Gur Kirpal Singh Ashk,TNN

One of the key attractions at New York’s Rockefeller Centre is a life-size picture of a turban-clad young Sikh. The 20-feet-high mural of the 20-year-old Sandeep Singh Caberwal has the Sikh community buzzing, with messages pouring in from across the globe praising him for turning his religious identity into a fashion statement.

It all began with an advertisement that Caberwal, born and raised in Asheboro, North Carolina, responded to. The end result is such that Caberwal was honoured during the fifth annual Capitol Hill Dinner organized by the US-based Sikh Council On Religion & Education (Score) on June 11.

In October 2007, Caberwal, a graduate of the Law School at Georgetown University, Washington, DC, came across the following advertisement by fashion designer Kenneth Cole: "A Sikh male, about 25 to 35 years old, who is ‘attractive’. If this works for you, please e-mail your picture at the very latest by 10am on Thursday morning."