Images: bilingual signs from other parts of the diaspora.
Current Events
Punjabi Street Signs: Edmonton, Canada
by JUSTIN BELL
Edmonton's southside Sikh community is celebrating the addition of a number of bilingual signs along Mill Woods Road south and east, ahead of one of the biggest Sikh festivals in Edmonton, the capital of Alberta, Canada.
Thirteen new signs in both Punjabi and English have been installed between 50 Street and 34 Avenue, providing a fresh design and new face to Gurdwara Road, the honourary name of Mill Woods Road in that area.
Surinder Singh Hoonjan, acting chair of the Vaisakhi Nagar Kirtan committee, said the new signs are for those who don't speak English.
"If they can't read English, they can read it in Punjabi," said Surinder. "(The signs) recognize that we have two gurdwaras on this road."
Gurdwaras are places of worship for Sikhs. There are four in Edmonton, including the two on Mill Woods Road.
The signs came at no cost to taxpayers because the $3,500 needed to replace the signs was fundraised by the Vaisakhi Nagar Kirtan committee, which oversees the Sikh parade, scheduled to take place on May 23, 2010.
Surinder Singh said it was exciting to have the new signs up ahead of the parade, which draws an estimated 20,000 people annually.
The Sikh community in Edmonton numbers almost 100,000. Alberta has the third-largest Sikh community by province in the country.
[Courtesy: Edmonton Sun]
May 11, 2010
Conversation about this article
1: Surinder (Massachusetts, U.S.A.), May 11, 2010, 11:41 AM.
This is great. Punjabi is becoming a world language. Bhai Nand Singh ji predicted that Punjabi would be a world language.
2: Harinder (Jalandhar, Punjab), May 11, 2010, 12:06 PM.
God bless Canada and its great people.
3: Kate (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada), May 12, 2010, 2:03 AM.
Wow. I didn't even know this and I live in Edmonton and am volunteering during the Nagar Kirtan! But thanks for letting me know!
4: Manpreet Singh (San Jose, California, U.S.A.), May 12, 2010, 3:00 AM.
That's really good for people who can only read Punjabi. The picture of the signboard in this article is from Vancouver though.
5: Kartar Singh Bhalla (New Delhi, India), May 12, 2010, 11:01 AM.
Pardon me, if I express my unhappiness at learning that there are some Sikhs in Canada who cannot read English and need street signs in Gurmakhi.
6: Gulzar Kaur (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada), May 12, 2010, 1:10 PM.
I am intrigued by the ignorant comment from Kartar Singh Bhalla - who pontificates from a country which has the highest number and proportion of illiterates in the world, and from a land which sits close to the bottom of every index imaginable which is used by experts to measure the prosperity of the world's peoples. The beggars in India are quick to jump on anything they can label as negative in Canada or elsewhere in the West, while completely ignoring their own people who are suffering, literally, in the hundreds of millions. Moreover, only an Indian, typically with low self-esteem, would come up with an ignorant statement that anyone who knows only Punjabi is illiterate. There are tens of thousands of seniors in our communities here in Canada who, for one reason or the other, did not learn English. (If being literate in English was the only definition of literacy, I'm afraid 99.9% of India would summarily be dismissed as illiterate, according to your own standards, Kartar Singh ji - and I'm afraid it would include you, because your own Indian English sadly doesn't come to par.) Remember, Canada is a nation where we look after the needs of our elders, Kartar Singh ji, and not waste our time on sillinesses.
7: Zorawar Singh (Richmond Hill, New York, U.S.A.), May 13, 2010, 9:36 AM.
I have mixed reactions to this article. The reason is because, on the one hand, it's good that Punjabi signs are readily available for Punjabi speakers in Canada, but on the other hand, I feel that when immigrants move to another country, they should try and learn that country's language and not impose their own. According to a recent survey, only 30% of people have a favorable opinion of Sikhs in Canada. I feel Punjabis, particularly Sikhs in Canada, should refrain from isolating themselves from Canadian society and they should refrain from creating Punjabi ghettos. Although it is good to have Punjabi signs, etc., at that same time Sikhs in Canada should realize that English is the mother tongue of Canada and they should learn that.
8: Dupinder Kaur Sidhu (New Jersey, U.S.A.), May 13, 2010, 11:24 AM.
Although there are positive and somewhat negative comments regarding this, I am on the positive side. I look at it as a very good thing for the Punjabi community. And I totally disagree with the fact that everyone coming to the western world should know how to read English. No one should be ridiculed about their ability to read/ write, if they cannot read English. If our parents and grandparents are coming to visit for a few months, they should not be expected to learn English for their trip. It is comforting for them to go out and see the signs in Punjabi. I am sure they feel real proud of our community. Now only if we can have people in Punjab speak/ read/ write Punjabi! It is clearly fading there as there is so much effort on learning English. It breaks my heart when I go into a store in Ludhiana and Punjabis are speaking Hindi or English. If people are not encouraged to speak Punjabi, then I am sure, in the next couple of generations, it will be a language only in gurdwaras. That is not the direction we should be going. Well done Canada!
9: Gurinder Sngh Johal (Amritsar/ Vachhoa, Punjab), May 13, 2010, 10:08 PM.
It is good news that the Punjabi language is getting its due share of respect and being made popular among the new generations and others. Recently, a number of candidates have opted for Punjabi in the civil service exams in India and have been selected on their merit. It is imperative that we promote Punjabi - it is the mainstay of our faith.
10: Sangat Singh (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia ), May 14, 2010, 12:06 AM.
A sign in Punjabi itself makes me proud, to indicate the high regard for the Sikh community. An elderly dependent not proficient in any language wouldn't be handicapped on that score. All he needs is to wander into the Punjabi Street to fulfill his needs. In Punjab today, nearly all children speak Hindi including their parents. We can't even manage our little Punjab but are ready to reform others. The first Sikhs to arrive in Malaya were the police recruits around 1870. I understand that they even kept their Police Station Diaries in Punjabi. Even today, all Electric Power Stations carry a notice written in FOUR languages including "Baut Kkatra" - "Great Danger" - in Gurmukhi script. Just as a turbaned Sikh in a foreign land invokes an immediate kinship, so does the Punjabi language in a foreign country. I am sufficiently proud on that score alone.
11: Mandeep Singh (Pune, India), September 25, 2010, 1:32 PM.
Street signs in Punjabi in Canada. That's quite an achievement!