Life would be boring without jokes. We all crack jokes. For some years now, in India most of the jokes are being cracked on the Sikhs. There are these 12 o'clock jokes, Banta Singh-Santa Singh jokes…the list is endless.

Picture yourself as a Sikh and seek an honest response from within yourself. Would you be able to handle these wisecracks, targeted at you day in and day out, by colleagues, friends, the unknown person standing next to you, anyone and everyone taking the liberty?

I know your immediate reaction - "sure man, it's only a joke." You are absolutely right. It is only a joke. However, as much as you believe you can, when a joke enters the bloodstream as a cancerous virus and right from your childhood you get targeted daily the fact is you will not be able to handle it.

On the other hand, look at the Sikhs. Have you ever seen any one of them getting irritated with these constant digs and cracks at them? You wouldn't have. Ever thought why they don't get affected? Well, the answer lies in a couplet by Bhagat Kabeer:

Kaho Kabir chucha ghat bole, bhariya hoe so kabahu na dole. (Page 870 Guru Granth Sahib)

("Says Kabir, it is the empty pitcher that makes noise. The one that is filled makes no sound.")

Sikhs, by nature are self-respecting, courageous, hardworking and enterprising. Look into their short span of history and you will find their pitcher is full of sacrifices and hard work, which has contributed so much towards nation building of India. If not for them, the course of Indian History would have been very different. That's what makes them the 'Spirit Born People' and gives them the ability to simply ignore the digs targeted at them.

Volumes could be written on the contributions made by the Sikhs, who constitute less than two percent of the Indian population. However, I am listing just a few events, which should make my friends start thinking.

Sikhs have always believed in the right of an individual to practice a religion of their own choice and have always fought against tyranny. In his memoirs, Tuzak-i-Jahangiri, the fourth Mughal ruler, Jahangir, wrote about Arjan Dev, the fifth Sikh Guru, "For a long time the thought had been presenting itself to me that he (Guru Arjan) should be bought into the fold of Islam".

In 1606, when the Guru refused the forceful conversion, he was put to death by being boiled in a cauldron and sitting on a hot iron plate with hot sand being poured on him.

Aurangzeb, the sixth Mughal ruler, was a fanatic who desired to convert every Indian to Islam.

Tyrannized by Aurangzeb's forceful conversions, in 1675 a delegation of Kashmiri Brahmins approached Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Guru of the Sikhs. Guru Tegh Bahadur offered to sacrifice his life for their cause. This was a unique, unparalleled sacrifice in the annals of human history. The Guru laid down his life in defense of religious tolerance, freedom of worship and freedom of conscience. He gave his life so that the Hindu's right to wear the sacred thread was not violated, despite the fact that Sikhs themselves do not believe in these rituals. This was a unique martyrdom in defense of basic human values.

For about seven centuries, since the invasion of Mahmood Ghazni in the tenth century, many ruthless invaders played havoc with the life of Indians. Recurring defeats had sapped the psychic energy of the Indians so much that they had resigned themselves to their fate. It was Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Guru of the Sikhs, who imbibed the fearlessness amongst Sikhs to fight against all odds.

Guru Gobind Singh wrote to Aurangzeb, "When all means have failed, it is right to pick up the sword".

In the year 1699 Guru Gobind Singh proclaimed, "call me by the name of Gobind Singh only if I succeed in making the sparrows (Indians) fight against the Hawks (mighty foreign rulers) and am able to make one Sikh fight against an army of one hundred thousand".

Guru Gobind Singh fought oppression and intolerance. He did not fight against any territory or worldly power, nor against any religion or sect. He made nationalism the religion of Sikhs. Apart from the numerous Sikhs who lost their life under him in defense of the Sikh cause, two of his sons were martyred on the battleground, while the other two chose to be bricked alive rather than give up their esteem.

In 1709, Guru Gobind Singh left this world with a lifetime of heroic events that changed the history of India.

Bulle Shah, a celebrated Sufi Muslim Saint, has said, "I neither say of the past, nor of the future, but I talk of the time of Guru Gobind Singh andy declare that, but for him, all Indians would have been circumscribed against their will and converted to a foreign culture and religion".

Although it was short lived, after a fierce battle with the forces of Aurangzeb in 1710, Banda Singh Bahadur was the first Indian to re-establish Indian rule after seven centuries of foreign rule.

Between 1713 and 1801, the Sikhs were homeless and lived as Guerillas, demonstrating heroic acts of courage at every possible instance. The tyrant rulers had placed a reward of Rupees Twenty-five for every Sikh head and Rupees One Hundred for every Sikh caught alive. Those caught alive were cut to pieces.

Sikhs faced these persecutions with a brave face.

In 1738, the Persian ruler, Nadir Shah, invaded India from Kabul and went on a rampage up till Delhi. He returned to Persia in the summer of 1739 with a huge booty of looted wealth, the Kohinoor diamond, women, artisans and slaves. To avoid the summer heat, the convoy would rest during the day and travel in the night.

Right from the Punjab to the Indus, Sikh guerillas would attack the convoy at the peak of the day's heat at 12 noon. They freed many women, artisans and slaves, depriving Nadir Shah of large amounts of wealth. The Sikhs escorted the rescued women back to their homes in North India. It was for this heroic act by a handful of Sikhs, of fighting against the might of Nadir Shah and freeing the women, which no one else dared, that the Sikhs started getting seen as people who get 'mad' at 12 noon and, therefore, the 12 o' clock jokes of nowadays.

When Nadir Shah asked Zakhariya Khan, "Who are these barbarians and where do they live", Zakhariya replied, "They are the followers of Nanak and live on the saddles of their horses."

The opportunistic trait of other Indian communities can be seen through the fact that when danger lurked on their heads, they preferred to wear bangles and sit at home rather than risk their lives for the sake of righteousness. When peace emerged then, rather than being thankful to the Sikhs, these communities demonstrated their opportunism by targeting as a laughing stock the heroism of the Sikhs who had risked their lives for others.

Part 2 of this article examines how the 12 o'clock syndrome was further strengthened during the invasions of Ahmad Shah Abdali and the British Empire.