portraits-of-america:

“I was studying physics in India, but I had to drop out of college. I was a Sikh, and after I cut my hair, I endured a lot of discrimination and beatings by my classmates.
“One time, someone hit me with a wooden plank, and I started bleeding, but no one came to help me. That’s when I decided to leave college and travel to some of the poorest districts in India—I was appalled by what I saw. Then I decided to start working for a non-profit organization and I ended up going to college here in the United States.”
“I think these two events really shocked me—the challenges I faced when I cut my hair and the poverty I saw when I traveled. They changed the direction of my life. If those hadn’t happened, I wouldn’t be here today. I remember when I was young, I would often watch the movie Good Will Hunting and I would dream of Boston and Cambridge.”
“Why did you decide to cut your hair?”
“I was at an age when I was rebelling against many of the ideas about my identity. As a young person, I never ate non-vegetarian foods, and that had a lot to do with my upbringing by my grandmother. When she passed away, her guidance went away.”
“Coming from a family where my father was an alcoholic and struggling in my own life, I started to question many things, such as why do I even follow a religion?”
“So I cut my hair as an act of rebellion. I hurt a lot of people in my family, but I don’t regret it. In the process, I discovered a lot about myself and I found confidence.”
“ When I cut my hair, my family stopped talking to me, except for my father. Although he was an alcoholic, he was also someone who encouraged me to do what I wanted to do.”
“Later, because I was the first one in my family to go to college in the United States, I gained a lot of respect. When my father died, I had to take upon myself even more responsibilities, so I changed from being looked down upon by my family to a positive example for my younger brothers and sisters.”
“In fact, in my family being able to drink with the elders is a very privileged position. I am allowed to do that now, and I think it’s because they see that I’ve grown as a person.”

Cambridge, MA