Diasporic Sikh Community

Transnationalism is defined as as “the process by which immigrants forge and sustain multi-stranded social relations that link together their societies of origin and settlement.”(lecture Mixtects). When a native person becomes a transnational they are then participating in sustaining their culture and memories where ever they travel. Transnationalism implies that native migrants continue to be involved in the life

Caws, Peter. "Identity: Cultural, Transcultural and Multicultural." Multiculturalism. A Critical Reader. David Theo Goldberg,Ed. Malden, Massachusetts:Blackwell Publishers. 1994 371-386.

In this essay I will attempt to highlight how disconnections can give rise to new connections, by using the example of the diasporic Bangladeshi community found in Brick Lane, London. I shall layout a variety of evidence both quantitive and qualitative to support the claim, and also compare diasporic and trans local migrants.

No diasporic community manifests all of these characteristics or shares with the same intensity an identity with its scattered ancestral kin. In many respects, diasporas are not actual but imaginary and symbolic communities and political constructs; it is we who often call them into being.” (Palmer)

Ethnic Identity Development emphasizes values of their culture through family and community. Individuals identities are established through experiences with “religion, geography, language and kinship” (Chavez). These model describes the similarities between an individual and the ethnic group they identify

Migrants cultivate their status as outsiders in a variety of ways. Some migrants are able to collaborate their identities with both the aspects of their ethnic heritage and their local community, at times managing to create a dignified sort of reputation within a sea of suspicious gazes. Then there are some who refuse to perceive their heritage as part of their individual identities, while doing their utmost to belong to a community separate from that of their parents. The struggles of various migrant communities and individuals are difficult to transfix at a simple point. What does appear to be the most prominent strand of commonality, however, is the idea that while migrants may not be able to guarantee a way to avoid being seen as outsiders by others, it is within their everyday abilities to refine their relationships as migrants towards others as they

Transnational communities are sometimes referred to as Diasporas: globally dispersed populations whose origins lie in a single homeland or set of linked homelands. Diasporas have become a common feature of the common world. One of the effects of the growing salience of such identities in some people’s lives is to reduce the sense of affiliation to the states in which those diasporic populations reside. In John’s case, the majority of his family migrated to Australia, leaving him with only small familial links in his home country of England. “I’ve been able to keep in contact regularly through writing letters, and I’ve been back to England about 2-3 times since migrating to Australia to visit the extended family, and they’ve been here to see us too.

The topic I have chosen for researching from different sources is Sikhism. In this paper I will explore the religious we well as the cultural beliefs of people following Sikhism.

Unlike other religions, Sikh faith is not dogmatic; it is a distinct and unique religion. The Sikh Scripture is true "Religion of Self" where everyone has a personal relationship with God. It does not place any emphasis on pilgrimage, praying in a particular direction, praying on a particular day, fasting, meaningless rituals, idol worship, superstition, body mutilation, asceticism or celibacy.

Guru Nanak Dev Ji and Jesus Christ share teaching of hope and inspiration to their followers. Sikh believe in God and that he is the creator of the universe and you must live a clean righteous life in order to attain eternal life. Another similarity is Guru Nanak Dev Ji left with God for three days. While spending that time with God he learned his laws and what it takes to have eternal life. After having spiritual enlighten he went out spread the message about God and having purpose for your life.

When I first began to volunteer at the Dasmesh Darbar Sikh temple with my grandfather, I didn’t expect to be trained on the procedures on the first day but my grandfather believed I was ready. My curiosity grew as my grandfather often volunteered at the temple and I was eager to finally determine all the activities he participated in. We went into the kitchen and he gave me thorough instructions on the dish washing and drying procedure. It seemed easy enough but at first my work was sloppy. After another round of explanations, I realized that I had been trying to mimic his actions but concluded that they were not working for me and that I needed my own unique style to succeed. I found that using a larger towel and an approach other than hurrying

Imagine a world where geographic separation does not inhibit the social or economic mobility of people. A place where cement roads are obsolete and unnecessary and the information super highway is the only road you need to know how to navigate. Information technology becomes the glue and nails that binds our (global) society together. Development becomes a matter of installing fiber-optic wiring, cellular towers and satellite launching. World Bank projects change from road building to wire laying. Now imagine a world where there is no electricity, telephones, computers, roads or other mediums of transportation other than legs and feet. Communication exists on a face-to-face level and nothing more. An individuals’

The postcolonial era presents various issues for the decolonized nations, like the reconstruction of a government and the maintenance of an economy. In addition to that, the individual identity of the colonized people is a complex issue that they must cope with as well, and it is an issue that is still present today. Compared to the other issues of postcolonialism, the construction of one’s identity might appear trivial; however, there are many problems of postcolonial identity, including the obligation of one to perceive themselves as people do from the outside through stereotypes, and the difficulty of unifying two conflicting identities: one that is created by outside sources, and one that is created through personal experiences.

A nation is a group of people who share common history, culture, language and ethnic origin often possessing or seeking its own government. National identity refers to the distinguish features of group and to the individual’ sense of belonging to it. In some case even a little difference in pronunciation is enough to categorize a person as a member of different nation but in some cases two people may be separated by language, culture, geographical location etc categorized in

As was discussed before, identity is tightly linked with representation, and has a causal relationship. Thus, when representation has been transformed, identities will be reshaped as well. And depending on Harvey (1989), the world is smaller and smaller and appears to narrow to a global village. The point here is that this shrinking is not only being expressed on the space but also time, namely, dealing with the pressure of contractible world is a new task for contemporary people. The point here is the case that time and space also essential elements of representation (Hall, 1992). Therefore, with the globalization which time and space both be reduced, system of representation has been altered, and then national identities which are impacted by representation a lot can be described as gradually disappearing. To put it differently, in the modern world, we live with a collapsed time and space and implied distance, which impelling development of new tribalism and nationalism, and making