Inside their temple in Medford, middle-schoolers practice instruments rooted in Sikh tradition. One kid sits on a rug playing the harmonium, a cousin of the accordion. Another bows an upright string instrument — the taus — formed in the shape of a peacock.
If their parents’ wishes are fulfilled, the students will soon be among the musicians that play for the devotees who gather at the Sikh gurdwara on Sundays.
After his prayers, 45-year-old Talvinder Singh of Melrose said he’s raising his children to stay connected to his religion. Like many fellow temple-goers who emigrated here, he knows it takes hard work to keep the traditions alive.
“ As a parent, you have to invest a lot of your time,” Singh said. “We make sure that, at least Sundays, we are here in the gurdwara. … I want my kids to know what a tradition is, what [are] the teachings of our guru.”
Sikhism was founded five centuries ago in the north of India. Its founder, the mystic and poet Guru Nanak, rejected the Hindu caste system and embraced a monotheistic God.
Singh said his efforts to pass Sikhism to his children are working.
But for many Sikhs living in the western world, to preserve culture amid the forces of assimilation — and the pressures to conform within Sikh culture — can be a difficult balance to strike.
“That’s our struggle,” said Ramanjit Singh, 35, one of the teachers at the Medford gurdwara, adding that temple volunteers can’t spend nearly as much time with kids as they spend at school.
He said many first-generation immigrants were too busy scratching out a living or building wealth to impart Sikh traditions onto their kids. Now, he’s hoping that his students, and his own children, have a different experience.
“It’s like you’re fighting an uphill battle at all times,” he said. “You’re gonna succeed in some cases, and not necessarily succeed in all of them.”
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Sikhs in America
With just a few thousand members, the Sikh community in Massachusetts is small compared to other parts of the country. But it’s hard to miss them: women in colorful Indian dresses, and men with long beards and pristinely wrapped turbans.
The attention they draw is sometimes unwanted.
“Do I want to stick out as that sore thumb, or do I want to change myself to blend in and be part of them?”Balwinder Kaur
In 2025, after a Sikh truck driver in Florida was allegedly responsible for a crash that resulted in three deaths, Sikhs became the face of a federal campaign against undocumented truckers. In September, the Department of Homeland Security posted an image of a man with a beard and his hair covered, with the words: “Get off our roads, you don’t know how to drive Mr. Singh.”
A few days later, Sikh trucker Gurvinder Singh was stabbed 17 times at a truck stop in Wyoming.
These chilling events resonate with Sikhs across the country, including at the gurdwara in Medford, one of four Sikh temples in Massachusetts.
“ I don’t think we have much freedom of speech right now,” said Nikki, a nurse who works at a local hospital.
Nikki asked that WBUR identify her by her nickname, as she fears professional repercussions for speaking out about how the country has come to view immigrants.
Nikki said that in India, she dreamt of going to America because she believed it was a place of respect and diversity.
“I heard they treat everybody equal, and you have rights,” Nikki said. “And they don’t discriminate [against] you. I heard that is American dream.”
Nikki came to the U.S. 21 years ago, and she said she’s seen a “big shift” in attitudes since then. Her perceptions have sharpened more in recent months, as she has deepened her commitment to Sikh traditions. When she began covering her hair in public — using a type of turban reserved for Sikh women — she said people at the hospital started to look at her differently.
“You can feel the look,” she said. “You are accepting me, or you are not accepting me.”
Local Sikhs broadly see Massachusetts as a place of tolerance. Still, the pressures to assimilate are strong, even more so when the religion calls for devotees to cover their hair in public.
Upon arriving in the U.S., many Sikhs decide to cut their hair and stop wearing a turban.
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Leaving the turban at home
Balwinder Kaur, a mother of three who lives in Everett, said that’s the choice her late father made when he came to the States. And when Kaur’s husband joined her here from India, he also stopped wearing a turban in public.
“He came here literally a year after 9/11, so there was a lot of racism happening and a lot of attacks on Sikhs happening,” Kaur said. “He was trying to fit in as it is to a whole new country, a whole new culture.”
Because of their turbans, Sikhs were being mistaken for Muslims as a target for hate crimes. Four days after 9/11, a Sikh man was murdered at a gas station in Arizona in a racist shooting spree.
Kaur, who also doesn’t cover her hair, said her husband worried that wearing a turban could prevent him from getting a job.
“Hey, I’m coming into a new community, a new country, a new culture,” Kaur said. “Do I want to stick out as that sore thumb, or do I want to change myself to blend in and be part of them?”
But leaving the articles of faith doesn’t mean her family left Sikhism. Kaur said she carries that in her heart, and her family celebrates every one of the Sikh holidays.
“ Regardless of how you look, dress, act,” Kaur said, “the whole fundamental thing with Sikhi is you have to be a good human being. You have to treat others equally. You have to not judge.”
But choosing not to stand out in society puts them at odds with some fellow Sikhs.
Kaur said she feels judged for not embracing the outward appearance associated with the religion. And that’s part of why she doesn’t go to the temple every week.
“Am I gonna get judged soon as I walk in through that door? Who’s gonna stop me and question what I’m wearing, what I’m doing, why I did this, why my kids are dressed this way?” Kaur said.
“So yes, that does hinder our decision of going on a regular basis, but it’s not saying that we’re not religious.”
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Sikhism ‘gives me a really big identity’
At the temple, some Sikhs say they want their kids to embrace American culture, but in a way that still honors the old traditions and does not compromise their Sikh identity.
For Talvinder Singh, the father of two from Melrose, it’s vital that he model Sikh life to his kids, not force it upon them.
He migrated to the U.S. from Bombay two decades ago. His kids are 12 and 16 years old. Regardless of where they land on Sikhism, Singh hopes they become good people, something he said is a key part of the faith.
“ I want my kids to be approachable all the time. Nobody should be hesitant to come and talk to my kids,” he said. “The most important, I feel, is that you have to have humanity.”
Sitting in the gurdwara, Singh watched as his 16-year-old son, Ranveer, played the tabla drums. He rested his palms on the rims of the drums — one metal, one wooden — as his fingers rapped the rhythm on the goatskin heads.
Ranveer is dedicated to the Sikh faith, unlike many of the kids he grew up with who stopped going to the temple.
“They sometimes start to drift off into the Western culture, and they try to fit in with them instead of embracing their roots,” he said.
Ranveer is in the 11th grade at a Charter School in Malden. He plays ice hockey, and he’s preparing to take the SATs. He said fellow students often assume he’s Muslim because he wears a turban. He takes that as an opportunity to teach them about his culture.
“I’m the only student in my school who wears a turban,” he said. “I find that really special — that Sikhism helps me stand out in front of others, and gives me a really big identity in this country.”
Ranveer hopes to study electrical engineering in college. He plans to take his tablas, and his turban, wherever he ends up going.
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This story is part of an ongoing series called “State of the ‘Dream,’ ” which profiles longtime Massachusetts immigrants and their communities.
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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