Roundabout | The Punjabi dream of Westward ho! persists despite humbling return
Punjab, once known as the breadbasket of the country, is not in the days of old glory with green revolution greying and while in 1981 it was on top of the chart as the first in per capita, but now it is down below on the 16th position
The immigrant’s tale of making it to the dream destination of the United States (US) to labour hard for dollars turns sour as they are deported, shackled and humiliated; but not shattered. They took the dunki route and were shackled and sent back like criminals, if not snakes, as one is to go by Trump’s dramatic reading of the Snake poem targeted against immigrants. Yet, aspiring Punjabis proudly posted videos of their tough journeys set to the peppy Punjabi 2024 song by Cheema Y and Gur Sidhu, released by Brown Town Music challenging Trump that there was no way he could stop the sons of the Jats from labouring in the US. Even the Punjabi ideologues say if an immigrant is a snake then the whole world is hissing with them. The recitation has met with ridicule in his homeground.
Drive through the Doaba region of Punjab, the mango growing area that stretches between two rivers (Do Aab) the Beas on one side and the Satluj on the other, and there is no dearth on palatial empty homes and there is a special addition to mark the non-resident Indian’s journey: a concrete model of an aeroplane resting on the big water tank on the rooftop to signify that the owner flew on it to distant lands. The aeroplane is a precious symbol in the Punjabi mind of having been there and done that. Of course, nostalgia for the lost homeland is to be found in the folk snippets of the Punjabi songs and sayings as the lover tells his girl: ‘Tu ambian nu ambian nu tarsengi, Chhad ke des Doaba’ (You will yearn for mangoes on leaving your home Doaba). This region has a long history of immigration due to the small land holdings.
Move to the Jalandhar town of Doaba and close by is the Talhan Sahib Gurdwara where there is the unique practice of devotees offering well curated plastic toy aeroplanes in red, blue and white along with prayers for wish fulfilment of flying abroad. Hard to believe but as many as 2,000 aeroplanes donated here every day and the deporting has not affected these numbers. Interestingly, the priest returns the toy planes to the devotees for their children along with sacred ‘prasad’. However, for the immigrants who belong to the families of small farmers or the working class, the donation of the toy aeroplane is not some magical miracle that makes them fly abroad. There is much else: land is sold and mortgaged to meet the expense of the migration, be it legal or illegal. Not just that loans are taken, the sparse jewellery of the women folks is sold and when the boys are returned home humbled, all is lost. In spite of all this, the desperation to migrate abroad and labour for higher wages is the ultimate dream of the Punjabis, as proclaim the aeroplanes resting on the rooftops of homes in Punjab.
The journey is the thing
Punjab has a long history of migration and travel to distant lands ranging from the spiritual to the material. Of course, the spiritual journey of the first of the Sikh gurus, Baba Nanak, is a unique one where he went searching for the commonality of human existence. His was in search of eternal truth and he made five lengthy sojourns with his musician friend Bhai Mardana and believed to have covered together on foot some 28,000 km as they moved east, west and north and thus being considered the most travelled persons on earth after Ibn Battuta, the legendary explorer of Morocco. However, the guru returned to form the new order of the Sikh (earner) sans the traditional fault points of caste and prejudice that were a part of the Hindu fold. But for the Punjabi traveller today, it is a point of no return.
For the elite it is a different matter, complete school and off abroad for higher education and then there is no coming back but for messages on Facebook: ‘Love you New York for accepting me’ or ‘Thank you Toronto for owning me’.
Punjab, once known as the breadbasket of the country, is not in the days of old glory with green revolution greying and while in 1981 it was on top of the chart as the first in per capita, but now it is down below on the 16th position. No longer do they boast strong broad-chested tillers of the soil, but weaklings of sorts with rampant drug addiction of cocaine, popularly known as ‘chitta’, of the flying and fleeing Punjab. In this scenario, ask a Punjabi why cannot things change here for the youth and the reply is that Punjabis are an aspiring lot and the west should not grudge their efforts for a better life away from home. The postscript to this is that even Americans and Canadians came from elsewhere. So Punjabis too have the right to life and earning elsewhere.
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