Reality of 12"o Clock Joke

Indians use the 12 o'clock joke to rib the Sikhs without quite knowing
what it's about. In turn, the Sikh victims get infuriated without
quite knowing why. The origins of the joke, now lost in the mists of
time, were in dead earnest. If the Sikhs knew the real story, they
would be proud to be alluded to as the `12 o'clock people', and
Indians would regard them with a new respect.

To understand the joke, we have to go back to the time of Guru Gobind
Singh. Then, Delhi was ruled by Aurangzeb, an autocrat who had a firm
rein on his government and patrolled his borders well. There was
little chance of an invasion, but the emperor's insistence on
concentrating all power in his own hands for fear of meeting the same
fate as he had inflicted upon his father Shah Jehan ultimately ensured
the downfall of his line.

Aurangzeb did not allow even his own sons to acquire administrative
experience for fear that they would get too powerful for him to
handle. In the absence of compelling authority, the Mughal empire
crumbled immediately after his death. Under Bahadur Shah, his
successor, the centre refused to hold and the borders became
vulnerable. In 1739 Nadir Shah, King of Persia, crossed the frontier
and swept down towards the capital. He was the first invader who was
here only to plunder and kill, with no intention of staying on. His
troops reached Delhi, where they killed 1.5 lakh people, both Hindus,
Sikhs and Muslims. He headed homewards almost immediately, taking back
incredible loot gold, jewelry, elephants, horses, camels, skilled
labourers and, as is usual in war, women.

The troops had to pass through Punjab and when the Sikhs heard of the
enormous number of captured women, they decided to intervene. Without
a strong military leader, they could not afford to make a frontal
attack. They took to making midnight guerrilla raids on Nadir Shah's
camp. Every night, small bands of Sikh led regiments would strike with
the sole intention of freeing as many of the captive women as possible
and returning them to their homes before daybreak. These attacks
became something of an institution later, after Nadir Shah had quit
the country, when an increasing number of invaders began to come down
into the Indian plains, drawn by its fabled riches.

Thus was the 12 o'clock joke born. Initially, instead of being
grateful for their heroism, Indians would say that the Sikhs are in
their senses only at night. It was apparently futile to expect help
from them at other times. Then they referred to midnight, for they
didn't want to credit the Sikhs with sense for the duration of a whole
night. The Sikhs were naturally annoyed. They were trying to help
Indian people and were getting only derision in return. They were
always armed, and did not hesitate to draw steel. To minimise personal
risk, Hindus and Muslims started referring to the relatively neutral
12 o'clock, rather than midnight, and even then they often ran for
their lives.

The final result was the safe, bald statement, `It is 12 o'clock,'
shorn of all reference to its very interesting history. When Indians
crack this joke, they are oblivious to the fact that had the Sikhs not
intervened, their womenfolk would have been dishonoured and taken into
exile. The Sikhs should be proud of the 12 o'clock incident. Because
of them, the dignity of the Indian community was restored after Nadir
Shah's invasion, the most terrible act of war ever to be perpetrated
in India.</pre>