In the twilight of a warm June morning in 2018
I quietly navigated the dark alleyway adjoining my Airbnb in New Delhi's Nizamuddin East to hail a cab via India's native rideshare app, Ola.
In stark contrast to the smoggy airborne dust and coal ash outside, the interior of my Ola driver's vehicle was as pristine as any well-kept South-Asian temple decorated in polished marble. With a brilliant smile that could humbly light up a room, my driver turned to greet me as we set our course to Indira Gandhi International Airport. When I explained to him that the purpose of my visit was a self-guided pilgrimage to ashrams and temples that I had read about in books, his eyes lit up with enthusiasm as he began to share with me about the religious diversity within New Delhi and his own spiritual culture as a practicing Sikh.
"India has always been a melting pot of spiritual and religious traditions," he explained, "New Delhi is a welcoming home not just to Hindus and Muslims but also to many Sikhs like myself."
He explained how every practicing Sikh upholds the Five Ks: Kesh, a vow to keep all hair
healthy and uncut, with the head's hair wrapped in a spiritual crown known as a turban; Kangha,
a comb kept on-person at all times to keep hair clean and tangle free; Kara, an iron bracelet to
symbolize the bond to one's community and guru; Kachera, a holy garment that symbolizes
purity; and Kirpan, a polished dagger that is only wielded to help defend the defenseless.
Before I made this trip, I, like many Americans, had a mistaken identity of the Sikh hairstyle and
appearance. Just as science has proven that television holds the power to alter its audience's
perception of reality (Lind, 2023, p. 74), I, as an American teen in the early 2000s, grew up
exposed to sensational news media that signaled for me to associate Islam with long beards
and turbans, which I now see as an egregious misrepresentation for most followers of Islam and
a mistaken association of practicing Sikhs with Islam.
Photo credit Conde Nest Traveler
In an interview featured on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, actor Waris Ahluwalia, a
practicing Skih who has starred in Wes Anderson's The Darjeeling Limited and The Life Aquatic,
explained how he is often profiled by TSA agents at U.S. airports and forced to comply with
unnecessary screenings because of his hairstyle (Comedy Central, 2016). To Ahluwalia, the
mistaken association of the turban with Islam has led to practicing Sikhs like himself
to become the target of Islamophobia in the U.S.
With an open mind, even the most long-lasting preconceived associations of cultural identity can be critiqued and corrected in unexpected places, like an ordinary cab ride to a new destination.
References:
Comedy Central US. (2016, April 25). Confused islamophobes target american Sikhs - . The
daily show with Trevor Noah: Comedy Central US.
https://www.cc.com/video/mf8g36/the-daily-show-with-trevor-noah-confusedislamophobes-
target-american-sikhs
Lind, R. A. (2023). Race/gender/class/media: Considering diversity across audiences,
content, and producers. Routledge.
