Live Life like a Punjabi

Loud, loving and full of life, Punjabis personify fun. What are the attributes that make Punjabis fun to be with and makes them so awesome? 

Love for life and Celebrating Life 

No matter how small the occasion, Punjabi's love to party hard. There's food enough to feed a small country and Punjabis of all ages get their groove on the dancing floor. 

Punjabi Students in Celebration Mood

There's a reason why Punjabis say "saade naal rahoge te, aish karoge". Burraha!

Celebration of Life from Despair

Whats the Reason behind this boisterous behavior? Punjabi's love for life stems from their history. The desire to live the life to the full because its so short .. so short that you could lose it all in a matter of moments. 

Will of the Creator is Sweet - Tera Bhana Meetha Laagey

Being a frontier state, Punjab had to endure the plundering invasions of numerous foreigners for thousands of years ranging from Cyrus the Persian king, Alexander the Greek, Huns, Mongols, Tamerlane the Turk, Afghans , Mughals, and the British East India Company.

The Sikh Holocaust - Ghallughara

Millions have perished over years in trying to preserve their way of life, their heritage, and their beliefs. Sikh men, women, and children were butchered by these invaders in their effort to subdue the land of the five rivers.

The Sikhs survived such a despair times even when it was hard to find a Sikh in Punjab. The ruling Mughals had put price on the head of a Sikh. But the Sikhs bounced back and came back to established a Sikh domination from Delhi to Kabul. 

Maharaja Ranjit Singh in Lahore Durbar

The Sikhs lost their hard earned empire to the British in 1849 due to the courtroom politics and the treachery of their allies like Dogras. But the Khalsa stood upright and challenged the British in decade long Anglo-Sikh wars. Thousands perished but kept their heads high in five bloody battles with the British. 

Anglo-Sikh Battle at Sabhraon, Punjab

The partition of India was a major setback to the Sikhs. Over a million were butchered in ethnic cleansing by the Islamic jehadis who wanted to carve out a land just for the Muslims in the heart of Punjab. Sikh men were targeted by the Muslim mobs in West Punjab, their properties looted, and women abducted and raped en mass. 

Sikh survivors of 1947 partition violence

The first attack on Sikhs was executed by Jehadi tribal Pashtuns at Akalgarh village of Rawalpindi region. While all of the men died fighting the mobs, the young women were killed by their parents to save them from the trauma of rape and abduction. Remaining women committed suicide by jumping in the village well. In the following video, a Sikh describes the scene of that massacre.

A number of Sikhs arrived in India homeless refugees and had to rebuild their lives from the scratch. They were scattered all over India but the desire to survive and to succeed had not died yet.

Sikh Refugees from Pakistan in 1947

The Sikhs excelled in green revolution making Punjab the bread basket of India. The Sikhs in Delhi and the rest of India established themselves as successful businessmen and led the economic boom of independent India. 

Sikh students from Guru Harkishan public School

The period of peace and prosperity could not last long. Nefarious designs of Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi forced a partition-like scenario in Punjab and the rest of Northern India.

Operation Blue Star

The Indian Army attacked the Golden Camplex in June, 1984 killing Sikh pilgrims along with the Sikh militants in Operation Blue Star .

Sikh mother showing the remains of her teenage son

Sikh men were killed in Punjab and all over India by blood thirsty mobs led by Congress party leaders. Thirty years on they are still waiting for justice.

Celebrating Life

From such desperate times and complete gloom and despair, comes the desire to live the life and celebrate it. The exuberance of a Punjabi Bhangra demonstrate that desire visually. 

Bhangra Performance in California, USA

During the eighties, when the Sikhs were under the security blanket of Indian government and their religion, culture, language and heritage was on the verge of extinction, out came the explosion of Modern Bhangra.

Bhangra Enthusiasts from Midland, UK

Chardi Kalaa

So whats the secret "Mantra" for the Punjabi exuberance and love for life? To understand that, you will have to understand the key concept of "Charhdi Kalaa" in Sikh philosophy. It is a concept in Sikhism that refers to a mental state of optimism and joy. Sikhs are ideally expected to be in this positive state of mind as a sign of their contentment with the will of God, even during the times of adversity.  

The Punjabi word "Chardi Kalaa" (Caṛdī Kalā) can be translated as "positive attitude" or "ascending energy". It is also described as being in "high spirits" or “positive, buoyant and optimistic” attitude to life and to the future. Chardi Kalaa is the state of mind in which a person has no negative emotions like fear, jealousy or enmity. Instead the mind has many positive feelings including joy, satisfaction and self-dignity.

This conecpt is described very artistically by Kiran Kaur, a young Sikh artist from Bay Area, California:

I close my post with a quote from the Sikh Ardaas, the daily prayer that calls for the Chardi Kalaa and wishes well to the entire humanity by the Name of the Creator:

Nanak Naam Charhdi Kalaa |

Tere Bhaney Sarbat da Bhala ||