It was 21st February of 2018 when i get my long hair(Kesh) cut short almost after ten years of keeping my hair long and tying a turban everyday. So what changed after 10 years that i have to cut my hair short and ended up annoying my family, friends and relatives. I haven’t had the long hair (Kesh) since my birth and my parents never asked me to do so, may be because they wanted me to think about it by myself, it was back in 2008 when i visited Punjab for the first time and saw a lots of Sikh children with a bun on the top of their heads and i asked my parents about it, my father explained to me about it very well, that was the time when i started growing my hair long. We live in Rajasthan and here around us we don’t have the same environment like in Punjab and most of the kids born in Sikh families here in Rajasthan don’t grow long hair (Kesh), but that doesn’t make them any less religious or any less Sikh or simply one can’t question about their faith and devotion, but in my case it was a bit different than any of the other young Sikh men i know, my reason wasn’t the same as theirs(we will talk about it some other day).
# Reasons i have often heard from young Sikh men who have cut their hair short are following:-
1.They want to look smart and cool and turban was a pressure for them.
2.Washing and oiling long hair was a time consuming process.
3.Most of them are college going students and they care more about looks then spiritual identity.
4.Today there are more Sikhs who don’t have their long hair than those who have.
5. In the end they wanted to look more like their friends who are from different religions and don’t have long hair.
# How i felt after cutting my hair short?
I didn’t felt like i have committed a crime or i have done something i should be ashamed of but i don’t know why people around me think that i should be ashamed of it. As i returned my home after cutting my long hair short i was getting weird looks from elders, some of our neighbors came to our house to console(Unbelievable right?) my parents for what i did and they gave me nasty looks and abused me in the best possible words. That was the day when i lose all the respect and label of a good obedient child i have obtained through out the years with out making any effort just because i have had that bun of long hair on my head. :)
# How my parents reacted?
They wasn’t angry or shocked to see me after haircut, they simply did’t reacted at all and i thought they were mad at me but no i was wrong when in the evening my father came to my room and said the best thing i ever heard from someone he said “It doesn’t matter what is on the outside or the way you look but what you are from inside does matter may be not to those people out there but to you. You don’t need anyone’s validation for what you did, if you felt it was the right thing to do, it is right”
That was the day i learned no matter what happens your family will always be by your side to support you, and when i say the word family i mean parents not those asshole cousins of yours or those fat Desi aunties who can’t control their tummy and talks about controlling children of others, they are the most annoying creatures i have seen in my till date.
I think my parents are way more better then others parents i see around me because both of them are practicing Sikh, my father has long hair(Kesh) and beard according to Sikh customs, but still he never opposed my decision and never tried to force religion upon me, he just simply introduced me to religion.
Religion shouldn’t be forced upon kids it is a personnel choice and parents should only introduce it to kids and let them explore it by themselves.
When i look back at the day i made that decision, i think it was really a brave and an important decision in my life and changed the way how i looked at life.
How do i feel now? I feel more like a human being and i don’t get weird looks from the people who don’t know who Sikhs are. I am not asked by people where i came from? when i visit the South, West or North-East India. Now i can relate my self to all those people out there in the world and i feel like i am one of them. At the end of the day you don't need to be a good Sikh, Hindu, Muslim or Christian to be a good human being. With or without religion we will have good people doing good things and Evil people doing evil things.
