Uniform traditions and our HBHS Sikh Community 🇮🇳 🇳🇿

I’m often asked questions about our notoriously strict uniform regulations at HBHS and can’t help but laugh when folks within the community sometimes refer to us as a “military model school”. That said, we certainly do have a unique way of doing things that took me some time to get used to, especially having come from overseas myself. When I’m asked, “why does the school have such an emphasis on uniformity of appearance?”, my answer is simple. “We value our students as true individuals, not simply the superficial statements that people try to make about themselves through popular fashion.” The culture of HBHS, and our traditions, take precedent for those who enrol here. Upon further exploration, we have one uniform tradition which was established in a truly unique historic context…and nearly no one knows about it!

It is not uncommon to see HBHS students from the Punjabi/Sikh Community making exceptional contributions to our school in both academics and the co-curricular environments. As one of the most rapidly growing cultural demographics in Hamilton, on any given weekend you will often find our Sikh boys making their mark on the cricket pitch, hockey turf, or even adjusting their Patka beneath the laces of their rugby headgear.

Only Sikh students who have maintained their uncut hair (Kesh) since birth will be readily identifiable by their own unique uniform regulations, which include HBHS coloured (Black, Dark Red, or Antique Gold) Turbans (Pagri), or tightly wrapped black Patka’s, unshaven faces and accompanying Kara’s (steel bracelet). But where did this cultural exemption at HBHS come from?

What is know by only a few, is that we derive this tradition from WWI. You will note several war memorials around HBHS, in honour of former students who lost their lives in both WWI and WWII. The Gallipoli Campaign of 1915 saw the contribution of 16,000 Indian troops as a multicultural force featuring Hindus, Muslims, Gurkhas and Sikhs supporting their brothers of the British Commonwealth. What many do not realise is that there were actually nine Sikhs who served directly in the Australia New Zealand Army Corps (ANZACS), and that the 14th Sikh Infantry Battalion served alongside many of our former students at Gallipoli. Nearly all of these men maintained their traditional cultural attire of “The 5 K’s” (Kesh, Kara, Kach, Kangha and Kirpan) in conjunction with their military uniforms. Three of our earliest NZ Sikh enlistees were labourers who had deployed from Trentham, but had deep roots in Jundiala and Ludhiana. It is in honour of “The Nine” (as they are sometimes known) that HBHS has offered cultural uniform exemptions to Sikh students who maintain the “Kesh”, for as long as anyone can remember.