I don't know what kind of readers I get here, maybe some friends, local googlers, or those who really want to Singh, anyways, it doesn't bother me. This post, apart from being this year's first (Happy New Year though) is also going to be quite whimsical. I'm going to start an ordered list followed by a new sketch and its story =)
- Punjabi Pride : Dear fellow Punjabis, Jatts, Ramghariyas, and other famous last name holders who like to aggrandize the caste system and strive to be masculine, cocky or rather Pendu, by driving roofless black jeeps (landi jeeps); tying clean, sharp and pointed Patiala shahi Pughs (turbans) or smaller checkered truck driver/ farmer turbans; swearing (Pan****, Maaye) in public or in front of kids or wife or even wife's sister or strange aunties; boozing on every err.. any occasion; crying in self written Punjabi poetry, probably over a girl and still faking a Maharaja gaze with half close eyes; always listening to foul and unpleasant punjabi music, Honey Singh, Pammi Bai, Diljit, Jazzy B, damn it ! Guys, YOU SUCK !! Get over the ancestral history already; get over the "Billion of Sikhs fought in World War I and II" kind of shit; don't use "Kimme aa 22 g" as a conversation starter if you're not from that dialect region of Punjab where it's used; stop digging 50/60 years old roots to find out which was your Pind (village) and whether it was Amritsar, Longowal, Sathiala or what not; give up distorting your blood line and linking it with martyrs; Bottom line, you are NOT promoting your CULTURE, you're just so badly stuck with yourself that it doesn't satiate the need for your empty pride, so you keep bigging up your Punjab. Get a life, you "Royal Enfield/ Bullllt" riding blockheads, when you are growing up with people like you, all you care for is, being Punjabi, Bhangra, Bolliyan, Girls, Bikes, Matching Turbans and "Tohr" !
- Punjabi Songs : "Jatt di manak yaron, Jatt di manak", "Sannu rabb ne banaya maharaje, saddi rees kaun kar lau", "Paggan bochmian", "I'm a Son of a Sardar", good lord these songs contribute to nothing but the first point. Lyrics of Punjabi music are so SUCKY that I wouldn't be surprised if these were to be used as sedatives. Though some songs are really funny, they aren't amusing. Punjabi songs have definitely come of age, it's got its own taste of music and videos, but I won't mind saying that most of modern Punjabi songs are RACIST, and are fervent boosters for the present day caste system in Punjab. Miss Pooja you're brilliant, no one could ever give Punjabi music Industry what you've given, collaborations with all sorts of Punjab and Caste obsessed fanatics/ singers, God Bless us !
- Sikh Pride : Uncontrived Sikhs, who don't trim or cut their hair, are the handsomest people in the world. Sikh kids are taught this when they are growing up, so that they don't end up cutting their hair or being confused about the the whole Sikh thing. But still many beg to differ, they'd rather trim their beard, and wear turbans or caps and be called Sikhs than keep the beard and be called Sikhs. So important question, who is a Sikh ? Well, any one who believes in Sikhism is a Sikh, period. And, when one believes in Sikhism and as long as he digs what Sikhism is all about, cutting or not cutting hair kind of questions wouldn't even come up. Stop promoting Sikhism the way it's being done, and you shall see less demotion per se. If a proper Sikh is so full with "I'm a Sikh, I'm the Handsomest and have God's blessings straight on me", and someone who cuts his hair keeps fighting with and saying to himself that "Yes, I'm a Sikh but in a different way", then I'm more than sorry to say that technically they both are same and are full of unnecessary shit. If you are a Sikh, then be done with that, I know being a Sikh is difficult, trying to keep up with the lifestyle and vanity is indeed a job but it's no excuse to be bragging about it all the time. There's a lot of commotion I notice is growing in the Sikh world these days. We have "First Turbaned Sikh Everyone and almost Everywhere", be it judges,doctors, politicians etc but why do we "Sikhs" have to "seek" them out, just because they look like us and are from same religious group, I don't know. I see people taking pride in making slide shows with those names in it and using those presentations to promote Sikhism. Well, people have their views but I'm kind of not with the idea of promoting any religion or learning names of Sikh achievers. Let me put it this way, if I'm a Christian, then I'm interested in Jesus and his Bible and not in the men who preach about it or its ways in the same manner I'm a Sikh and that's enough ! I don't care about the title or pride I should wear like the handsomest or best personality. Why do we need all these things, why do we have to create different images of ourselves, I'm not a lion, I'm a Singh. Yes, Singh means lion, and metaphorically Guru Gobind Singh ji told Sikhs to be lion back in those days, but may be with a different idea and not with the idea of pride and self-admiration. To all those preachers and religious teachers, who share their knowledge, "please, life is already complicated in its ways, you'd better not aggravate it" and cousins, don't be legitimately fucking with the idea. Final words, SIKH PRIDE is NOT for me!
- Punjabi Language : Now, the beef with languages. Singh/ I'm Indian, and we have a tough time learning and using English, especially when we're exposed to its exquisite usage or to the English media. India is a country of 114 languages. So, we mostly speak in our local language and not in English, of course. But we know this language, from school and education. That means, if we have to speak in English, we can. Same is the deal with Punjabi, you don't get to persuade every Sikh kid to speak in Punjabi, when he's not used to it. I don't even understand why every Sikh has to "speak" in Punjabi, even when he can adeptly read and write in it. I know how much Punjabis love there mother tongue, but stop using this as a tool to magnify your Punjabi pride. And personally, I don't like this language that much, just like I don't find Bhangra that attractive !
This sketch is my interpretation of love, I have second thoughts about love too, guess I'll unravel them soon. It's also a response to the prudence of the conservative Sikh families, as apparently the noticeably beautiful girl in the sketch is not a Sikh, and still seems to be in raw love with a bushy bearded guy. No, they are NOT SOUL-MATES, they're just two lovers, damn it. I tried to make him look like me, but the only detail I could match was his twisted mustache, oh yeah !
See the Sketch, don't Steal the Sketch.
Thanks for reading. Keep it Singhing !
Singh (ਸਿੰਘ)
