Why Panjabis learn Bhangra in the west

[5aaban]

This is just my take on this 

There's an increasing number of Panjabis in western countries learning Bhangra professionally, making Bhangra societies in universities and holding grand Bhangra competitions. Although Bhangra is a hybrid dance done by males with modern hip-hop moves, women are also seen in these competitions & performances.

Some parents in the west are encouraging their children to learn Bhangra from these academies. The reason they give for joining is Bhangra connects them with Panjabi culture and they feel "proud" seeing their children on stage. I don't think Bhangra is helping any western Panjabi stay connected with Panjabi culture. Dancing like this on public stages was frowned by most Panjabi elders. 

It's sad to see Panjabi culture has been reduced down to jumping on stage. The bright crazy patterned uniform Bhangra dancers wear also looks very silly, no Panjabi in the past dressed like that. I've met some Bhangra-doing Panjabis in the west who can't read Panjabi, speak it properly or know anything about Panjab's situation and history. I don't know why so many Panjabi parents hold this misconception that putting children in Bhangra will connect them with culture and turn them into the next Vir Singh or Bulleh Shah. 

 

 

[GurjantGnostic]

5 hours ago, 5aaban said:

This is just my theory (may be wrong)

There's an increasing number of Panjabis in western countries learning Bhangra professionally, making Bhangra societies in universities and holding big Bhangra competitions. Although Bhangra is a hybrid dance done by males with modern hip-hop moves, women are also seen in these competitions & performances.

Some parents in the west are encouraging their children to learn Bhangra from these academies (they're starting to open up in my city too). The reason they give for joining is Bhangra connects them with Panjabi culture and they feel "proud" seeing their children on stage. I don't think Bhangra is helping any western Panjabi stay connected with Panjabi culture. Dancing like this on public stages was frowned by Panjabi elders I knew. 

It's sad to see Panjabi culture has been reduced down to jumping on stage. And that bright rainbow uniform Bhangra dancers wear looks so silly, no Panjabi in the past dressed like that. I've met some Bhangra-doing Panjabis in the west who can't read Panjabi or speak it properly, name a Panjabi poet or tell me about Panjab's situation and history. I don't know why so many Panjabi parents hold this misconception that putting children in Bhangra classes will help them connect with culture and turn them into the next Vir SIngh or Bulleh Shah. 

 

 

We need alternatives to feed people. 

[dallysingh101]

8 hours ago, 5aaban said:

This is just my theory (may be wrong)

There's an increasing number of Panjabis in western countries learning Bhangra professionally, making Bhangra societies in universities and holding big Bhangra competitions. Although Bhangra is a hybrid dance done by males with modern hip-hop moves, women are also seen in these competitions & performances.

Some parents in the west are encouraging their children to learn Bhangra from these academies (they're starting to open up in my city too). The reason they give for joining is Bhangra connects them with Panjabi culture and they feel "proud" seeing their children on stage. I don't think Bhangra is helping any western Panjabi stay connected with Panjabi culture. Dancing like this on public stages was frowned by Panjabi elders I knew. 

It's sad to see Panjabi culture has been reduced down to jumping on stage. And that bright rainbow uniform Bhangra dancers wear looks so silly, no Panjabi in the past dressed like that. I've met some Bhangra-doing Panjabis in the west who can't read Panjabi or speak it properly, name a Panjabi poet or tell me about Panjab's situation and history. I don't know why so many Panjabi parents hold this misconception that putting children in Bhangra classes will help them connect with culture and turn them into the next Vir SIngh or Bulleh Shah. 

 

 

I had a young mixed race nephew who came around one day and starting doing bhangra moves out of the blue. I said: "Where d'you learn that!"

He told me "At school." 

I said: "You should be learning maths and science over there, not this."

So they are pushing that on even nonSikh kids these days and you know how kids can easily get confused about their identity.  

We need to stop pushing and promoting this fudhu shyte in our community. It's become ubiquitous and synonymous with us now. And let's keep it real. It's not Sikh culture, it's not even Panjabi culture. It is an element of jut culture that's run amok and taken a life of its own. 

[5aaban]

On 2/1/2022 at 3:44 AM, dallysingh101 said:

I had a young mixed race nephew who came around one day and starting doing bhangra moves out of the blue. I said: "Where d'you learn that!"

He told me "At school." 

I said: "You should be learning maths and science over there, not this."

So they are pushing that on even nonSikh kids these days and you know how kids can easily get confused about their identity.  

We need to stop pushing and promoting this fudhu shyte in our community. It's become ubiquitous and synonymous with us now. And let's keep it real. It's not Sikh culture, it's not even Panjabi culture. It is an element of jut culture that's run amok and taken a life of its own. 

We need to stop promoting it. I don’t think it’s Jat culture at this point. Been looking into Bhangra and the one shown on stages is a mix of western dance moves with the 9 traditional dances of Panjab. 
 

When women should participate in this “Bhangra” dance, it gets even worse. A Panjabi singer once said women shouldn’t be doing doing Bhangra and he received some backlash from members of the western Panjabi community (including boys). That bright Bhangra dress is equally atrocious and people think it’s a traditional “panjabi” dress when it’s just some stage costume dancers wear. 

We need alternatives of connecting with Panjabi culture in the west as you suggested. I think learning some Panjabi poetry would be good but don’t see mass support for it from the community compared to Bhangra. 

[dallysingh101]

28 minutes ago, 5aaban said:

I also don’t think women should participate in this “Bhangra” dance, it’s even worse. A Panjabi singer once said women shouldn’t be doing doing Bhangra and he received some backlash from members of the western Panjabi community (including boys). That bright Bhangra dress is equally atrocious and people think it’s a traditional “panjabi” dress when it’s just some stage costume dancer use. 

 

Us putting our own womenfolk on stages to prance about like professional kunjrees for all to behold is a bad move. Teaches them to be exhibitionists and sends a message to other more conservative communities about us. Canada is appalling in this respect. 

I think that costume was at some point traditional jut attire though. It's ubiquitous now.  Wherever I see something Panjabi, there are some twats dressed like that in the background. 

 

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We need alternatives of connecting with Panjabi culture in the west as you suggested. I think learning some Panjabi poetry would be good but don’t see mass support for it from the community compared to Bhangra. 

I think boys might take to horse-riding, archery and other sports as well. Gymnastics maybe? Javelin. 

[5aaban]

On 2/1/2022 at 7:15 AM, dallysingh101 said:

Us putting our own womenfolk on stages to prance about like professional kunjrees for all to behold is a bad move. Teaches them to be exhibitionists and sends a message to other more conservative communities about us. Canada is appalling in this respect. 

I think that costume was at some point traditional jut attire though. It's ubiquitous now.  Wherever I see something Panjabi, there are some twats dressed like that in the background. 

 

I think boys might take to horse-riding, archery and other sports as well. Gymnastics maybe? Javelin. 

 Bhangra seems to be getting popular, I saw a team with some white people and a Pakistani Panjabi girl. 

That Kurta-Chadara dress is a rural male attire worn in Panjab by ALL communities (old men wear it nowadays). It was easy to wear and make back in the days but it's not colourful like Bhangra dancers make it. Also the accessories they wear on their arms aren't normal.

[dallysingh101]

22 minutes ago, 5aaban said:

Bhangra dancers (males) justify women dancing on stage as "Sikh equality", saw it on a Bhangra forum once. Bhangra and Sikhi shouldn't mix. 

https://bhangrateamsforum.com/a/threads/should-girls-be-allowed-to-do-live.17979/ons.  

That thread was 10 years ago. A lot of things have changed since then (in the UK at least). We know more about the link between bhangra culture and grooming. We know more about how others perceive the prancing about too.  As far as I'm concerned, blokes shouldn't be doing it publically on stages, dressed like gandus either, let alone women or girls. 

And it's now promoted everywhere, including like this in Amritsar:

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That Kurta-Chadra dress is a rural male attire worn in Panjab (old men wear it nowadays because it was easy to wear and make) but it's not colourful like Bhangra dancers make it. Don't think the jacket they wear over is Panjabi attire and neither is that fan-turban, never seen anyone wearing it normally. Also the accessories they wear on their arms aren't normal.

That waistcoat thing IS Panjabi. All the pak-Panjabi boys used to come back with them when they went back home when I was a kid. They had little mirrors on them as well.  This thing is like a virus that spreads. I think UK is waking up a bit - Canada and other places probably not. Hell they got their pres doing it ffs!

 

[5aaban]

On 2/1/2022 at 7:39 AM, dallysingh101 said:

That thread was 10 years ago. A lot of things have changed since then (in the UK at least). We know more about the link between bhangra culture and grooming. We know more about how others perceive the prancing about too.  As far as I'm concerned, blokes shouldn't be doing it publically on stages, dressed like gandus either, let alone women or girls. 

And it's now promoted everywhere, including like this in Amritsar:

That waistcoat thing IS Panjabi. All the pak-pPanjabi boys used to come back with them when they went back home when I was a kid. They had little mirrors on them as well.  This thing is like a virus that spreads. I think UK is waking up a bit - Canada and other places probably not. Hell they got their pres doing it ffs!

 

 

Pakistani Panjabi Bhangra dresses aren't too different either but without the crazy  colours.  

[dallysingh101]

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Yeah, horse-riding and archery are good sports of boys. Poetry should also be promoted because we can learn new Panjabi words. Pakistani Panjabis who haven't abandoned their language for Urdu hold Panjabi Mushaira's where Panjabi poetry recitals and competitions take place. It's a better initiative than Bhangra competitions.  

I think they still have poetic symposiums back home, or they did until recently (according to a book by Khushwant Singh), and they drew crowds. 

I think for Panjabi boys, lyricism is a good idea, getting them to express complex ideas and emotions through rhymes. Increase vocab. 

Older ones should be given survival training, camping, hunting (if nonveg!), shooting, horse-riding, archery, javelin, discus, martial arts, racing, gymnastics etc. etc. I would have loved this as a kid. Plus we need to make sure no pedo nonces infiltrate, because they will try!  

[dallysingh101]

5 minutes ago, 5aaban said:

Good the community is waking up. Not doing bhangra on stages can solve so many of our problems! 

It's a shame though, because many don't understand and think others are being 'killjoys' or 'kattar'. They don't get the reasons why. They think it's harmless.