Image _MG_7158_cw_2.jpg from the Sikhs- An American Portrait gallery

Hardip Singh Ahluwalia, Harbans Kaur Ahluwalia, Kabir Singh, Rajnarind Kaur, and JangPartap Singh at their home in Princeton, NJ
Rajnarind or Raj as she is known is a first generation Sikh who was born and raised in the US. Her husband JangPartap, or Raja as he is known is from
the Punjab in India. Growing up in America has presented some challenges to her. She had to always explain to her friends why she did not shave her legs or drink alcohol. “I was a sprinter on the track team in High School and Sikh women don’t shave and cut their hair and so I was inspired by Flo Jo, the Olympic sprinter with the nails and the tights. For track meets I would wear my hair out or in a braid. Since I was pretty fast, the other team would be like watch out for the girl with the long hair in the tights. That was my identity, that was me and everybody in my high school knew that I didn’t shave, I didn’t cut my hair and it was totally fine it was not a big deal.”

Raj is committed to “Sikh Activism” trying to help teach young Sikhs about their religion and language. She has created a series of CDs that help people learn the Gurbanis (compositions by the Gurus) in Gurmukhi script, which is the script used to write Punjabi and is the script in the Guru Granth Sahib (Sikh Holy Book.)

sikhs-in-america-progress: Hardip Singh Ahluwalia, Harbans Kaur Ahluwalia, Kabir Singh, Rajnarind Kaur, and JangPartap Singh at their home in Princeton, NJ Rajnarind or Raj as she is known is a first generation Sikh who was born and raised in the US. Her husband JangPartap, or Raja as he is known is from the Punjab in India. Growing up in America has presented some challenges to her. She had to always explain to her friends why she did not shave her legs or drink alcohol. “I was a sprinter on the track team in High School and Sikh women don’t shave and cut their hair and so I was inspired by Flo Jo, the Olympic sprinter with the nails and the tights. For track meets I would wear my hair out or in a braid. Since I was pretty fast, the other team would be like watch out for the girl with the long hair in the tights. That was my identity, that was me and everybody in my high school knew that I didn’t shave, I didn’t cut my hair and it was totally fine it was not a big deal.” Raj is committed to “Sikh Activism” trying to help teach young Sikhs about their religion and language. She has created a series of CDs that help people learn the Gurbanis (compositions by the Gurus) in Gurmukhi script, which is the script used to write Punjabi and is the script in the Guru Granth Sahib (Sikh Holy Book.)