At Vaisakhi in 1699, Guru Gobind Singh Ji gave two names to be shared by a whole people: Singh for the sons, Kaur for the daughters. It was a quiet revolution. The old surnames carried caste — who was above, who was below — and in one stroke they were gone. Everyone became one family. Kaur gave daughters a name of their own, sovereign, owing itself to no one.

Generations later, and oceans away, those names are the first thing to slip. A family surname takes the place of honour on the form; Singh and Kaur shrink to a middle initial, if they survive at all.

This little collection is a gentle push the other way. Bright letters, soft fabric, a name worn out loud from the youngest age — so that Singh and Kaur are never the part that gets dropped, but the part a child is proudest of.

For the little Singhs and Kaurs, and the families teaching them what those names were given for.