Kesh - the unshorn flowers that blossom from the roots (scalp), but what power is vested within these long strands of life that flow with grace from the top downwards?
In my childhood, the family grocery shop would always be conducted on a Saturday morning; for on one of these occasions, a stranger would approach us.
An elderly Sikh lady approached myself and my siblings with glee as she spoke to us as if she were our Grandmother and we were her Grandsons. This Lady had observed that we had kept our hair unshorn as signified by the top-knot.(2)
This Grandmother type figure had stated that we should be very grateful to our Mother who had combed, nourished, shampooed, dried and tied our hair regularly, which in hindsight must have been very time consuming and tiring as my Mother would have had to complete these procedures thrice.
Walsall is a town with a large Sikh populace and following the end of the school day at primary school, one would observe many Sikh Gentlemen with Dastaars (Turbans) of all colours and one would see many Sikh Ladies with Panjabi suits of all different patterns waiting patiently for their children.
In my year group during this time, I count a total number of there being six turbaned boys. It is very unfortunate to state that two of those have since removed all signs of there ever having existed a flower bed on the top of their respective heads.
But these flowers also blossom on the lower portion of ones face, these germinate at a later point in life. Of the four that continued to allow the flowers to blossom, three of those would prune the flowers on their chin, which meant that I was to be the sole individual of the pack who would allow these visitors to become a part of me, to speak to me.
These flowers however are very different to their cousins, for they do not require sunlight but rather herbal oils for energy & nourishment and water for cleansing purposes.
These flowers grow like no other, for they can be pruned and pruned but one must note that they will never be able to stop the blossoming that is yet to come.
May these silent blessings in disguise never cease to exist.
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