To thine own self, Be True

I would’ve swore at the ref, too. (Thanks, Mankanwal):

Parents and coaches of a Calgary junior soccer team are angry after a Sikh player was barred from a game for insisting on wearing his religious head scarf.
Northwest United was competing in a tournament in this Vancouver suburb when a referee told 17-year-old Gurindar Durah he could not wear his patka, which young, religiously observant Sikhs are required to wear.
Mr. Durah swore at the referee and was ejected from the game. Then his team decided to walk out in protest.

Mad props to his team for standing up and walking out for their boy. Durah’s Coach, Mario Moretti supported his players, calling the tournament “done” the moment the ref brought up Gurindar’s patka:

“This is a decision our players made, not me. I supported my players. They all supported Gurindar, which was a no-brainer for us.”

Of course the people behind the tournament, in a dazzling display of deluded, oblivious lameness stated that Durah was barred from the tournament for “swearing”. Way to address the issue, there.

I’m somewhat shocked that it all went down north of us; I always thought of Cah-naw-duh as being literally and figuratively more chill. Beyond that, the Sikh community there is so accomplished and visible when compared to Amreeka. I unlearn something new, every day.

168 thoughts on “To thine own self, Be True

  1. My God, I can’t believe the Uncle/Aunty malarkey on this thread is still going strong…

    Here’s a couple more:

    Slap & Tickle Aunty : Insists on standing a little too close to you and has been trying to give you a kiss on the mouth since you were 10 years old “as a joke”. And she’s not even remotely as sexy as Wild Aunty, dammit.

    Dysfunctional Uncle and Desperate Housewife Aunty : Completely mismatched personalities. Desperate Housewife Aunty was bullied into marriage to Dysfunctional Uncle by her parents just because he’s a doctor / lawyer / chartered accountant. 40 years later, they have the marriage from hell, can’t stand being around each other, and they think that nobody else knows about the wreckage that is the state of their marriage even though it’s the worst kept secret in town. Those 6 month trips to India they keep taking independently of each other are a bit of a giveaway….

  2. Commenter_desi : I think Uncleji’s “nephew” has answered your question about the relation of turbans to Sikh men and women pretty succintly. However, if you really want to know more about this issue, I suggest you visit http://www.Sikhnet.com — there’s a huge amount of information there dealing with the questions you’ve raised. They also have an outstanding Discussion Forum, where this topic has been extensively debated many times already, and if you have any further questions you should post a message there — I’m sure everyone on that Forum would be happy to fill you in on the background and rationale behind turbans & uncut hair in Sikhism.

  3. I think he is one of those you-know-who types with his chuddis in a twist – dont talk sense of folks like that – laugh at dem!

    So much tolerance a religion teaches…..

  4. rkay

    Wow quick name change there play hater eh? Have you changed your tight underpants or are they still causing you head ache and foolery? 😉

  5. Congrats PB on being poster number 150. The virtual ladoo is on its way.

    Slap & Tickle Aunty : Insists on standing a little too close to you and has been trying to give you a kiss on the mouth since you were 10 years old “as a joke”. And she’s not even remotely as sexy as Wild Aunty, dammit.

    No she needs to be incredibly ugly and have a beard.

    Have we done the Good Gracious Me Competitive Aunties (Well my son’s got a bigger dudda!)

  6. Uncleji,

    Have we done the Good Gracious Me Competitive Aunties (Well my son’s got a bigger dudda!)

    Yes, I mentioned this classic example of Star Plus saas-bahu kitchen politics desi Auntyism in my post #82.

  7. Wow quick name change there play hater eh? Have you changed your tight underpants or are they still causing you head ache and foolery? 😉

    Are you sick bcos you were born sick .

    Have you considered other options?

    *can’t stop laughing *

  8. commenter_desi,

    your comment was disturbing. do you know much about sikhism? everyone is probably doing something that someone else finds anachronistic. even you.

  9. “Of course, general references are shared and appreciated..British colonization and rule, curry (though SL food curries are nothing like what I eat in Indian restuarants. We don’t use yoghurt or ghee, or cream everything, or use cheese. The curries are more liquid, with coconut milk, curry leaves, mustard seed, fenugreek etc being dominant flavors. “

    SL cuisine sounds like South Indian cuisine, then.

  10. Anna,

    I hope you were not referring to “my” comments. Iam not commentator_desi,this time I have put my email id too.

    My response was specifically towards punjabi boy. I have got nothing against religion or any religion in particular.Why should I? It’s none of my business.I have noticed punjabi boy ( on one other thread as well) get personal, so was just having some fun.

    Hope Jai,Raju and others are not offended.

    I consider myself a vegan. So if some vegan society decrees that all vegans should wear a cap that says ‘vegan’,(just being silly) I would question that too.

  11. RKay,

    No you haven’t offended me, but if you really do want to know the history and rationale behind why devout Sikhs are supposed to wear certain external symbols, the best place to find out would be the website I mentioned in post #153. I’m sure that some of us could explain it to you here but, as this isn’t a religious website, this may not be the right place to do so. You’ll get all the answers you need on the other website.

    Kind regards, Jai

  12. Anna,
    I hope you were not referring to “my” comments. Iam not commentator_desi,this time I have put my email id too.

    no worries. i was not referring to your comments. 🙂 if i had been, i would’ve mentioned you or something, you know, to let you know. 😉