Religion means a lot to them

chandigarh: the younger generation of sikhs in the city identify with their religion very closely. most youngsters are very proud to be sikhs and do not flinch when it comes to displaying their religion. on the eve of gurpurab, we spoke to some of them and here's what they had to say. "by and large, a sikh can be instantly recognised throughout the world, not only because of the pagri but because of the kara which every sikh wears.the kara imparts a strong sense of identity to all sikhs," opines sonu virk, a college student. but, as we got talking to more young sikhs, we found that most of them are very passionate about being sikhs and are happy to display other symbols of their religion apart from just the kara. "i can walk into any party in the world wearing my khalsa tshirt," says amarinder singh aulakh, "and my room is full of posters of sikh gurus." aulakh also stocks up on keychains and has a miniature khalsa flag dangling from his car's rear view mirror. the sentiment is echoed by harkirat ahluwalia, who says that even though he has cut his hair, he always stands prouder when he dons a pagri. as for displays, he says, "when i went to anandpur sahib for the tercentenary celebrations, i had the kesri flags hoisted on either sides of my jeep and i was thrilled to be there." harkirat says he would love to put something in his car as well. brijeshwar singh guron, a 25yearold, says he always wears a kara, and at time hangs a khanda from his car. but another young guy, mandeep mann, says, "i don't display anything, but i identify with sikhism because it is a modern religion." not embarrassed to display their religion, the other thing binding these guys together is the fact that all of them visit the gurudwara on gurpurab without fail each year. geetika_bhandari@indiatimes.com