Waheguru ji ki Fateh
My 5Ks (well, 4Ks since my hair is one of them), nitnem gutka (the book of the five morning prayers) and khanda (the Sikh emblem with a pin to attach to the front of the turban) arrived in the mail today.
Although I'm happy to have my first full set, the quality of the products aren't great. The kacheras had stains on them (and are also not sewed to size, which I don't know how to do), the kirpan looks very used (it has rust stains), and the gutka is romanized Punjabi and Gurmukhi - for some reason I didn't realize that "romanized" doesn't mean English. Ugh. I really need a gutka with English translations because I don't yet speak Punjabi or read Gurmukhi, so it's almost useless to me unless I have the audio tracks to follow, which is not the case when I'm at work or on campus. The gutka also only has one of the morning prayers (Japji) along with Ardas, Rehras and Kirtan Sohila. It's missing the four other morning prayers (Jaap, Anand, Chaupai and Tav Prasad Swaiye).
Come to think of it, it's not really a gutka. The cover says "My Daily Prayers" and the description inside says it's for children who can't read Gurmukhi.
Anyway, the kara looks pretty good though and it fits well and the kanga looks okay.
I ordered the items from SikhLink.net, so heads up if you're thinking about ordering from them (for those of you who care about all this).
The kirpan is really small - only 3 inches. It's also quite dull - the tip is just slightly sharp. So it's not a very reliable weapon. I'll carry the small kirpan on campus and purchase a longer one to carry in public. I hope to get one somewhere around 7-9 inches, as well as the large sword seen in various Sikh ceremonies, such as the one shown below wielded by an Espanola, New Mexico Sikh during the Vaisakhi Day 2009 celebration (the celebration of the anniversary of the creation of the Khalsa order).
I don't yet have a gatra (shoulder strap) to carry the kirpan, so I'll probably just tie it to my waist belt using extra turban material. The campus police officer I spoke with suggested I carry it in plain sight, so I'll have to find a way to tie the kirpan to my body above my shirt without looking too weird, haha.
So I can't wear kachera yet. A friend is having another friend sew a pair for me and then she'll ship it to me. Hopefully they come sooner than later so I can complete my 5K set. Until then, I'm wearing kirpan, kanga, kara and kesh.
As always, any comments or advice are greatly appreciated.
Waheguru ji ka Khalsa
Waheguru ji ki Fateh
I wasn't sure what kacheras were so I looked them up.
ReplyDeleteNot sure if they were imported from India or if they were made here in the States, but from personal experience in buying costuming from India and other parts of the Middle-East, the sizing tends to be very odd. What we consider to be an extra large might actually be a medium in their sizing. It is all really trial and error. If you can, have measurements taken and see if you can send them in an email to the company asking what size woud be best for you.
Also, I once ordered a sari that had what I thought were stains on it, come to find out they reuse alot of fabric there to make certain items of clothing and it was just the way the dye settled on the clothing. I would clean them before wearing anyways just to be sure. lol
Hope that helps. :)
Thanks for the great advice, Kirvi! I think you're right - I looked at the kacheras and they seem to be quite large, even though I ordered a medium. At first I thought it was just because they need to be sewed in some way, but now I'm wondering if it's closer to your reasoning. The next pair I order I'll be sure to get more clarification.
ReplyDeleteHopefully you're right about the dye also. I'll see what happens after washing.
Hope you're well :-)
lol, I hope I am right about the dye, too. :D
ReplyDeleteI am doing okay. I really need to update once and awhile.
Haha, I don't even want to think about what could be on those kacheras... :-p
ReplyDeleteI probably update too much, lol. That usually happens when I start a new blog - I exhaust all of my talking points early and then it kinda fizzles out.
Vaahguroo ji ka Khalsa, Vaahguroo ji ki fateh.
ReplyDeleteSingh Sahib, excellent blog, nice read. We are always learning, but i thought I should mention that Guru Sahib gave his Sikhs 5 external kakaars, these are keski (small turban), kirpan, kachera, kara and kanga.
All humans have kesh (hair) anyway, we are born with it and this command comes under the krehats (whats sikhs are forbidden to do) which is not to abuse any hair on there body. So it would not have made sense for Guru sahib to say keep your hair in the rehat and then in the krehat to say dont cut your hair. Keski is a very important kakaar, it looks after your kesh and dasam duaar, and it helps look after your kanga when sleeping and your kanga and kirpan whilst having a shower.
Also Guru Sahib wanted his Sikhs men and women to have oneidentity, so why do some men wear turbans and women dont? Again this is our weakness that has come into play, Guru sahib gave keski to everyone as a kakaar, so that men and wome look 1!
Unfortunately our weakness has made us forget about this important kakaar.
Sorry for any mistakes....please advise if I have said anything wrong.
Gurfateh ji.
Jagjeet Singh.
you look great!!!
ReplyDelete