Often, we read
jokes on ‘ Sikhs ’ – everytime we look the Republic Day Parade, it is the Sikhs
who dominate the Armed forces. Milkha
Singh, the flying Sikh is the famed darling of Indian athletics. Back in Chennai, there are some Sikhs and Cricket followers do well
know – AG Milkha Singh, AG Kripal Singh, a right-hand batsman and offspinner,
also played Test cricket for India (14 Tests between 1955 and 1964, and scored
an unbeaten 100 on debut against New Zealand in Hyderabad), as also Satwender, played first-class cricket for
Tamil Nadu. When Kripal and Milkha
played together for India against England in 1961-62, it was the first instance
of three players from Tamil Nadu (the third being Vaman Kumar) being in the National playing XI.
There have been
Sikhs fighting wars not only for our Nation but also for England. The
Battle of Saragarhi is considered one of the greatest battles in Sikh military
history. In 1897, a contingent of twenty-one soldiers from the
36th Sikhs led by Havildar Ishar Singh held off an Afghan attack of 10,000 men
for several hours. All 21 Sikh soldiers chose to fight to the death instead of
surrendering.
Sikhs are
identified by ‘turbans’ which they consider their Guru’s gift. For the believer, the projective identity conveys royalty, grace,
and uniqueness. The "bana" or
form, the personal appearance of a Sikh, is one of the foremost ways that a
Sikh maintains his consciousness as their Guru intended. The Guru has given his Sikh
specific instructions to keep his or her natural form as created by God. Thus,
all hair is maintained, uncut, and untrimmed.
This photo that you
saw at the start is becoming an internet sensation. It is a simple one of a man helping out an
accident victim. It gains more significance as the Sikh student
from New Zealand breaks strict religious
protocol by taking off his turban to help save the life of a child hit by a car.
REprots state that Harman
Singh, 22, removed his turban to cradle the bleeding head of a five-year-old
boy who had been struck on his way to school in Takanini, South Auckland. Mr Singh heard the accident take place
outside his home, before running outside to investigate, according to the NZ
Herald. 'I saw a child down on the ground and a lady
was holding him. His head was bleeding, so I unveiled my turban and put it
under his head,' he said. 'I wasn't thinking about the turban. I was thinking
about the accident and I just thought, "He needs something on his head
because he's bleeding". That's my job - to help.
Mr Singh and other members of the public stayed with the boy until emergency services arrived. Not long after the accident, the boy's mother arrived. The five-year-old was reportedly walking to school with his older sister when he was hit. He was thought to have suffered life-threatening head injuries, but last night was in a stable condition in hospital. Since the incident occurred, Mr Singh has received thousands of messages and comments on his Facebook page. With regards – S. Sampathkumar
17th May 2015.
