At a Massachusetts gurdwara Sikh families work to keep their faith alive for the next generation

On Sundays at the Gurdwara Guru Nanak Darbar in Medford, Massachusetts, middle schoolers practice the instruments of Sikh worship. One sits on a rug with a harmonium. Another draws a bow across a taus, a string instrument carved in the shape of a peacock. Their parents hope these kids will soon play for the congregation.

Talvinder Singh, 45, of Melrose comes every week with his two children, now 12 and 16. He moved to the U.S. from Bombay about 20 years ago. He said keeping the faith going takes real effort. "As a parent, you have to invest a lot of your time," he said.

A small community that stands out

Massachusetts has only a few thousand Sikhs and four gurdwaras. Sikhism began in northern India five centuries ago. Its founder, Guru Nanak, rejected the caste system and taught belief in one God.

Many Sikh men wear turbans and long beards, which makes them easy to spot. Families at the temple said that attention is not always welcome. They pointed to a federal campaign against undocumented truckers that made Sikh drivers its face and to the stabbing of a Sikh trucker at a Wyoming truck stop.

A nurse who asked to be identified only as Nikki said that when she began covering her hair in public in recent months she noticed people treating her differently. She said she came to America 21 years ago believing it was a place where everyone is treated as equal.

Fitting in or standing out

Some families make a different choice. Balwinder Kaur of Everett said her husband stopped wearing his turban after he arrived about a year after 9/11, when Sikhs were being attacked by people who mistook them for Muslims. She does not cover her hair either, but the family celebrates every Sikh holiday. "The whole fundamental thing with Sikhi is you have to be a good human being," she said.

Ramanjit Singh, 35, who teaches the kids at the gurdwara, said volunteers get far less time with children than schools do. He called passing on the faith an uphill battle that will not always be won.

A teen who wears it proudly

Talvinder Singh's son Ranveer is a high school junior in Malden who plays ice hockey and is studying for the SAT. He is the only student at his school who wears a turban. Classmates often assume he is Muslim, so he takes the chance to explain his faith.

"I find that really special," he said. He said Sikhism gives him a strong identity in this country. He hopes to study electrical engineering and plans to bring his tabla drums and his turban to college.