Cultural Crossovers

Gulshan Kumar Johar,secretary of the Punjabi Cultural Association,Pune says,“ Baisakhi invites everyone to partake in it. The harvest festival is a method for people to not only celebrate a good crop yield,but also to thank God for having blessed the land. And since we are taking about Punjabis,who are by nature fun-loving people,the phrase ‘the more,the merrier’ certainly holds true for the festival.”

Celebrating with processions on the streets and by doing seva for the people is a common sight back home in Punjab,shares Johar. “We are planning to bring the same feeling this year,when we celebrate the festival this Sunday,” he says. “The reason why we are celebrating the festival on Sunday,a couple of days late,is that it will allow more members of the community to participate. The festivities will mainly include Punjabi folk dances and a dinner consisting of dishes specially cooked during the harvest festival.”

Sunny Sethi,entertainment chairman of the Royal Connaught Boat Club,says that folk dances are a important part of the celebrations. “The way Baisakhi is celebrated in Pune has changed over the years. The most important point is that authenticity has now come into the celebrations. Earlier,people used to just bring dancers from the city and perform the folk arts locally. Now the association actually brings in folk dancers from Punjab to perform the dances,and cooks from up north are invited to prepare the traditional dishes here. As a result,the attendance of both Punjabis and non-Punjabis has increased.”

This year,Sethi says that the celebrations will be held in Camp on April 14,in Balgandharva on April 15 and at the Boat Club on April 16. “At the Boat Club,we will be having a troupe coming down from Bhatinda that will perform dances like the Bhangra and the Gidda. The food festival will see dishes like the Makke Di Roti and Sarson da Saag. In addition,chudiwallahs and pot makers will also come in to create a rustic Punjabi village atmosphere. This is being done to add the element of authenticity to the festival.”

Sushil Sahani,chairman of the Punjabi Biradari Seva Society in Pimpri Chinchwad,says that they will not be having any celebrations this year for Baisakhi. “The members of the society have been busy with other activities of the society owing to which there will not be any celebrations this year. But members will be participating in the programmes organised by the Punjabi Cultural Association in Pune,” he says.