Serving and Sustaining Diasporic Connectivities: Hindu Sindhi Women’s Seva in Hong Kong

Abstract

Abstract This article highlights the role of Hindu Sindhi women in building and sustaining transnational diasporic connectivities through the discourse and practice of “seva” (loosely translated as “selfless service”). Scholars note how the heterodox and syncretic character of Hindu Sindhi religious and cultural identity stretches the contours of textualized Hinduism. However, an analysis of women’s seva demonstrates how Sindhis also deploy an explicitly Hindu identity to negotiate and perform belonging in the diaspora locale of Hong Kong. Through ethnographic fieldwork in Hong Kong, this article explores how women perform acts of seva (e.g., cooking, serving, and maintaining religious spaces) to sustain diaspora ties. Seva positions the community as performing “local civic virtue” and frames Sindhis’ perceived “ethnic difference” in Hong Kong by presenting a legible Hindu identity. Women are pivotal in sacralizing food offerings and facilitating the religio-spiritual meanings of seva in Hong Kong. During the pandemic, the religious connectivities and spaces of seva women maintained, created, shaped, and expanded global Sindhi diaspora ties. For these women, participating in seva becomes a means of personal spiritual growth, fostering social connections, and negotiating/performing gendered roles and expectations.