Going Rural and Urban at Once: Reflections from the Roman Sikh Context

Abstract

This article highlights some considerations emerging from an ongoing ethnographic research I am carrying out at the local gurdwara of Fiumicino, in the outer edges of Rome, and in two ashrams owned by Italian converted Sikhs, which are also hosting some Sikh migrants. These sites seem to question the separation of urban from rural contexts, since they both act as community centres for Sikhs living in the town and neighbouring villages and as places of residence from where people commute for professional purposes. In this perspective, the ‘Sikh case’ is a good example to further reflect on the changing urban shape of Rome, which appears to have been constantly transforming itself over the last decades with the increasing expansion of the suburban areas; such restructuring has also influenced the way migrants choose where to work and live.

Acknowledgements

This article is based on a paper presented to the Biennial Conference of the European Association of Social Anthropologists (EASA 2006, “Europe and the World”, 18–21 September 2006, Bristol, panel “Transnational Religious Networks and their European Emplacement“). I wish to thank the convenors, Gertrude Hüwelmeier (Berlin) and Rijk van Dijk (Leiden) and the panelists, in particular Kristine Krause, for the valuable insights they provided. Much encouragement, support, and feedback have come from my former colleague Bruno Riccio (Bologna) and from senior colleagues at Sussex, especially Simon M. Coleman, Ralph D. Grillo, and Filippo Osella. Further feedback and stimulating critique was provided by the Punjab Research Group, to whom the material in this article was presented in June 2007, and from the two anonymous reviewers of the Journal of Contemporary Religion. The warm welcome and willingness to co-operate in the Roman Sikh community have allowed this research process to become possible. I am infinitely indebted to all of them for their patience, time, and understanding.

Notes

NOTES

1. According to the view offered by a key informant, a ‘pioneer’ who is now working for an Italian union, Egyptians have conquered the pizzeria market, but it is mainly the Indians who have been taking over the confectionery industry. Many work as labourers, but some have acquired their own businesses and manage them independently, hiring more co-nationals in their enterprises. Further investigation nonetheless needs to be carried out, before hypotheses about an ‘ethnic’ segmentation of the labour market in Rome can be formulated; personal conversations with devotees at the gurdwara attest to a rather heterogeneous scenario in terms of occupation.

2. To my knowledge, the only study that has been carried out in the area among the Sikhs is the research conducted by Ester Gallo at the University of Siena. This monograph is the only Italian work devoted to the study of Sikhs; its focus is on the settlements of Lombardy, Veneto, and Emilia Romagna in Northern Italy. I have been told by one of the editors of the volume on Sikh immigration in Italy (Denti, Ferrari and Perocco) that they had looked for colleagues working on research in Rome, but had not been able find any (Denti, personal conversation, 20 March 2005).

3. The ability of Sikh migrants to present themselves as the most important group is nonetheless partly confirmed by researchers initially over-estimating the percentage of the Sikh population among the Indian national migrants in the province; they eventually discovered that Hindus and Sikhs were almost equally represented in the demography of the area (Provincia di Cremona 10).

4. The province of Rome hosts 340,000 foreigners, of whom about 242,000 (71.1% of the total) are residents within the municipality of Rome; it needs to be borne in mind that this number includes migrants from the European Union and expatriates working for their governments in embassies and consulates, functionaries of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, whose seat is in Rome; there are also those residing in the town for religious purposes, given the presence of the Vatican (see Caritas, Immigrazione 2004, 402; Osservatorio Romano sulle migrazioni 2). Indian migrants are concentrated in two municipalities: Fiumicino, where the gurdwara is located, and Fregene.

5. The mini market has now become a fruit and vegetable shop. The ownership and management of the shop is now shared between a few Sikhs, the former owner and the husband of Sewa. She also now works there from time to time, as the location is more convenient for her than her husband's call centre nearby Santa Maria Maggiore and since Anurag now goes to school.

6. Between 1996 and 1998, the gurdwara was located in Ladispoli, a village 10 km further north from where the gurdwara is now in Fiumicino.

7. The events of September 11, 2001 have undoubtedly made things more difficult, in the light of the physical resemblance between Sikhs and Osama Bin Laden (Ahmad; Ferraris and Sai).

8. It should however be noted that the more time I spend in the gurdwara, the bigger the number of people is who are keen to see me as not completely ‘ignorant’ about Punjabi culture. This emerged during one of my last visits in December 2006, when I was helping with the Italian class. Mara (not her real name, see Note 13), a young Hindi student living in Fregene, gave free Hindi lessons. She was trying to get the group to name the 5 Ks and to translate them into Italian. (The 5 Ks are: kara–steel bracelet; kaccha or kaccheera–underwear, shorts; kanga–wooden comb; kesh–unshorn hair and turban; and kirpan–sword.) Although there was a turbaned Sikh present, I was the only one that knew the fifth K.

9. A ticket which is valid for 75 minutes on the public network costs no more than €1.00, the same price as for a 60-minute bus ride which connects the metro station of Cornelia and the village where the gurdwara is located. Thus, the expense for a return trip is €4.00 at the most.

10. While milk production in the Po Valley is mainly related to the production of Parmesan cheese, in Central and Southern Italy it is primarily related to the production of mozzarella cheese. In the South of Lazio particularly, buffalo mozzarella farms constitute a varied economic sector of medium and small enterprises which are increasingly hiring Sikh labour.

11. As Werbner recalls (124), the offering of free food called ‘langar’ is traditionally linked to the Sufi tradition, which has influenced the development of the Sikh religion.

12. Khalistani supporters are Sikhs who aim to create an Independent Sikh Nation (Khalistan). The Khalistan movement rose in Punjab during the 1970s and 1980s and grew consistently until, in Indira Ghandi's Blue Star military operation, Harimandir (the Golden Temple, the most sacred Sikh shrine in Amritsar) was attacked to remove the Khalistani leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his followers. As a result, Bhindranwale and his followers died, together with women, children, and pilgrims who were visiting the shrine. Further information from the Sikh's point of view can be found at http://www.ensaaf.org/

13. I am not entirely comfortable with using the terms ‘gori’ (female) and ‘gora’ (male) to define those who are not born into Sikhism, but have become Sikhs at some stage in their lives. The term ‘gora’ is sometimes used in Punjabi to refer to White people in a deprecating way (Helweg). Nonetheless, some authors (Dusenbery; Takhar) speak of gora Sikhs to distinguish Sikh converts from Sikhs of Asian origin.

14. The name of Hargun Singh Khalsa is a pseudonym. Although he expressly asked me to use his real name—which is understandable, as he plays an active and official role as a spokesperson and manages a web site—I feel it necessary to use a pseudonym, for ethical reasons. All individuals and locations mentioned in this article have been assigned pseudonyms, with the exception of the sites of the gurdwaras.

15. I received a phone call from Bahadur the very day I gave birth to my son on 29 August 2007. I could not take the call, but spoke to Bahadur the next day, when he explained that he had wanted to say ‘goodbye’—he had decided to move to Portugal. He contacted me again, saying that he was back in Rome, but less involved in the gurdwara because of new job commitments.

16. During the festival of vaisakhi in 2008 in Rome, Hargun resigned as spokesperson for the Sikh community. In his speech, he stated that the conflicts which are cutting across the ‘community’ were the main reason for his resignation.

17. Some Punjabi Sikhs told me that during the winter they live in the town and that Harbajan's family only uses the ashram in the summer. However, this is, to my knowledge, only a rumour.

18. The new Berlusconi government is trying to restrict migration even more by making entry to Italy without a permit a crime punishable by detention.

19. Conversations with devotees and members of the gurdwara committee provided the reasons for moving the gurdwara: firstly, the gurdwara is currently located in an area that is difficult to reach for those coming from the Southern areas of the town and from the villages on the hills of the so-called Castles, where many Sikhs work in local bakeries. Secondly, the rent for the site is €1,400 per month. Buying a property requires an effort by the families who attend the gurdwara, but avoids the rent and thus redeems the investment. Thirdly, the choice of a building located in the vicinity of an underground/train station in the North-West of Rome allows more people to attend, without disadvantaging those coming from the neighbouring villages. The property is on the market for €500,000, which the community is able to pay in cash, because of offers from the families. Also, the current gurdwara has become too small for the increasing Sikh population: the meal in the langar is now served in two stages, with the men eating first, then the women and the children. The prayer hall is also usually filled to maximum capacity. By May 2008, the new property had not been bought, but more gurdwaras had formed, both in other peripheral areas of the metropolis and other neighbouring villages on the coast and in the area of the Castelli Romani, which brought the number of gurdwaras in the Rome area to five. In May 2009, the gurdwara eventually moved to another building closer to the city (Sewa, personal communication, June 2009).