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More Adventures:
Janam Da Firangee,
Sikhi Main Mangee

FATEHPAL SINGH TARNEY

 

 

 





I have a t-shirt on the front of which the words are “110% Sikh.” On the back, it reads “0% Punjabi” with a sad face underneath.

I guess my point in raising it is that Sikhi is neither an ethnic group, nor tied to a region on the subcontinent, but rather a set of values and principles that should guide our behavior. These are of course articulated in a number of languages and dialects and in the Gurmukhi script, but Sikh wisdom can be expressed in any and all other tongues.

There is a lovely young Sikh woman in our saadh sangat here who is a convert like me. She is from Venezuela. She looks Punjabi and often people go up to her speaking rapid-fire Punjabi, but she speaks only a few words. 

I developed a rapport with her, speaking to her half in English and half in Spanish and I help her when I can with Punjabi and Gurmukhi. She recently took Amrit and when I told her that I too wanted to take on the full discipline of the Khalsa before leaving this life, but felt that I was neither ready nor worthy, this is what she said to me in Spanish:  "Amrit es un comienzo, no un final de un camino sagrado"  -- ‘Taking Amrit is a beginning, not the end of a spiritual path.’

And, she added: "Ninguno de nosotros es perfecto. Solo Dios es perfecto" -- ‘None of us is perfect. Only God is perfect.’ 

She has inspired me. In other words, she has brought me the closest I have ever been to taking Amrit.

I now reiterate the point -- something I have also raised in several earlier columns -- about all people making mistakes in verbal and written expression in their mother tongue as well as in languages that they may acquire later in life.

Another word commonly misused by native speakers of English, even educated speakers -- I have heard two attorneys make this mistake -- is the word “tenet.” This word refers to a principle or doctrine held in common by members of some group or profession. Many people say “tenant” rather than “tenet” in this context, but “tenant” refers to a resident, renter, or occupant of a building.

I would now like to confess another of my many mistakes in Punjabi. Years ago, I learned that “laRkaa” meant boy and “laRki” meant girl. Then, I learned that “mundaa” is another Punjabi word for boy. Therefore, I assumed that “mundi” was the corresponding word for girl!

“Gee“, I said to myself, “Punjabi isn’t that difficult!”

Imagine my embarrassment when I learnt that “mundi” meant something entirely different.

Having studied ancient Greek in college, it occurred to me that there is a striking similarity between the Punjabi word, “kuRi” and a Greek word for girl, “kore.” Might this have been a word left by the Greeks during or after the time of Alexander the Great in Punjab?

Any relationship to ‘Kaur’?

The Patni has been no stranger to linguistic mishaps in Punjabi. Some years ago, we had to leave a Sunday divan at our gurdwara sahib for an appointment right after karah parshad. People urged us to take some langar for the road. I went to the car and told my wife to go to the kitchen and just ask for some jalebis to eat on our trip. My wife returned to our car and asked me why all the women in the kitchen had begun laughing at her. I discovered the next Sunday that what the Patni had said was something like: “My husband would like a jalaab for the road.”

Allow me to end this column with still another personal story. Some years ago, I had to sell my mother's house in New York City as she could no longer live on her own. She had moved to Florida to live with me and my wife. I worked with a real estate agent, but our only communications were through e-mails and phone calls. He would inform me of various people seriously interested in buying the house. At one point, he called me and asked me if I was opposed to selling the house to a family from Punjab in which all the men wore turbans.

I think he was surprised at my response: “No, I would not be opposed, as a matter of fact, I would prefer it!”

January 11, 2016
 

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Janam Da Firangee,
Sikhi Main Mangee"









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