The SANTS [Sikh Association of Neighboring Towns], an informal dance troupe of five to 56-year-olds, came together to dance Bhangra on Massachusetts Avenue in celebration of Lexington’s 250th anniversary on Saturday, April 19. Lexington has become our village (pind) where an acculturated group of Sikh-Punjabi women can freely share chardi kala (eternal optimism). 

A week earlier, the same group performed before an audience of friends, family and the Massachusetts attorney general at a Vaisakhi mela—a village-style fair celebrating a seminal socio-political and religious event in April 1699). 

The two historic events being commemorated occurred just 76 years apart. They marked a coalescence and a determination to resist oppression by an overwhelmingly outnumbered minority. 

On April 22, I landed in Delhi to news headlines about the Pahalgam attack—a fresh tragedy in which 26 lives were brutally lost. Innocents and non-combatants again bearing the weight of centuries of the sub continent’s history. On May 6, I landed back in Boston to news headlines of the Indian Armed Forces response.

So, how is this pertinent to leafy, peaceful Lexington?

While many states line the border of India and Pakistan, I speak only of the descendants from the states of Punjab to avoid presumption or inaccuracy. This was one region before independence and Partition. The trauma of the displacement during Partition is historical and generational. Every new conflict reopens old wounds. 

Many of the SANTS can trace lineage to the Punjab of pre-Partition, or have family living in the Indian state of Punjab today. Our news is coming not from national headlines, but from family members: blackouts, air raid sirens, explosions and future uncertainty. Meanwhile, average residents of the border states in both countries, especially mothers and children, are fervently hoping for an end to the hostilities and for peace.

That is the common prayer.

Thus, events transpiring a continent away affect South Asian residents here. Interestingly, the Lexington Pind may resemble the villages of pre-Partition Punjab in their heterogeneity. We have Indian Americans and Pakistan Americans living as friends and neighbors. As U.S. citizens and residents, there is hope that the relationships formed here can soften old memories. 

The weight of past and current history informs our perspectives, but hopefully does not limit our compassion or a shared desire for peace.

Aman/Shanti/Peace for all. 

Best,

Deepika Sawhney

(with feedback and support from SANTS and Lexington friends)

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