How often do you speak Punjabi?

[Gurjeet Kaur]

the majority of youth in western countries can't speak punjabi fluently (or at least not as well as the elder generation). slowly our language will become watered down and in a few generations it'll be hard to find anyone who can speak properly.

[sher singh]

So? whats the big deal? punjabi is a language we use to communicate. it is primarily used in punjab, but your here now in bc.. here we speak english.. why would we need punjabi? punjabi is only understood by punjabi people where english is a universal language.. so isnt it a good thing we are speaking english more?

[Sukhjeet Singh]

hmmmm good point sher singh, and what about punglish alot of kids speak that...... is that considered sort of punjabi

[tejinder singh]

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh

Speaking Punjabi is very important. It can help one's Sikhi as well.

1. A person who can read, write, speak Punjabi well will be better off in understanding Gurbani. There are so many words, metaphors and concepts that Guru Maharaj mentions in Gurbani that we can relate to in the Punjabi language.

Example: A couple of years ago, a young man came from India a few years ago. He didn't have any family here and didn't have a place to live. His family knew my family so my father asked him to stay with us until he got settled. He's about 25 years old, has respect for Sikhi, but isn't Amritdhari.

He stayed with us for about a year and I learned a lot from him. His Punjabi, of course was very good. He liked to read the newspaper and also read Gurbani occasionally. He sometimes would read Gurbani from a Senchee (small Pothi containing a part of Guru Granth Sahib Ji). After getting up from doing Paath, he would sit down with me and do veechar. He was always different after doing Paath, as if he was intoxicated (in Gurbani).

He would tell me some of the meanings, deep concepts and stories he learned from the Paath. I asked him, did you read a Steek (Pothi that gives meanings on Gurbani)? He said no, I can understand the Gurbani as I am reading it.

I was amazed hearing this, he said, "Every line I read, the more it moves and changes me as a person." I asked him how he learned to understand Gurbani. He mentioned that he's never taken a class or anything, he can understand the meanings just from the daily Punjabi he's spoken while growing up.

This showed me the importance of speaking Punjabi, as it will help us in understanding Gurbani.

Note: Gurbani is an ocean...nobody will ever be able to understand its depth and quality. By doing Ardas (prayer) and making an effort, hopefully Guru Ji will allow us to understand it as much as possible.


2. A very important part of Sikhi that is somewhat forgotten is Katha. Reading Puratan Hukamnamay of Guru Sahib, we can see how Keertan and Katha are two important parts of Sikhi.

As mentioned before, understanding Gurbani completely and accurately is beyond us. Katha is primarily done in Punjabi, whether it is Katha on Gurbani, Gurmat or History. If Sikhi cannot be fully explained in Punjabi, then breaking off into different languages will surely take away from the full depth and accuracy.

Bhai Parminder Singh Ji, founder of the Guru Nanak Academy, spoke regarding english Katha. Bhai Sahib said that he has started doing Katha in english, because today's youth do not understand Punjabi well. This is simply to connect the youth to Sikhi. He wanted to, after some time, bring more Punjabi into his Katha. Eventually speaking in 50/50 Punjabi and English. This will then help the youth understand Punjabi more. Bhai Sahib wanted to prepare the youth so they can listen to Katha and Gurmat in Punjabi only.

So the point here is, speaking Punjabi will surely help us in understand Gurbani and Gurmat. That doesn't mean that if you don't know Punjabi, you can't understand Sikhi....nono.....but Punjabi will surely make things easier and faster.

I apologize for the length and babble in this post. Bhul Chuk Maaf Kario Ji.

[Sundeep Singh]

Awesome point wrt understanding katha. Not too many sant mahapurkhs do katha in English, although many do understand english and can converse with youth.


English lacks a lot of the words and concepts required to understand the very deep Sikh dharm. For example, how many words for God are there in Gurbani, and how many for God are there in English?

It really is far more difficult to convey deep deep concepts in English than it is in Punjabi. For example, asking for the gift of God's Naam is always translated as God's name, but it's so much more than that. It's untranslateable.

[kamal_kaur]

Well said. English translations simply lack the depth and descriptiveness that Gurbani has the power to convey, sometimes in just one word.

[R_Kaur]

Vaheguru. I agree with what has been written above. We once met Bibi Amarjit Kaur ji, Bhai Fauja Singh jis Singhnee & we were talking to them about their spiritual experiences & their life being the wife of a Shaheed. One of us asked, is there any message you would like to pass to the youth in the West, and the bibian in particular? She said, "I would teach them the importance of knowing their Ma Boli and passing it on to their children." Before Mata Ji mentioned anything about Sikhi, they emphasized the importance of preserving our Mother Tongue. There's also another Singh who was once telling us (he came to a meeting full of Bibian that were planning Gurmat Parchar but none of them were speaking in Punjabi).. & Singh Jee said, my own daughter isn't on the path of Gurmat, but at least she has love for her Mother (e.g. her mother tongue, Punjabi). He explained, you all are in charge of your homes, you need to pass on the mother tongue of Punjabi or else it can very easily wash out.

Many Asian Canadians people keep their heritage & language alive, even if they were born here. It's possible that they've given up some ideals of their original culture, but they still preserve their language - they're not afraid to use their mother tongue in public. I think it's good to speak to your own family/friends in Punjabi. Why not?

[sher singh]

i'd like to congratulate kamal kaur on her very first post.. (u can see her signed on all the time.. but never posting..hehe).. hopefully first of many..haha


umm tejinder singh ji.. what language is gurbani in?

[tejinder singh]

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh

Bhai Sher Singh Ji,

I cannot give you the exact answer, only Guru Maharaj knows exactly how many languages are written in Guru Granth Sahib Ji.

Listening to a Giani Singh doing Katha, the following languages were mentioned, as to be contained in Guru Granth Sahib Ji Maharaj:

- Punjabi
- Farsi
- Hindi
- Sanskrit
- Arabic (Persian)
- Brij Bhajsha
- Mixed Language
- More

Althought there are many more languages other than Punjabi, we have to keep in mind that Punjabi is also a mixture of many languages.

A person who can read, write and speak Punjabi, can somewhat understand hindi, urdu and other arabic languages.

The same thing in regards to Gurbani....some of the words used in other languages are the same or similar to words used in our Punjabi speaking language.

At the end of the day, all we can say is...by speaking and understanding Punjabi well, it will help us understand Gurbani.

This is not my knowledge, I heard this in katha. Bhul Chuk Maaf Kario.

[sher singh]

wjkk wjkf

Tejinder Singh Ji,

If gurbani consists of all those languages then shouldn't we attempt to learn other languages too? Our mother tongue isn't just punjabi.. if guru sahib is our mother/father.. and they were fluent in all languages and spoke all languages then how can we confine our mother tongue to just punjabi? our mother tongue language is not punjabi, english nor some other. our language is the vibration that we were created from.. ik onkar.. all of gurbani is just a translation of that.. all languages are created from vibration.. the root vibration is our mother tongue.. no?

[R_Kaur]

www.shaheedi.com/thenextstep

Since 1947, the Indian Government has started a shameless tirade against the state of Panjab by targeting a vital aspect of our identity, our maa boli [mother tongue]. In this track, it is the language of Panjab that is singing to us, pleading with us not to let the Indian government win. The Indian governments anti-Punjab lobby has ensured that titles of films are not written in Panjabi [only Hindi and Urdu] to signify their contempt for our language. Moreover, when the states reorganisation commission altered states according to their language after ‘independence’, Panjab was the only state that wasn’t recognised. Over 100, 000 people had to court arrest for Panjab to be recognised as a Panjabi speaking state. To this day, there is a concerted effort being made to ensure that Panjabi is eroded to pave the way for the national language.

Nevertheless, to what extent are we as the youth a part of this war against Panjab? We would much prefer to talk with friends and our family in English. How many of us have made a concerted effort to learn to read and write in Panjabi, particularly when so many of our brothers and sisters protested and died for that privilege. This not only has a detrimental impact on our relationship with Panjab, but will ultimately severe the ties between the next generation and Panjab. In this song, Panjab is asking for her lions to return to their den, and send an almighty roar to Delhi, a roar that echoes in the ears of all of Panjab’s enemies.

[sher singh]

isnt this ego? doesnt sikhi tell us to rid ourselves of this ego and pride?

sacrifices made were for punjab..which is on the other side of the world.. why should it concern us? here in bc, we have all the rights and we even have punjabi in schools.. i dont get whats wrong with the youth here.. they go on about khalistan.. they are born and raised in countries like canada.. they have no connection to that land.. why do they want khalistan? we have khalistan here in this country.. we have all the rights and no one is oppressing us and stopping us from reading gurbani, doing seva, and following the sikhi way of life... i think its time to move on and to cut the * .. the punjabi language is still here and its not going anywhere..

[Sukhjeet Singh]

thats kinda harsh singh..... but i can see where your coming from.........

[sher singh]

tisk tisk.. i was expecting someone to say something.. i didnt mean any of teh stuff i said above.. but so many ppl read it.. not a single person was able to say anything in response (except sukhjeet singh..u dont count tho lol).. dead consciences??

[tejinder singh]

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh

Just adding to this topic, my parents (Singhnee's parents) just came back from India last week. We talked about how Punjab is today, and how things are changing.

I'm sure some of you may have heard of this before, but a new trend in Punjab is that more and more "Punjabi" families are speaking hindi at home. It may be due to Bollywood influence, but a person is considered to be educated, modern and cool if he/she speaks hindi.

Speaking Punjabi on the other hand is even looked at being the way of the past, and gives the impression that you're not educated.

This is not the case is all cities and villages in Punjab, but it is common enough to be noticed in many areas.

Hearing this disappointed me. I think that this puts more responsibility on Gursikhs living outside Punjab to preserve the Punjabi language.

What can we do to prevent the Punjabi language from being phased out?

I know some families have a rule that they can only speak Punjabi at home. Parents, children, grandparents, siblings, everybody has to speak Punjabi at home. This is a good rule and we should take it seriously and try to enforce it.

I'm not trying to sound extreme here, but this is a crisis in Punjab. We need to do our part and in the process, our Punjabi will only get better and it can help our Sikhi too.

Does anybody have any other ideas to preserve or better our Punjabi?

Bhul chuk maaf kario.