| abstract
| - Most people outside of Asia and the Middle East who wear a turban are Sikhs. Male Sikhs who have taken Amrit or Pahul and added the name Singh, are required to don the Dastaar due to a pronouncement in 1699 by the tenth Sikh master Guru Gobind Singh. Dastaar, is the native Punjabi word used to refer to this head dress. Even some Sikh women, who are not required to wear a turban do so after taking Amrit and gaining the name Kaur. Even today some 300 years later, it is in compliance to the Hukam (or order) of the last Sikh human Guru that all Singhs today wear the dastaar. It is in honour and obedience to this one person! Though Sikh boys (and girls) are not technically born 'a Baptised Sikh' (they must freely choose to be an Amrithari in the same manner that Protestant children must choose to be Baptisted) they, most likely, will be raised wearing a Patka due to the respect that their parents have for Guru Gobind Singh. The Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh a Sikh, wears his sky blue turban (now a personal trademark) out of respect for the tenth Sikh Guru; the famous record breaking, 95-year-old marathon runner, Fauja Singh proudly wears his dastaar in honour of the tenth Sikh teacher; Bhagat Puran Singh the humble humanist and philanthropist donned a simple turban in respect of Guru Gobind Singh. Why do Sikhs go to all this trouble so many years after his dictate? Dastaars come in many different colours and styles and, to the keen eye, each turban is different. Some are simple but regal; others may be bright and sporty; yet others may be stylish and extravagant – each one has its own special and unique statement. Every morning, most Sikh men and many Sikh women, spend some 5 to 20 minutes to comb their long hair and then carefully handcraft their Dastaar—the link to their Gurus – a daily reminder of their heritage and its responsibilities. What begins as a simple 4 to 8 metres of plain coloured cloth is then transformed into a statement. Each person is instantly elevated and recognised as being 'different'. While the messages emanating from this simple piece of coloured cloth may vary from day to day depending on the the individual and his creativity, the reason for and purpose behind this simple religious garment is a message which never varies for it is an extremely serious message. For those of you who have no clue about Sikh history and tradition, what follows will be a revelation and a real eye opener – maybe even a total surprise. I will try and keep the history brief so that it does not distract us from the main theme of this article. In 1675 in old Delhi at Chandni Chowk a most horrific event that was to change the course of, not only Sikh history, but the course of Indian history took place when the pious and benevolent leader of the Sikhs, Guru Tegh Bahadur was, after several days of torture, beheaded in front of the Laal Kila in the city's most public place on the orders of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb.
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