Hi Anupam...Punjab once was the most prosperous state in India and that was thanks to agriculture ONLY. Its really sad to see that Punjab is now trailing behind, especially Gujarat, where people are not only very hardworking and enterprising, they are fully business minded, co-operative societies in Gujarat is the perfect example. Coming back to Punjab...more than half of the best brains of Punjab dont wanna be in Punjab, for whatever reasons farmers dont want to invest in agriculture anymore, Punjab is filled with Bihari workers, it is simply that Punjabis there dont wanna work, they have lost the dedication they once had for their work...especially farming. Instead of giving up their precious agricultural land to McDonalds and function halls and stupid resorts, they can upgrade themselves with the latest in farming technologies and reap the benefit of their harvest like before, all the income generated from agriculture is Tax free...what more the Punjabis in Punjab want??

dont write as anonymous.
There are lots of white, black, afrikan, asian, people living in US. But I don't know any anonymous.
anonymous means no name. No names mean no identification. No identification meanse you have doubt on your origin. First clarify your doubts with your parents, if you know them then write something about punjab.

TO
Chief Minister
Govt. of Punjab(India)

Sir,

With due respect, I would like to ask you a question. 3 or 4 months back you say that Punjab will not give its water to its neighbouring state. It is the water of punjab. Now what do you say, when the whole of HP is suffering from flood due to your punjabi river Sutlej. Can you give HP compensation for the floods faced by it.You are denying water to Haryana for the sake of punjabi farmers. But what about those punjabis who are living in Haryana, which are counted in lakhs. Ambala, Panipat, Sonipat, Yamunanagar. Plenty of punjabis are living there.Stop using water as political weapon. Try to build a bond between punjabis and those unfortunate punjabis who left everything in west punjab, living outside punjab and still proudly called themselves punjabis.

Now, I would like to say that when Punjabis are the richest community in India, when states wise the par capita income is highest in Punjab then why are you not investing in the field of Education.If you compare with South Indian States, the number of technical institutes in punjab is very few. The south indian people are not more intelligent then us. What they have done is that they invested in edcuation, specifically technical education. You will found technical institutes in every nook and corner of south india. We cant depend on agricultur alone. If we want a developed punjab, where everybody is growing then we have to invest heavily on technical education. Open a technical university with teaching and faculty staff from South Indian States. Money will not be a problem for this purpose. If you give an advertisement in paper for donation you will get desired funds.
If you get south indian teaching staff it will help you in two ways. Firstly, they are the masters, right now in technical education. Secondly, they have lots of misapprehensions about Punjabis, which will eradicated automatically once they stay in touch with Punjabis.

all you punjabis need to go back to your own country. get out of the us stay in your own country we dont like you

Punjab is the best place on the earth. Punjabis are the bravest but little bit of "khardimag" peope of the world. They have never to die attitude towards life.Their sense of humour is on top of the world.All the "VEDAS" generated in Punjab. Punjabi means happiness. Punjabi means development.Punjabi never deserted friends at the time of problem.Punjabis will
found everywhere. You can love punjabis you can hate punjabis but you cannot ignore punjabis.

punjabi is the sweetest language of the world. Punjabi is the most entertaing language of the world.
Punjabi folk base is much stronger than any other language.

I am proud to be a punjabi. I have done nothing for punjab. Please forgive me but dont forget me.

You dont have to apologize Anupam.

All Punjabis must do is to grow, and learn. The problem is not attitude as it is formed by aping or seen images but by our stage of learning.

Most Punjabis are great people but they simply follow what others do, due to fear, causing less creativity and learning.

History of Punjab is replete with division and losses because we have been divided by 100s and attempted to keep as one force on grand level by a few. Out of those few, most are selfish and driven by greed and imposition of rigid ideas.

Punjab needs to look within that is all Punjabis do something for them and be better and create a better commmunity around them. Send messages of love to all Punjabis and soon Punjab will regain its glory from its current faded state of affairs.

network

I think this site is great coz i am a punjabi by birth but have no idea how the punjabi system works. Am goin to be a host of a punjabi wedding and hope i can pull a fast one off by learnin through such sites.
Also, just wonderin whether someone could give me some tip offs about punjabi culture.

Thanks anyway

Sometimes I wonder what the heck I keep visiting this site for? Do I even belong here. I don't know. It seems to me that so many of you Punjabis are so hateful towards so many different kinds of people.

I supose those of you who know me from when I first started posting here (Nov last year), will know that I am married to a white guy, and now that you all know that I supose I'll be bombarded with a lot of negetive comments. I am proud of who I am, who I married and my life, and if any of you don't like it, well you know where you can stick it. To the ones who have struck by me,(on this site) all I can say is I feel admiration for you.

I'v just been reading some of the comments that some have made in the last few days, and it does seem true what one person said that perhaps Indians are the most racist of all.

wut up

HEY YA ALL I AM CURRENTLY DATING A EAST INDIAN AND I HAVE THE DISAIRE TO LEARN PUNJABI TO HEAR WHAT MY LOVER HAS TO SAY ABOUT ME IS THERE A WAY YOU CAN HELP.

Hi. I am trying to learn how to speak Punjabi and I was wondering if anyone has any information on where I could get a book that translates English words in Punjabi word but in english letters so I can read it. I do not know how to read in Punjabi so I need the translations to be in English. For example : How are you would translate to "tussi kaise hon"...

Please if you have any infomation on where I can get books or dictionaries ••••• me ASAP!

Thanks!

Dear Sirs,

My Goals is to encourage Punjabis in the west to learn their mother tongue in terms of wrttern word ( Gurumukhi or Shahmukhi). To this extent I have started producing lessons in Punjabi which you may like to link to on the website www.5abi.com. You will find them under the heading Punjabi pathmala - Gyan Rattan.

My second objective relating to this goal is DEVELOPMENT AND ADVANCEMENT of Punjabi. Especially new Nouns to describe words or things which as yet do not exist in the Punjabi lexicon. In India Taxila Punjabi is seen as the standard, but like American English differs from British, over the last few decades the same has happened in the Diapora. Most immigranmts are from Doaba or Malwa, and this has been mixed up with English and other languages , producing a varient of the Doaba or Jullander accent. This basis of Punjabi and our contact in the west is to be my building block.

What instigated this?

This was inspired by comments made by Prof Khuswant Singh against Punjabi's ability to deal with nouns for new animals and the such to its experince. In retort I have began off the project Classification of World Animals and other nouns. I want to start everyone thinking. Who knows some of my suggestiins and other Punjabi people's suggestions might be absorbed into the Punjabi Lexicon. For that is how a language develops. It does has to take care notto become invaded too much though, because that destrooys a language.

Article:


New Words for the Punjabi Lexicon and why influence of other languages is a positive factor in enriching a language.

New words for definition of species not indigenous to Punjab, where lexicon lacks sufficient nouns
The importance of preserving ‘pure’ Punjabi amongst changes that have occurred and need to occur
Why original Punjabi words have been lost , and what damage limitation can be done

All the above is argued in the context for a need to add specie definitions. The project being triggered by Khushwant Singh’s comments that Punjabi was inferior to English and not capable of dealing with species such as Blackbirds by being specific.

Author / Kalam : Rupinderpal Singh Dhillon


1.0 Khushwant Singh had stated 2 years ago that he prefers to write in the English language as it’s word power is superior to Punjabi. His logic was simple. Punjabi only had words to describe indigenous creatures to itself, stretching at the most to those in the rest of the Indian Subcontinent. For international words it had been invaded by the influences of Urdu, Persian, and Hindi. But what made it impractical was that it had absorbed English words, which when used in a Punjabi context were illogical. For example an English word adopted by Punjabi is ‘ First Class’ which in Punjabi has become Fasklas. Although this instance works, in the case of ‘Blackbird’ if used it would probably be balakbad Although this can be used for this foreign English bird, it is illogical as in Punjabi it should be Kala Panchee / Cheeree. But that could be any black bird. And thus he felt confident in his argument. However his argument is both illogical as will be seen and a direct challenge to the Punjabi lexicon to produce nouns to define international species specially in Punjabi.

Of course we can be defensive also. France has gone out of its way to protect its culture and lexicon, by making it illegal to use English words where French ones have not existed. It simply has invented its own. A famous example is that France refuses the word ‘Software’ and has created it’s own version to be used in written documents and books. We certainly must not forget the importance of ‘pure Punjabi’. Day by day Hindi, Urdu and English are replacing old Punjabi words. This is not acceptable. Adaptation of new words mean an alternative or an addition, not obliteration of perfectly functional Punjabi words. What must never change is the common Punjabi and basics. That would kill the language. The problem Punjabi has faced is that from Ranjit Singh onwards foreign languages have curried favour with the influential and powerful. So Punjabi words were lost to Urdu ones. Most of us Punjabis ( me included) can only speak the common tongue and are uneducated people. Only a handful, such as (Guru) Nanak and Shah Bullah have maintained high level literati status. Only since the introduction of the printing press and its political communicative needs in the last century have most of us began to learn to read and write. I speak brilliant basic Punjabi. But like many can not read or write and certainly have a small volcabury ( perhaps 600 Punjabi words). These are the basics. Every language has that much. In English it is a fact that the majority common population only have 400-600 words in their personal use ( mostly sentence constructing words at that). The highly educated have 2,000 words. And that is where Punjabi has fell, as only a few know the more rarer and high level words. Nouns are Punjabi’s biggest weakness, as any known high level nouns go out of use by the common man.

To challenge Khushwant Singh I first needed to learn to read and write so I could create my Species Book. The positive side has been I now can read Punjabi and write it. The negative side has been I have realised when reading Punjabi written by the Literati and press that us common Punjabis have extremely limited volcaburies. So I invested in a Punjabi dictionary which has been brilliant. But coming back to my project it lacks many words as well. So although in this section I have argued that we have to prevent our language from being overtaken by foreign influence, there is an argument to say that it can be positive too. English has become richer by adopting certain words. The idea is to adopt without losing the ‘ bread and butter’ of one’s mother language. As common Punjabis have enough words for this ( and those in Punjab itself definitely do) and Singers are helping keeping our language alive, there will never be a danger here.

4.0

Some languages offer alternatives to using the forcibly invasive ones such as English and naturally fit the phonetics of Punjabi. Others provide alternatives to prevent the balakbad problem. Spanish is the first category, and native American and other languages are in the second category. It has been argued why Punjabi must be defensive and why Species definition is a good project. Now the argument is why it is good to adopt words from other languages and the discussion of samples form my proposals.

5.0 Just because due to Hindi, Urdu and Persian ( Punjabi the word is actually Persian) have altered Punjabi does not make it unnatural or bad. For example Middle English is nothing like modern English. ( Forget Old English, that is to modern English what Sanskrit is to Urdu). Chaucer’s sentence “ When April shovers coombe asoote” was middle English. In modern English that would be "“When April showers arrive.” So it can be seen languages do change. Fact After Chauser French , and Latin and Anglo altered English. Fact Urdu, Hindi and English have done the same to some Punjabi. Being influenced or useful to add words is not ruining a language. It is enriching it. As argued above, the fundamentals of a language must never be changed.

Many of us common Punjabis would be hard pressed to name actual existing animal names beyond bhed, Ooth and Sher. This is strictly not true in Punjab. But the influence of names and words is important. Like American English developed separately from British English, it is a fact that Diaspora Punjabi has become its own Version of traditional Punjabi. It is Diaspora Punjabi that I am concerned with. Traditional Punjabi itself is changing. For example in India, Punjabi schools are now teaching the words Cheetera for Tiger. Punjabis from the old days who had immigrated to the west, remember Sher as being Tiger, and Babar Sher as Lion. In Modern day Punjab Sher has become Lion. Taxila Punjabi is challenging the regional variation like Dr Johnson did. Standardisation is good, but as has been seen Punjabi in the Diaspora will use different words. That is why a classification that is specific is required. It is not enough to call a big cat just Sher anymore. to add to the confusion older Punjabis in India call a Tiger a Cheetah. So below I discuss the animal names I propose.


6.0 Well known animals are Tiger ( Cheetah) citw, Peacock ( More) mOr, Butterfly ( Titlee) IqqlI, Crow ( kaan) kW and Frog (dadoo) f`dU. Note so well known animals include Crab ( kekrha) kykV, Flamingo ( baglaa) bglw, Cockroach ( tilchataa) iqlctw, Gorilla ( banmaanas) bnmwns and star fish( Tara Mucchee) qwrw m`CI. New to the lexicon , by my research ( and by this read it to mean I have adapted these ones) is Hummingbird ( Valeo) v`lya, Lobster ( Langosta{Jeenga}) lw\gOsqw, Comodo Dragon ( Comodo Draache) komodo fRwCy and Meercat ( meerkat) mIrkq.

The above are a small sample. others I have adopted include Lanav Kaan , which is Cheerokee for Raven. Draache is the German word for Dragon and Langosta the Spanish for Lobster. Jeenga does exist in Punjabi for is used to describe all of them from Prawns to Lobsters, and I feel the adopted word should pretext it. Incidentally Ghambass is Spanish for Prawns , so Ghambass Jeenga sounds more Punjabi then using the word Prawn. I have also invented a handful of words such as lal Banmanhs for Orangu tan. The Banmanhs being a use of the word for Gorilla adapted. In the same way I suggest a Polor Bear Should be called Chittah Ricchch and a Koala bear Koala Balloo.

Please use Anmollipi to view the Punjabi spellings suggested. I hope this has got you thinking. If there is any interest in this subject matter. please contact me on Rupe- at - panindia.com or go to www.5abi where the Gian Rattan section will lead you too me. And please if you are a westerner like me who wants to learn Punjabi, use it to teach yourself. You will need someone who knows Punjabi to decipher the site. Otherwise e-mail for a link .

I would like to hear what you the Punjabi people think of the above and whether any of you who have ideas are willing to participate. To this end my next article will be a detailed analysis of specie names and the logic behind them. This is an introductory article in to why it is being done.


http://www.5abi.com/5ratan/

dear all
just to add or rather start a new topic. any advice or insight into this will be much appreciated.
i'm not punjabi but am currently dating a punjabi boy. we love each other a lot and plan to marry but the thing is he is awfully jealous, very possessive and protective, something i am so not used to. i'm of chinese and indonesian/ malay descent and so this whole diatribe of possessive north indian men is something i'm totally new to. hv no idea what it's all about. are punjabi men really all so possessive? how and what do they see their women as? true that most men (especially asians in general) want their women traditional and subservient but do punjabi men in particular see their women as things that they hv to control and thus protect/ defend their turf, so to speak??
any insight into the whole cutural psychology of punjabis wld be most appreciated

Pritam Singh Sir,


Excellent advice. Simple but extremely powerful. Keep it up.

I think the Punjabis are wonderful people and making success in every field around the world

Hi!
It´s interesting for me to read your opinions...I´m from germany and very inteserested in Pakistans country and culture. In germany cannot be hearing much about Pakistan.
Greetings
from
Susanne

dear anybody,
am happy to talk to anyone like you. because i love to learn your languages very well and have new friends from far distance with different cultures and different religions. so that we learn to each others through our coommunication.

hai from sonu,
Hello to all punjabis sitting over there from sonu iam from Baroda great Citty of Gujrat.If any one want to mail me then mail me on preet7578- at - yahoo.com iam 5'3 Wheatish in colour and pure punjabi and 24/f.
bye

hiiiiiiiiiiiiii

Dear Punjabis

World has changed. It is time to look if we too have changed according to the need of this new era. Today I intend to share with you all, some of what I have learnt in life.

Resaerch has demonstrated that the natural cause by which ones life ultimately may get terminated can be predicted, to a great extent, by knowing the food the mother had been eating during the period before the baby was conceived and during development of fetus.

During the period of development of fetus, there is a specific time window during which a specific organ of the 'baby to be born' grows. The development of the specific organ remains inadequate if the food eaten by the 'would be mother'during its growth period is not whole-some. This gives the clue to the scientists to determine what will be the weakness in the 'baby to be born' and its consequences on the babies life, including the probable cause of death.

The impact becomes further enhanced if the 'would be mother' is under mental tension.

In India, many of our ladies are anaemic. It is less so in muslim families here. The reason behind this is that the muslim families by tradition eat together. What ever is cooked is known to every body and each member of the family has its share. In other traditional communities, first the elders and males eat, then the childern, and finally the lady who has cooked. Not always, enough is left for her. It is this lady we have to care for. Normally, she is the one who will keep the family chain continuing.

So dear punjabis, eat together in the family at specified times, take care of the ladies in the family, create an environment of happiness inside and beyound the family and ensure proper ingradients in the diet we all, specially the ladies in the family, take. The ladies who are planning to have babies, preferably, should avoid fasting. All this is important for our future generation.

Dear Punjabis

Much of what is said here in the net, relates to past. Past is static, nobody can change it, it is to be used only as a lesson so as not to repeat the same mistake in future. We cannot remain embedded in it. We have to come out of the paradigms of the past, they are no longer valid in todays world. Human race has moved into 'Knowledge Age' we cannot afford to remain out of it. Without moving away from our respective religious values and basic culture we have to look forward and build for better future. Our religion tells us God is one. The way we address almighty, in fact, is the limitation of we humans. Almighty does not need any name, being infinite God cannot be confined in some name or address. The specific name used while refering to him and the language used for it has no meaning to him. Almighty understand all languages, the very thought of him is 'ajaapa jaap'. Thinking about the almighty itself is enough, and this applies to all of us, no matter where the individual lives or which languages he/she speaks or which religion the individual belongs.

Those who perpetuated attrocities in the past did not belong to any religion, no religion preaches such acts. Such acts get into human activities as a result of circumstances. Having learnt lessons from the past we must move on and prepare for the future. Past should be used as a guide only and not as the basis for building Punjabi society of tomorrow.

I wish this topic be discussed and debated on this net. It be made a regular feature. I will of course contribute in the debate.


With regards

Pritam Singh