Why do lot of Punjabis don't speak in Punjabi?

Dear Readers,

Welcome back!!! I hope you are having a great day.

Today I want to discuss on one sensitive topic. My intention is to reason and not to judge. So, please excuse me if you feel that I am being judgemental.

I am a Sikh and my mother tongue is Punjabi. Now, it is only very normal to guess that I speak Punjabi at home. Any non-Punjabi person might make this educated guess. However, to your surprise you will realise that most of the Punjabi people don't speak in Punjabi. Most of the Punjabi people that I know all speak in either Hindi or in English. As a kid I was very surprised that many of my cousins did not even know how to speak in Punjabi.

Punjabi people are very proud people. They are mostly extroverts and like to show off their culture. They like their butter chicken, bhangra (form of dance) and songs more than anything else. Still when it comes to our own mother tongue we hesitate to speak it.

I have tried to ask few people why they do not speak in their own language. The reason they give is that speak in Punjabi with their grand parents but otherwise they do not speak it. It is not like that they are ashamed of this language. But, it has become the mindset of the new generations to not speak in this language.

So, who is to be blamed for this situation? I believe the blame should lie directly with their own parents. For some odd reason I found that most of the parents try to speak to their children in Hindi or English. This is true even in most homes in Punjab.

My dear Punjabi friends, let me help you to recall that Punjabi is not an ancient or obsolete language. In fact, it is a very modern and beautiful language. The syllable overtone is poetic. Those who have read our holy book Guru Granth Sahib ji or heard the Kirtan (hymns) at the Gurudwara would acknowledge the beauty of our mother tongue.

I have seen my dear south Indian friends speaking their mother tongues with pride in all parts of the world. Our English friends have spread their language to the whole world. Then, why do we hesitate to speak in our own language ? A language is liking a living person. If you do not care for it, it will die. Do you want our language to end up like a forgotten tongue ?

It is not too late yet. We can always learn from our mistakes. Let us all remember who we actually are. A person should always remember his own roots. We need to instill pride of our own mother tongue in the coming generations. We can start this process slowly and one day will come again when Punjabis will start speaking in Punjabi.

I hope you will try to understand my sentiments even though you may not agree with all my words.

With Love,
Gunjan.