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My grandmother sang on All India Radio when being heard was the scandal. My mother performed at functions where the volume of her laughter mattered more than her voice. And I go live on Instagram to strangers who decide my worth in seconds. A personal essay on the pressure to be palatable — and why it never left, it just got a new interface.
Depression, anxiety, and suicide don't disappear just because a community doesn't talk about them — they just go underground. In Punjabi-American communities, the silence around mental health has roots in cultural shame, intergenerational trauma, and a mythology of strength that has quietly cost lives. A new generation is finally naming what's been there all along.
From kirtan circles in California to bhangra-based therapy sessions in New York, Punjabi-American wellness practitioners are proving that healing doesn't always come in a pill or on a couch. The beat, it turns out, has always known the way home.
Forget the treadmill — American fitness studios are trading ellipticals for dhol beats and discovering that Punjabi folk dance is one of the most joyful, full-body workouts around. From Bhangra cardio classes in Chicago to Gidda-inspired movement sessions in LA, a cultural tradition is quietly reshaping how people think about exercise and wellbeing.