By Balwant Sanghera
October to March is a popular wedding season in the Punjab. During the past few weeks I have been to quite a few. In this process I have had an opportunity to meet a lot of Non Resident t Indians(NRIs). Everywhere you go NRIs are quite visible. They are from all over the world. However, the majority seem to be from Canada, USA, U.K., Europe, New Zealand and Australia. The presence of NRIs has given a big boost to the local businesses. Also, the registries are doing a booming business as NRIs are busy selling and buying land and other properties.
For a long time I had a keen desire to visit the Punjabi University, Patiala. This desire became even more intense as had an opportunity to meet Dr. Jaspal Singh, Vice Chancellor and Dr. Gurpreet Singh Lehal, Head of Computer Science at the University on their visits to Surrey last year. Both of them were kind enough to make my visit to the university a very pleasant and enjoyable one. The university setting is great.. Its campus sprawls over 250 acres of land on the outskirts of Patiala. The entire university architecture, design and atmosphere is very impressive.
After visiting the university I decided to visit the city as I hadn’t been here for a long time. It is a beautiful city. Gurdwara Dukh Nivaran Sahib in the centre of the city is like an oasis in the middle of a desert. The impressive statues and other historical buildings reflect Patiala’s royal heritage. Travelling through the villages, towns and cities of Punjab is a mixed blessing. The congested roads and horns streets, deafening noise of horns, potholes, broken roads can be a downer. However, peoples hospitality and willingness to accommodate make you forget the negatives. Also, the all around progress, clean fresh air in the villages and lush green crops make you feel welcome.
One area of real concern all around is the curse of drugs and alcohol especially amongst the youth. This, in turn, has resulted increase in crime. Petty crimes like purse snatching, thefts, burglaries, armed robberies and even murders are a major concern. This is a formidable challenge for the social workers and the authorities.
Occasionally, there is a good news that cheers you up. A few days ago, The Tribune newspaper reported a story about the naming of a road in Punjab(Pakistan) after a Sikh pioneer who had moved to India after the partition.
The Bhinder family used to live in Aroop village near Gujranwala. Their patriarch Pritam Singh Bhinder owned 750 acres of land in the village. He was a class fellow and best friend of the grandfather of a Punjab Assembly Member Shajia Ashfaque Mattu. The family stayed in touch with each other all of these years. Shajia worked hard in naming the six kilometre, 14 feet wide road from Aroop to Gujranwala after Pritam Singh.
Gestures like these go a long way in strengthening ties between India and Pakistan.
LINK Columnist Balwant Sanghera, a local activist, former teacher and Order of BC winner, is currently on a visit to Punjab and will be filing reports whenever he has time from his busy travel schedule.
