The Auckland Turban Day event held for the past three years has been able to gather quite some attention in Auckland city. This year’s event was a step forward with more than 500 people trying the turban at the Aotea Centre.
Another reason why this event was a step forward was the involvement of more youth in putting the big show together.
Held on Saturday, April, 21 from 10 a.m. at the heart of Auckland CBD, the colourful turbans at the corner of Aotea Centre became the centre attraction for many passer-byes that drew hundreds of men, women and children towards the camp.
The idea behind hosting this event is to convey the message of inclusiveness to the extended non-Sikh communities present in the city. With growing number of Indians in the city, be at workplace, schools, universities or on the roads, there is a need to educate people why men and women from the Sikh community wear a turban, why baptised Sikhs carry kirpan and answers to questions if the people have any.
Volunteers from Sikh Youth New Zealand, an independent group of Sikh youth responsible in organising this event for the last three years distributed pamphlets to the passer byes, invited people to try the turban and educated them with more information about Sikhism.
“This year’s turn out is outstanding, we brought 500+ long and short turban clothes, and we are almost out of, and still there is an hour to finish the event,” Navjot Singh Gulati, a spokesperson from the Sikh Youth NZ team told The Indian Weekender.
“Our goal is to give people an opportunity to try the turban and feel the beauty of our culture, learn a little about Sikhism and spread the message of peace amongst everyone,” Navjot added.
Another attraction for the visitors besides turban tying was a Bhangra and Gatka performance by the young members of SYNZ. Gatka is Sikh martial art that children as young as seven years old performed wearing a bright yellow attire and Khalsa emblem on their blue turbans.
The event was supported by NZ Police whose officers too sat down patiently while volunteers tied a turban on their heads.
“Sometimes Sikh children at schools get teased for having such an attire like a turban and so it is important for people to know the significance turban and be educated what it stands for the Sikh community,” a representative from SYNZ said.
Sikh Youth NZ besides Turban Day event organises several events throughout the year to keep the young minds engaged with the community such as summer camps, sports events, learning Sikh martial art ‘gatka’, participate in kirtan at gurudwaras and so on.
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