Transnational hair (and turban): Sikh masculinity, embodied practices, and politics of representation in an era of global travel

Abstract

This article explores what it means to be a Punjabi Sikh man in an era of transnational migration. I look at how Sikh men from India access global migrant flows and negotiate the formal and informal sets of requirements for moving across national boundaries. Upon learning that different travel itineraries necessitate different embodied practices, what kinds of transformations do migrant men undergo? In anticipation of transnational travel, Sikh migrants often cut their hair. Yet, many continue wearing their turbans from time to time, especially when returning to their familial homes in rural Punjab. Detached from its traditional association with Kesh (unshorn hair), the turban as mobilized by Sikh migrant men no longer simply represents an emblem of Sikh identity. Rather it operates as a flexible symbol of cultural citizenship and gendered belonging, an integral part of the process by which these migrants reincorporate themselves into the landscape of their homeland.