‘God is always with you’
Local Sikhs celebrate two holidays this month, in muted pandemic fashion
Bellaire resident Manpreet Kaur Singh looks forward to Vaisakhi every year. It’s the holiday when she writes notes to friends and family. To celebrate, she heads to the gurdwara, the Sikh house of worship. After the service, she enjoys the programs and dance competitions.
“It’s like one celebration after the other,” Singh said. “Vaisakhi is a huge deal. But last year, we didn’t have anything but streaming.”
COVID-19 restrictions placed the usual festivities on hold.
Vaisakhi, which is April 13 this year, is considered the most important date on the Sikh calendar. It heralds in the new year, celebrates the beginning of the harvest and marks the occasion when the 10th guru, Gobind Singh, created the tenets of the faith.
He established the “Khalsa,” or Sikh community, a code of discipline, the articles of faith to be worn at all times and “Amrit,” an initiation ceremony similar to baptism.
Guru Gobind Singh gave the Khalsa the last names of “Singh” for male and “Kaur” for female, eliminating titles that symbolized status, wealth or social hierarchy.
He also proclaimed that there would be no further successors of human gurus. Instead, the Sikh scripture itself would become the next living guru and guide.
“He gave us the codification of the brotherhood,” Manpreet Kaur Singh said. “He laid out the tenets of Sikhism, the way we practice.”
She added that the Sikh identity took root during Vaisakhi — including the practice of standing up against injustice and oppression and defending equality and freedom for all.
The inspiration for Guru Gobind Singh’s beliefs came from his father, Guru Tegh Bahadur, who made the ultimate sacrifice to benefit others.
His birth is also celebrated this month by the Sikh community — on April 18. In fact, this year will commemorate the 400th anniversary of Guru Tegh Bahadur’s birth.
April’s two holidays are intertwined.
“They’re tied at the hip,” said west Houston resident Bobby Singh, an active member of the Sikh community. “You cannot separate one from the other. There wouldn’t be a Vaisakhi if it weren’t for Guru Tegh Bahadur.”
Giving his life for religious freedom
Tegh Bahadur, who became the ninth guru of the Sikh tradition in 1664, is revered for defending
religious freedom.
“He was in his 40s, when a group of Kashmiri Hindus appealed to him, ‘We are being persecuted and forcefully converted. We have no means to protect ourselves,’ ” Sugar Land resident Bhupinder Singh explained.
He added that under the rule of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, persecution was rising for Sikhs, Hindus and practitioners of other religions in India. At one point, Brahmins in particular were targeted and Hindu temples and schools demolished.
Guru Tegh Bahadur traveled to Aurangzeb, at great peril, to speak on behalf of the Hindus, Bhupinder Singh said. The guru was subsequently imprisoned for months and given the choice to either convert or perform a miracle to prove his relationship with God.
The guru refused.
“He said performing miracles is trying to take power from God and trying to be an equal with God,” Bhupinder Singh explained. “He said, ‘I don’t believe in forceful conversions. People should have the freedom of their faith.’ ”
To scare and punish Guru Tegh Bahadur, the emperor ordered that his followers traveling with him would be tortured to death in front of him.
“They wanted to weaken his resolve,” Bhupinder Singh said.
Still, the guru was steadfast in his conviction. “Finally, he was beheaded,” Bhupinder Singh said. Because of this sacrifice, he is known as “Hind ki Chaddar,” or protector of the Hindu religion.
“You will not find another person who gave his life to protect another’s faith,” Bhupinder Singh said. “It was not even his own faith. You cannot find another
example of that.”
He translated one of Guru Tegh Bahadur’s sayings: “Do not frighten anyone or be afraid of anybody.”
“That’s a great message,” he said. “These days, there are mass shootings taking place, just because of race or whatever the case may be. It has become easy to take a weapon to ‘the other.’ No matter who the other is, we are all children of God. We’re all one family.”
Following his father
Guru Gobind Singh was only 9 years old when his father marched off to protect the freedom of others — and the fortitude of his father’s convictions made a deep impression on the child.
That’s why Sikhs today believe in equality for all across gender, race, socioeconomic status and religion, Bobby Singh explained. Guru Tegh Bahadur laid down his life hundreds of years before these concepts became rallying cries.
“It’s easy to speak on my behalf or my family’s behalf or my community’s behalf, but it usually stops right there,” Bobby Singh said. “For someone to take a stand for others against an oppressive regime — and in that part of the world, at that time — was revolutionary.”
Because of the guru’s martyrdom, Sikhs made social justice central to the faith, Bobby Singh added.
“We have to protect the oppressed, and it is not an option,” he said. “You cannot be an innocent bystander.”
Every time April rolls around, celebrating both the Guru’s birth and Vaisakhi reminds Bobby Singh of how important equality and freedom are to the Sikh tradition.
This year, Bobby Singh said that the two occasions seem even more meaningful, in the midst of the Stop AAPI Hate and Black Lives Matter movements.
“We’ve got to stand up with each other and support each other,” he said. “That’s the message
from Guru Tegh Bahadur, and it’s exactly what we need today.”
Moving forward in the new year
A year has passed since COVID-19 arrived. Manpreet
Kaur Singh is now vaccinated and back to the gurdwara in person.
“Still, it’s strict,” she said. “We are sitting 6 feet apart. Masks are mandatory. We don’t want to put people in jeopardy.”
And that means Vaisakhi will still feel less festive.
“I’m sure it will be a much tamer celebration,” she said. “This is a new year, and I know the end is kind of close, but I don’t know when.”
For instance, keeping her distance can be a challenge when greeting friends at the gurdwara.
“It’s so cultural for us to hug and embrace when we see each other,” she said. “That’s hard. Everything we do is very measured. We’re cautious. The sense of community is missing, and it’s a big difference.”
At the same time, Manpreet Kaur Singh said, the solitude that accompanied the pandemic has opened up new opportunities. She signed up for an online theology class at Harvard University to learn more about Sikhism — and now feels even more connected to her faith.
This year, Vaisakhi will be livestreamed for individuals not yet ready to return to the gurdwara. Plans are in the works for an outdoor celebration after the ceremony, including food, games and competitions for children, said Manpreet Kaur Singh’s mother, Hardeep Singh, president of the Sikh Center of the Gulf Coast Area.
“It will be a little more than regular, but it won’t be on the same scale,” she added.
If there’s anything the last year has taught her, it’s that life is unpredictable.
“Enjoy and do now,” she said. “God, in a few days, turned the world around. But I think we will see a light at the end of the tunnel soon.”
Hardeep Singh is reminded of the Sikh term “chardi kala” — a call to cultivating optimism and joy.
“We are taught as Sikhs to always be positive,” she said. “That’s our motto, even when it feels the world is falling apart. You have to have the spirit of, ‘I can do it.’ That’s ingrained in us. God is always with you.”
Bobby Singh agreed.
“This global phenomenon has touched every one of us,” he said. “Our Vaisakhi celebration will be muted, but a new year is around the corner. You’ve got to move forward.”