Punjab

These are just some random rants about what I have been thinking about. Watching this podcast episode by Sangtar kind of pushed me to scribble it down here. So should the culture not change ? How do we decide that what all bits should stay as they are and what all bits should change ? Also, who decides that ? We have seen that black and white photograph showing a traditional Punjabi kitchen. Such kitchens had arrangement for letting the smoke out but of course wood and all the stuff that was used wasn’t a clean fuel like modern day things including gas and electric stoves. Since mostly women worked in the kitchen, they were the ones most impacted by this. That photograph looks nice and nostalgic but should it not have gone anyway ensuring better health for all who work in the kitchen ? ...

A friend sent a link to a video that shows 2 girls smoking smack and cigarettes in what looks like a hostel room. Neither this is something totally new nor as a man, I have any right to say that girls shouldn’t do this. When boys are doing all this why not girls ? But something visual like this does make an impact and makes you think like where we are heading ? ...

Called home and was talking to father saab. He told about a recent incident in our village. A husband & wife worked in the High School there. Husband retired sometime ago and he got few lakhs as his full & final amount. Their son who is a drug addict was demanding that money from his father. He said no to any money as he needed to get the two girls married off with that money. One day his son beat him up and hit him on the head. Probably due to that he lost his mental balance and one day committed suicide by jumping in front of the train. Villagers called the boy and first he denied to come and then came well dressed wearing black goggles. While giving the statement to Police he said “I am feeling stressed now, will record my statement after 2-3 days”. ...

Sent by one of my friend. An amazing poem by Surjit Patar saab. ਮੇਰੀ ਮਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਮੇਰੀ ਲਿਖੀ ਕਵਿਤਾ ਸਮਝ ਨਾ ਆਈ ਭਾਵੇਂ ਮੇਰੀ ਮਾਂ ਬੋਲੀ ਚ ਲਿਖੀ ਹੋਈ ਸੀ ਓਹ ਤਾਂ ਬਸ ਏਨਾ ਸਮਝੀ ਪੁੱਤ ਦੀ ਰੂਹ ਨੂੰ ਦੁਖ ਹੈ ਕੋਈ ਪਰ ਇਸਦਾ ਦੁਖ ਮੇਰੇ ਹੁੰਦਿਆਂ ਆਇਆ ਕਿਥੋਂ ? ਨੀਝ ਲਾ ਕੇ ਦੇਖੀ ਮੇਰੀ ਅਨਪੜ ਮਾਂ ਨੇ ਮੇਰੀ ਕਵਿਤਾ ਦੇਖੋ ਲੋਕੋ ਕੁਖੋਂ ਜਾਏ ਮਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਛੱਡ ਕੇ ਦੁਖ ਕਾਗਤਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਦਸਦੇ ਨੇ ...