Abel Bartanas, center, pats the head of a sikh child as Sikh faithful march through South Stockton in the 11th annual Sikh parade in Stockton CA Sunday April 19, 2009.
Stockton’s annual Sikh parade was last month. I was excited to get to cover it again. 15,000 Sikh folks parading behind the holy book and handing out food to everyone in south Stockton, what’s not to love.
So I am following along, trying to find the picture that says what I want it to about the parade- that got behind the exotic look of it, that communicated how all these cultures, all these people from all these worlds come crashing together in the worn streets of this town, part of the striving that is the real story of Stockton. I was drawn to the families sitting out on their porches, lining the sidewalks, watching all these men with long beards and swords and women in the blazing colors of their punjabi outfits stroll by. I stopped for just a second in front Abel and his families’ house. As he reached out, I reached up, and made a picture of a connection; brief, fleeting, but it was there.
Amen Virk, of Punjab state in India, prays to the Sikh holy text, the Guru Granth Sahib.
Sikh faithful gather at the Stockton Sikh Temple before the start of the 11th annual Sikh parade.
Harp Singh plays a "Dohl," a traditional drum, as Sikh faithful march in the 11th annual Sikh parade in Stockton.
Kulwant Kaur, left, and Gurdiyal Kaur, right, prepare naan, and Indian flatbread, in preparation for the Sikh Festival at the Sikh Temple in Stockton CA Saturday April 15, 2009.
Women cook a large curry in preparation for the Sikh Festival at the Sikh Temple in Stockton CA Saturday April 15, 2009.
