In the month of October 2004, I came across a published request on Gurmat Learning Zone (GLZ) discussion forum posted by S. Bhupinder Singh (who maintains SikhSpirit.Com). The request was from a school in the Manchester/Cheshire area that required a visit from a Sikh person to acquaint its students with Sikhs and Sikhism.

I decided to volunteer for the visit as I thought this would be a great opportunity to share Sikh heritage with non-Sikhs. I got in touch with the concerned authorities and my visit to the school was fixed for 2nd November, 2004. What follows is a short write up of my experience.

Shortly after arriving at Alderley Edge, I drove through the reasonably small but smart village. I noticed a very large church to my left and then alongside it was the primary school of about 9-10 teachers and 200 students. Judging from the standard of the area, the school was, I would think, at the heart of a well educated community. The teacher who invited me- Janet- met me at the door, greeted me and said the children were ready and expecting me.

Janet then asked me whether I was wearing my Kirpan. Of course, I replied. She then asked me whether I would remove it. I then looked at her for a few seconds and wondered. I could sense her apprehension. I then replied, "I realize this is a school, where there are very small children, the last thing I want to do is to cause any alarm, my Kirpan is not going to cause anyone any harm, but I will oblige if you really want me to".

She said she thought it was for the best. As this was probably the first time she had ever met a Sikh before, I did not want to rock the boat, as after all this was meant to be a good PR exercise for the Sikhs. I obliged then, but as we walked towards the class room I realized that Janet did not understand the Kirpan and I knew my challenge to give the school some insight into Sikhs was greater than ever. I felt naked without my Kirpan, like a part of me was missing.

As we walked, I asked Janet how much the kids knew about Sikhs. She said they had been looking at Guru Nanak, Guru Gobind Singh, the 5K's and Gurdwaras. When we arrived into the classroom, all 25 sets of eyes were peeled upon me as I smiled back and checked around the whole of the class. Some of the kids gave me a reassuring smile back, this comforted me no end and I began thinking 'I can do this, this isn't too bad'.

The kids were around 6-7 year olds. I had taken along some items with me. As I stood in front of the class, I began taking out the Kanga, Kara, Kacchera, turban, pictures, small Kirpan (about 2 inches long slightly bigger and thicker than the ones you see older folk wear around their necks but without a sheath).

Just then Janet asked whether she could bring in another 20 kids to share the experience. “Yes, fine, no problem" I said, "the more the merrier", as I hastily reached for the top button of my shirt and loosened my tie. Another 20 sets of eyes took glaring looks towards the front, as they entered the classroom and sat down and huddled up together on a bright red carpet. They were nice looks though, more out of intrigue and admiration, than any form of antipathy. Clearly the kids had been informed of my visit and were looking forward to what I had to say.

The school seemed to have children mainly from a white family background. Out of the 45 or so children that were sitting to listen to the talk, all were white apart from one girl who seemed to be from a white/black half cast background.

The atmosphere slowly became very warm and appreciative as Janet introduced me as "Mr. Singh has come here today to talk about what we have been looking at lately, Sikhs" and that was my cue, as everyone looked towards me.

I began by introducing myself as Lakhbir Singh and explained that my name meant I was a friend of many. I looked at the children and told them that I am your friend too. Then I posed the first question- I asked them if any of them had ever seen a Sikh before? A few put their hands up. Then I asked them would everyone like to know more about the Sikhs? A huge outcry of "Yeaaaahhsss" filled the room.

As a lot of them had never seen a Sikh before, the kids seemed to be very interested in what I had to say. My strategy was to keep things very simple and to refer to the 5K's as a uniform that identified I was a student learning in the school of Guru Nanak.

One of my first questions to the children was why each and every one of them was wearing their school uniform. They were very keen to tell me that this identified that they belong to Alderley Edge. I carried forward this thought and said in the same way we Sikhs wear a special uniform which has five pieces. I explained that just like you are showing your collectiveness as a group to learn as a class, we Sikhs all wear the same uniform so that we can collectively, as a Sangat, learn about God.

I showed them the Kara I had taken along and also showed them that I was wearing one on my right wrist. I explained to them that it reminded me of the oneness of God and also that I should never do anything wrong with my hands. I was very conscious that these kids may not understand that they and the Sikhs share the same God. I wanted them to be clear on the point that Sikhs live in the will of One God - the same god that Christians and Muslims and all other people of this earth look towards and the Kara signified that one God.

The next item which I showed them was the Kanga. Clearly from their reactions the kids had seen pictures of the 5k's, but had never seen them in their true form. I explained to them that I do not cut my hair and Sikhs do not cut their hair. I told them that the Kanga was like a comb which I kept in my hair and which I used each morning and evening to keep my hair neat, tidy and clean.

I knew that a lot of people think that a turban is something like a hat which Sikhs never remove from their heads, even at night. Therefore after reminding the students that the hair or 'kesh' was the third part of the uniform of a Sikh, I decided to provide them with a demonstration of how Sikhs tie the turban.

I asked for a volunteer and a young boy stepped forward. I unfolded the turban I had brought along and started tying it on his head, trying to get the shape correct, so that the children could understand how a simple piece of cloth was used to create the Sikh Crown, the Turban. I told the students that I take off the turban before sleeping and then tie it again in the morning before going out to work.

This then led me to show them the final two Kakaars. I showed them a Kacchera I had taken along and explained to them that Sikhs wear this as part of the uniform. Apart from its practical utility, the Kacchera reminds the Sikhs to remain chaste.

The final item to show them was of course the Kirpan. I showed them the small version, which I had brought along. It did not have a sheath and was about 2 inches long. One child asked me how I would use the Kirpan. I demonstrated by showing how I would use it to protect myself and possibly others. I stressed it was not a weapon and would not be used to lunge out. When I showed them how it was supposed to be held, one of the kids very brilliantly pointed out that it was more like a shield.

I had taken along some pictures, of the 10 Gurus and Darbar Sahib, Amritsar. I explained to them that no one knows what our Guru's actually looked like and that what I had brought were imaginary representations of our Gurus. With hindsight, I'm glad I did, as most of the kids, did not know that the Sikhs had ten Gurus. They only knew of Guru Nanak and Guru Gobind Singh. As I showed pictures of each of the Gurus, I tried to explain how each one of them was different, but still their thoughts and teachings were one and the same.

I shared with them very briefly the life story of each Guru and as I talked about Guru Ramdas and Guru Arjan, I explained to them that these two Gurus had initiated and completed work on the Darbar Sahib. As I telling them this, I also showed them a rather large picture of the Darbar Sahib Complex. This was greeted by sounds of exclamation and amazement. I also mentioned that Guru Arjan was badly tortured and that our sixth guru decided to introduce the Kirpan for the Sikhs and he was probably the first Sikh to actually wear one.

I brought the conclusion of the talk back to the 5 K's, as I explained it to them that it was our tenth Guru, who had initiated us into the Khalsa fold by giving us the 5 K's and finalizing the journey that was started way back 230 years ago by our first Guru- Guru Nanak.

I was then given a bigger challenge to repeat the talk to some higher grade kids in the assembly hall. I repeated the same and was amazed at the knowledge of some of the kids. When I was talking about Guru Arjan, some of the kids actually knew that it was he who was tortured by having to sit on a hot stove whilst hot sand was poured over him. One of the kids also knew that it was Emperor Jahangir who had got the torture inflicted. Amazing, I thought.

I was asked some sweet and challenging questions. It showed the kids had indeed appreciated who the Sikhs were and I think it re-enforced in their minds that we are just like them, no different.

From the feedback I got at the end the school teachers loved it, the headmaster was all too pleased and the kids - they were fantastic and I benefited immensely through a brilliant and soul enrichening experience that I will never forget. Janet took down my details and pleaded that I come back next year for another visit and give the kids more insight into Sikhs. How could I refuse? It was a brilliant experience and I would encourage more Sikhs to go out and educate people, especially kids.

Acknowledgement

I would like to thank GLZ management for their kind words of encouragement and like to add that without them this visit may never have happened. All credit to Gurmat Learning Zone. Those interested in seeing the photographs of the talk can view them on the GLZ website [ http://photos.groups.yahoo.com/group/learning-zone/lst ]

Modified version of original post on Gurmat Learning Zone discussion forum in November 2004. Author contact email: lakhbir.gossal@cmmc.nhs.uk