Upon entering his dorm, Harvey was greeted by a familiar voice.
"Well hello there, Bearded Daddy. Have you seen my room mate, Harvey?" Harry said. Harry was Harvey's gay room mate, and if you ever needed proof of that, you could check the pride flags he pinned to the wall next to his bed. He would occasionally make flirtatious comments around Harvey, but they were all in good fun.
"I'm right here!" Harvey struck a pose, "Shocking I know. I guess I neglected shaving a bit. Hopefully the girls on campus like it as much as you do".
"I'm sure they'll love how it looks. Your personality on the other hand..."
Harvey rolled his eyes and continued getting ready for class. He pulled on a plain white T-shirt and a pair of jeans, then filled his book bag with all the books and binders he would need for the day. "So what's on your agenda for the day?"
"It's looking pretty busy" Harry was rummaging through his wardrobe, trying to find the best outfit for his twinkish body. "Tomorrow is the semester's first meeting for the Queer Student Union, so I'll be preparing for that. You should come, it'll be a lot of fun".
"No thanks, Bro. I already have obligations to another club" Harvey was glad he had a legitimate excuse to miss that sausage fest.
"Really? Which club did you join?"
"You know that cultural studies class I'm taking? The professor made me join the Sikh club"
"Oh the Sikh Student Alliance? They seem like a fun group"
"Yeah, you know them or something?"
"Sure" Harry answered flatly, "A lot of the student organizations know each other because we do tabling events together. Actually, a few of their members are also in the Queer Student Alliance."
"Really? Who?" Harvey asked out of genuine curiosity.
"If you want to find out, you'll have to come tomorrow" Harry grinned, pulling out the clothes he thought would be perfect for the day.
"Whatever. I'll see you after class" Without putting any thought into it, Harvey tied his hair in a bun and wrapped the patka around his head. Since Harry was busy changing, he didn't see Harvey do this. Feeling ready for the day, Harvey left to his first class
Arriving at the designated classroom, Harvey did a double take when he saw Gurpreet inside. He surveyed the room to check if it was full of Punjabis, and was relieved to see that their was a healthy mix of students.
"Hi Harvey, come sit here!" Gurpreet was sitting in the first row. His large stomach was wedged between the chair and its conjoined desk. Harvey fulfilled the bearish man's request and plopped down in the seat next to him. "This is a welcome surprise, I didn't expect you to be taking a class like this, but I'm glad we'll be spending more time together" Gurpreet displayed his signature smile.
"What do you mean, why wouldn't I take this class?"
"Honestly, you didn't seem very excited about Sikh culture yesterday. You bolted as soon as the meeting ended. But now you're here, and you're even wearing the patka we gave you. You must be must be willing to learn lots!"
"What are you talking about?" Harvey reached up to his head and felt the familiar patka wrapped around his hair. He didn't remember putting this on! That thought was interrupted when and elderly Sikh man emerged from the classroom's door. Something about him was so familiar, and yet Harvey was sure he hadn't seen the man in person before. The mental image of a large book and a gold canopy came to mind, but Harvey couldn't place where that memory was coming from.
"Good morning, Students" the elderly man greeted, "I'm glad you all made it to our first lecture. Welcome to Religious Studies 372: Sikhism" he took a dry erase market and wrote the course name on the whiteboard, then turned his attention back to the students.
"I'm in the wrong class!" Harvey whispered to himself quietly, but not too quiet for Gurpreet to hear.
"Really?" Gurpreet asked, "Can I see your schedule?" Harvey nodded and fished a print of his class schedule out of his binder. "Everything looks right, see? REL S with Professor Singh. The room number and time are the same too" Gurpreet stated, handing the schedule back to Harvey. Gurpreet was right! But Harvey didn't remember signing up for this class. Though come to think of it, Harvey couldn't recall what class he was suppose to be taking instead. Oh well, Harvey figured he may as well say as it would be rude to leave the class so abruptly. He'd have to clear this up with the Advisor Office later today.
"Now before I get started on today's lecture on the basics of Sikhism, do any of you have questions? Maybe some preconceived notions of the religion?" Professor Singh asked, then called on a student who raised their hand.
"I've heard the warrior identity is very important to Sikh people and that's why they are suppose to carry daggers with them all the time. How does that work in modern times?"
"Great question. The warrior identity embraced by Sikhs stems from a period of violent persecution against Sikh people, so of course they needed to defend themselves. Now, I'm sure I don't look like a mighty warrior to many of you, and though it is a requirement of the five K's, we modern Sikhs can not carry a kirpan with us everywhere... but I would like to propose this interpretation: A Sikh should be a warrior when people need defending. Likewise, if people are suffering in other ways, a Sikh should transform into the person they need. We'll get into the theory behind that later in the course."
Harvey chuckled at this notion. Sure Gurpreet was a big guy, but imagining a sweet guy like him as a warrior just didn't fit. The transformation part was interesting though. Could a Sikh really change so much just to help someone in need? That would be interesting to see. The rest of the lecture went on without a hitch, and Harvey did feel like he was learning more about the religion. Once class was done, Harvey and Gurpreet agreed that they should study together if Harvey decided to stay in the class, and the two parted ways. Harvey was left to decide what he would do during the gap he had before his next class.