INTERNATIONAL

News from other countries; translations and selections from homophile magazines abroad.

I met a Sikh

by

٤٤٠

Harry Otis

Seek an ye shall find! In Calcutta, however, an American need not seek, and certainly not in front of The Grand Hotel. The uninhibited Sikh taxi drivers parked there can be a problem and even more so after dark. Shyness is as foreign to the Sikh character as a deodorant would be to his skin.

How does one recognize a Sikh? By his very long, coarse black hair, a steel bangle on his wrist, and his clothes.

A man once asked a guru-a religious teacher-why Sikhs never shave. The guru's reply was, "When man hath shaved his mind, he hath shaved his head. Without shaving his mind, he findeth not the way. To become the dust of the feet of all is to shave the head."

To wash off many accumulations of grime Sikhs bathe in Calcutta's numerous water tanks. Although they are forbidden for public use, he uses them nevertheless and pays a fine of two rupees when the police catch him, which is seldom. His combined laundering and bathing routine seldom varies. First he washes his pugri, a turban five or six yards long, then spreads it on the earth to dry. Next comes his kesh, his hair which is tied in a hard knot on the top of his head. Whether at home or in public he must sit in the sun an hour or so until his crown

25