Lahore’s First Punjabi Bookstore Deemed Shut

Kitab Trinjan (KT), the first dedicated shop of Punjabi books in Lahore, is due to close end of this month.

Kitab Trinjan was established in 1997 to encourage the publishing and dissemination of Shahmukhi Punjabi literature in a situation where Punjabi books were shunned away by the ‘regular’ bookshops that were happy instead to sell the more ‘lucrative/prestigious’ Urdu and English books. With regard to the privilege enjoyed by English and Urdu at the regular book shops, however, the situation in 2009 remains more or less the same.

In the last 12 years, thanks to the continuous and ongoing volunteer work of Zubair Ahmed Jan, Kitab Trinjan has sold more than 1,200,000 (12 Lakh) Punjabi books; bought 7,71,635 books from other publishers; published works created by modern Punjabi writers under various imprints; but most of all, has built a cultural community unique to itself. This community is built by extending regular interaction, support and contribution to literary communities of the Punjab, Panjab and the Diaspora. Zubair’s ongoing support to Sangat Shah Hussain in Lahore, to the online Punjabi news and cultural digest Wichaar.com, to the largest online archive of Punjabi Gurumukhi/Shahmukhi literature Apnaorg, to the only Punjabi literary quarterly magazine that prints simultaneously in Gurumukhi and Shahmukhi Temahi Sanjh, for example, has strengthened the respective organizations and cultural communities.

I had the opportunity to visit Kitab Trinjan in its very first year when Activist Zafaryab Ahmed told me in Islamabad about it, and later introduced me to Author Zubair Ahmed who was instrumental in establishing, and then managing it. Later, i went to the shop, a 1.4-roomed top floor of a depleted inner city building in Lahore, though inside, it was the most inspiring place to be. In fact, that was the first time that i had actually seen hundreds of Shahmukhi Punjabi titles in one place. It created a feeling of wonderment where i was enchanted also by the fact that the development of Punjabi literature was not in the hands of policymakers of Pakistan but us, the writers and readers of Punjabi.

Here is a 1998 photo of Kitab Trinjan from the outside, taken by Amarjit Chandan, a long time supporter of KT.

Detail, Kitab Trinjan by Amarjit Chandan, 1998

In 2006 and 2007, i found Kitab Trinjan in a newer, bigger and brighter place. It was doubtless the most well-organized and well-managed book shop of the three Punjabi book sellers on and around Mozang Chowk since Zubair had help from KT’s only paid worker, Ghulam Haider who worked as a full time sales associate.

The following are the reasons given for the closure of Kitab Trinjan: That there were no Punjabi book stores in 1997 and now there are two more that are operating as full time businesses; That there is duplication of services between Suchet Kitab Ghar and Kitab Trinjan; That KT is limited by its voluntary nature; and, that Zubair Ahmad, the Volunteer Manager of KT, wants to focus on his creative work.

The above reasons do not jell with me as they defy all logic; and in that, it seems that this decision is taken for the benefit of less than half a dozen people instead of the benefit of even those 6,896,000 Punjabis who were living in the city of Lahore just after Kitab Trinjan first opened its doors. In the 1998 Census, the total population of Lahore was counted as 6.8 Million, however, later estimates indicate that the population of Lahore was 10 million in 2006.

My problem is as follows:
The first reason encourages us to believe, in defiance of all demographic considerations, that perhaps there are no Punjabi speakers in the additional 3.2 Million people that were counted as living in Lahore in 2006; that may be there is no increase in the city population since 2006; or if the population increased it did no sprout any new buyers of Punjabi books; that there are no new students of Punjabi language; and, certainly no new lovers of Punjabi literature. Else, the simple fact of population increase would have been enough to justify the continued existence of, at least, these three Punjabi book stores. In other words, such reasoning suggests that 3 BOOK STORES are too many for 6 to 8 MILLION Punjabi speakers of Lahore.

The second reason perpetuates confusion as it meddles with the roles of Suchet Kitab Ghar a Publisher of books and magazines who operates as a distributor/retailer to support its primary role as a Publisher; and Kitab Trinjan, a Bookseller/Distributor who has published books only on occasion.

The third and the fourth reasons are issues that can easily be resolved by Zubair himself if given the chance. Having an outlet for Punjabi books at his home in one of the suburbs of Lahore will eliminate the daily hardship, and leave more time for creative work.

I also do not share the ‘expatriate’s politically correct’ statement forwarded by my friend and another long time supporter of KT, Ijaz Syed, in his response to the closure of Lahore’s first Punjabi book shop.
‘My heartiest felicitations to the Central Committee members for taking this timely decision! Kitab Trinjan played its historical pioneering role in the publication and distribution of punjabi books at a time when this service was most needed. In my view, along with other Central Committee friends, a lot of credit for maintaining and managing Kitab Trinjan for these twelve long years rightly goes to Zubair Jan. Of course, none of this would have happened without Najam Sahab’s benevolent presence.’

In accordance with the ‘enlightened expatriate’s politically correct guide’, a non-critical acceptance and appreciation of this decision has duly been tendered by Ijaz, else, why would he call it a ‘timely decision’? Is it really the requirement of this time to close one of the three (progressive) Punjabi book centers in Lahore?
Na!
I think it’s time to relocate this one, and open the fourth.
Tell you why.
When Kitab Trinjan was selling an average of 1 lakh books per year, Suchet Kitab Ghar and Sanjh Publications were also registering sales, I am willing to bet on it! So, if in the last 12 years, all three have shown an increase in sales, i don’t see why Kitab Trinjan needs to shut. Also, if the establishment of a sales/distribution center by Suchet Kitab Ghar (and Sanjh) did not have a negative impact on Kitab Trinjan, why now, Kitab Trinjan needs to be eliminated in the interest of one or both?

Maqsood Saqib of Pancham/Suchet and Amjad Salim of Sanjh Publications have, for different reasons, earned my un-wavering respect and love as people and professionals; and, i fully support the work of both. The same, may be more so, is true for Zubair Ahmad of Kitab Trinjan.

In other words, Bawa Jees te Bawi Jees, please do not be presenting Lahore in such narrow terms. The City and its people need and deserve all three of these wonderful spaces to develop Punjabi literature; and still, a few more. Not less!
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Shiv Kumar Batalvi by Amarjit Chandan

This thought-provoking appreciation of Shiv Kumar’s poetry and his contribution to Punjabi literature is rendered by another poet of note: Amarjit Chandan; and, is presented here to commemorate Shiv Kumar’s birthday on the disputed date of July 23 (Wichaar.com).

The Poet of Gloom and Doom was a Good Laugh
By Amarjit Chandan

Shiv Kumar, Southall 1971. Amarjit Chandan Collection

Among the post-1947 generation of Punjabi poets, Shiv Kumar (SK) is perhaps the most popular poet. He has the same sort of following as painter Sobha Singh has for his kitsch paintings like Sohni Mahival and Gurdas Mann for his hollow songs. Sant Singh Sekhon, who once called SK as the Keats of Punjabi poetry, defined SK’s creative limitations in his introduction to his English rendering of SK’s Luna (1985):

‘When he [SK] first shot into prominence, he was at once noted for the peculiar charm of his diction and imagery and for his tone of decadent passion and existential despair. His favourite themes were the ache of desire, the melancholy of love and the fascination of death. …Young poets who make a startling initial effect by talking like disappointed old people are found generally to have walked into a dead alley. Shiv Kumar, with very modest education, seemed peculiarly to be such a poet.’
Luna, English version, MS, in my collection

Sekhon’s precise insight sums up the man and the poet. I am not the only person to be in total agreement with Sekhon.

It is a common view amongst Punjabi literary circles that SK’s poetry revolves around unfulfilled adolescent romance. It is all gloom and doom. Morbid imagery is recurrent in almost all his poems e.g. tears, pain, separation, poison, malady and death. He weaves words with pleasant lyrical sounds, which carry away the Punjabi reader without giving much thought to their actual meanings. A contemporary of SK said: Shiv’s poetry is like the stringed musical toy, which is music to your ears while the seller plays it. But in your hands it is just clay.

Though it is a cliché that poetry is impossible to translate, but most of the time the real worth of a poem is put to test when it is translated into another language; in this instance from Punjabi into English. This is another way of deconstructing the text. As an example I cite titles of two of SK’s poems: Vidhwa Rut (The Widowed Season) and HanjhuaN dee Chhabil (Tears dealt out gratuitously to slake thirst). The Punjabi word chhabil has no equivalent in English. It is a variation on the Arabic word sabil, especially a stall put up during Muharram to offer water or soft drinks to passers-by. In Punjab during the month of June, when the summer is at its peak, Punjabis of all denominations put up such stalls – chhabils. I quote a typical couplet from one of SK’s poems titled HanjhuaN de Gah (The Harvetsing of Tears):

jahi laRhi merey kaljey te birhoN dee dhamuRhi
merey jeriaN da arsh te pataal sujjia.
What a terrible wasp of separation it was, who stung my heart
The sky and the abyss of my heart got swollen.
Birha tu Sultan, 1975

The English version of the above lines is a faithful rendering of the original in Punjabi, though the wasp in Punjabi is not of neutral gender; it is she. I can testify that the couplet is as meaningless in the original as it is in the translation.

A random survey of Shiv Kumar’s fans would reveal that his popularity is based on just four or five poems. The top of the pop being mainu paiN birhoN de keeRhey ve (May I be infested with the maggots of separation). Him being handsome with wailing singing voice is another factor. He fits into the popular image of tragic hero, who dies young. He is the Devdas of Punjabi poetry. Unfortunately his later poems written during the rise of Maoist-Naxalite movement in East Punjab in the late 1960s especially Rukh nu fansi (A Tree Hanged) are little known. He tried in vain to be ‘modern’ and did write some prayogvadi experimental poems comparing bottles of beer lying on the table with ballistic missiles. Through Navtej Singh (d 1981), the editor of Preet Lari, SK flirted with the communists and read his poem Nehru de Varisan nu (To the Heirs of Nehru) in the Communist Party of India (CPI) congress held in Bombay in 1964. CPI’s and Preet Lari’s soft corner towards Nehru is well known. Even Navtej Singh found the poem politically naive and edited it before it was published in his magazine. I was close to Navtej Singh and worked under him for a while as an editor of Preet Lari. It all happened before my eyes, as it were.

Though SK borrowed some of his diction from Sufibani and titled one of his collection Birha tu Sultan after Sheikh Farid in the Adi Granth, he failed to take his work to the level of spirituality. Some recent academic studies claim that Shah Hussain was SK’s inspiration. It is worth noting here that Shah Hussain’s work was turned down by Guru Arjan Dev (1563–1606), when he had visited the fifth Guru in Amritsar to impress upon him to include his work in the Adi Granth. [As quoted in Gurshabad Ratnakar Mahankosh – Encyclopaedia of Sikh Literature, Bhai Kahn Singh, Reprint 1990; Ithas Sri Guru Granth Sahib (A History of Guru Granth Sahib), Giani Gurdit Singh, 1990]. If Shah Hussain was SK’s role model, then why he picked up his diction only and not his philosophy of Sufism? In my conversations with Sohan Qadri, a painter-poet and a close friend of SK has to say: ‘Shiv Kumar was a good laugh, but he was not deep.’ Hun-khin (The Present Moment in Time), Navyug 2000.
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Talking about a revolution: Bhagat Singh Bilga

Bhagat Singh Bilga, 2006. Photo by Ajay Bhardwaj

Bhagat Singh Bilga, the last survivor of the Gadar Movement, tells Teena Baruah about his many adventures (2005)

The man former prime minister I K Gujral calls “a legend” is not a scholar or a man of many words. Ninety-eight-year-old Bhagat Singh Bilga is a revolutionary, the last survivor of the Gadar (revolution) Movement, a struggle launched by expatriate Punjabis in the US and Canada to overthrow the British in India.

Bilga still remembers the heady days when he signed up for the movement. It was 1931 and he, then 24, had just reached the Republic of Argentina in search of a job. The first person he met was revolutionary and freedom fighter Bhagat Singh’s exiled uncle Ajit Singh. Soon, Bilga was won over by the cause. The money he earned by working as a clerk in a railway store went into the kitty that funded revolutionary outfits like Naujawan Bharat Sabha and Kirti Party, and he became a key member of the Gadar Movement in South America. “Gaye the kamai karne ke liye, leke aye inqalab (We went to earn a living, and brought back revolution),” says Bilga, reclining on a narrow bed in a room at Desh Bhagat Yadgar Memorial Hall in Jalandhar. The hall was inaugurated by him and his comrades in the Gadar Movement.

The movement had its roots in discrimination against Indian immigrants in Canada and the US. In April 1914, Gurdit Singh, a prosperous Punjabi contractor from Singapore, chartered a Japanese ship, the Komagata Maru, to take a party of Indians over to Canada. The ship sailed from Hong Kong and, after collecting other passengers at Shanghai, Kobe and Yokohama, arrived at Vancouver on May 23, 1914, with 376 Indians – all Punjabis, with 340 Sikhs, 12 Muslims and 24 Muslims – on board. Canadian immigration authorities refused all but 22 passengers permission to land. The ship eventually headed back to India. As it approached Calcutta on September 26, 1914, a European gunboat corralled the ship and held the passengers prisoner. The Komagata Maru was then taken to a place called Budge Budge, about 17 miles away from Calcutta and the passengers were told that they were being sent to Punjab on a special train. Many of them were reluctant, preferring to remain in Calcutta and seek employment there. In the scuffle that resulted, the policemen opened fire and 20 people died. It was the spark that lit the torch of the Gadar Movement. And the Soviet revolution in 1917 fanned the flames; the ‘Gadaris’- as the followers of the movement came to be known – looked to Moscow for financial support and revolutionary training, their ultimate aim to establish a communist state in India.

Bilga too was sent to Moscow by the Gadar Party with 60 other Gadaris to learn the Russian language, Marxism, politics, economics, military techniques and guerrilla warfare. In 1933, he received his orders to return to Punjab. Sikhs in those days were followed by the British all over the world on their journey back home, and arrested the moment they touched home ground. Travelling on a fake passport under the pseudonym ‘Milky Singh’, Bilga took an impossible route, crossing Paris, Berlin, and Colombo, before reaching Kanyakumari. He crossed Nagpur and Calcutta before coming to Kanpur. It took him a year.

Bilga is preparing to travel again. “Today, I have a valid passport,” he says with a smile. He is going to Birmingham in the UK to stay with his two sons, Kulbir, 76, and Prem, 56, and consult doctors about his prostate problem. “When you travel after 90, you should travel light,” he adds, packing his age-old grey overcoat in a tiny suitcase. It’s also hard for him to find things in his small, cluttered room at the memorial hall.

Bilga’s home, the Desh Bhagat Yadgar Memorial Hall, is a treasure trove for researchers, safekeeping over 17,000 books about India’s revolutionary history. There are handwritten statements of Gadaris, a British directory containing sketches and whereabouts of Gadaris, original copies of the movement’s handwritten newspaper Gadar (in Punjabi and Urdu) which was published from San Francisco in 1913, and 2,000 rare pictures of revolutionaries, who usually took great pains to conceal their faces and identities.

“I have dedicated myself to this museum which has 35 other freedom fighters as its members,” he says. “It traces the life of each and every Gadari along with their photographs. We have collected them from their villages, relatives and friends, in India and abroad. And all this to tell the world that Englishmen didn’t leave India because a handful of Indians threw salt into their eyes. They left because we sent them packing.”

Over the past 46 years, the museum has received financial help from NRIs, as well as information about their revolutionary relatives and friends. “They know these pieces of history will be safe with us,” says Bilga. Every October, a five-day festival called Gadari Mela is hosted at the Yadgar Hall to celebrate the contributions of revolutionaries. It is attended mostly by families of martyrs of the Gadar Movement – 400 revolutionaries were hanged and 5,000 were sent to Kala Pani for life imprisonment; most of them never returned – who often come from abroad to be a part of it. Last year, a BBC reporter who filmed a documentary on Bilga sent him some cash and a rare picture of Gadaris in Singapore taken on February 15, 1915. Unfortunately, Bilga can’t enjoy viewing his collection as he used to, having lost his eyesight three years ago.

The debility has also robbed him of his habit of reading his favourite Punjabi daily Naya Zamana. But Bilga regularly listens to TV news bulletins and receives a steady stream of visitors. His comrades’ family members often drop in for a glass of tea. And then there’s 52-year-old Gurmit Singh, a former journalist and student communist who has dedicated his life to keep alive the memories of the Gadaris. Gurmit spends 12 hours with Bilga every day and is family now – Bilga’s wife Jannat died 35 years ago. “I talk to him about everything from family problems to pressures at work,” says Gurmit. “He listens carefully and his advice is in sync with the times. Sometimes, it seems he is 20 years old.”

Bilga’s daughter Kranti died of typhoid after he was arrested for his anti-Partition protest after Independence. His two sons live in Birmingham and are active leftists – elder son Kulbir is currently the president of the Indian Worker’s Association in Birmingham. “It’s in their genes,” he says with pride. “And they love fussing over their father, sending money and arranging expensive medical treatment for me.”

His family aside, Bilga has many well-wishers. CPI (M) general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet, 90, has known him for 30 years. “His village Bilga is about 8 km away from my village Bundala,” he says. “Also, we have worked together as comrades for the Communist Party. I have rarely seen a more dedicated father, a finer freedom fighter and a more grounded politician in my lifetime.” And Balwant Singh Ramoowalia, 60, former union minister and former secretary general of the Akali Dal, calls him a “true patriot”. Ramoowalia was introduced to Bilga a quarter of a century ago while he was settling pension cases of freedom fighters as an MP in 1998. He adds, “Bilga’s commitment to the nation is so strong that he could never get along with any political party completely. In fact, he earned the reputation of being ziddi (stubborn) by standing to his personal ideology.”

Bilga continues to act stubbornly on his beliefs. His emphatic belief in pluralism led him to take on Sikh extremists during the Khalistan separatist movement in the late 1970s and 1980s.

“In 1978, it was impossible to challenge Punjabi terrorists if you were a Sikh,” recalls journalist Kuldip Nayar, 79. “While covering the Punjab unrest, I heard of Bilga. He stood alone and spread his pluralistic ideas. The fact that he had no weapons to defend himself didn’t bother him either.” Bilga agrees that it was impossible to speak against Khalistani mobs in the emotionally charged villages of Punjab in the early 1980s. “We recruited more than 200 young intellectuals to pacify the fanatics,” he remembers. “Most of them were gunned down.” Bilga went from one village to another on his cycle, requesting Hindus not to give in to communal hatred. “I once went to a condolence meeting of a slain Hindu and addressed Sikh mourners there against the movement. After coming back home, I sat in the courtyard awaiting my death. I desperately wanted to be a martyr!”

Bilga has had many close calls. Once, he travelled from Colombo to Kanyakumari with a British spy in tow. He posed as a Tamilian and exchanged his ticket with a co-passenger. But the spy wasn’t fooled. Finally, Bilga had to jump out of the train at Nagpur. He reached Kolkata, worked as a trade union leader and played an important role in bringing the shutters down on Juggi Lal Kamlapat cloth mill – the strike was called because the mill owners had beaten a worker to death. He also established two underground presses, one in Kanpur and another in Lahore.

As the memories come flooding back, Bilga becomes animated again, belying the fact that he’s 98. He has only recently allowed his body certain concessions. “Earlier, I used to wake up at 6 am,” he says. “Now, my body revolts. It tells me to go back to bed. And I listen to it. Sometimes.”

To know more about the Gadar movement, log on to www.gadarmemorial.com

Featured in Harmony Magazine April 2005

SahebaN’s Name, Part 2

The name `SahebaN’ comes from ‘Sahib’ meaning respectable, an Urdu word coined to address the representatives of a previous colonial power. As a woman’s uncommon name, SahebaN captures our attention through an undersold Punjabi folk story called ‘Mirza SahebaN’, Mirza being SahebaN’s un!Rightful lover.

I must stress here that it is not a popular name for women in Pakistan, and it is strange that our SahebaN’s mother named her after SahebaN and not after Heer, for example. I can understand that Sassi Punnu being more from the neighboring restless province of Sind, and Yousuf Zulekha from the far-away Middle East, the province of the Punjab is left with Sehti Murad, Sohni Mahinwal, Mirza SahebaN and Heer Ranjha. The pattern of this list is shattered by Dulla Bhatti, the brave freedom fighter who fought the Mughals, and appears in some history books as the local Robin Hood without of course, the female object Maid Marian. It is clear that neither Dulla nor Bhatti is a woman’s name, and despite being a Muslim Dulla sided with Hindus and Sikhs against the aforementioned Mughals. In the interest of overall sanity, we will have to recall him so don’t forget the name Dulla, it’s okay if you can’t remember Bhatti because that will already be there for you.

About Mirza and Yousuf though: I can not help notice that other than Mirza and Yousuf, who like Romeo are guys, all the other four titles of this folk lore of love begin with the names of their Juliets. Give me a moment; Sassi, Zulekha, Sehti, Sohni, SahebaN, and Heer are Juliets who died for and with the following Romeos, from left to !Right, Punnu, Yousuf, Murad, Mahinwal, Mirza, and Ranjha. Mirza and Romeo were brave heirs to regional thrones, Yousuf was a prophet, Murad was a Baloch, and the rest were just men. Among the four women, Heer of Sial is the most admired of all. The rest can file cases of numerous Human !Rights violations against proponents of Heer for being sidelined, over-looked and pushed-aside. Even International Conglomerate of History (ICH) provided space to Heer and her !Rightful lover Ranjha in the Halls of Fame across the Globe as soon as they died of familial deceptions and poisons.

Mirza and SahebaN also gave their lives for love but do you see them in the ICH halls of fame? Their songs were sung too but what do you get when you type ‘mirza saheban’ in the search box at Sazaa? Nothing! Search finishes without any result! I suggest that it’s not just because of the systemic racism inherent in the structure of WWW, type `heer ranjha’ in the same slot: Results! Download five different Heers sung by five different artists. Alam Lohar, Noor Jehan, Reshman even Mehdi Hassan if you prefer Urdu over Punjabi though I will have to wonder why.

The reasons for this negligence are not hidden from us; and, we know why most Punjabis do not consider SahebaN the !Right role model for Punjabi women. Indeed, it is due to the deep shadow cast by SahebaN on some important aspects of Muslim culture, for example and in particular, on a Muslim woman’s loyalty factor.

Being a South Asian Pakistani Canadian Muslim Woman of Color, I can tell you that Loyalty-to-the-Man factor is almost as, and sometimes more, important than the Virginity-of-the-Woman factor (Read The Unnecessary). As a result, we are not allowed to forget that Mirza and SahebaN indulged in pre-marital sex though I can’t see what the problem was because in Peenutstan at the time, pre-marital sex was almost the same as the post-marital, extra-marital and non-marital sex. Still, a proverb was added to the rich library of Punjabi, the dual-scripted regional language of the divided province of the Punjab: ‘Unee aashiq guzre te Mirze veeh pujai: 19 lovers passed before Mirza brought on the 20′.

Bringing-on-the-20 means doing something outrageous and unacceptable to a social set. Example: 19 centuries passed before Bobett brought on the 20. Wait, this may have made some readers uncomfortable including myself, so allow me to change the line of my argument. Mirza brought-on-the-20 by indulging in whatever marital sex, but did he do it alone? Was SahebaN not a party to the sinful crime? But here you will notice that contrary to the widespread cultural norm of placing the responsibility of all negative occurrences on the most visible woman in the vicinity, this proverb places the responsibility of that whatever marital sex on Mirza alone.

I am still reluctant to define the nature of sex that may have taken place between Mirza and SahebaN because what marital sex they could have had in the short span of time in the village Mosque where they fell in love; at the house of Masi before they eloped; and, on the run before they died. I am also reluctant to call the activity by its Muslim name Zina, meaning adultery. Because if I do, we will have to bring in the Sharia Laws as practiced at times in Peenutstan, Honoristan and Hairan; and that, to quote hopeful writers who have said it before me, ‘is a subject for another book’.

Back to the now way above proverb, by placing the total responsibility of that-marital sex on Mirza alone, the Social Set is telling us what? Not that SahebaN was absolved! Her role was overlooked because it was undesirable for that Social Set to award her recognition at the proverbial level of their mother language.

The reason: SahebaN lost her virginity to Mirza (or did she?) without the required intervention of any priest; eloped with Mirza when all her kin were at her house to marry her off to WhatWasHisHame; and then when her brothers caught up, she threw Mirza’s quiver up the looming tree (what was she smoking?). Both got killed. SahebaN’s death occurs somewhere in the footnotes while Mirza’s death at least is mourned by Peelu, author of the first version of `Mirza SahebaN’.

Punjabi word `Peelu’ means ‘one wild berry or more’ constituting another uncommon name. This one gives us no clue about the gender, occupation or quantity of its bearer but everyone knows that Peelu was a guy, why? For one, Peelu was astounded by Mirza’s mare Bakki, and to him, SahebaN was just a lust-inducing, strong and stupid woman who like so many others was bound to, and did, bring an honorable and brave man to his defeat and death. If Peelu had the time to wonder why one of his characters was acting the way she was, he would have found them. May be not, it’s hard for most mortal men to withdraw attention from fast means of transportation.

Poet Peelu, that single sour berry or more, is being discussed here at the expense of Hafiz Burkhuddar the other Mirza SahebaN author because it was Peelu who wrote the base line that was later used with many other active ideological solutions to fertilize the crop of various prejudicisms sowed earlier in the land. This is how Peelu advises Mirza, the young Punjabi gun, as to the nature of women:
`Bhit ranna.n di dosti, khuri jinhan de mutt: Cursed is the friendship of women, whose wisdom has been melted away.’

The line forged another over-used proverb in the same rich library of the same dual-scripted language of that same divided province.

Yet again, it was Peelu who perpetuated outrageous myths about the women and people of Sial, a location in the Punjab that has given us not only our two SahebaNs and a Sehti but also our one revered Heer. But Peelu, in the language of Mirza’s mother who of course is a Kharl, says:
`burre Sialaan de moamale, burrie Sialaan dee raah
`buriyaan Sialaan diyan aurtaan, laindiyan jadoo pa
‘kudh kaleja khandian, mere jhate tel na pa’
If you haven’t already guessed it then here it is:
`Bad are affairs of the Sialis, bad the path leading to them; Bad are women of Sial, casting magic spells; They take out the lungs (of lovers) and eat, don’t fool me by putting oil in my disheveled head.’

From this poetic depiction, it appears that the opposites were assumed to be true about the Kharls by the Kharl Matriarch.

SahebaN may have had another story to tell and it may have been different from what we got from poet Peelu, and the Matriarch above.

Imagine a scene outside a non-descript village in the vast countryside of the Punjab. SahebaN and Mirza, after striking an unforgivable blow to the ‘honor’ of the peoples of both Sial and Chadhar, have eloped on Mirza’s much-praised-by-now mare Bakki. On the way, in self defence, Mirza has fearlessly killed one of SahebaN’s brothers in front of her. Now, after covering some distance, they stop to rest under the shade of Jund trees. Mirza reclines, SahebaN implores him to take her to Dhanabad, his Kharl capital. Mirza responds by telling SahebaN how he is going to kill the rest of her brothers and kin, and how after killing them, his mare Bakki will take them to Dhanabad and safety. Despite SahebaN’s repeated protests, Mirza decides to fall asleep in an insecure Siali territory not to mention the miserable shade provided by the skimpy Jund trees. SahebaN hears her brothers approach and without explaining anything to poet Peelu, throws Mirza’s quiver up on the Jund, and out of his immediate reach.

It did not cross Mirza’s mind, or Peelu’s, that SahebaN may have loved her brothers and other members of her family, and she may have hoped that if Mirza did not kill another of them first, reconciliation was still possible; Or that if Mirza was unarmed, the two had a chance of being taken alive.

Instead, she was pushed up and down the loyalty cliff, and from that point, Mirza was alone on one side while the other was crowded by SahebaN’s brotherhood. The brotherhood as usual stood supported by fatherhood, motherhood, aunthood, unclehood, neighborhood, and, at least a portion of the sisterhood. I think, SahebaN was a dead woman right there, and so was Mirza.

In this case of split loyalties, SahebaN confronted similar choices as the ones later Sophie had to face: whose life would you spare? Sons or Daughters? Lovers or Brothers? Result? One died fast, the other had to live with it. As well, even in death SahebaN gained the unparalleled notoriety of being a woman who wavered in her loyalty both to her family and her lover. I will not question Mirza’s loyalty because I am trained to not question the loyalty of Muslim men.

Another overlooked aspect of this story is that through her actions SahebaN affirms non-violence when she asks Mirza to leave a violent situation; and, again as she throws away the quiver. It is unfortunate that this important aspect of this folk story has been muddled with feudal-macho Adam-Eve blame-guilt loyal-disloyal streaks.

I notice that somewhere during this discussion, our SahebaNs have gotten confused. It is hard now to differentiate between SahebaN Folk and SahebaN Relentless or Peenutstan and Pakistan. For the rest of this Note, we will use SahebaN F (Folk Hero) and SahebaN R (Relentless Warrior) to keep us on the !Right track.

Not only that they both have the exact same name but their country of origin, place of birth and gender also is the same. In addition, they use the same script for their mother language; share allegations of what-marital sex; and, sport lovers who were passionate about their respective means of transportation.

Our conceptual boundaries may continue to obliterate as we read about the Lord of the Trap, SahebaN R’s !Rightful lover. As you now know, Mirza had no !Rights; he also did not have a flat screen 48’ color Plasma TV or a Toyota Celica; but most of all, due to destiny, he did not get the chance to bring SahebaN F to the gaping teeth of the Formidable Institution (Read The Lord of the Trap).

Time to recall Dulla: SahebaN R being a warrior can be compared to Dulla though it would be unnatural for a Muslim woman to do so, so let me put both aside for a moment and go to female heathen Zena.

In the Muslim world, warrior-princess Zena will never cut it and may actually cast a harmful shadow on both if compared with either of the SahebaNs. But if Xena was to modify her image she may see large profits emanating from that mysterious, and now somewhat dangerous, world. First of all, a change of name will help (Binte Laden? Noori?). In addition, her top should have no highlights on boobs, the shape of the bottom should be similar to baggy pants, and she should learn to reveal everything through a plain uninviting robe.

I would advise the scriptwriters of Zena to immerse themselves in the 130 novels written in Urdu by author Nasim Hijazi to improve the Warrior Princess’s mannerism by bringing her close to a respectable, purdah-clad, horse-riding, man-awaiting, brave Muslim woman. This also may help her to eventually learn how to get the men to do the fighting while she enjoys her time waiting for them in their matrimonial home.

Another worrisome aspect of Zena is the undercurrent sexual dynamics of her relations with the white woman. Replacing the woman with a bearded white man will guarantee Zena’s success as this is what we do to all our gay Sufi poets: replace, make the gayness invisible, shwank, its not there. An example: you have heard about the love lore of the Punjab from me, and you have seen these four names: Heer Ranjha, Mirza SahebaN, Sassi Punnu, Sehti Murad. I have, like all my predecessors, made invisible the names of all the glorious lovers who failed to fall in love with women, and that include our great classic poets Madhulal Hussain and Bulleh Shah.

You may not believe it but I must insist that I am not responsible for initiating this trend where we can collectively punish men who, rejecting all the man-positive women of the world, go on to love other men. I cite the case of Shah Hussain because it is the story of love of an insightful artist who knew what we were going to do to him so he tried to preserve his gay and secular identity by adding his lover’s name to his own as he proclaimed himself ‘Madhulal Hussain’.

On the other hand, I, like most Punjabis have put his true and complete identity in the locked drawer of my desk, and just make-do with parts of him when reading or singing his poetry.

Anyway, apart from the popularity factor, comparing Zena to SahebaN R is like comparing Bin Laden with Green Party leader Ralph Nader. Too much! None of these comparisons will improve SahebaN R’s image, they may actually make it worse. Don’t take me wrong, its not just Zena. Comparing SahebaN Relentless with Zena, Phoolan Devi, Mohammed Bin Qasim or Dulla Bhatti is not easy. The difficulty with SahebaN is this: who wants a hero who uses no weapons, drives nothing for transportation, and has no license to allow hero worship?

Aside from these credibility holes, working as a weaponless warrior I doubt if SahebaN made any money at all but it did prove one thing that SahebaN, much like Mahatma Gandhi, did not have a mortgage to pay. So, let me just say that the stories of both Folk and Relentless SahebaNs have remained undersold because of discrimination against them of high intellectuals, partial historians and global institutions. This project endeavors to correct some erroneous assumptions about at least SahebaN R if not SahebaN F.

From The Adventures of SahebaN: Biography of a Relentless Warrior by Fauzia Rafiq

Feica Lost and Found?

No, no, this NOT Feica!

There are numerous rumors about our Karachi-based Punjabi Cartoonist Feica, who also happens to work at radio Musst FM103, as having been lost reminding us of our recently lost and found personality, Poet Afzal Saahir. But just because Feica works at the same radio station does not mean that he is lost as well or that after getting lost he will be as findable as Saahir.

Such rumors have underlying implications that if Feica’s country is about to be lost or is a ‘lost cause’ than Feica is too. But this view remains unsupported by the facts on the ground. We all well know that half of Feica’s country already became lost in 1971 illuminating all the ‘lost-caused’ aspects of it where Feica at 15 was gearing up in Multan to fall in love for the first time.

We are not sure if he did but we do know that two years later he had appeared afflicted with cartoonism at the National College of Arts (NCA) in Lahore, and has not been reported lost since.

Yet in a place where people are continuously being made to disappear, it is hard to assume that someone wouldn’t but i assure you that Feica at least is not lost. He is drawing cartoons for Daily Dawn and living in Karachi, a city still considered to be one of the many ‘burning’ parts of Pakistan. Even so if you don’t want to take my word for it, view the cartoon at the beginning of this post, and the one at the end. Though none provide a definite address for him in Karachi, both indicate the obvious un-lostness of Feica because of his (authenticated*) signage dated April 29, 2009.

Pakistan: The Day of Birth to April 29, 2009

In the above ongoing scenario, Feica has pointedly placed himself beside an un-armed Single Mother and her two unarmed kids; but more dangerously, under the direct range of an agitated bird. As you can see, all this is taking place way below the popular international cinema scope featuring the Global Puppeteer with a Local Mover, and a Local/Global Shaker. All fully armed.

Indeed, it is a clean depiction of a messy situation that involves blood and explosives as the three armed parties fight each other and kill others to gain control over mineral-rich areas of Pakistan such as the North-Western Frontier Province or FATA/PATA, and Baluchistan. And if the urban educated families of Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad are feeling attacked, it is because these three cities hold the key to all the treasures of the country.

In this situation, it may be best to look for our lost and about-to-be-lost treasured resources instead of putting our energies in finding a totally un-lost Feica.

If you agree with this suggestion, get back to us asap as we are ready to launch the search to find all the desired lost ideas, countries, languages, national treasures, and (at least some) people.

* Feica’s signature authenticated by Poet Mudasar (the other) Punnu .

P.S.

As i was finishing this post, the news of another lost person being found had surfaced in digital format. Before we go on to reveal his identity, it is important to warn you that this person may have us stretch our carefully drawn boundaries. He falls in the category of a ‘person’ and yet can also be depicted as a ‘national treasure’ for the nation of Punjab because of the mammoth amount of work accomplished by him to gain-back a fast-loosing language, independent thinking and grounded literature. View his most recent publication ‘Comrade Lal Khan‘ (co-edited by Saif Khalid).

Renowned Punjabi Poet, Writer and Archivist Ahmad Salim who was thought to be lost since Nov-Dec 2008, has been spotted today in London UK by Author/Photographer Amarjit Chandan.

Jeevay Ahmad Salim!!!

Ahmad Salim, London May 4, 2009

Photo by Amarjit Chandan

Brilliante Punjab: Offering to a writer, an editor, and a reader!

This offering of appreciation is made to three individuals who have nurtured Punjabi with creative excellence for many years; and, in different ways, all three have inspired content at Uddari Weblog during its first year.

Likhari Amarjit Chandan
Sodhi Maqsood Saqib
PaRihar Bharat Bhushan

As we all have a bit of a likhari, a sodhi and a paRihar in us, it is height of pleasantness to find individuals who are brilliant in any one area. All three have a luminous aura of work that has enriched Punjabi literature and literary communities in South Asia and Abroad.

Indeed, our writer is also an activist and a photographer; the editor, a publisher and fiction writer; and the reader, a blogger and web publisher.

Amarjit Chandan

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Amarjit Chandan may be only one of the eight contributors and authors of Uddari Weblog but his presence is way more than his number share. Here are the top three.

Chandan made this most amazing contribution of over fifty portraits of Punjabi and South Asian writers, artists and poets to Uddari Art: Amarjit Chandan, a photographer’s profile

His second unmatched contribution is the materials he provided from Amarjit Chandan Collection for the Archives section of Punjabi Books. View Punjabi Books: Archives

And, the third, by sending original photos of over a dozen great inspiring women, he hurried the creation of ‘Great women of Punjabi origin‘ in the very first month of Uddari. Photos included activists Gulab Kaur, Kewal Kaur, Tahira Mazhar Ali Khan, Vimla Dang and Sophia Duleep Singh.

Its only befitting than to begin the second year of Uddari with Amarjit Chandan being the first author to be added to Punjabi MaaNboli Writers Page next month. Till then, view:
Chandan’s website
And
Search results for ‘amarjit chandan’ at Uddari Weblog

Maqsood Saqib

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Maqsood Saqib belongs to the breed of editors (and publishers) who will always prioritize quality over for example, a pressing dateline or social and monetary concerns. Though this breed may be rare in Punjabi literary journalism and at that, disappearing fast, Maqsood Saqib continues to gain strength with his ongoing output of high quality Punjabi literature in the form of books and magazines.

Saqib works out of a second floor office on a busy intersection in Lahore. The editing, production, retail and management of both Suchet Kitab Ghar and Monthly Pancham takes place in an equivalent of a two bedroom apartment with no balcony.

In 2007, i had the pleasure one time of entering that office and finding Maqsood Saqib not in his usual chair at the entrance behind a table and four guest chairs, but sitting in a fully furnished bed that had made an unexpected appearance in the middle of the production room.

The area designated here as ‘the middle of the production room’ is a 9′/12′ space erstwhile being used to get to the washroom in the right corner, to the kitchen counter straight ahead, the safe room in the left corner, photocopying and printing machines by the right wall, and the desktop publishing station by the left. Let me not forget however, that this exact area also works as a drawng room for staff and guests.

There, sitting upright in his sick bed with feverish red eyes, our editor/publisher was guiding the production of monthly Pancham from the tent of his comforter.

The second endearing episode relates to the camera ready Shahmukhi copy of my poem ‘Social self de loR’ (Need for a Social Self) that i had been asked to come and proofread for a 2006 issue of Pancham. There were a couple of typos, sure, and i handed it back to him. But… he said, this does not make much sense ‘performer dae leeRiaN andar vekhan vaal da pinda? (‘In the guise of a performer, the body of a spectator’). I said, yes, ‘vekhan vaal’ from Urdu ‘tmaashbeen’; he said, sure but ‘vekhan vaal da pinda?’

It was not until he actually held an imaginary solitary strand of hair above the table in front of me that i saw the mistake. The verse read as ‘viewing the body of a hair’ instead of ‘the body of the spectator’… It was hilarious to me but without affording a smile, he wrote it down: ‘vekhan-vaal’ as one word instead of ‘vekhan vaal’ as two.

I wonder if any other editor of Punjabi literature would have found, and then corrected, this ‘vaal-brobar’ mistake that was big enough to condemn a poem to an unintended hole of hilarity.

Here is some information on Maqsood Saqib’s work:
Publishers Page at Punjabi Books
Suchet Kitab Ghar
Subscribe to Monthly Pancham
Another image in Uddari Photo Album

Bharat Bhushan

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The first person who bought a book at Punjabi Books turned out to be none other than the Blogger at paash.wordpress.com who is determined to preserve everything written by Paash and about Paash. Bhushan believes that ‘the tragedy of Punjabi literature and culture has been that we have not done enough to preserve our history’.

Residing in UK, Bhushan bought the Shahmukhi edition of collected works of Paash titled ‘Paash, Sari Shairi’, edited by Maqsood Saqib and published by Suchet Kitab Ghar. View this book here.

Bhushan considers himself to be a ‘voracious reader of literature, especially Punjabi poetry’. He is a Paash enthusiast, and shares with us his motivation to collect materials about him:

‘I noticed from so many blogs in Hindi and Punjabi that there are some excerpts from Paash poems, and people are asking for more information about Paash poetry in Punjabi, Hindi, English and other languages, and more about his life and times. So I thought why not collect all of his poetry and other writings, the stories behind his writings, his life and times, his photographs, and academic research on his poetry, all at one place– a sort of reference point whereby it would be easier for others to access all this information. Hence my Paash blog.’
Bharat Bhushan

Brilliante Weblog Award is heartfelt appreciation of this community to Amarjit Chandan, Maqsood Saqib and Bharat Bhushan.
…
(i wonder about it too! Bhushan Jee, is this your real name?).

Most viewed Uddari posts 2008-2009

April 2008 – April 2009

In April 2008, Uddari Weblog was viewed over 600 times, by March 2009 the number had risen to 5000 views with the totals reaching 41000

Top Posts

Photo Album: Foto Mandli 2,361 views

Great Women of Punjabi Origin:
Punjab deyaN ManniaN PerwanniaN ZnaniaN 1,931 views

Punjabi Poems: NazmaN 1,758 views

Cultural Events: Rehtal Mehfli Varqa 1,670 views

Punjabi MaNboli Writers: Punjabi MaNboli Likhari 1,444 views

Punjabi MaNboli Publishers: Punjabi Maanboli Chhapay1,202 views

‘Sanjh’ A New Punjabi Literary Magazine 897 views

Slumbering Over Islamic Unity 887 views

All-Time Favorites
April 2008 – April 2009

Autobiography of the Great Dada Amir Haider Khan (1904-1986)

1. Royalty Rights in Punjabi Publishing

2. Royalties for Punjabi Language Authors

Modern Punjabi Literature at UBC: A glass half full!

Amarjit Chandan’s Poem being Carved in Stone in Oxfordshire

3. Author Royalties Down to Definitions in the Punjab

Post Retirement Positions for Musharraf

Bhagat Singh Shaheed Statue

Kishwar Naheed to Ahmad Faraz

‘Identity Card’ by Mahmoud Darwish in Punjabi

Lost and (Not) Found: Teen Idol Afzal Sahir

Kikli 13 July

THE SHOCK OF RECOGNITION: Looking at Hamerquist’s ‘Fascism and Anti-Fascism’ by J. Sakai

Yaar da Ditta Haar by Fauzia Rafiq

‘Porn Creation’ by Fauzia Rafiq

Most popular posts on Uddari pages

Sixty Years of Unflinching Beauty, 1948-2008

Kishwar Naheed: A Great Woman from the Punjab

Sophia Duleep Singh: A Great Punjabi Woman

Recent Raves
‘No Heer please, we’re Sikhs!’

Punjabi MaaNboli and the Punjabis-1

Uddari is One

April 11, Uddari Weblog is one year new!

134 Posts

300 Comments

295 approved

First post: April 11, 2008

Photo by Partap Singh Ahdan, Lahore 1943

Title: Aahu Chashm Ragini
Photo by: Partap Singh Ahdan
Sourced by: Amarjit Chandan

Post intended to be the first:
Royalty Rights in Punjabi Publishing

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First Comment

‘It is so unfortunate that in the new provincial assembly there is no party/individual/group to voice the right of children to study in the mother tongue. maybe we need to start a signature campaign to promote the cause.’
Posted by: Chitrkar from lahorechitrkar@gmail.com
On: Home, Uddari Mudhla Warqa
Submitted: 2008/04/07 at 9:19pm

First Uddari Page:

Great Women of Punjabi Origin

Punjab deyaN ManniaN PerwanniaN ZnaniaN

Added on: 2008/04/20

Kewal Kaur, a Naxalite activist

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First post

Kewal Kaur: A Great Punjabi Woman

Photo and information by

Amarjit Chandan

First Uddari blog site: Uddari Art Exhibition

First work of art: Shahid Mirza’s ‘Kala MaiNdha Bhaes’

In: Modern Art by Punjabis
On: May 23 2008

Punjabi MaaNboli and the Punjabis-2

Punjabi is the mother tongue of 90-100 million people; out of this, Pakistan claims 63 million, and India 29. The rest of us are sprinkled around the world where Canada is the Fourth largest host with UK being the Third. In these four countries, Punjabi is deemed ‘the most commonly spoken’ language in Pakistan, ‘the 11th most commonly spoken’ language in India, ‘the 2nd most common’ spoken language in the UK, and ‘the 4th most common’ spoken language in Canada.

Yet a UNESCO report lists it as endangered to disappear in the next few decades. And, even when we can not find the report, it is apparent that the extinction may well happen if we do not take notice of the situation faced by Punjabi Maanboli at all our present locations.

Even though Punjabi MaaNboli has suffered in India from Hindi and English as it has in Pakistan from Urdu and English, its effects are not as devastating. There are many reasons for this but the most intriguing is the one that has to do with the situation in which influential Punjabis found themselves at the time of Partition.

‘Influential Punjabis’ is a flexible, rather ‘loose’, term for the decision-makers of the Punjab at different times in our history; and, it allows for diverse social formations for all three of our contexts: India, Pakistan, and the Diaspora.

The Influential Punjabis

Language as identity emerged as an important issue for Punjabis in both India and Pakistan but the positions were as distant as the two proverbial banks of River Chenab.

Where In 1947, language became one of the strongest symbols of the survival of Sikh identity for Sikh Punjabis in India, for influential Muslim Punjabis the mother language was one of the many hindrances to the implementation of the ‘ideology of Pakistan’. The status of Sikh Punjabis as an insecure minority in Hindu-dominated India was reaffirmed as bloodshed ensued among Muslims and Sikhs across new borders. On the other hand, Muslim influential Punjabis ‘owned’, so to speak, the new state of Pakistan; and, continue to be the major stake holders in the country. In that still-born concept, the growth of a ‘Muslim’ identity was deemed crucial to the survival of the new state; and so, Urdu and English were awarded the status of national languages to rule and ‘unify’ the people who were rooted in five distinct cultural, linguist and geographic locations in a far-apart ‘nation’.

Most Punjabis reside in the Pakistani province of the Punjab where it is the mother language of 44% of the population; better still, because of the privileges and influences Punjabis enjoy in the country, it is understood and spoken by 70% of the population. Yet Punjabi has no status in Pakistan. The country has two official languages, English and Urdu, although none is the mother tongue of any indigenous group in the areas included in it. Punjabi remains un-acknowledged in Pakistan; it does not enjoy the status of, for example, the third national official language or even the official language of the province of the Punjab. As a result, Punjabi is neither taught at any level of the provincial education system nor is it the language of instruction or interaction at any level of guidance or governance. This assures that the language remains bereft of jobs, resources, teachers, educationists, students, researchers, writers, publishers and readers in Pakistani Punjab where 60% of all Punjabis live.

Despite discriminatory policies and practices of the Muslim Punjabi ruling elites, a tremendous development of Punjabi language and literature continues to happen in Pakistani Punjab, and i am glad to say that it is because of the painstaking continuous work of cultural activists and intellectuals of West Punjab. With no or negligible support from successive provincial or federal governments, political parties and vested religion-based interests, Punjabi continues to be spoken, written and read by millions.

In India, although only 3% of the population is ‘native’ Punjabi speaker yet it fares way better in comparison. Here, Punjabi is recognized as one of the official languages of Chandigarh, the shared state capital; and, of the states of Delhi, Panjab and Haryana. In the state of Panjab, Punjabi acquired the status of an official language in September 2008. Now it is taught in schools, and is the language of interaction at some levels of provincial government. This has been accomplished because of the persistence of East Punjabi politicians, cultural activists and intellectuals who did not allow the government of India to disregard their language rights.

It is also true that since the Partition, much of the direction to the movements for Punjabi language development around the world has been provided by progressive writers and intellectuals from East Punjab.

Living in the third space, we continue to reflect similar patterns regarding our mother language. Out here as well, Punjabi language is nurtured by East Punjabi writers and cultural activists while West Punjabi counterparts continue to avoid any allegiance to it by choosing to write in Urdu or English. Few middle class families in Pakistan speak Punjabi at home, and this is how it is in most our families in North America. Though this is a burning issue for East Punjabi communities as well but East Punjabi community leaders have developed organizations to discuss it, spread awareness and to improve the situation. Such structures, however, are still hard to find in Pakistani Punjabi communities in the West.

In my view, the saving grace for Pakistani Punjabis has been the efforts of dedicated Punjabi intellectuals/activists such as Dr. Manzur Ejaz and Safir Rammah, who built the APNA website in Washington DC to publish Punjabi literature in both Shahmukhi and Gurumukhi. This valuable work has now branched into a bi-script quarterly literary journal, and an online Punjabi daily newspaper.

In all our physical spaces, we face similar problems with important yet marginal differences. This prompts similar solutions. An example of this is the formation of ‘chairs’ in educational institutions. From my perspective, the downside to Punjabi language development was the formation of ‘Sikh’ chairs where a large proportion of development effort went into the hands of religious interests in India and in the West. The same solution is now being implemented in Pakistan by initiating the ‘Sufi’ chairs.

It is important for the health of languages and cultures to take shape in non-restrictive creative environments, and so we must find, support and create secular spaces to develop Punjabi MaaNboli literature, languages and cultures. An interesting example of this came out last month where a folk singer was not allowed to sing Heer when requested by the audience at a music concert in a Khalsa College in India.

Also view Punjabi MaaNboli and the Punjabis-1/The PLEA Event: Need for Capacity Building

Numbers from Wiki
Top Ten Punjabi speaking countries
Pakistan: 80,000,000
India: 30,000,000
United Kingdom: 1,600,000
Canada: 800,000
United Arab Emerates: 720,000
United States: 700,000
Saudi Arabia: 640,000
Hongkong: 270,000
France: 180,000
Australia: 120,000
Genetic Markers
‘Roughly 42% of genetic markers in the Punjab were of West Asian origin, the highest amongst the sampled group of South Asians’ (1).
The areas included in West Asia now have the following countries in it: Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Cypress, Lebanon, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbiajan, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgystan, Kazakhastan.
Main Dialects
Punjabi has 28 dialects (PU, Patiala), the following 12 are recognized by Language Department of Punjab, India.
1. Pothohari, 2. Jhangi, 3. Multani, 4. Dogri, 5. Kangri, 6. Pahari, 7. Majhi, 8. Doab, 9. Malwai,10. Powadhi,11. Bhattiani,12. Rathi
Major Religious Groups
Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, Christian
Scripts
Gurumukhi, Persio-Arabic/Shahmukhi, Devnagri

References
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punjabi_people
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overseas_Pakistani#Canada
3. http://www.advancedcentrepunjabi.org/intro1.asp
4. http://iaoj.wordpress.com/2008/09/15/punjabi-becomes-official-language-of-indian-punjab/
5. http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census06/analysis/language/allophone_cma.cfm
6. http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/Products/Analytic/companion/lang/highlights.cfm
7. http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Punjabi_language
8. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Toronto_Area
9. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Canada
10. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punjabi_language
11. studentsoftheworld.info

Uddari gets (a piece of) the ‘Brilliante Weblog Award’!

Surfing the Net last week, i came upon this:
‘Uddari -  Fauzia Rafiq and other prolific writers collaborate to blog about contemporary Punjabi Literature, art, events and  movements .’
That led me up to this:
‘Now its my turn to follow the rules of Brilliante Awards by passing it on to the 5 bloggers i admire:’
And down to this:
‘Folk Punjabi- Deepinder puts nice effort to blog about folk Punjabi boliaan. Punjabi Haiku-  Amarjit Sathi has started a new wave in Punjabi haiku writing, works  of new writers and translation of Haiku from around the world is posted here.  RoopScoop – for doing wonderful job by starting a blog like unchahi on female foeticide. Lafjan da Pul – Deep Jagdeep wants to bridge the divide by making it easy for people who write in Gurmukhi and provide a platform for everything that is Punjabi.’

View it all at Jasdeep’s ‘Parchanve’ blog

By recognizing the contributions of others, Jasdeep is showing us the how-tos of community building. I am delighted to be a part of it also because its ‘Passing The Love‘, and because Brilliante is grassroots community-based non-monetary initiative that is flexible and versatile, and can not be hogged by anyone.
So, here, Uddari gets a Fifth of The Brilliante Weblog Award
And
Passes it on to:
A Writer of Punjabi poetry and prose who has inspired many posts at Uddari and Uddari Art, and has initiated the Archives Section at Punjabi Books.
(An easy guess for most of us at Uddari)
An Editor of Punjabi books and magazines who delivers literary excellence in each book or magazine he edits and publishes.
(A bit tough, perhaps)
and
A Compulsive Reader of Punjabi poetry who bought online the first Punjabi book at Punjabi Books, and so unknowingly, has become the FIRST READER FOREVER (FRF) or PEHLA PUNJABI PARHIYAR at http://punjabibooksonline.com/
(Almost impossible)

The three lucky names are hidden in the 10 pages of Uddari Weblog, and whoever finds them by April 11, 2009 the day of Uddari’s first birthday, will be awarded… a BRILLIANTE, of course.

Brilliante Punjab Feed
I was going to subscribe to the feeds of the above five Punjabi bloggers when it crossed my mind to burn a feed representing all Punjabi Brilliante bloggers. I did not want to actually burn it without getting permissions but i do have an example that improvises on a feed i was preparing for Punjabi Books. Please view it in the sidebar (even though it does not look good at this time) as the WordPress Widgets cannot be used in posts.
The background art work is by Subhash Parihar: ‘Sunset at Kokkapura’, view the disply at Uddari art.

The Brilliante blogs will also be added to the Blogs page at Punjabi Books.