Maurer/Timm Quail Ridge UCD Student Endowment

Order Books here

Original Poems and Thoughts website

Email Frank here: frankmaurer41@gmail.com

Poems and Thoughts by Frank Maurer

Search for:   All Poems   Topics   Titles   Help

Defiant Headgear opus 854

1 June 2026 1442 Hours Custom, Anthropology, Behavior, Communication, Ethics, History, Philosophy, Politics, Psychology, Religion
George Fox, founder of the Quakers, stood before the king,
Refusing to remove his hat, and declaring,
That 'we are all equal--king and citizen'!

Far across the world and five centuries earlier,
A similar scenario unfolded in India.
In the Punjab region, the Mughals were asserting their power.
A group of citizens declared themselves equal to the Mughals.
They decided to maintain uncut head hair (Kesh).
This was a sign of living in total harmony with nature and god.
Thus also began the custom of wearing the turban (Dastaar).
Their turbans mocked the turban-'crowns' of the royals
And was worn in defiance as a symbolic crown.
So unfolded the Sikhs, with their men's turbans of resistance.
The history of men's headgear is about more 
Than just shading the sun!