Hindi Speaking Sikhs In Punjab

[Duchess]

now a days we see so many sikh family who have this trend of speaking hindi with their kids n if somebody talks to them in punjabi they react as punjabi-speaking ppl are illetrate or something and speaking hindi is matter of pride (wth) i have a few cousins who speak hindi n we call them 'bhaiye' (bihari) behind their back. sometimes i feel so irritated that when i talk in punjabi they still reply in hindi.

is there any solution for such prob???

[KirtanNirmolakHeera]

Honestly, I used to feeel <Edited>, too. I have, however, come to my own personal conclusion that language and religion should have nothing in common, except for in the case of learning Gurbani roots for the sake of properly understanding the banis of our gurus. Remember not to think of Punjabi as the Sikh language, because it is not. Suppose someone is to convert into Sikhism and he does not understand a word of Punjabi. He would not be wrong in speaking another language, as long as he is able to understand and evaluate texts from Gurbani without translation. As for parents speaking Hindi with their children, I do not think it is necessarily a bad thing. My parents speak with me in Punjabi and English, and sometimes (rarely) even in Hindi or Spanish. As for generalizations being made that all Punjabi-speakers are illiterate are just false. The various Punjabi-speakers worldwide include scholars, authors, doctors, lawyers, businessmen, poets, and playwrights. Certainly, such people are not illiterate, and nor should the average Punjabi-speaker be expected to be. Unless your cousins actually are "bhaiyas" (which I doubt), for you to call them so would be a non-Sikh act. Whether your intention is to say so behind their back in the sense that they should not hear your true feelings about them, or just to ridicule them, your actions are unjust. The wisest thing would be to confront your cousins, and speak with eachother on the issue. You say:

sometimes i feel so irritated that when i talk in punjabi they still reply in hindi.

. Could it be simply that your cousins cannot speak Punjabi? If you are not from India, you may want to know that Indians assume that other Indians can speak Hindi. Whenever I visit my friends in Chandigarh and speak with them in Punjabi, they occasionally respond in Hindi. Its a slip of tongue because such people are used to speaking Hindi for legal, official, everyday, and business reasons. Many other of my friends actually have trouble speaking Punjabi. When they do, as I told you before, they assume I speak Hindi (which I can), and express their thoughts with less tension, making it easier for the both of us. Find out exaclty how much Punjabi and Hindi your cousins know. If they are able to speak Punjabi and you are not able to speak Hindi properly, then I'd advise that you all speak in Punjabi. However, if they cannot speak Punjabi, and you know just a little bit of Hindi, speak it.

As for a solution, do confront your cousins, and decide on a language to speak in such that the conversations the two of you share move smoothly.

Do not ever make the mistake of making such a relationship: "Punjabi:Sikhism as Hindi:Hinduism"

Remember, always speak the language which most successfully aids in the fulfilling of your daily tasks or allows for ease during a friendly conversation. It is never wrong to learn as many languages as possible. The more languages you learn, the more easliy you are able to communicate with the many people of this world who have much of their culture to share with you.

I, as an individual, may not be the most reliable of sources to answer your problem, so ask others and think for yourself. More questions would gladly be welcomed.

[S1ngh]

I always speak punjabi with all ppls in punjab. When they answer in hindi.. I stop them right there and request them... "Please Either speak in Punjabi or English," as i don't know hindi (even though i know hindi very well but i don't feel comfortable speaking that language in punjab).

Try that and they definately will choose punjabi as most of them can't catch with our english :D

[Duchess]

Honestly, I used to feeel <Edited>, too. I have, however, come to my own personal conclusion that language and religion should have nothing in common, except for in the case of learning Gurbani roots for the sake of properly understanding the banis of our gurus. Remember not to think of Punjabi as the Sikh language, because it is not. Suppose someone is to convert into Sikhism and he does not understand a word of Punjabi. He would not be wrong in speaking another language, as long as he is able to understand and evaluate texts from Gurbani without translation. As for parents speaking Hindi with their children, I do not think it is necessarily a bad thing. My parents speak with me in Punjabi and English, and sometimes (rarely) even in Hindi or Spanish. As for generalizations being made that all Punjabi-speakers are illiterate are just false. The various Punjabi-speakers worldwide include scholars, authors, doctors, lawyers, businessmen, poets, and playwrights. Certainly, such people are not illiterate, and nor should the average Punjabi-speaker be expected to be. Unless your cousins actually are "bhaiyas" (which I doubt), for you to call them so would be a non-Sikh act. Whether your intention is to say so behind their back in the sense that they should not hear your true feelings about them, or just to ridicule them, your actions are unjust. The wisest thing would be to confront your cousins, and speak with eachother on the issue. You say:

sometimes i feel so irritated that when i talk in punjabi they still reply in hindi.

. Could it be simply that your cousins cannot speak Punjabi? If you are not from India, you may want to know that Indians assume that other Indians can speak Hindi. Whenever I visit my friends in Chandigarh and speak with them in Punjabi, they occasionally respond in Hindi. Its a slip of tongue because such people are used to speaking Hindi for legal, official, everyday, and business reasons. Many other of my friends actually have trouble speaking Punjabi. When they do, as I told you before, they assume I speak Hindi (which I can), and express their thoughts with less tension, making it easier for the both of us. Find out exaclty how much Punjabi and Hindi your cousins know. If they are able to speak Punjabi and you are not able to speak Hindi properly, then I'd advise that you all speak in Punjabi. However, if they cannot speak Punjabi, and you know just a little bit of Hindi, speak it.

As for a solution, do confront your cousins, and decide on a language to speak in such that the conversations the two of you share move smoothly.

Do not ever make the mistake of making such a relationship: "Punjabi:Sikhism as Hindi:Hinduism"

Remember, always speak the language which most successfully aids in the fulfilling of your daily tasks or allows for ease during a friendly conversation. It is never wrong to learn as many languages as possible. The more languages you learn, the more easliy you are able to communicate with the many people of this world who have much of their culture to share with you.

I, as an individual, may not be the most reliable of sources to answer your problem, so ask others and think for yourself. More questions would gladly be welcomed.

lol they r not bhaiyas by origin, actually their mom usually speaks in hindi with them. whenever they come to our place i tell my cousins to speak in punjabi. they speak a few lines in punjabi then again go back to bihari language. the thing which makes me mad is they dont even do effort. they look complete sikhs by their out look with patkas n uncut beards. its just i make fun of them by calling them bhaiyas.

[Akhoza]

Is it just me who thinks punjabi is a cool language, plus you get loads of young people using it, mind you that seems to be slang and swear words :D

[Duchess]

Is it just me who thinks punjabi is a cool language, plus you get loads of young people using it, mind you that seems to be slang and swear words :D

OYE

HOW DARE U

[Khalsa_Girl_1]

now a days we see so many sikh family who have this trend of speaking hindi with their kids n if somebody talks to them in punjabi they react as punjabi-speaking ppl are illetrate or something and speaking hindi is matter of pride (wth) i have a few cousins who speak hindi n we call them 'bhaiye' (bihari) behind their back. sometimes i feel so irritated that when i talk in punjabi they still reply in hindi.

is there any solution for such prob???

GurFateh jio

i think the best solution is for them to

STOP WATCHING STUPID HINDI MOVIES

its become a "trend" :D

GurFateh jio.

peace..

[KirtanNirmolakHeera]

Like I said earlier, don't try to defend the Punjabi language as though it is a religious language, because it is not. I spent two years of my life (2001-2003) in Chandigarh. To communicate with people, I did what S1ngh did. I later realized that the method is ridiculous in the sense that it favors Punjabi and English over Hindi, which is a completely normal language to be spoken. Does freedom of speech not ring a bell? One has the right to speak whatever he/she wants, in whichever language he/she wants. Forgetting the legality of it, why would you not allow for the Hindi language to be spoken? What is wrong with it? If your concern is Punjabi pride --- Pride of being from Punjab (where Punjabi is spoken), then you may be right. However, you must realize that at one point, the Punjabi-speakers there may have spoken some language in the middle of Sanskrit and Punjabi (very close, then, to Hindi).

Like I said earlier, don't try to defend the Punjabi language as though it is a religious language, because it is not. I spent two years of my life (2001-2003) in Chandigarh. To communicate with people, I did what S1ngh did. I later realized that the method is ridiculous in the sense that it favors Punjabi and English over Hindi, which is a completely normal language to be spoken. Does freedom of speech not ring a bell? One has the right to speak whatever he/she wants, in whichever language he/she wants. Forgetting the legality of it, why would you not allow for the Hindi language to be spoken? What is wrong with it? If your concern is Punjabi pride --- Pride of being from Punjab (where Punjabi is spoken), then you may be right. However, you must realize that at one point, the Punjabi-speakers there may have spoken some language in the middle of Sanskrit and Punjabi (very close, then, to Hindi).

[S1ngh]

To kill any dharam.. the first step is to kill it's language..

Veerjee do you know the era when hindu living punjab said that Punjabi is not their language during sant jees time?? Hindi is national or consider to be the universal language of india; one have to speak hindi or english while travelling outside of punjab. BUT what's wrong with ppls in punjab.. why not speak punjabi?? The reason is that punjabi ppls feel that their language is inferior to hindi basha which of course is not right. Punjabi basha deh tah shaan vakhreeyy..

[khalsaforce]

freedom of speech? hahahaa. thats good that u spent 2 years in chandigarh,(punjab) but you forgot to goto gujrat or mumbai, I have never seen a person speaking punjabi in schools or public places in those states then why should we allow hindi to be spoken as the main language. I am not sayin NO HINDI at all in punjab, I am just sayin they need to stop forcing kids at school to think that hindi is the main language of punjab, I have study in a private school in jalandhar where they force kids to speak hindi. hindu ki hindi hai, punjbai lai punjbai haigi.

Like I said earlier, don't try to defend the Punjabi language as though it is a religious language, because it is not. I spent two years of my life (2001-2003) in Chandigarh. To communicate with people, I did what S1ngh did. I later realized that the method is ridiculous in the sense that it favors Punjabi and English over Hindi, which is a completely normal language to be spoken. Does freedom of speech not ring a bell? One has the right to speak whatever he/she wants, in whichever language he/she wants. Forgetting the legality of it, why would you not allow for the Hindi language to be spoken? What is wrong with it? If your concern is Punjabi pride --- Pride of being from Punjab (where Punjabi is spoken), then you may be right. However, you must realize that at one point, the Punjabi-speakers there may have spoken some language in the middle of Sanskrit and Punjabi (very close, then, to Hindi).

Like I said earlier, don't try to defend the Punjabi language as though it is a religious language, because it is not. I spent two years of my life (2001-2003) in Chandigarh. To communicate with people, I did what S1ngh did. I later realized that the method is ridiculous in the sense that it favors Punjabi and English over Hindi, which is a completely normal language to be spoken. Does freedom of speech not ring a bell? One has the right to speak whatever he/she wants, in whichever language he/she wants. Forgetting the legality of it, why would you not allow for the Hindi language to be spoken? What is wrong with it? If your concern is Punjabi pride --- Pride of being from Punjab (where Punjabi is spoken), then you may be right. However, you must realize that at one point, the Punjabi-speakers there may have spoken some language in the middle of Sanskrit and Punjabi (very close, then, to Hindi).