Source: The Register-Guard
http://www.registerguard.com/news/2004/04/17/f4.rel.trimcol.0417.html
On April 17, 2004 The Register-Guard published an article by Siri Kaur Khalsa-Harris on why he became a Sikh. He writes: "It never has been easy to be a Sikh. Our history reads like an action-packed novel of genocide, torture, bigotry and betrayal, along with natural disasters, famine and plagues that continue to this day. Perhaps the most daunting - at least to the Western mind - are the daily practices: unheard-of long days starting at 3:30 a.m., strenuous yoga, meditation, education, full-time jobs and service to humanity. It is essential to live gratefully, gracefully, humbly, with honor and absolute truth at all times. Wearing a turban, a main tenet, gives Sikhs their distinctive God-conscious identity, though it often brings patronization, harassment, revilement and death. Difficult at best, but for me - I thought impossible. So why did I choose to become a Sikh? Truthfully, I didn't. It was a gift from God."