CELEBRATING CANADA DAY - THE TURBAN WAY. AGAIN.
It was yet another electrifying Canada Day celebration under the bright sun and on the lush green lawns of University of Waterloo (Ontario) and the banks of the Columbia Lake which provided the cool breeze to create a mesmerizing ambience. The excitement could be seen all around with parents, kids and the youth donning red and white, the colors in the Canadian Flag.
As one walked past the center stage, eatery stalls and joy rides, a sight that just could not go unnoticed by anyone was that of people from Caucasian, East Asian, European, South American descent (and many more) walking tall with a white or a red turban tied on their head. They kept their head high as it was shared to them by the volunteers of the University of Waterloo Sikh Students Association and Conestoga College Sikh Students Association that a turban is like a crown and not just a cloth wrapped around in a hap hazard fashion. There are many different styles and each has a technique to it.
The Canadian spirit of strength in its diversity could be felt from the sight of the tent where Sikh Students were sharing the Canadian-ness by inviting everyone to picture themselves in a turban, white or red. People from all walks of life participated and learnt about the history of Sikhs and their contribution to Canada. I overheard a very innocent question asked by a lady to one of the volunteers and this made my day. As the volunteer closely wrapped the turban around her head, she inquired, "Do you tie the turban yourself every morning or do you have someone tying it for you like you are doing for me?" She was informed that it takes a couple of dozen tries to get adept at tying a turban so everyone learns from either their parents, siblings or friends.
This is the 6th time in the last 2 years that Sikh Students of the University of Waterloo and Conestoga College have conducted a turban day and the response has been always greater than the previous time. This time around, 2000m of turban was tied in 3.5 hours and as the sun went down and it was time for fireworks, there were still 24 men and women and 9 kids waiting to be 'turbaned' and just about that time the students ran out of cloth. During the fireworks, volunteers shared that the smiles they saw on faces of the participants will be cherished for long times to come for they were very rewarding.
Every successful event has a lot of hard work put into it on the background. Students and a very unassuming Sikh professor from the Waterloo Institute of Nanotechnology, Simarjeet Singh Saini worked tirelessly for weeks to make this event a success. Special thanks also goes to the sangat at the local Kitchener Gurudwara who helped raise funds for buying the turbans.
Sincere compliments go to the volunteers below for their incomparable enthusiasm and hard work for the great cause of celebrating the Canadian spirit of diversity and creating awareness about Sikhism.
Gurjant Singh, Harpreet Singh Choulia, Satnaam Singh, Manu Singh, Manpreet Singh, Sehaj Singh, Avneet Singh, Sarbjot Kaur, Amrit Singh, Yadvinder Singh, Gurpal Singh, Simran Singh, Pavi Singh, Sarbjit Singh, Jasmeet Singh, Amrinder Singh, Kulwant Singh, Prabdeep Singh, Navjot Singh, Mani Singh, Amar Singh, Jassa Singh, Harmandip Singh, Daniel Singh, Sasha Kaur, Harry Singh, Gurvinder Singh, Jaskaran Singh, Captain Singh.
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Note: There is a special request by the students asking for professional grade photographers and videographers who can volunteer to cover such events in the future. You may contact Sehaj Singh at sehaj(dot)bains(at)gmail.com if interested.
Anterjot Singh
(University of Waterloo, Masters in Chem. Eng.)