INSIDE THE GURU'S GATE - Anpere

eliefs which held the woman guilty of infertility and the sex of the child, it is mostly
women who engage in practices to secure the conception of a child, and particularly
that of a son.
Sikhs in the urban setting of Varanasi may be well aware of public discourses
on gender equality within the Sikh community and reject sex discrimination on religious
grounds. But the birth of sons generates great enthusiasm and celebrations. The
majority of Punjabi families maintain kinship conventions of patrilineal descent and
patrilocal residence customs, according to which the son will carry on the family line
and is expected to take care of the parents when they grow old, while the daughter is
incorporated into the household of the her husband and in-laws after marriage. In
one conversation a Sikh woman in her twenties said: “When a son is born we think
our generation is increased and therefore we wish for a son and celebrate the birth of
a son. We are happy to receive a baby girl too but do not celebrate it in the same
manner.” Many ceremonies performed in connection with pregnancy and childbearing
seek to determine the sex identity of the fetus and celebrate the birth of a male
child. A childless woman may visit the local gurdwaras on a daily basis to pray before
the Guru Granth Sahib for a male offspring. She may take a vow to visit a religious
shrine, present offerings specified in type and amount, perform austerity practices
or seva for a stipulated period, or promise to bring up her child as a religious
Sikh, if God will bestow a child. When the parents in one family lost their first-born
child due to cot death they consulted a reputed sant in the Punjab and made the
promise that if they would get another child they would for five years dress it in
clothes obtained from begging and not paid for by the family. According to the
mother of the family the sant gave her consecrated food, from the power of which she
was blessed with a pregnancy and gave birth to a daughter. The couple kept their
promise and dressed the girl in clothes given by others until she reached the age of
five. Other interlocutors told stories of how sons born into families from the spiritual
power of shrines and saintly persons had been “donated” to religious places and
traditions as a fulfillment of earlier vows. A baby born in response to human prayers
will be considered a child of the Guru’s court who took birth on a divine command
and not by natural and karmic means. It is considered to be of crucial importance to
keep the promise of votive gifts or practices to not put the health of the newborn
child at a risk.
The various members of the Sikh community in Varanasi observe manifold
customs in connection with pregnancy and childbirth which are singled out as social
practices of their particular gotra or culture of origin and not necessarily related to
their religious identity as Sikhs. Pregnancy in general is a time of vulnerability during
which the expectant mother’s diet and social activities are to be controlled and rituals
are performed during different stages of the pregnancy to safeguard the fetus. Some
local Sindhis, for instance, uphold what appears to be a modern version of the ancient
Hindu and Muslim custom to celebrate satvahin or satvansa, the seventh month of a
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Published on www.anpere.net in May 2008