I rarely see Vir Sanghvi's pieces in good air as his writings tend to be of simplistic approach in my view. But I guess he has made a good point in his this piece: A Punjabi-dominated popular culture has swept all of India. The reason might be because he has not made any point, but merely an observation.
When I think about people I meet from south India who know about Bhangra while my native Punajbi people don't know a scintilla about katha-kali or kuchi-pudi, I cannot but accept the fact
"I believe that the change in dress habits is part of the growing Punjabi-isation of India."
Sanghvi is also right in saying that
"But equally, I am not prepared to say that Punjabi-isation is necessarily a bad thing. But it’s worth thinking about, isn’t it?"
I think 'cultures' evolve rather than dominate one another. Like Punjabi culture is a mess of Mughal, Sikh and Hindu culture constantly invoked by invaders who came to India via Punjab. Yes, it is a mess and there exactly lies the richness of culture. Maybe intrusion of Punjabi culture in others is actually evolution of other cultures and that of itself too.
And by the way, the essential Punajbi culture is not about Indian Punjab but the bigger Punjab region.
When I think about people I meet from south India who know about Bhangra while my native Punajbi people don't know a scintilla about katha-kali or kuchi-pudi, I cannot but accept the fact
"I believe that the change in dress habits is part of the growing Punjabi-isation of India."
Sanghvi is also right in saying that
"But equally, I am not prepared to say that Punjabi-isation is necessarily a bad thing. But it’s worth thinking about, isn’t it?"
I think 'cultures' evolve rather than dominate one another. Like Punjabi culture is a mess of Mughal, Sikh and Hindu culture constantly invoked by invaders who came to India via Punjab. Yes, it is a mess and there exactly lies the richness of culture. Maybe intrusion of Punjabi culture in others is actually evolution of other cultures and that of itself too.
And by the way, the essential Punajbi culture is not about Indian Punjab but the bigger Punjab region.
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2 comments:
28 April 2009 at 10:17
Harminder will love this piece of info ..mail ur link to him :)
28 April 2009 at 16:47
I think it is the positive and full-of-energy spirit in everything Punjabi that has caught the imagination of everyone. The vibrations are simply too powerful to be missed. Bollywood and the Indian Army have played a huge role in making all Indians aware of the effervescent Punjabi spirit. We all know what OP Nayyar did with his music in the sixties.
Balle balle. Chak de phatte!
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