Punjabi’s Fashion

When we talk about Punjabi’s fashion, we will automatically imagine and think about their ‘scarf’ and their innocent “Punjabi’s long outfit”. Do we know the real names of those outfits? And why they wore so many accessories in certain occasion? The scarf called as ‘Turban’, while the women’s Punjabi outfits have several kinds or of designs. The most famous Punjabi’s suits are Kurtis (Top), Salwar Kameez, and Dulha.

            Salwar Kareemz is a simple and comfortable outfit to wear on any occasion. This outfit is a symbolic suit for those who want to appear slightly more decent buy yet still looking good.  Salwar Kareemz usually worn either in “Dupatta” style, or “Chunni’s”. The design is normally based on the designers or the client’s creativity. Dupatta is the design and shapes that decorate the Punjabi Salwar outfit with threads, beads, sequins and others that add more ‘fun’ to the outfit and ‘popping’ up the colors even the designs of it. The upper part of the outfit is called as Kameez, while the lower part which is the pants called as Salwar. That is how they found the name of the outfit – it combines both top n bottom, and it becomes a set of a suit. Normally Kareemz sleeves design were full long sleeves (which cover the armpits), but the modernize Kareemz also has no sleeve and some does show some cleavage.

Kareemz were normally kept long up to the knees.

            Kurtis (Top) yet to be more versatile, modern, comfortable, stylish, and decent for any kind of women in any ages. It is more appealing in nowadays fashion industries. To make it more stylish, we could change from wearing Salwar to either pair it up with jeans, slacks, capris (3 1/5 pants), or even skirts. Women could enjoy wearing it in daily basis such as going to campus, office, or even to any events. Kurtis could use many types of fabrics such as cotton, art silk, georgette, chiffon, crape or even cotton silk.

            Henna, earrings, necklaces, bangles are Punjabi’s favourite accessories because it matches the outfit and shows the softer side of women. Some of the modern Punjabi’s don’t tend to wear a lot of accessories during people’s wedding, unless it was inherited to them.

Interview with Raveena

We had a small lunch date with our muse, Raveena. We had a short interview session with her. Nadia came up with several questions for her to answer and this was how it went down:

1.             What is the essential thing anyone has to know about the culture of Punjabi?
-       That it exists. Haha. And that we have our own set of believes different from others. Many people are oblivious to the fact, some have never even heard of Punjabis here.


2.            Was it difficult for you to be raised as a member of Punjabi in Malaysia?
-       Well not at all, in fact I did not feel, at any one given moment that it was difficult.


3.           Have you ever had any feelings of being discriminated against, do you think it will be different if you were born as a Chinese, an India or a Malay?
-       Im lucky to say no, but I believe there are people who would have felt discriminated. But yes, it would definitely be different if I was born as a different race although I have no complaints and am blessed being Punjabi and would not trade being anything else, discriminated or not.


4.               Do you see yourself as a person who comes from a different culture instead of commonly generalized as Indian?
-       Yes.  Haha.  I have been asked this question many times. I do consider myself as a North Indian. But here in Malaysia the south Indians are categorized as Indians and we Punjabi’s always fall under the ‘lain-lain’ category.  Well atleast that’s what I was taught in school.  J


5.             What are the differences between Indian and Punjabi?  In terms of the food you eat, the color, the arts, the music, the face features?
-       South Indians are usually Hindus, and Punjabi’s are usually Sikhs. Our food’s different, we love our chappati and ghee and butter.  Our music is some hard loud dance music called Bhangra. One given facial feature would be the nose. Haha.  We speak Punjabi and Indians speak Tamil. Its two very different languages.


6.            Do you think that the Punjabi culture is starting to be ‘extinct’ in Malaysia?
-       No. We are a minority.  We always have been a minority.


7.            Does it (the extinction of the culture of Punjabi) worry you and the people in your society?
-       No, I would say not. We know we are a minority here and besides if we ever do feel that way all we have to do is bring our relatives down from India. :P


8.             Does Punjabi have any specific religion?
-       Yeah.  We actually have 3 different religions most Punjabis practice. One being Islam. Most Punjabi’s in Pakistan are Islam. Then there’s Sikhism, which is what most Malaysian Punjabi’s, including me, are and in India. And there are also those who believe in Hinduism.


9.             What are the famous taboos among the Punjabis?
-       Well, we have a few superstitions. But they are the common ones, like no cutting your nails at night, no sweeping the house at night. My mom when she was younger was taught to never wash her hair on Tuesdays and til today she doesn’t know why. But thankfully with time, we live more practically.


10.     Does Punjabi have any social caste system? If so does it still exist in Malaysia?
-       The social caste system does exist but it is strongly adhered to in India. Most Malaysian Punjabi’s do not go by this much. Maybe there are a few but as far as I know, its more laid back here than it is compared to India.




That's about all that we have for today and the rest of the time we talked about classes and assignments. Pictures arent available because none of us remembered to bring a camera. We're such scatter brains! Haha. Till next time!

Bhangra, Famous Dance of Punjabis

Still remember the post on Dhad & Dhol earlier?   Well now let’s share something related to the traditional music instruments.  As previously narrated, Dhad is a well known music instrument used in a dance performance called Bhangra.

The dance of Bhangra, a combination of exuberant music and dance, is generally performed to celebrate a harvest.  However, as Ravina, our loyal information provider, explained, it is not common for Bhangra to be performed in the celebration of harvest, here in Malaysia. 


Typically, this dance is can be regularly seen in Punjabi’s weddings and also New Year celebrations.

The Bhangra dance is taken quite seriously in our country, in fact, us Malaysian even has our own association, called the Malaysian Punjabi Bhangra.  Not only providing Bhangra dance and performances for weddings, they also provide performances for parade, events and launches.

Not only famous as traditional celebration of Punjabi, amazingly, it is said that Bhangra also has taken up a notch into the worldwide eyes as another type of dance in the mainstream popularity.

It is also widely accepted as fusion in many other modern genres of music such as house, hip-hop as well as reggae.

In this traditional performance, the men typically wear a piece of cloth wrapped around the waist called Chaadra. The symbolic of a Punjabi man, the Turban or also known as Pagadi is worn to cover their head and most of the time is accompanied by an extra accessory named Turla, a little fan pinned on the Turban.  These make their long shirt and slim pants, the Kurta suit, seem extra-ordinary than usual.  As floods of colors are always the essential element in Punjabi culture, the vests commonly worn by the men during the dance, is also colorful.

As for the ladies, Salwar Kameez, a traditional Punjabi dress is worn alongside with the long pants that are baggy at the top and narrow at the ankles (in simple words to form such imagination ‘the Aladdin pants’). Sometimes, Chunnis, rainbow like colours of pieces of cloth are worn around the neck.

This is a must watch video of modernized performance of Bhangra Dance.  It was taken during a Bhangra dance competition in the United State.  Source of this video is from Youtube. 

Punjabi’s Variety Types of Food.

Punjabi could be either completely non-vegetarian or vegetarian. That is why they have varieties of food from breads, rice, masalas (spices), kadhis (curries), chickens, vegetables, fishes and others as their menus in a bigger portion. When we look at Pujabi’s menu, we will feel like we are in the food paradise because we get confused of which food to choose and try.

Most famous Punjabi’s food in Malaysia is Tandoori Chicken, Naan, Aloo Gobi,Kadhi Pakora, Chana Masala, Dhal, Gulab Jamun, Jeera Rice and so much more could easily be found anywhere in Indian restaurants (Mamak’s place), especially Masjid Jamek area if you are in Kuala Lumpur area. Choose any menu from the food counter filled with rice, vegetable and curry dishes.

The usual main ingredients (masala) of Punjabi’s cooking are onions, tomatoes, mustard, cummin, garlic, ginger, ghee and also a lot of butter. Using milk products is one of Punjabi’s trade mark as their country are well know for the best milk quality.

These ingredients fits or suits Malaysian’s taste as all Malays, Chinese and Indians eats most of these ingredients in their daily basis. It brings appetite to Malaysians especially when it comes to curry, chicken and also dhal. From flat breads to raised breads; the diversity of it such as Kulcha, Lachha, Paratha, Mint Parantha, Chapatti, and Naan comes up with different range of shapes and prices.

Aloo Gobi is one of the nicest dishes with the mixture of curry and vegetables. Other vegetables menu that might be attractive and interesting to try are Kadhi Pakora (curry with Pakora and rice), Kadhai Paneer, Shahi Paneer (the mixture of masalas and cheese), Phimi, Jalebi and so much more.

For Punjabi’s they do not eat rice frequently as Malays, except for special occasion like weddings.

Mint Lassi are known as an out of the ordinary drink which it has achieved accomplishment (first place in a competition) represents Punjabi in entrepreneurship program under the sponsorship of Normandy Business School of France. For Mint Salted Lassi drink is made by blending the yogurt with milk, water and some spices. Lassi that made by blending water, sugar and fruits are called the Sweet Lassi. These drinks are originally created by Taman Raj Singh who was a former student of Chandigarh.

            

 Taman Raj Singh..  (Picture Sources: http://www.tribuneindia.com/2008/20080827/cth1.htm)

These foods and drinks are loved by the kids and also elderly because it is easily to get these delicious foods by only paying the affordable amount of money. Save cost, full stomach.

Are Sikh interracial marriage acceptable?

....one of the question I wanna know. 

Someone I know is from a actively religious family. He himself wears a turban and has a full beard. His sisters are married to men who are also very religious. All have their hair long, are active in gurudwara, attend Sikh youth camps as counselors, make public appearances, etc. 

Everyone has been talking about marriage for this individual for quite some time (2-3 years). I recently just found out that this person has been dating a white woman for at least this amount of time. 

This woman studied in India for about 2 months to learn punjabi, gurmukhi, cooking, how to be with family, etc and she is planning to convert to Sikhism. 

The wedding is already set. It will be a full Indian wedding in a Gurudwara, etc

My question is whether you believe this is acceptable or not. Does love really rule all or is the culture and religion the foundation for a lasting marriage? 


One of the people replied with: 

By: Sandeep

This is a very good question, and I have a few opinions on it. 

For me, I believe strictly in the freedom of choice, your own INDIVIDUAL choice. Sikhism isn't just a religion, it is a way of life, and for someone to live that life, they have the right morals and values that we all strive for in our daily lives. Now, if someone has these characteristics, I would trust them in finding someone for the rest of their life that reflect these very attributes that they see in themselves. 

To some extent, it somewhat upsets me to see that ethnicity has to EVER be considered in any decision, it is the person that matters, it is the person that defines who they are, it is the person that shows us where they truly come from. If the person shares our ideology, our morals, our values, why should we mind? We should be happy for them. 

In your friend's situation, the woman is making an immense effort to learn more about our religion and culture, and that should be admired to its fullest. If we look at today's generation, that woman probably knows more about Sikhism than half of our own youth. 

Realistically, however, marriage is more than a union between two people, it is a union between two families. My brother has recently got engaged, and my Dad spoke these exact words, and I do believe these words reflect the thoughts of many of our parents today. But why can't we become friends with those that we see everyday, with those that we are neighbors with, with those that we work with? I mean, those of us that are living in places except India, do we not realize that we are already united with all those around us, those that have different backgrounds than ourselves? I believe this is a personal battle in us all, we have to find it in ourselves to see that we are equal, and equality I believe is what Sikhism's teachings emphasize the most.

I also came by a very interesting quote recently, that I think would be very useful for my response:

"people who mind don't matter, and people who matter don't mind"

This was said by yours truly, Dr. Seuss. 

My best of wishes to the couple =)


Another replied by: Banni

i feel that love and religion are two separate things. Some people don't take religion into a factor when they meet someone. They much rather look at who they are, their values, and love them for their personality. However, when one marries someone outside their religion, i feel the biggest impact is on the kids. Who are they? What religion are they? They cannot say that they are a Sikh nor can they say that they are the other religion. In that sense, i feel that is the biggest sin one can do. Bring someone into their world who will always be confused and questioned. For that reason, i feel it is unacceptable. 

also, i have seen many cases where one Sikh is non-amritdhari and gets married to an Amritdhari so that they too can follow the path and have been indeed brought closer to Waheguru. Some have even taken Amrit. i would think that would be acceptable. The Amritdhari is converting another person into Sikhism. What could be better? 


Last one replied by: Mannu

It is very interesting that our youth are considering such questions as the one you have posted. This question is revealing to the fact that our generation, which is distant to the culture and upbringing that takes place in India, actually come to these kind of questions which says that we think about ourselves and the significance we may carry in this world. We begin to identify ourselves with Sikhism almost evidently because, personally, it is something I must grasp in order to identify myself being a Sikh. I believe, being an American born and Im sure many of you can sympathize with me, that if I was to get an interracial marriage, it would NOT be acceptable by many. There is a social and religious marriage that must be considered here. Socially it is not acceptable, whereas religious it is. Now what should we do is the question? Do we defy our parents who have raised us doing everything they can possibly imagine? I think this question leads to many other questions. Also, many believe that interracial marriages aid in minimizing the Sikh religion as a population, now who thinks that is true? unfortunately, Darwin's survival of species must be taken into account? So if these happen (I am actually torn into a position in considering an interracial marriage) what should we do? what should I do?
M.

What is the Sikh Identity

Hey guys, I came to a very interesting thing about the Sikh Identity.


When a Sikh is wearing a bana, turban, white bana, kara, and beard, they are declaring that they are committed and have full dedication to the self to the Guru. This shall serve ALL even those who want to cheat you, or hurt you.

Most of the time, people intend to be wanting notice by other people wherebout the Sikhs do not.

Turban is not a piece of cloth. It is the self crowning of the individual. Hair on the face is not a decoration. It is an acceptance of Akal Moorat, to live in image of the infinity. Guru Gobind Singh said "So long as you shall be 'Niara' specially exclusive, I will give you all the light of the Universe." To be a great teacher means to be the most perfect disciple, the most perfect student. This is the space age, the platinum age. Our society is a mess. Forget your neurosis that you do not know who you are. The slogan of the Platinum Age shall be "ENDURANCE UNTO INFINITY." The goodness of the heart shall win and men of God will prevail. Everything has a price, and infinity has an infinite price.

It is presupposed that you are the men of God. You have your beard and you have your turban and you look divine.... but you don't act divine... people get very disappointed. Therefore the situation demands that you live it.

Sikh is nothing but identity. Without identity there's no Sikh. Sikh is nothing but an identity of reality; without it, there is no Sikh religion. The Guru took us from the mud, the rituals, waste of time, and said "live 'niara', exclusively identified."

Dhol & Dhad

*photo credit to Highton-Ridley from Flikr.com

Not only a culture rich with colorful tradition, Punjabi is also known for its famous art of traditional music instruments.  From many centuries back, there were about 12 known classical instruments, but according to few brief conversations we had with Ravina, only two are still commonly known by the modern societies.  


The two famous instruments are Dhol and Dhad.

Dhol is described as a high bass with very energetic tone.  It is one of the beating classical instruments that most of the time, pull the Punjabi people to the dance floor every time it is played.

It is said that Dhol is the king of all Punjabi traditional instruments.  It is also known as the essence of one of Punjabi famous dance performance, Bhangra. Without this instrument, the dance of Bhangra is imperfect.

Dhol is barrel–shaped, and is typically made from a shell shaped wood. The treble of this instrument is located on the right and its bass is on the left. The original two sides of the drum are made of goat skin. But in modern society, plastic is used as a replacement for the goatskin.

Dhol is also famous in the homes of many Punjabis in England. It is commonly used as a symbol of culture in houses.

*photo credit to Bryan Ledgard from Flikr.com

Another famous instrument is Dhad. Dhad is a small drum instrument, just like Dhol. This type of instrument is well known at traditional ballad performances of history of heroes.

Dhad, unlike Dhol, which is high bass and energetic tone, Dhad has low bass and very mellow tone. Apart from using in nostalgic performance, Punjabis used Dhad in many children fairytale songs.