Gaganjit and Damanjit Kler, like many adolescent boys, have grown their hair long, in this case past their shoulders.
But the Wheeling brothers are not trying to rebel against social currents by emulating hippies or heavy-metal singers.
The boys proudly sport the long tresses because of their religious devotion. As practicing Sikhs, they are required to never cut their hair.
Sikhs halfway around the world made headlines last week when 35 followers were massacred in Kashmir during President Clinton’s trip to India. The attack, allegedly carried out by Kashmiri rebels, came days before Sikhs prepare for their New Year, Vaisakhi, in mid-April.
Damanjit, 14, who is looking forward to the celebration, said he used to be teased because of the small piece of cloth covering the bun that rests on top of his head. But the 8th grader at London Middle School in Wheeling said the harassment has stopped because his peers now understand Sikhism. Gaganjit, 11, declared, “Our religion is cool.”
The two siblings go to the Palatine-based Sikh Religious Society’s gurudwara, 1280 Winnetka St., for sermons every Sunday morning.
Though Sikhs remain sketchily understood by many Americans, this 2,000-member congregation, mainly consisting of professional Indian immigrants and their American-born children, and others are slowly gaining recognition and acceptance in the Chicago region as their populations grow.
Many of the 6,000 area Sikhs from Southeast Asia still face discrimination mainly because of their religious dress code, but they are beginning to find a comfortable niche in the United States.
“We have more respect here than where we were born,” said Jasbir, Kaur recalling the recent bloodshed in Kashmir and previous attacks against Sikhs in India.
Wearing a shalwar kameez, flowing tunic and baggy trousers worn by Indian and Pakistani women, Kaur said Sikhs have been targeted in India since 1984 when a mostly Hindu army stormed the Golden Temple in Amritsar, the Sikhs’ holiest shrine, and killed 1,000 followers who had wanted a separate state.
Several months later, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by Sikhs in retaliation, touching off more riots.
“There is a definite movement against minorities in India. Here, at least people are trying to understand us,” said Kaur, who is in her 60s. Several feet away from Kaur, Sikhs last Sunday hovered over a table on the gurudwara’s first floor to sign petitions urging the United States, Indian and Pakistani governments to conduct “unbiased” investigations on the latest attack.
Kulwant Singh Hundal, president of the Sikh Religious Society of Chicago, said there is movement in India to undermine the Sikh authority. “They are trying to root out Sikhism like Buddhism and Jainism was,” said the 58-year-old Lombard resident.
This month’s tragedy is another example of the mounting brutal tension between India and Pakistan’s fight for Kashmir. Both India, which is predominantly Hindu, and Pakistan, mostly Muslim, claim ownership of the region.
Sikhism, which was founded by Guru Nanak about 500 years ago, has roots both in Islam and Hinduism.
The Sikhs believe in one omnipresent God. The “Ek Onkaar” symbol, which exemplifies this concept, is imprinted on the iron gates circling the suburban gurudwara. The Sikhs stress peace, humility and community service. They do not believe in worshiping idols or the caste system like the Hindus, but believe in reincarnation. After death, those who lead good, moral lives have their souls transcend to God.
“Those who commit sins will go through the vicious cycle of death and rebirth,” according to Rajinder Singh Mago, who has been a member of the gurudwara since it opened its doors 21 years ago.
Cigarettes and other intoxicants are forbidden in Sikhism.
In the religion’s history, there have been 10 Sikh gurus, and the religious text, the Guru Granth Sahib is considered to be the eternal guru, said Mago, an engineer from Wayne.
Before sitting down in the congregation hall, worshipers, who cover their hair with long chiffon scarves, handkerchiefs and turbans, stand in line to pay their respects to the holy book.
The Sikhs individually walk up to the elevated canopied area, place their palms together and bow before placing a dollar bill in front of the book, which is surrounded by flowers and swathed in maroon velvet with gold embroidery. Afterward, the worshipers proceed to sit in the carpeted area, with women on one side of the room and men on the other, so they can listen to hymns and sermons conducted in Punjabi.
The book, which is constantly fanned with an instrument called a chaur to sustain a pure environment, is taken out of an enclosed room in the beginning of the sermons on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. It is then put to rest at the end of them, Mago said. There is no priesthood in Sikhism, but each gurudwara has a granthi, or caretaker of the book.
In 1699, the 10th guru, Gobind Singh, founded the Khalsa, which established the five K’s or five articles of faith. All Sikhs are encouraged to wear the four symbols of the religion: a comb (kanga), an iron or steel bangle (kara), shorts (kachera) and a miniature steel sword (kirpaan). The Khalsa also includes kesh, which means Sikhs should refrain from cutting hair.
At the time of the Khalsa, all Sikh men were given the name “Singh” or lion, and women were give the surname “Kaur,” which means princess.
As with others religious communities, following Sikhism has proved to be difficult for some. A few members, old and young, have cut their hair, but more orthodox Sikhs stressed that less rigid devotees cannot be shunned from the community.
Vaisakhi marks the anniversary of the Khalsa and the beginning of the harvest season in Punjab, the northern Indian state where the majority of Sikhs reside. In the four Chicago area gurudwaras, the day will begin with religious sermons and hymns. Two Punjabi organizations are also planning cultural shows in Skokie and Chicago to honor the new year in mid-April.
Preparations for the talent showlike presentations have been conducted within the last two months at a YMCA a few blocks away from the Palatine gurudwara.
For the most part, the groups performed bhangra, a traditional Punjabi harvesting dance that has recently swept the American and European club scene. The dance is named after bhang or hemp, a principal crop in Punjab.
Mago said, “When we first used to practice, people coming in here to play volleyball or basketball used to look around and go, `What is that?’ Now, they’ve gotten used to the Punjabi music.”
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