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.

How a Sardar learnt Kannada

Dear Readers,

Welcome back!!! Hope you all are having a lovely day. Today I want to reveal to you all how I a Punjabi Sardar learnt the south Indian language Kannada.

I see a lot of reactions from people when they hear me speaking in Kannada. Some are confused, some are totally amused and some well are totally shocked. Some of my friends say that I speak Kannada so well that it is only my north Indian face which gives away the secret that I am a Punjabi. People on phone can never make out any difference.

I was born and brought up in Bangalore. And, I loved playing cricket. Most of my friends in the colony used to speak in Kannada. Even though there were lot of people whose mother tongue was different. But, our official language was Kannada in the cricket ground. I used to speak broken Kannada at first. But, slowly I picked up the language. I also used to watch the Sunday Kannada movies on Doordarshan. My favorite Kannada actors are Dr. Rajkumar and Dr. Vishnuvardhan. I also like Sudeep from the current generation.

Even at school I took up Kannada as the third language and I used to try to speak with my friends in this language. I used to take help from my neighbor Aunty for my homework and exams. Slowly, I became better at the spoken language.

I can tell you how useful picking up this language has been for me. Once, I was eating lunch with my friends in a restaurant. A stranger suddenly approached me and shook hands with me. He said he was very happy that I was speaking in Kannada so well. It taught me a simple lesson in life. No matter where you stay, you need to learn the native language. It helps you mingle with the local people. We become more approachable and we can communicate more freely with the native people.

I get lot of benefits due to the knowledge of this additional language. I am able to make lot of new contacts and friends very easily. Even at my office, I am able to relate easily to both North Indian people who speak Hindi as well to the Karnataka people who speak in Kannada.

I feel that all of us should try to learn at least three or four languages. One of our Prime Minister Dr. P.V. Narsimha Rao knew 14 languages. My four year old niece knows five languages - English, Hindi, Kannada, Tamil and Punjabi. When we learn a new language it increases our IQ level. Our mind becomes familiar with a vast variety of syllable sounds and starts processing information faster. 

The most important thing is you enjoy the feeling of oneness you can feel with the local people. So, as the saying goes "When in Rome, be a Roman!".

I hope you all liked this article. Please free to drop in your comments.

With Love,
Gunjan.

Power of negative thoughts

Dear Readers,

Welcome back!!! It is great to see you again. Hope you had a fantastic day.

Today, I was thinking of how negative thoughts can adversely affect a person. If we start thinking something negative that thought slowly consumes us and affects our mindset very badly. I have seen that wrong things tend to happen to people who think about it the most.

Let me share an incident. Few years back, I had been to Goa with my friends. Goa is a beautiful state known for its beaches, pubs and laid back life. It is visited by several tourists every year both from India and abroad. Goa is a very chilled out city and people come here to relax and move out of the hustle of the big cities.

It was the month of November. This is the month when tourists start arriving to the city. The month of December is when the city is over flowing with tourists gearing up for the Christmas and New year festivities. The air was cool and little humid with little bit of rain everyday. We had come to the Bagha beach which is known for outdoor sports. We went on the regular motor boat and banana split sports. After this we decided to do Para sailing. None of us had done this activity before and we were very excited.

We paid the money to the sports people and they took us to a boat. We were five friends and we were joined by a young couple in the boat. The guy seemed to be a little nervous but his girlfriend was trying to relax him. The boat took us to the deep sea. I was the first one to do the activity. One end of the rope was tied to a place in the the boat and the other end was tied to the chute. I was attached to the chute using a bag type of harness belt. The rope was released slowly and I flew out like a kite. It was quite thrilling to be 100 feet in the air and to be surrounded by the blue sea. One by one me and all my friends completed the activity. Now, it was the turn of the couple. The man was nervous and was saying that he did not know how to swim. The boat person explained that there was a life jacket tied to him and also a life guard would be on stand by if needed. Also, there was very little chance of him falling in the water. After a lot of encouragement from his girl friend, the poor guy decided to sail. The guy had barely sailed to the top when we all heard a loud noise and the boat stopped.

Before we could realize what had happened we saw that the poor guy had fallen into the water. He was struggling too hard and as a result he swallowed a lot of water. The life guard immediately jumped into the water and helped the guy back to the boat. We found out that the boat propellor had struck something hard which had made it to stop. Now, this was the only guy who did not want to be on this boat and was afraid of doing this activity. And, due to some bad coincidence he had to suffer this accident.

But, I have observed this type of behavior on more than one occasion to call it a coincidence. The toughest lab program usually comes to the guy who is usually afraid to take the exam. People generally end up in accidents if they get nervous. If a person thinks that he will fail in a driving exam even before he starts the car then he will normally fail.

I believe that negative thinking is dangerous as it affects the sub concious mind. If we start thinking of all negative things then definitely something will go wrong. So, we need to always think positively and surround ourselves with positive people. Staying with a person who has negative attitude can adversely affect ones own mind set. So, think positive and be positive always.

I hope you all liked this article. See you all very soon again.

With Love,
Gunjan.

A Coffee in the US vs A Coffee in India

Dear Readers,

Welcome back!!! It is so good to have you back again.

Today, I want to discuss about a simple concept. How we order coffee in India and how we order for the same in the US.

In India, we have small eateries and tea stalls in every corner of most cities, towns and villages. Most Indians are simple people. When they go to the tea stall they just ask for a tea or a coffee and the tea stall guy just pours it in a paper cup, clay pot (Kullad) or a glass cup and hands it over to them. We generally do not have too many customization. The only option that we get is whether there will be sugar in it or not. Sometimes, we do not even get this option :-)

I am a simple Indian myself. I do not generally go to expensive coffee shops where they offer so many options. In a regular tea stall in India we could get a cup of tea or coffee for just ten rupees (1 dollar is roughly equal to 66 rupees). In an expensive coffee bar the cost is anywhere between 80 rupees to 200 rupees. Even though the cost is less but we get the filtered south Indian coffee or the Darjeeling or the Assam tea which are some of the finest varieties in the world. As such most of the Indians do not care too much for the variety and you could see a large number of people around the tea stall at any time of the day or evening.

When, I reached Atlanta in US, I went to a Star Bucks for the first time. There were no Star Bucks in Bangalore at that time. I had only been to Coffee Day shop in Bangalore a few times. So, I found it similar. I saw a crowd of well dressed office people and a few Stylishly dressed teenagers lined for their orders. When my turn came, the server asked my order. I was not quite sure what to say. I just took a quick glance at the menu on the wall and repeated the name of the coffee at the very top. It was some name like a Frappuccino. Next, he asked me in what size I needed it. So, I said regular. I learnt later that there are three standard sizes - small, regular and tall. Next, he asked me whether I needed it cold or hot. I answered hot. Next, he asked how much cream. I did not know properly. So, I just quickly said one. Next, he asked how much sugar. And, I answered one. I was just beginning to think that the guy might be asking some more questions. Luckily, he asked me for the payment which I was only too glad to make. That day I realized how complicated it could be to buy a coffee.

I suddenly remembered a scene from a very popular Hindi movie English Vinglish where the lead actress Sridevi goes to a coffee shop in Newyork and later runs away scared and with tears in her eyes. Because, the coffee server embarrasses her since she is unable to answer all these questions quickly. Luckily, I was little confident and was accompanied by a few friends who helped me.

The point here is that Indians are simple people. They accept things the way they are. They are used to adjust easily. But, our friends in the US like to customize their orders to their own tastes. It is just a mix of different cultures. Both, of us take time to learn each other's culture and life styles. We should not judge each other harshly just because we may not understand each other. It takes time to build relationships and especially those that last for a long time.

I had read somewhere that a friend is not someone with whom you do not have differences. But, a true friend is someone who has an undersanding and tolerance of these differences. After spending a few months in the US, I became a regular customer at Star Bucks. I used to make my order of a regular Chai Latte, two cream and two sugar in a single breath :-)


I hope you liked this article. See you very soon again.

With Love,
Gunjan.

Break free from your mental prison

Dear Readers,

It is lovely to see you back again !!! Hope you are all having a lovely day.

Today, I want to talk about a topic which is very close to my heart. I want to begin the discussion with the reference to an article that I had read in a book few years back.

There was once a Magician. And, one of the items in his show was of house flies. The house flies always flew in a designated area on the stage. Not even one of them would move out of that area and try to fly away elsewhere. The audience were astonished as to how the magician could train the house flies. One of his subordinates who was learning magic under him asked him the secret for this act. The magician said these house flies were reared within a glass enclosure. These flies were bred inside in the glass enclosure and had never felt the outside world. Their world was limited to the size of the glass enclosure. Only during this act, the magician would lift the glass enclosure. The flies who had never flown beyond the glass walls would stop and turn away at the boundaries of the virtual walls even though they were no longer enclosed. So, this was how the magician made the flies to fly in a designated area.

My friends we are also not very different from these flies. Most of us are bound within some mental prison. We are keeping ourselves confined within the virtual walls of this cell. We only need to dare to break free.

History is only made by those people who have ever tried to make it. We cannot be restricted by any barriers but the ones which are created by ourselves. We need to be daring and take a step towards those things we cherish the most.

In the movie, The Pursuit of Happiness, the character of Will Smith teaches a very important lesson to his son. Both of them are playing basketball. His son is struggling to get the ball into the basket. And, his father criticizes him saying that he is not good enough to play the game. His son feels disappointed and agrees with his dad and starts packing his ball. His dad walks up to him and tells him not to believe in any person who tells him that he cannot play the game well, not even him. He says that people the only reason that people  try to stop or criticize anyone from doing something is because they themselves do not have the courage to do it.

Do not be disappointed by your failures. If you want something, go and get it. Like the movie Hindi Lakshya, remember that "Lakshya to har haal main pana hai!" which translated means "No matter what, I will achieve my goal!".

I hope you liked this article dear friends.

See you again soon.

With Love,
Gunjan.

Simple ways to serve society

Dear Readers,

Welcome back!!! Hope you are having a great day.

Today, I want to discuss about few important social causes and how we can contribute back to the society.

Social Cause 1 - Save Paper

As everyone knows that paper comes from trees. Lot of trees are cut every year to run the paper industry. So, what can we do to reduce the paper wastage and save the trees.

The rest rooms in all major public places like offices, restaurants, airports etc have Napkins (Paper tissues) for drying hands. The garbage bins are usually overflowing with the napkins. Now, if everyone started using hand towels or hand kerchiefs to dry their hands instead of the paper napkins we could easily save around ten paper napkins per person per day.

Also, in office cafeterias we see paper cups being used to serve tea or coffee or water. If everyone start using their own coffee mugs they could again contribute to reduce the paper wastage. Similarly, while shopping try to carry cloth bags to avoid using paper bags.

Social Cause 2 - Contribute money to a social cause

To run a country is a very difficult job. We cannot hold the government alone responsible for everything. Agreed, that we pay taxes. But, does our responsibility end there ?

Each one of us might have a social cause close to our heart. Someone might prefer to educate children, someone else might prefer contributing money to an orphanage or an old age home. Since, we may not get time out of our busy schedules to come down and help for these causes. So, it is better to identify some legitimate NGO and contribute money towards that NGO to help it run efficiently.

Social Cause 3 - Keep your city clean

I have seen people throw garbage right across the street and into empty plots. They imagine that it would become  someone else's problem after that. People also throw ice-cream and chocolate wrappers anywhere they feel like. It is high time to educate these people. If you see anything like this happening around you, quietly collect the trash and put it in a garbage bin. You can even approach the person and suggest him politely to do the same. These things might seems awkward at first, but I firmly believe in these methods suggested by Mahatma Gandhi. Since, these actions have a long term benefit and aim at changing the ideology of people. If you feel hesitant at first then start with your own family and educate them. Slowly, start spreading the right message to other people.

By doing simple things, we can bring great changes in society. Like John F Kennedy had quoted "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for the country."

With Love,
Gunjan.

Life is like a game of chess

Dear Readers,

Hope you are all having a fabulous weekend!!!! I am having a great weekend. I started my Saturday morning with a 6 km walk. After that I practised Guitar for an hour. And, now I am writing this blog. What a perfect weekend :-)

Today, I want to tell how I can correlate Chess with reality. When I was young, I hated this game. Any game that involved using my brains was against my principles. I was a more outdoor guy. Me and my friends used to play Cricket starting early morning till late night. I could never understand why two people were spending their brains on a board game.

As I joined my new office, I saw that they had kept chess boards in all coffee areas. Since, some of my colleagues used to play the game I started observing them. Sometimes to beat boredom, I used to join them in a game or two. My team had a lot of good chess players. I lost to everyone of them. So, I was a very bad player. But, something strange started happening. I started to like the game.

I started practising the game on my phone. I played on a chess app called KLite chess which has around 12 chess levels. I could never go beyond the fourth level. Then, I started learning and practising chess moves through lessons in the same app. Slowly, my game started to improve. I went on to beat the computer at the eight level. Slowly, I started beating the guys at office too.

But, my main competition was with the guys who had never lost to anyone. I thought I should practise hard so that one day I might beat this guy at chess. So, I joined a chess forum called Chess.com. This place was a hub of chess players from all over the world. It had Grand Masters and other very highly rated international players. I started participating in team games and started learning professional moves.

In this website, I progressed very well. From a paltry Elo rating of 476 I progressed till 1676 within 10 months. I was able to play games where I could predict the next 7 moves of the opponent. At office, I defeated the champion in my team in 5 consecutive games.

Now, you would say how is all this related to reality ?

The first phase when I was young and did not understand or like chess is like the Youth. As they say, the Youth is ignorant. We do not understand lot of things and we tend to be in our dream world. The second phase is when I started taking interest in Chess. This is when I say that when people truly understand something, they can appreciate it. Like they say, only a Jeweller understands the worth of a stone (diamond).

The third phase is when I started playing and losing. This is the phase in reality when the reality strikes hard, We know how difficult life truly is. The fourth phase is when I decided to work hard for my success. This is the stage when we need to pick up ourselves and be strong to face the challenges in life.

The final phase is when I won. This is the phase when the hard work starts bringing success. I once received a beautiful message and it read "Life itself does not have any meaning. But, it is an opportunity to create one."

I hope you all liked this article. I would love to get your feedback. You can put across your comments in the section below the article.

With lots of Love,
Gunjan.