Farmers Movement Archive

On protest pitch, here’s a doosra ‘Turbanator’

GHAZIABAD: If Harbhajan Singh, the original Turbanator foxed batsmen with his doosra, this Turbanator has 22 variations up his sleeve. Welcome Arshdeep Singh, a master “spinner” in his own right, only that his fingers have mastered the art of tweaking turbans. From Patiala Sahi to Morni and Amritsari, this 18-year-old from Udham Singh Nagar in Uttarakhand has been helping protesters at UP Gate tie the turban in different forms for the past two months. On any given morning, before protesters take the stage, a queue of at least 50 people can be seen outside Arshdeep’s tent. “Tying the turban is not easy, it only comes with practice. Being born in a Sikh family, it came naturally to me. I have been tying the turban since I was very young,” says Arshdeep, himself draped in a royal orange headgear. So, how did the young protester start his “sewa”? “One day, I helped a farmer tie the turban. He was so impressed with the way I had done it that he spread the word around. Soon, there were more people who wanted me to help them tie the turban. The line kept growing longer with each day. It has been almost two months since I have been doing this sewa,” he says. The cloth headgear, Arshdeep says, has now become a fashion statement, especially among the yo-ung protesters. “Everybody wants to wear the turban now. It all started with Tikaitji (BKU leader Rakesh Tikait). He had started wearing different types of turbans. Since he wields considerable influence among the protesters here, everyone wants to follow him. When people started thronging my tent, I was more than happy to help,” he says. Arshdeep is no less proud. “Yes, I can tie the turban in 22 different ways. From freestyle to Patiala Sahi to Morni and Amritsari Sahi, I can do it in different forms. My favourite is the Amritsari style. It takes anything between 10 to 25 minutes to tie a turban, depending on the style,” he says.

The Times of India

2021-02-21

Ghaziabad