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Hillary Clinton's team is under suspicion following the appearance of a picture of her rival, Barack Obama, wearing a Somali Muslim turban. Whoever is responsible no doubt hopes to undermine his presidential campaign. I think the photo will only enhance Obama's multicultural mystique.
But wearing a turban in the West was once a problem. When my granddad arrived in London in the mid-1950s, he shaved off his traditional Sikh beard, cut his long hair and abandoned his turban in order to get a job. He belonged to the first wave of Punjabi immigrants into Britain, where turbans were then an alien sight. He wrote ordering his sons to lose their topknots before joining him.
His house became a staging post for other migrants who stayed there while he found them jobs. On arriving, my granddad took them to the barber's before taking them to the labour exchange. My dad recalls being amazed by the turnover of people and their radical transformation.
Sathnam Sanghera's new memoir about growing up a Sikh in Britain tells how he secretly cut his hair after being teased about his turban by white kids at school. I had friends who did the same, but they did so because of prejudice from Asian women. There is a glut of turbaned bachelors in Britain, as British Sikh women prefer partners with Western hairstyles, which causes much trauma. One friend's mum wept, fasted and prayed for days after he cut his hair.
Turbaned US Sikhs suffered prejudice after 9/11, being mistaken for Islamic fundamentalists. But now they're a hit among east coast hipsters. New York socialite Vikram Chatwal wears his turban-in P Diddy's music videos and sported one in Burberry check in Vogue. He even wore one while dating supermodel Gisele. Turbaned ultra-cool jeweller Waris Ahluwalia hangs out with actress Chloë Sevigny and appears in the films of arthouse directors Spike Lee and Wes Anderson.
I've never worn one but was encouraged to by my trend-atuned fashion-editor ex-wife, after she saw a bearded and turbaned Naveen Andrews in The English Patient. She thought he looked irresistible. My mum would also love me to wear one, saying it makes a chap look "handsome, impressive and manly". Anyone who's seen Sikh patriarchs and military personnel in India would have to agree.
I doubt Obama will make a habit of wearing his turban, but he's making this lapsed Sikh boy consider going back to his roots.
Reader views (1)
Indian guys are hot! In Canada, most guys keep their turbans and top knots... it only adds to their exotic allure.
Rock on multiculturalism! Even if some of their mothers wont' allow them to marry a non-Indian, it's still nice to have a bit of totty around to look at.
- Veronica, Staines, Middlesex, 28/02/2008 14:58
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