Today I saw a comment on none other than the abominable Facebook about what it meant to be a Sikh. A Sikh is a learner, he who is willing to learn. “Wearing the turban and maintaining an outward Sikh identity does not make you a Sikh” it said. “Being a Sikh is an emotion” it said. So all of you who adopt a religious symbol that defines your being, I’m sorry to say it may mean nothing. Wearing it for the sake of wearing it, does not make it worthy of the status it seeks to own. Counter this with the argument that any symbol designed to display allegiance to a way of being makes it worthy of being what it seeks to be – it’s the intention that gives it meaning. After all aren’t we all trying to be something or someone?A layered argument makes for a great debate – and my debate is one of identity. I argue that identity is non-existent. “I am what I am” said popeye the stubborn sailor man (I think he was Sikh) – stubborn, big muscles and likes Spinach. Definitely Mr Singh characteristics. Ask popeye why he didn’t embrace the turban. Hypocrite! Even his fat arch enemy Bluto (I think that was his name) went one better and grew a beard!
There is a whole raft of generations who are confused about who they really are. Take Mr Singh, a 20 something educated British citizen who follows his religion on a semi-permanent basis, drinks alcohol at the necessary social gatherings and partakes in the Khalistan debate when he is forced to think of the atrocities of 1984 in the presence of the Sikh society at his university. For a few minutes he feels the injustice only to later feel the comfort of his bed sheets in his parent’s semi in Slough and he forgets the whole thing till next time. Take Mr Khan, similarly follows Islam to a degree that he is comfortable with. Mr Khan likes to dabble in recreational drugs and enjoys the odd tipple. He participates in the Islamic society and associates mainly with other Muslims. Mr Singh and Mr Khan have a lot in common, they are not opposites. They are products of their environments – where boundaries and accepted norms are created by those who possess enough clout, enough power to define a reality for them. Mix this with a parental influence (usually an eastern disposition), an identity that associates them with a religion and a digital culture (of a western disposition) I like to call the ‘Digital Kalyug ’ and we have some confused kids on our hands. Kalyug: meaning dark days. In man’s evolution, the final era or ‘yug’ is the worst – with injustice being the norm amongst humankind (a Sikh philosophy).
Mr Singh has no real idea of what 1984 was really about. He knows that Sikhs were innocently slaughtered in the holiest Sikh shrine. But does he understand the significance of such an event? He is forced to hate Hindus and other non-Sikhs as a result of this – partly by the views of injustice he hears at the ‘cha and samosa’ party at his university lecture hall and partly by the militant fashion in which ideas are propagated. A well informed ‘man in the know’ uses his knowledge to instigate a vision of any reality he wishes. “The Hindu government have forced the Sikhs to take arms, to demand a separate homeland”. Munching his samosa, Mr Singh is oblivious. He takes away the propaganda and contemplates for a while.
Mr Khan has a similar hate of his own. In recent times his community of predominantly Musilim folk has been scrutinised since the terror bombings of 7/7. He is stared at in public places and he is stopped by the police more frequently when in his car. Mr Khan develops a hatred for rules. Sajjid at university talks of the ‘white power’ that maintains the firm grip of the ethnic man – the ‘whip hand’. He talks of the innocent murders of brothers and sisters outside of the borough of Berkshire in far-off lands. Mr Khan thinks for a second. A sense of justice defines his identity and he should do something about injustices.Mr Singh and Mr Khan live their days in a bubble of reality that is created by the social circles in which they move. They have no real idea of what it means to be British, or to have a British identity. Their lack of understanding of their social environments afforded to them by a chance decision of a great grandfather to ‘find work’ and make money in a foreign land does not make them feel grateful for being in a better place away from gunfire, poverty or war with even the lowest levels of UK poverty being equivalent to a seven star hotel elsewhere. They have access to education, food, water and warmth far beyond what is deemed “acceptable” in India or in Pakistan. They have a chance to be educated free from the constraints of a caste system (debateable: see earlier articles for enlightenment) where class will prevail. Mr Khan however thinks the NHS is a waste of space because A+E took five hours to treat his slash wound when he decided to ‘claat’ some Singhs in the club who retaliated. Mr Singh thinks the law system in the UK is flawed since he was allowed to get away with a paltry 3 month driving ban when he got “smashed” on Chivas Regal at his mates wedding and attempted to navigate his way home. A small price to pay for a lifetime of stories with friends and a mountain of Facebook picture tags. Singh and Khan have a problem with etiquette speaking a hybrid English punctuated by sucking of teeth and an ‘init’ to end every sentence. It’s the norm. That’s what it means to be a Brit-Asian init?
A few Muslims have a run-in with some Sikhs at a club. Apparently Muslims and Sikhs do not get along… Khan doesn’t really know why. What the hell a fisticuff makes him more of an eligible bachelor in the eyes of the intoxicated females. Singh hates Muslims because they give it large and take all of ‘his’ women – its acceptable to fight and that’s what Sikhs do isn’t it? They are a warrior religion and they defend the weak. So when a Muslim brother chats up a Sikh sister, Mr Singh defends the weak (with the prospect of fornication with said “sister” upon dispatch of Muslim).
Fuelled by bravado and alcohol (and some recreational drugs) a showdown takes place. Mr Khan is bottled and Mr Singh is stabbed. Another innocent bystander however is caught in the struggle, is knocked unconscious and suffers multiple stab wounds. Police barricade the club and scores of clubbers of the Asian variety discuss proceedings outside amid the sirens as if they understand what is really happening – it’s exciting though. “Don’t mess with me” thinks Mr Singh. “I’ll take you down” says Mr Khan. The essence of the initial brawl is lost only to leave a re-enforced hatred based on… well nothing.
Mr Singh and Mr Khan sitting in A+E, S-T-A-R-I-N-G at each other. “This is not over” thinks Khan. “You will feel the wrath of my kirpan” thinks Singh. So the cycle continues… And for what? Meanwhile, a child dies every six seconds in Africa alone from poverty, HIV / Aids and hunger.
There are lots of Mr Singhs and Mr Khans who operate in the same way as above perpetuating a so-called reality of hatred and clash of religious groups. In fact some of them that will be reading this will be one of them too (females included – no gender bias in this debate oh no). The bigger picture is this: define your own reality. Ask questions and decide for yourself what is right, what is wrong and what can be dismissed. Just because all the lemmings went south and sank in the quicksand, will you too? The bubbles in which we live, those that define our realities can be easily burst if we open our eyes and minds a little more. There is a whole world out there.Question who you are but do not question others for they are also prescribing to an identity of some degree – it’s a continuous process. We are born alone and we die alone. What we do in the middle is up to us. Learn something new today. Be proud of where you have come from and be proud of where you are now. The two do not have to be mutually exclusive. More importantly, be sure of where you are going because the direction you take is down to you…
Identity in the crudest sense is non-existent. We become whatever we want to be in the moment. If I see an injustice, I become the law enforcer or the morally right. If I see prejudice, I become the peace maker… I am in the moment and the moment is me. Be not constrained by a category or boundary… Be the person who you want to be. Being dressed in the hijab or wearing the turban will not make you more favourable in God’s court, but you deserve some credit at least. If you adopt the “Mr Khan and Mr Singh” approach as above, you only scratch the surface, you will never fully know who you really are because you don’t question and ask why things work this way…Think about it.
I’m off to have a beer, and maybe spend 7 hours on facebook. After all that’s what we all do isn’t it?
Don’t be concerned about the wind that goes opposite to you… it only blows to make you fly higher. Like an aeroplane, it needs the wind coming against it at unbearable and sometimes brutal speeds to fly it. Take off and see the world at magnificent heights…
Picture 1 - Ignorance, You'll never know how bad things are if you never ask.
Picture 2 - 'The Thinker'. The artist Cézanne saw no difference between a human sitter and an inanimate object such as an apple, except that the reflection value and the palette were different. In the end, his subjects and his fruit wilted - all of his pictues were sad and sombre. He didn't embrace the beauty of life.
Picture 3 - 'The Original Sin' - According to traditional Christian theology, human beings have fallen from divine grace. Satan tempted Adam and Eve to defy the command of God not to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Eve disobeyed. Original Sin was born. All descendants of Adam and Eve have fallen from a blissful state of innocence and communion with God. Now humankind is condemned to a life of suffering and toil ("the primal curse").
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