The Covid 19 pandemic has seen many people doing their bit for the wider community. Be it working in the essential services, distributing free food or helping those in need, everyone is trying to help each other to overcome this pandemic, and that's the beautiful side of humans.
One such noble soul is Gisborne based Kiwi Meredith Stewart, who is an Amritdhari Sikh and known by her Sikh name of Jass Noor Kaur Khalsa. She has created special Aroha (which means love in Maori) handmade mask bands to show her gratitude for the hard work the front line workers have been doing to keep New Zealand safe during this pandemic and to help the members of the Sikh community wear a mask.
Sharing details of her initiative the 49-year-old said, “I know that in this pandemic wearing a mask has become a necessity. I felt that masks that were available in the market were uncomfortable to wear, especially for Sikhs who have to wear a dastar or a turban. That was the main reason that motivated me to design aroha bands.”
So, what makes these aroha mask bands special? She explains, “Unlike regular masks, these mask bands are super convenient, especially for people who wear a turban because when you wear a turban, your ears get covered, and it gets difficult to wear the normal mask, which has strings that get easily attached to the back of our ears.
“Made with elasticated fabric and buttons, Aroha masks can easily be worn as a band. Also, when you remove it from your face, for hygiene purposes it can remain dangling on your neck instead of lying on any other surface area. I started giving it to front-line workers and then to Sikh people in the community. It just grew from there.”
Till now, she has made and distributed around 100 masks in Gisborne and Auckland and she plans to do more. Kaur, who is an early childhood teacher, says, “They are free, and anyone who needs them can contact me. It is my sewa for society. I want to make these mask bands more accessible across New Zealand. I would also encourage anyone who wants to join me and make this mask band collectively for the community. I have even sent a few of these mask bands to Takanini Gurudwara Kalgidhar Sahib for the essential workers and want to do more for health workers as well.”
Interestingly, Kaur became an Amritdhari Sikh (a Sikh who has received baptismal vows of the Khalsa) in the year 2020 at Sri Harmandir Sahib at Amritsar, Punjab, India. Talking about her journey into Sikhism, she says, "Since early years of my life, I would do meditation. Once during my meditation, I had a vision of my feet walking on white marbles and saw people wearing turbans coming towards me. And it continued. I had never even heard of Punjab or Sikhism till then. Around the year 2013, a staff member at a supermarket showed me a photo of Sri Harmandir Sahib and I instantly had a connection, and I started crying. He introduced me to Sikhism. And slowly and steadily, I realised Sikhism was my path...my calling.”
Speaking about her visits to India she said, “In 2016, I went to India for the first time and visited Sri Harmandir Sahib. I had tears of gratitude once I reached there as I felt I came home. It was blissful. I again went in 2018 and then in 2020. On 17 January 2020, I became an Amritdhari Sikh at Sri Harmandir Sahib along with 200 other people. I am perhaps the only Western woman from New Zealand to become Amritdhari at Sri Harmandir Sahib. I feel my life is complete with the gurus. I believe I am a gurus' servant and want to dedicate my life to Sikhism."