Mardi Gras!

Yesterday, the bunch of us went to a neighboring town to witness the Mardi Gras celebrations. What a pah-tay. The parade was a visual delight. The rest of the party was a spectacular spectacle of debauchery that we expected it would be. Not surprisingly, I was the only guy with a turban on. Most of the crowd was friendly or neutral and overall it was a nice not easily forgettable experience. Only twice did a few jerks call me Osama. I met a few other Sikhs there too. They were all monas and hence were deprived of the attention that I received.

On the way back home, in the car, my non-Indian friends were sympathetic and curious. They told me that one cannot do anything about other people's ignorance. And I told them what I have said several times before. I am really neither scared of nor bothered by any of that. In order to maintain my reputation of a "whiner", I added that what bugs me is when I get these damn rejections from Sikh girls coz I am too hairy. They all made me shut-up and told me to use my charms to win them over. Easier said than done. But watch out ladies, Hairy Harry is coming to steal your heart away. "In your dreams", I heard somebody say. Later on, the rest of us also whined about the fact that we were all still singles and had to go back to our humble lonely abodes. The brotherhood of bachelors. And the usual crap.

Anyways, all this is meant to take some heat away from the fierce battle that is going on in the "comments" section. Chill guys.

BTW, it seems like my sister, Puneet2 is trying to turn the tables on me. Well, it so happens that I started this whole blog just to tell people how young Sikh women are rejecting Sikh guys because of "hair" issues. I am sure you might have experienced some discrimination at the hands of some fundamentalists or whatever but surely I don't see that in my local Gurdwara. Mona Sikhs seem to be as much a part of the fractious management committees as any other kind of Sikh. At any rate, like I said I am not in favor of labeling monas as lesser Sikhs unless they feel that way in their own hearts. I can't argue about what is written where simply because I have neither the knowledge nor the erudition to prove that. I certainly believe Sikhi is more than just hair and other outward symbols but so far all I have experienced is more and more of younger Sikhs labeling those who do keep their hair as hyperreligious, orthodox or fundamentalist. I admit that my experiences are limited but so far I have only seen the turbaned Sikhs to be subjected to a bad attitude, both from outside the community and from within.

I am the last person to be hung up about the hair issue, even though it might not appear that way. It is a personal decision and although I can try to educate others about my thoughts, I do not believe in imposing my thoughts on others. My marriage is not going to be a tug-of-war between who should and who shouldn't keep their hair. Please. I care more about people than their hair or their castes or whatever. I expect my wife to accept me the way I am and she can expect no less from me. I have my personal belief system that I intend to nurture and follow for my lifetime. She is entitled to do the same. I am going to love her for who she is, which is a multitude of small things and not just for one isolated aspect. All I am saying is people should not judge people on whether they have facial hair or not and whether they tie a turban or not.