Our Partnership with Sanjhi Sikhia

Dear Supporter,

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh,

This picture takes me to my childhood - ribboned pigtails, school uniform, immense desire to learn and read good books in my #motherlanguage; but no-one taught me #Punjabi nor I ever got to see such beautiful books in it. The stress of learning an alien language not sopken at home, i.e. English stole the whole childhood away. Such dual-language books would have made my life so much easier and richer - reading would have been a pleasure not a pain. 

So it delights me to see how these bilingual books are empowering our children in Punjab. Learning both the languages in a playful way - is the way to do it. Reminds me of the praise that is included at the back of this book:

"Gurmeet Kaur's books make me want to go back to the primary school and start reading all over again." - Dr. Surjit Patar

ਅਪਣਾ ਬਚਪਨ ਯਾਦ ਆ ਗਿਆ - ਕਰੇਲੇ, ਵਰਦੀ, ਭੋਲ਼ਾਪਣ, ਪੜ੍ਹਨ ਦੀ ਚਾਹ - ਪਰ ਮਾਂਬੋਲੀ ਕਿਸੇ ਸਿਖਾਈ ਹੀ ਨਹੀਂ - ਨਾ ਹੀ ਕਦੇ ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਵਿਚ ਇਜੇਹੀਆਂ ਸੁਹਣੀਆਂ ਕਿਤਾਬਾਂ ਵੇਖਣ ਨੂੰ ਮਿਲ਼ੀਆਂ - ਅੰਗ੍ਰੇਜ਼ੀ ਸਿੱਖਣ ਦੇ ਖੌ ਨੇ ਬਚਪਨ ਖੋ ਲਿਆ - ਇਹੋ ਜਿਹੀਆਂ ਦੋ-ਭਾਸ਼ੀ ਕਿਤਾਬਾਂ ਹੁੰਦੀਆਂ ਤੇ ਜਾਨ ਕਿੰਨੀ ਸੌਖੀ ਹੋਣੀ ਸੀ ਤੇ ਬੋਲੀ ਕਿੰਨੀ ਅਮੀਰ।

“ਗੁਰਮੀਤ ਕੌਰ ਦੀਆਂ ਕਿਤਾਬਾਂ ਵੇਖ ਕੇ ਜੀ ਕਰਦਾ ਏ - ਮੁੜ ਕੱਚੀ-ਪੱਕੀ ਪੜ੍ਹਨ ਬਹਿ ਜਾਵਾਂ” - ਸੁਰਜੀਤ ਪਾਤਰ

We have recently teamed up with Sanjhi Sikhia in Punjab - another non-profit organization which will be using our books to provide creative reading materials to government elementary schools in order to encourage learning in both languages. This picture is from one of their engagements at the GPS Chauth 64 in Patiala district. Last month they invited me to do a workshop with their volunteers on the imortance of learning in Mother Tongue. 

You may visit the seminar here. We discussed many ways to overcome the social and political hurdles in the way of our mother language. May be your will have more ideas to contribute. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a70WrfJN0Ek 

I would love to hear on how you are engaging your children or grandchildren with learning in the mother tongue. 

We will continue to strenghten your support for this project by working hard with our partners on the ground. We will keep you updated. Until then, have a blessed 2022. 

Sincerely, 
Gurmeet Kaur 
@FolktalesofPunjab
www.folktalesofpunjab.com
pic: Harnoor Singh
via: Simranjit Singh Bhullar #SanjhiSikhiya at GPS Chauth 64 Patiala