Columnists
The Case of The Shrinking Joorrha:
Janam Da Firangee,
Sikhi Main Mangee
FATEHPAL SINGH TARNEY
This column is really a continuation of an earlier one I did a while ago, addressing the issue of male vanity.
I had written of Sardars insisting on coloring the grey in their beards in the hope of looking younger. However, once this habit has been ingrained, it is a hard one to break and the results quickly begin to look more and more outlandish.
To be fair, I also called attention in my earlier column to the ‘gora’ fellows who, though senior citizens, somehow appear to be blessed with black or dark brown hair, or sport the notorious “comb over” in desperate attempts to conceal their baldness.
There is another sad gora phenomenon, which is the toupee or, in popular parlance, the “rug.”
I recall being in a bookstore in South Florida many years ago, and seeing a guy with a “rug” that was so artificial-looking that it appeared like a road kill atop his head. What made it even worse or, should I say sadder, was the fact that it was a hot and humid summer day and the back of the rug began to curl up due to perspiration so that one could see half of the manufacturer’s label. I am not exaggerating.
We can all dislike the aging process; resist it for a time, if you will, but eventually it will win out.
I recall that some 40 years ago, for example, I was adept at being able to promptly get up from the diwan hall floor at our gurdwara sahib without even thinking about it. These days, I must have a strategy to get up and there have been times when I have had to ask for assistance.
I still exercise at a gym five times per week and have a good rapport with a number of personal trainers there. Many years ago, some of these young ladies would ask me about my joorrha and that gave me an opportunity to explain something about my Sikh faith.
However, more recently, I no longer attract these questions because my joorrha is getting smaller and smaller and less noticeable because of my thinning hair.
The questions I get now pertain to my beard. One trainer said that she thought I would look twenty years younger if I trimmed my beard and used Clairol-for-Men. Once again, I had a great opportunity to explain something about my faith and the fact that I prefer to look just as God destined me to look.
I have received much support and understanding for my patient explanations.
When I shared this particular story with another elderly Sardar, he confessed that, given his gradual loss of head hair through the years, he has had to resort to forming his joorrha further and further back on his head.
Aging gracefully is a good thing, but not an easy thing.
Mercifully, our Sikh faith helps us cover up our failings as gracefully as it forgives us our transgressions.
January 15, 2015