it was the standard part of uniform of the junior students of Yadivindra Public School, Patiala, when it was opened in the late 1940s - mainly for the benefit of the nobility. However, the patka only gained global prominence after Bishan Singh Bedi started wearing it while playing cricket in national and international pitches.
5: Irvinder Singh Babra (Brampton, Ontario, Canada), August 05, 2010, 3:25 PM.
I agree with Balbir Singh ji ... it was Bishan Singh Bedi who, during the Calcutta cricket test in 1970-71, excelled so well in bowling that his bowling and patka gained global recognition.
6: Pashaura Singh (Riverside, California, U.S.A.), August 05, 2010, 4:50 PM.
Thanks, Balbir Singh ji, for your information on the patka. Being the first Sikh public school in New Delhi, Guru Harkrishan Public School was actually following the Yadwindera Public School (YPS) model. In fact, Principal Gurdial Singh Dhillon had come from YPS. I had known of the widespread impression that Guru Harkrishan Public School had introduced the patka in New Delhi. It is now becoming clear that they may have followed the tradition of YPS. You are right that patka was used traditionally used by the nobiltiy in Patiala. So it must have been used by the Patiala family even before YPS was opened in the 1940s. The Patiala-shahi turban style is also very popular. The invention of the patka may indeed belong to the Patiala royal family.
7: Balbir Singh Sodhi, JP, (London. United Kingdom), August 05, 2010, 6:32 PM.
As an old Patialvi, I can now confirm that the patka was indeed widely used by the nobility - as well as the royal house of Patiala, much before it came into its current vogue. Indeed, as a school boy, I had actually seen several times myself, both the then princes of Patiala (Capt. Maharaja Amarinder Singh and his brother Raja Malvinder Singh) with patkas in the Gymkhana Club cricket grounds in Patiala, while the Maharaja's team was playing cricket matches there. So,the patka is a royal invention and an old tradition, which later attained world prominence because of its regular use by the renowned cricketer - Bishan Singh Bedi.
8: Gurbux Singh (Chatsworth, California, U.S.A.), August 05, 2010, 8:37 PM.
Just a comment that the patka was alive and well in Burma, but I cannot say it was invented there because I do not know for sure. As a Sardar that did not go through a gut state, my parents got me into a joorrah/ patka when I was able to. I was soon wearing a puggh, helped in tying by my mother.
9: Ravinder Singh Kalra (Brampton, Ontario, Canada), August 06, 2010, 8:21 PM.
After having a good laugh with S. Sangat Singhji from Malaysia, who is my Mamaji, I would like to share with the wider readership my experience on my graduation from a patka to a turban. Our family has had the tradition of a formal dastaarbandhi function where the maternal uncle (Mamaji) contributes the first turban.I joined the Malwa Khalsa High School in Ludhiana for grades 9 and 10. The school was known for its Sikh values and a very strict teaching staff. One day, our math teacher, S. Jaspal Singh, declared that everyone would wear a turban from the next day onwards. Being aware of the family tradition, I somehow ignored this directive and went back to school the next day with the usual patka without realizing that S. Jaspal Singh never took "no" for an answer. I found myself to be the only one in the class with a patka while everyone else wore a turban. I was ordered to leave immediately. I pedaled back home and my dad smiled and quipped, "Welcome to a Khalsa School!" He took out a turban and tied it on my head in front of Guru Granth Sahib and off I went back to school. For the first few months, my turban used to be a Tippu Sultan type with the joorrah hanging out prominently!
10: Sangat Singh (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), August 07, 2010, 8:46 AM.
Welcome to the club, Rajan (his pet name). Now go on and tell the story about your younger brother, Sajan, and his experience with a patka ... I'll let you do so in your own inimitable style, thus summoning one of the parents to come forward the tale of the infraction.
11: Sukhindarpal Singh (Penang, Malaysia), August 10, 2010, 10:27 AM.
I was born in Penang. The first school I went to was the Khalsa Dharmik School run by the Wadda Gurdwara Sahib, Penang, at the age of 3+, wearing my 'gut' lovingly braided by Bibi ji. At 6+ I was enrolled in an English school for my formal primary education and my long, long hair was tied into a top knot. Being a minority within a minority in a multi-racial country is very 'exciting'. With every new teacher or in a new class, my name was known - Singh! When I was 10+ Bibi ji tied my dastaar to go to school. Papa ji armed me with a letter to be passed to the Headmaster to explain the tenets of Sikhi. Those among us who kept the faith through our Malaysian schooldays and beyond know how it was and is. I only learnt to do my joorrah when I was 12. Having my hair open during a contact sport was my biggest fear in primary school. That furnace, anvil and hammer shaped me. As for the patka, I came across it when a family friend returned from Dagshai Public School (Simla, India). Being born, and growing up, in Penang challenged me differently from Sikhs born in India.
12: Sangat Singh (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), October 06, 2014, 7:34 PM.
Sher ji, what a delightful nostalgic revisit. The turban is my crown. It only changes its colour on sartorial consideration and with the usual comment: 'Ah! You are not wearing your usual maroon colour!' 'Yes, indeed, today I am wearing a light blue shirt and my turban has to match with it ...' But, regardless of the colour, it is still me.