Rupinder Mohan Singh |

The Turban: Fashion Swagger

May 17, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

The Style Blogger features one Gagan Singh, who embraces the philosophy that men “put together a sharp outfit that complements them and that they are comfortable in.” “Often times guys are too quick to jump on the latest trends that become popular and then fade away. You can never go wrong wearing the “classics” – like these Bass weejuns which have been around since the 1930′s.” Bonus Tip: Gagan, who has awesome personal style (prior to the party I bumped into […]

Categories: Style • Tags: Fashion, Gagan Singh, The Style Blogger

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Could American Sikhs ever be as important as Canadian Sikhs?

May 13, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Our neighbors to the north, Canada, just went through a federal election in which a conservative government – one that had just lost a no-confidence motion that gave rise to this election – ended up strengthening their power for the next four years. It was an odd twist of events. A noteworthy character of this election was the wooing of the ethnic minority vote – and especially of the Canadian Sikh vote – by all parties across the political spectrum. The […]

Categories: News Bits, Politics • Tags: Canada, Conservative Party, Gurbax Singh Malhi, Herb Dhaliwal, Republican Party, Stephen Harper

American religious affiliation vs. household wealth

May 12, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

The New York Times presented a study by the Pew Forum that compares household wealth with education level for various religious affiliations within the United States. Unfortunately, Sikhs are not included as a separate category. However, the results of the study are nonetheless interesting: The most affluent of the major religions — including secularism — is Reform Judaism. Sixty-seven percent of Reform Jewish households made more than $75,000 a year at the time the Pew Forum on Religion and Public […]

Categories: Reports/Studies • Tags: education level, Employment Discrimination, household income, joint family, Pew Forum, Pew Research Center, religious affiliation, Workplace Discrimination

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New York Times categorizes Sikhs as "Sikhs (Sect)"

New York Times categorizes Sikhs as “Sect”

May 11, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

While I was writing my previous post, I discovered that the New York Times, on its website, categorizes Sikhs as “Sikhs (Sect)”. The following is a screen capture: As Sikhism is its own distinct faith, and one of the largest faiths (by adherent population) in the world, this is clearly a misnomer by the New York Times. The obvious question, then, is: of what other religion does the New York Times think the Sikhs are a sect? A quick look at […]

Categories: News Bits • Tags: New York Times

Vaisakhi celebrations across the country close out April

May 11, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

While Sikhs usually celebrate Vaisakhi in the middle of April, there were several celebrations around the country that took place on the April 30 – May 1 weekend, and we are given the opportunity to read the local coverage about these celebrations: “Free Meals at Sikh Day Festival on Madison Ave. ” – New York’s “Sikh Day Parade” was covered by the New York Times, who unfortunately was more enraptured by the concept of free food than the opportunity to educate […]

Categories: Events • Tags: "Washington, Anderson, California, Marysville, New York, Queens, Redding, Vaisakhi

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A food critic’s take on langar

May 10, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Dan Packel, at the website TheAwl.com, learns a little about Sikhism by way of a visit to the Philadelphia Sikh Society Gurdwara, where he partakes of langar and writes about it somewhat as a food review. I even picked up some insight about why my mother refers to plain lettuce as “salad”. Read the full piece at The Awl.

Categories: Reflections • Tags: Dan Packel, Langar, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Sikh Society Gurdwara, The Awl

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What Would You Do? Turban-wearing Applicant Rejected

Dissociating the turban from its negative connotations

May 10, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

For the first time, I watched ABC’s “What Would You Do?” last Friday night, solely because they featured a scenario in which a turban-wearing Sikh (portrayed by an actor) was being denied a job in a restaurant unless he agreed to remove his “head garb”. You can view the episode at ABC’s website. The show is certainly not a scientific poll, and we only know what the show wants us to see. However, it was interesting to note how various people in the restaurant […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Reflections, TV/Movies • Tags: "What Would You Do?", Employment Discrimination, Religious discrimination, Workplace Discrimination

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Tonight at 9 PM, a Sikh will be discriminated against

May 6, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Tonight, on ABC at 9 PM, the TV show “What Would You Do? ” addresses the following scenario: A young woman applies for a job as a waitress at a diner and is told the position is hers, on one condition: She can’t wear her Muslim headscarf while she works. “It’s not part of what we do,” says the manager. “It makes a statement that we don’t want to make here.” Is this simply a businessman enforcing his employee dress code, […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Events, TV/Movies • Tags: "What Would You Do?", ABC, Employment Discrimination, Religious discrimination, Workplace Discrimination

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Other American Sikh perspectives on the killing of Osama bin Laden

May 5, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Subsequent to my post yesterday about my feelings after receiving the news of Osama bin Laden’s death, I was struck by the common chord sounded by Sikhs all over the United States who, too, expressed mixed emotions about the event: joy at justice finally being delivered, combined with an uneasiness that an increase in hate crimes targeting men in turbans in this country could be on the horizon. Sikhs, who are the predominant portion of the people wearing turbans in this country, have experienced a brunt […]

Categories: News Bits, Reflections • Tags: Balbir Singh Sodhi, Dr. I.J. Singh, Dr. Rajwant Singh, Navdeep Singh Dhillon, Osama bin Laden, Rajdeep Singh, Rana Singh Sodhi, Sukhsimranjit Singh, Valarie Kaur

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Considering the experience of Sikhs in America.

Author Archives: Rupinder Mohan Singh

The Turban: Fashion Swagger

Could American Sikhs ever be as important as Canadian Sikhs?

American religious affiliation vs. household wealth

New York Times categorizes Sikhs as “Sect”

Vaisakhi celebrations across the country close out April

A food critic’s take on langar

Dissociating the turban from its negative connotations

Tonight at 9 PM, a Sikh will be discriminated against

Other American Sikh perspectives on the killing of Osama bin Laden