This picture of Balpreet Kaur sparked bullying -- and then inspiration -- on Reddit. (Photo via Reddit)After someone snapped a photo of her and
posted it on online,
Balpreet Kaur was ridiculed for following the tenets of her Sikh faith.
But instead of hiding or lashing out, she politely posted a reply—and
turned a bullying situation into a inspiring example of
tolerance, support, and inspiration.
Related: Teaching our Kids Tolerance After the Sikh Temple Shootings
The photo was taken apparently without Kaur's knowledge while she was
waiting in line at the Ohio State University Library. In the photo,
Kaur's hair is hidden by a large, black turban. She's wearing a T-shirt
and yoga pants, glasses, and is looking down at her cell phone; her
sparse facial hair is clearly visible. A Reddit user posted it to the
"Funny" forum with the quip,
"I'm not sure what to conclude from this."
Comments started pouring in, making fun of her appearance, asking if she
was transgendered, and taking her to task for not plucking, waxing, or
shaving.
Related: Lessons from "The World's Ugliest Woman': Stop Staring and Start Learning
After a friend told her about the thread, Kaur decided to respond to the
taunts herself—and take the opportunity to educate people at the same
time.
"Hey, guys. This is Balpreet Kaur, the girl from the picture,"
she wrote.
"I'm not embarrassed or even humiliated by the attention [negative and
positive] that this picture is getting, because it's who I am."
As a baptized Sikh woman, Kaur—who is from Ohio—said that she is
forbidden from altering her body, as it is considered a sacred gift from
God.
"The overarching principal is this body is a tool for service," she
explained. "We have to maintain and take care of it while cherishing its
original form." That means that going to the hospital and taking
medicine is fine, because one should be healthy in order to be of
service to others. But cutting one's hair or removing one's facial hair
is forbidden, even if societal norms dictate otherwise.
"My hair doesn't stop me from being normal or doing service so its not a hindrance," she said
in a later post.
"I've been to the doctor regarding this and it's just a side effect of
my hormone levels during my teenage years. The hormones have returned to
normal, but the hair is still there. That's fine :) I don't regret
anything, nor do I view it as an unfortunate thing."
Sikhism
was founded in the Punjab region of India in the 15th century; there
are approximately 30 million Sikhs in the world. Followers believe in
the equality of all human beings and in a single, infinitely powerful,
omnipresent, genderless God. Instead of heaven or hell, the religion
promotes salvation through a spiritual union with God; ego, anger,
greed, attachment, and lust are considered the Five Evils. Sikhs do not
believe in recruiting converts, though they welcome those who wish to
join their faith. Once baptized or formally initiated into the faith,
they vow to wear five religious symbols at all times, one of which is
leaving their body hair uncut.
"Yes, I'm a baptized Sikh woman with facial hair. Yes, I realize that my
gender is often confused and I look different than most women," wrote
Kaur, who is the president of the Ohio State University's Sikh Student
Association. "My attitude and thoughts and actions have more value in
them than my body… by not focusing on the physical beauty, I have time
to cultivate those inner virtues and hopefully, focus my life on
creating change and progress for this world in any way I can."
Her words quickly inspired readers on Reddit and elsewhere to reevaluate their reactions. A cross-post on the
Facebook page for Kaurista garnered more than 6,750 likes and more than 850 comments.
"I know that I don't have the courage to live that purely," Shannon
Dolce commented on Facebook. "I am inspired to live MORE true to how my
creator sees me, though."
"I think we can agree that even the non-religious can benefit from taking a page from your book -- thank you,"
wrote a Redditor named "anothertimearound".
"You are awesome. If your faith has made you this well-adjusted and
positive and secure in your own skin, and focused on the things in life
that truly matter, then I am glad that there are Sikhs in this world."
Reddit reader "Anna Mosity" wrote. "The world could use more people like you."
A few days later, the Reddit user who posted the picture
started a new thread to apologize to Kaur.
"I felt the need to apologize to the Sikhs, Balpreet, and anyone else I
offended when I posted that picture," the Redditor wrote. "Put simply it
was stupid. Making fun of people is funny to some but incredibly
degrading to the people you're making fun of. It was an incredibly rude,
judgmental, and ignorant thing to post."
"I've read more about the Sikh faith and it was actually really
interesting. It makes a whole lot of sense to work on having a legacy
and not worrying about what you look like. I made that post for stupid
internet points and I was ignorant." he continued. "Balpreet, I'm sorry
for being a closed minded individual. You are a much better person than I
am. Sikhs, I'm sorry for insulting your culture and way of life.
Balpreet's faith in what she believes is astounding."
Kaur says that she's happy to spend time explaining her religion and her
appearance to people. "I do not think explaining myself and the way I
am is a waste of energy because storytelling in itself is a way to fight
the apathy in this world," she explained
in a follow-up post
on Thursday. "By simple interactions like this, we can better
understand each other and make this world more open and loving even if
it is just one person or many."
This was copied from Yahoo--Shine