The Smilingtree's page: Congrads Suppi & Dolly!

Congrads Suppi & Dolly!

Morning, just got into work. Had mighty fun last night at Shiro’s (mentioned in an earlier blog) with loads of Gayle’s friends, especially noting the presence of Suppi and his wife, Dolly! Their wedding was this weekend and the party started on friday and isn’t finishing up till this evening, with a final reception to which some 400 people I’m told are invited. Friday there was the Chunni (am I spelling this right?) ceremony, which is sort of a formal party where the two families officially meet. That was great fun, lots of music dancing and drinking.

Suppi at the Gurdwara
Used all I learnt from Rajat & Odisha’s wedding to great effect! Indian dancing is all about the shoulders, get them right and then it’s just a matter of variation and finger pointing. It’s basically a shrug with a bit more bounce and done to fast dance music. Basic move is to raise your hands in the air and just shrug away to the beat. Mixing this up you can wave your hands about, put your hands forward like Frankenstein (Adi used this one a lot) or simply point in random directions. Remember to shrug those shoulders though. My favourite filmy move (filmy is a descriptive term for something from a bollywood movie), which I learnt at the chunni, is to put you hand in your shirt over our heart, then ‘beat’ your hand in imitation of a heart beat. Very very cheesy but it got a load of laughs.
I find it amazing that one of the funniest things is seeing a foreigner doing something locals do or acting like one. Like when Gayle would say Cork slang or when I use Bombay slang, it’s always met with laughter.
The next day, after partying till 4 in the morning, I had work. But give me credit, I got in on time and finished my work early. The morning train ride was a bit of a blur but at least I didn’t have to pay attention, just sit back and wait till everyone gets off, indicating the end of the line. Then in the evening we had an informal party at Suppi’s and we all danced to some Indian drums then chilled, drank and ate till all hours, though this time we left early, as the main event was the next morning, and missing that would have probably meant a slow and agonising death at the hands of Suppi!

Suppi & his family (From left Mum, Brother, Father, u, & lil' Cousins)
But we were very good and arrived well early the next day, so early Suppi hadn’t even got ready by the time we came. He had the most amazing gold dress on (his suit from the night before was awesome too). There was a little ceremony at the house, a blessing before the wedding, and then we all drove to the Gurdwara (Sikh Temple).

Gayle looking lluuurvely - notice she's covered her head, we all had to to get into the Gurdwara.

Because we were short on time we only had a 15 minute Bharat (remember those?) and then into the temple (I’m not too sure you can call it a temple but no ones told me otherwise) for the wedding.
Before that there was a breakfast with starters to die for they were so tasty and then the wedding ceremony itself started. Unfortunately this was when we had to leave as two friends from England were arriving and we had promised to pick them up. It was just bad luck that the wedding was actually in the morning rather than evening which we had expected.

Arriving at the Gurdwara

But we got to see Suppi and Dolly sit together in front of the priest (not too sure what a sikh priest is called) and the start of the ceremony. Dolly too had the most amazing dress on. One of the things I like most about Indian weddings is the free use of colour there. None of this white wedding dress and black and white formals. Colour rules these parties. Sadly, Karl also had to leave as his granddad has been very sick and had taken a turn for the worst that morning, so sad. His okay as far as I know still but is till in a serious condition.

Adi, Karl, Self, Jeet and Vishal in Traditional Indian Dress (except for Karl)

Suppi is, as I’ve said, Sikh (as is Dolly). But how many of you know what a Sikh is? There are 1,200 Sikhs in Ireland (the 20th largest in the world supposedly) and they are definitely the most identifiable of the Indian cultures. You all probably know them, they are the guys wearing the turbans and the big beards. I’ve seen a few around Cork, there must be at least a dozen families there. Sikkhism is a monotheistic religion and is quite old (400years). It’s based around the teachings of 10 successive Gurus. Each Guru has contributed to Sikhism, such as when religious practise was formalized by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699. Sikhism are based primarily in North India, in a region known as Punjab. This region is divided as half lies in Pakistan, but more on that later.
Hisotrically, Sikhism has had an amibcable relationship with other religions, and during the Sikh Empire of 1799 to 1849 many Muslims, Christians and Hindus played important roles in the empire. The Sikh Empire was brought to end by the British after the death of Maharajah Ranjit Singh's in 1839, when the empire was severely weakened by internal divisions and political mismanagement.
The Partition of India and Pakistan in 1947 is a very sore point in Sikh history. It saw heavy conflict in the Punjab between Sikh and Muslim, which saw the effective religious migration of Punjabi Sikhs from West Punjab which mirrored a similar religious migration of Punjabi Muslims in East Punjab. The Movie Partition is quite a good record of what happened [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partition_(film)] detailing the violence that occurred at the time and the religious tension it created.
Communal tensions between Sikhs and Hindus arose in the late 1970s, fueled by Sikh claims of discrimination and marginalization by the Hindu dominated Indian National Congress ruling party and the "dictatorial" tactics adopted the then Indian Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. As a reaction against these actions the Sikh politican Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale vocalized the Sikh sentiment for justice and advocated the creation of a Sikh homeland, Khalistan. Gandhi's 1984 action to defeat Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale led to desecration of the Golden Temple in Operation Bluestar.

The Golden Temple
Operation Bluestar is to Sikhs, what Bloody Sunday is to the Irish. (1920 & 1972) Operation Blue Star (June 3 to June 6, 1984) was an Indian military operation ordered by Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India, to remove Sikh separatists who were amassing weapons in the Golden Temple in Amritsar, one of the earliest Gurdwaras in Sikh History. Militarily successful, it is considered to be a political disaster and an un-precedented act in modern Indian history. Official reports put the number of deaths among the Indian army at 83 and the number of civilian deaths at 492, though independent estimates ran much higher.
The impact of the military assault, its aftermath and the increased tensions led to assaults on members of the Sikh community within India and uproar amongst Sikhs worldwide. In India, many Sikhs resigned from armed and civil administrative office and returned their government awards. Revenge for the desecration of the Sikh shrine was pledged by some in the Sikh community, resulting in the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards on 31 October 1984.
Since 1984, relations between Sikhs and Hindus have reached a rapprochement helped by growing economic prosperity.
Today Sikhs number around 25million people worldwide, the majority of whom reside in India, most being from the state of Punjab. The biggest Sikh populations worldwide are in UK (330thousand), Canada (278thousand) and the US (100,000), with sizeable numbers across Asia and Europe. Sikhs do not actively convert so their growth is mainly internal, though there are a number of converts in the US.

Three of the 5 K's, The dagger, the comb and the iron ring.
So why do Sikhs wear turbans, and why was it so controversial for a Sikh in the Garda reserve to be asked to remove his turban? It all boils down to the Five Ks, or panj kakaar/kakke, which are five articles of faith that all baptized Sikhs (Khalsa) are required to wear at all times, as commanded by the tenth Sikh Guru, who so ordered on the day of Baisakhi Amrit Sanskar in 1699. Each of these represent some aspect of Sikhism and is to remind a Sikh of his faith. They are a comb, uncut hair, a small sword, boxers (I’m serious) and an Iron ring.
It is important to understand that all the symbols that make a fully baptized Sikh's appearance so distinctive are optional to "slow-adopter" Sikhs. These individuals believe in the principles of Sikhism and identify as Sikh but have not yet decided they are ready to make the commitment to become baptized. Many Sikhs never become fully baptized in their lives; it seems to be more an option of devotion rather than a necessity. Sikhs wear turbans to make their hair more manageable, and is seen as an article of faith in itself. A Sikh’s hair without a turban can reach down past his knees.
Sikhs are also very militaristic and their regiment in the Indian army has won more awards than others, in fact they make up some 20% of the Indian armies officers. During the first and second world war they fought in Italy, France and North Africa and won 14 Victoria crosses and numerous other awards for valour, an impressive achievement.
I’m gonna stop now, this blog has become a bit too much and I think I’ve given enough info to at least inform you of the basics of Sikhism. Visit Wikipedia, they have loads more if you’re interested. Also here’s the link to the Irish Council of Sikhs (Yes, we have one) www.irishsikhcouncil.com They often go to events to show their martial prowess.