Author Topic: My Father the Land, My Mother the Language. (Read 1727 times)

LondonPunjabi · « **on:** May 31, 2010, 05:21:24 PM »

My Father the Land, My Mother the Language.

I for one have always been fiercely proud of my native Punjab and have always been in love with its language. Brothers and sisters we were, 1947 saw us torn apart. Punjabi was the one thing we Punjabi’s had in common and it was the one thing that bound us together; indeed it gave birth to our culture. Yes, Punjab our Father; Punjabi our Mother.

[size=11]I have met many Indians and Pakistani Punjabi’s who speak so fondly of the Punjab. They feel the same as I do about the language and the land. After all before partition Punjabi was spoken by Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs and each were proud of the land as well as the language. Sadly it is being eroded on both sides of the border.[/size]

In the India Punjabi is being polluted by the use of Hindi and English and in Pakistan words from Arabic and English are creeping in at an alarming rate. It makes me wonder though; do Punjabi folk really have a love affair with the Punjab? I know I do. I have been to Pakistan; from Multan to Lahore and further. I found the Punjabis there had very much in common with the Punjabis in India because, essentially, we are the same people. It is indeed an important language on both sides of the border. Somewhere along the line we allowed someone to pour poison on our love for each other.

For me below are three of the very best Punjabi songs ever written, all written by a Punjabi from India who was born in what is now Pakistan; the brilliant writer and poet Shiv Kumar Batalvi. The first is sung by another brilliant Punjabi from the Pakistani side of the border, the great Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan; the second by another brilliant Punjabi, the legend that is Jagjit Singh and finally the third by K Deep, he of the dodgy hair-do and equally dodgy green suit, but what a voice.

Hear the lyrics and you will hear what I mean


Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan - Mae Ni Mae

(Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan) .


Ik Shikra Yaar and Chithi na koi Sandes live By Jagjit Singh

(Jagjit Singh)
(the second part “Chithi na koi Sandes” by Anand Bakshi, which might be a variation of another S K Batalvi poem) .


Rukh by Shiv Kumar Batalvi

(K Deep)

There we have it, Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims; all exponents of the language that is Punjabi, all at their very best.

Author Topic: My Father the Land, My Mother the Language. (Read 1727 times)

LondonPunjabi

My Father the Land, My Mother the Language.

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