By Sawraj Singh
The word ujadd in the Punjabi language generally means uncultivated, uncivilized, or rustic, etc. However, today, Punjabis have evolved a new philosophy called “Ujaddwad.” This philosophy opposes the established values, manners and conduct. It also opposes the healthy elements in our culture. The essence of this phenomenon is to look down upon intellectuals and intellectualism. Therefore, it can be called anti-intellectualism. Anybody who does not subscribe to the consumerist philosophy that the real purpose of life is to make maximum money in minimum time and enjoy your money completely (live it up), is frowned upon and his knowledge is considered only bookish and is not practical. He could be the victim of false idealism or he is lost and is wandering without a clear purpose in life.
In the end, this philosophy opposes intellectualism, intellectuals and the path of knowledge. Even though we cannot give the Punjabis full marks for inventing this philosophy because this actually is a distorted form of the western consumerist culture, yet the Punjabis have taken it to new heights. The ultimate goal of western consumerist culture is to deprive people of true knowledge and limit their existence from human beings to mere consumers. The level of acceptance which consumerism has been able to reach in Punjab and among the Punjabis is unparalleled in the whole world. One of the main reasons for this phenomenon is that in Punjab and among the Punjabis, this is promoted as the philosophy of the leading community there, the Jatts. The ordinary Punjabi calls it Jattwad (Jatt Chauvinism). By associating this philosophy with the Jatts, it gets a degree of acceptance as well as it becomes somewhat respectable. This also gives the impression that it is not an alien philosophy and has evolved locally. Such an impression makes the struggle against it more difficult.
I know two very dedicated scholars in the Jatt Sikh community who tried to make us aware of the emerging phenomenon of Jattwad more than a decade ago. I not only read their writings, but also had extensive discussion with them. They mostly saw it as internal phenomenon of the Jatt Sikh community and felt that the main cause for this was the moving away of the community from its Sikh heritage. After living in America for a long time and visiting many other countries and getting a wider perspective, I am more inclined to see this phenomenon as a distorted form of the western consumer culture rather than an internal phenomenon of the community. Therefore I used the term Ujaddwad rather than Jattwad in my writings. Even though we see its influence more in the Jatts, yet it can be seen in all the Punjabis. I see it as a movement against true knowledge. The words associated with knowledge are used more in a derogatory sense rather than to show respect.
For example, a girl related to us, goes to a well-known university in the Vancouver-area. She told me that there were some Gianis in her class. The word Giani means a knowledgeable person. However, she was using it for those boys who are maintaining their traditional Sikh form. When we started looking for a match for our son, we painfully became aware of the deep division in the Jatt Sikh community between a small minority whose children still maintain their traditional Sikh form and the vast majority whose children have become clean shaven. The latter group uses the term Gursikh to describe the former. The word Guru is derived from two Sanskrit words: Gu meaning darkness and Ru meaning light.
