Gurmit Kaur ji,
Please thank Preeti Kaur for the poem. She is the author. I am just sharing it.
Adventures with the patka! I had only one child, a boy. The time we spent together each day working with his hair was treasured by both of us. It waas our time together, just the two of us, when he could talk about whatever was on his mind. And I could listen. Little kids have all sorts of things going on and are happy to share them, if only we'll listen uncritically. I tried to do a very neat double plait, but was never quite successful.
Keeping the patka on was another story. This was in the early 1970s when long hair on the male of the species was not unusual. His hair were extraordinarily long and shiny and beautiful and he loved to show it off. Whenever he'd come home, hair flying, I knew he had met some new kid and just had to show off. Annoying - and still sweet it its own way - I can still hear him: "It's not just hair. Yours is just hair. Mine is KESH. Very special. Only us Sikhs have it." I'm afraid if I had just tied a knot instead of plaiting it, he'd have had it flowing and open every day!
He started tying turban very young (age 7), so the disappearing patka problem was solved. I did, however, keep helping him with his hair for quite some time.
If I had had a daughter, her hair would have been treated exactly the same way. I am an advocate of our daughters as well as our sons looking like Sikhs.
