"Gurleen, are you religious?"

Question of my life.

Everytime I'm asked this question, the first thing I wonder is "What's your definition of 'religious'?" In my view, I'm not religious. I know people who are more religious than me, so it seems fair to say that I'm not religious. Or maybe I am religious, just not as religious as I should be. I haven't taken Amrit, I don't do all my five pahts everyday, and I could definitely put in more Simran time.

I guess a lot of people think I'm religious because I head up the Sikh Students Association at Queen's University. I go to every single paht session, I organize events, I get people involved, and I will always be the one to go up to a complete stranger and ask them if they're Sikh.

Embarassing?

Always.

But the reward is that a person who would normally not be into Sikhi becomes interested, and it's one more youth educated.

I'm actually studying in the library right now and have been here for a healthy six hours. Over the course of this time period, I met fourteen Sikh students. None of whom ever go to paht. Or keep their hair. Or keep a kara. It doesn't bother me at all - who am I to judge? But I can't help wondering whether these kids will ever be curious of our religion. Most people think religion separates people. "It only causes more problems" they'll say. And I agree - there have been too many relationships broken over religion, cast, or culture. People become so frustrated with these breakups that they exclaim, "Oh, I wish he wasn't Muslim," or "I wish I wasn't Sikh." Those sort of comments hurt the most. I just wish that people would consider their religion a little more. Whether its Sikh, Muslim, Christianity, or anything else. Religion defines you. It tells you where you came from, why you are the way you are, It tells you of the ways of your ancestors, and why you think the things you think.

Sounds crazy? You disagree?

You'd be surprised. Do your research. Learn the history. It'll tell you why you're aggressive. Or why you fight for everyone's rights. Or why you're smart. Or why you know that language. Or why you know about a geographic location. Or why you know about a specific culture.

To the Sikhs in particular - remember that Sikhism is a fairly new religion, only about 500 years old. That means someone in your past, one of your ancestors, took Amrit and converted into Sikhism. You could've been a Hindu, or a Muslim, or a Christian, or something else. But you're not.

And one other thing, wear a kara. Honestly, it's the single most important aspect after the turban that defines you as a Sikh, and it's not even that hard to do. It is the difference between someone seeing your kara and recognizing you as a Sikh. Or someone not seeing a kara, not seeing a turban, and then asking if you're Muslim.

Can you blame them?