RRC wrapped up in turban knowledge

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This article was published 03/04/2019 (2557 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Turbans are predominantly a Sikh practice, but hundreds of other people chose to wear them Wednesday as part of an educational event at Red River College.

The annual “All Wrapped up in Pride” was a way to share the cultural practices behind the use of the turban. Many people, besides Sikhs, wear turbans in India mostly in the north, where the wraps are also a form of protective headgear. The cotton layers keep the head warm in cold weather and cool in hot weather.

By noon, volunteers had wrapped turbans, applied henna tattoos and were serving samosas to a crowd of several hundred students and staff in the library hallway at the Winnipeg school’s Notre Dame campus.

The event began in 2014, when Sukhjot Singh, then a business administration student, noticed staff and students were curious but unsure how to ask him about his turban.

“I realized a lot of the time when people see me, they have questions in their mind but they were afraid to ask because they thought they might offend me,” said Singh, now employed by the college in campus security.

He approached RRC about a public awareness event, which rolled out as the first “wrapped up” day. April is also Sikh heritage month in Manitoba; it coincides with the Sikh new year celebration in mid-April, as well as the far more ancient Indian harvest festival where the Sikh faith was born 500 years ago.

In 2017, organizers bought 1,000 metres of cotton, but so many people wanted to wear a turban for the day, they had to run out and buy 300 m more. This year, organizers bought 1,400 m of cotton.

“I think by the end (of the event) we’ll run out of cotton,” Singh enthused.

“This is a day when everyone can come and ask any questions they have regarding turbans, and to spread awareness for the turban,” Singh said, as students and community volunteers worked the crowd.

(The day depends on student volunteers skilled in the art of wrapping turbans in one of many styles. When there weren’t enough such students in place to successfully hold the event in 2018, it was put off.)

Wednesday featured a turban 101 lesson. It takes a few minutes to wind anywhere from three m to six m of cloth around someone’s head in the right way, which gives the wrapper plenty of time to hit the highlights of the culture around it.

“I’m more handsome now,” chuckled By Dao, showing off a mint green, loosely wrapped warrior-style turban.

Dao is an international student from Vietnam in her first year of international business.

“This is my first time trying something from India,” she said. “It feels good.”

Classmate Deepinber Sidhu, also wearing a turban for the first time, looked Dao’s new head covering over.

“Hmm, it should be a little tighter,” he observed, pointing to his closely wrapped beehive turban. “This one’s a modern turban, it’s a little smaller.”

In the Sikh culture, women have the option of donning a turban.

Jaskiran Kaur said she’s often worn one and, for her, the practice is a point of pride. On Wednesday, she was wrapped in a full-cotton warrior-style turban.

“It’s a proud woman who wears this (style) turban. It’s known as a pagg… it means, ‘being pure,'” she said, using the Punjabi term that serves a double meaning, describing both the turban and its religious significance.

alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca