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Like the steel bracelet he wears on his wrist, it serves as a constant reminder of his allegiance and bondage to God.
Pannu is a Sikh, a follower of a 500-year-old monotheistic religion based on the teachings of 10 gurus. According to the Sikh Cultural Society based in New York, the faith teaches its followers to love all humanity, think of God and his benevolence, and to share with others. Sikhs are urged to work and live honestly and pray daily for all people.
"We are taught to think of God in heart, word and deed," said Randir Singh Sandhu, a 74-year-old retired professor who has written a book about the faith. "We have to remember God at all moments of the day, with every breath."
Sikh men are the only people whose faith commands they wear a turban to cover their uncut hair. For Sikh women, who are considered equals, a turban is optional.
Their distinctive appearance makes them stand out, both in the United States and in their native Punjab, in northern India. Sikhs make up less than 2 percent of India's largely Hindu population. Pannu estimates there are about 300 Sikh families in South Jersey.
The turban and the bracelet are reminders that "in the presence of the Lord, you will do good things," said Pannu, a 37-year-old married father of two boys. "The fact that we can't hide anywhere forces me to do good things."
But the Sikh turban also incurs the judgment and misunderstanding of others.
Pannu left his hometown of Coonoor, in southern India, after the anti- Sikh riots of 1984. That year, India's prime minister, Indira Gandhi, ordered an attack on Sikh resistors holed up in their holiest shrine, the Golden Temple. The resistors were campaigning to free the Sikhs' native region of Punjab from India's control.
Thousands of Sikh men, women and children died. A few months later, Gandhi was assassinated by two of her Sikh bodyguards. Attacks against Sikhs followed in retaliation for her death.
Pannu sought refuge in the United States, where his grandfather had emigrated in 1919. His mother's sisters lived in South Jersey, where he settled.
Since 1984, many Sikhs have left India to escape persecution and practice their faith freely.
Pannu is a Realtor who sells gas stations and truck stops. Many Sikhs are professionals, such as teachers and engineers, while others own service stations. Of New Jersey's 3,600 gas stations, about 700 are owned by Sikhs, he said.
Though he has a master's degree in business administration, Pannu spent three years searching for a job in the corporate world. His full beard and turban kept him from looking the part.
Since Sept. 11, Sikhs have often encountered customers angered by the sight of their turbans.
On that date, Pannu was at a gas station he owns, when he heard the news. He immediately warned his employees to watch out for retaliation. Within 10 minutes of the collapse of the World Trade Center towers, some people driving by screamed at him to "go home."
"Some people said to wear a baseball cap instead, but I refuse to give up the turban," Pannu said. "I'll die the way I am."
Some Sikhs choose to blend in with mainstream society, removing their turbans, trimming their beards and cutting their hair.
On a recent Sunday morning, about 100 Sikh men, women and children gathered for services at the Guru Nanak Sikh Society of Delaware Valley, a gurdwara or house of worship on Delsea Drive in Deptford, the site of a former men's club.
All must cover their heads and remove their shoes before entering the presence of the Sikh holy scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib.
Just beyond the door in the gurdwara is a box of cloths for visitors and Sikhs whose heads are uncovered. Several men with short hair and shaved faces donned the cloths before entering.
The Sikh holy book has 1,430 pages of hymns, which form the core of Sikh doctrine. For many Sikhs, the book personifies a `living king.'
At the Deptford gurdwara, the book was draped in purple, black and gold cloth and rested on an elevated platform. A plate of food and fresh flowers was set nearby and a Sikh waved a whisk over the book, all symbols of their reverence for its words.
As worshippers entered the room, most approached the altar, knelt before it and briefly touched their foreheads to the floor, a sign of their humility. Mothers directed their children to do the same and one gently pressed her infant's forehead to the floor.
It's a gesture that means Sikhs are "leaving everything at the Lord's feet," said Pannu, who has served on the gurdwara's executive committee. "You are so small, insignificant."
There are no priests or clergy, only caretakers of the gurdwaras and hymn singers. Gurdwaras are managed by a committee of Sikhs, headed by a president.
Many worshippers left offerings in front of the altar, money used to run the gurdwara and supplement the low incomes of its caretakers and hymn singers.
Men sat on the floor to the right of the altar and women sat on the left. The two-hour service consisted mostly of hymns sung from the scriptures by three musicians who played drums and a pair of harmoniums, keyboard-like instruments.
The service ended with prayers said in unison and a brief hymn read from the holy book. Worshippers shared a bowl of sweetened flour cooked in oil. It was dipped out by a moist handful to each person. The word for this food is translated as ambrosia or God's food, Pannu said.
Eating together symbolizes equality. Gurdwaras have a communal kitchen, where people sit on the floor together and share a vegetarian meal. The food is donated by the members and is cooked fresh that day, said Pannu's wife, Amrita.
In the faith's largest gurdwaras, services are held 24 hours a day. Meals, usually two simple vegetable dishes and peanut bread, are served all day as well. Lost and weary travelers may also find shelter at gurdwaras.
In 1998, Virender Rana landed at a Los Angeles gurdwara, where he found help. The young Sikh had fled his hometown of Hoshiairpur in the Punjab region, where he was caught in the crossfire of resistance fighters and police.
When he arrived in the United States, Rana did not know any English. He found food and shelter at the gurdwara and friends who helped him find work at gas stations in South Jersey. He picked up the language by pumping gas. That's also how he found his wife, an American, who is a practicing Hindu.
Today, the 30-year-old Millville resident works 12 hours a day, six days a week. He wears a turban when he attends the Deptford gurdwara on Sundays.
He keeps his beard short and his waistlong black hair tucked in a bun during the rest of the week, a concession to his American employers and a public still angry over Sept. 11.
While he has made many changes since coming to the United States, Rana refuses to cut his hair, a symbol of his faith.
"It's very important for me," he said. "I really want to keep my culture, my religion. I will never give it up for anything."
Sikhs respect other faiths and consider the Christian, Muslim and Hindu religions equal to their own.
Their most sacred worship site, the Golden Temple in Amritsar, in Punjab, is a rectangular building with an entrance on each side, symbolizing their welcome to the four religions.
Whenever Rana passes a church, temple or synagogue, he places a hand on his chest and bows his head in a sign of respect, said his wife, Sheree Rana.
"People believe in these kinds of places," Virender Rana explained. "God is life. They are going there to pray. It's a holy place."
Each morning, he gets up at 4:30 to pray and burn incense. On his way to work, he listens to Sikh hymns in the car. When he arrives, he stops to pray again, covering his head and thanking God for his job.
Rana and Pannu are not baptized, a ceremony reserved for the most reverent of Sikhs. It is a choice, a commitment to the Lord. "You cannot baptize yourself until you understand your faith," Pannu said. "You must live an extremely honest life."
An honest life means they must work hard, never lie or cheat, remain faithful to their spouse, give 10 percent of their earnings to the poor and defend the oppressed and the weak. They cannot be "a nasty person," Pannu explained.
Since the birth of his two sons, Pannu has been studying his faith more carefully. He was taught in Catholic schools for much of his life and found his knowledge of Sikhism was thin.
His 4-year-old attends services with him. Even his 10-month- old son wears a small bracelet on his wrist and his wavy black hair in a tiny top knot.
"I'm very proud of the fact that we are Sikh," Pannu said. "It's not easy, believe me."
Facts about Sikhism
Name: Sikh (pronounced "seek"), Sikhism
Origin: Founded in the late 15th century by Guru Nanak Devji in Punjab, a region in northern India.
Adherents: An estimated 20 million worldwide
History: Guru Nanak was a Hindu by birth. He declared there was only one God for all humanity who could be loved by any name.
Guru Nanak wrote hymns that formed the core of the Sikh sacred text. He established a daily prayer routine for his followers and created the institution of a community kitchen, where Sikhs eat together as a symbol in their belief in human equality.
Nine gurus (guru means "teacher") followed Guru Nanak. The last, Guru Gobind Singh, created the Khalsa in 1699. The Khalsa are "baptized," or initiated followers. Men adopt the last name of Singh, which means lion. Women adopt the last name of Kaur, which means princess.
Basic beliefs: God, the creator, governs the universe with justice and grace. He is the sole legitimate object of human worship. Humans have the opportunity to achieve liberation - release from the cycle of birth and death to become one with God.
To be liberated, humans must overcome their core flaw of self-centeredness. This may be done by developing a relationship with God based on love and fear and by constantly remembering his power.
"Sikh" means follower or disciple.
Notable: Initiated followers wear five symbols of their faith. They are: kesh, uncut hair and beard and a turban, the crown of spirituality; kangha, a wooden comb as a symbol of cleanliness; katchera, specially made cotton underwear or shorts as a reminder of the commitment to purity; kara, a steel bangle worn on the wrist signifying bondage to truth and freedom from every other entanglement; and a kirpan, a sword with which the Sikh is committed to defend truth.
A Khalsa vows to shun tobacco, alcohol and all other intoxicants, and promises to refrain from any sexual relationship outside of marriage. Many also say Khalsa shun meat, though some Sikhs disagree.
Local gurdwaras: Deptford and Burlington City
Web sites: www.sikhs.org and www.sikhnet.com
Sources: www.sikhs.org, www.sikhnet.com, Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions, Sikh Cultural Society Inc. of New York.
Reach Kim Mulford at (856) 845-6521 or kmulford@courierpostonline.com
