Reaching out to the inheritors of the Boli

Dear Supporter,

Have you read this poem by Dr. Surjit Patar?

ਪਿੱਛੇ ਪਿੱਛੇ ਰਿਜ਼ਕ ਦੇ
ਆਇਆ ਨੰਦ ਕਿਸ਼ੋਰ
ਚੱਲ ਕੇ ਦੂਰ ਬਿਹਾਰ ਤੋਂ
ਗੱਡੀ ਬੈਠ ਸਿਆਲਦਾ
ਨਾਲ ਬਥੇਰੇ ਹੋਰ

ਰਾਮਕਲੀ ਵੀ ਨਾਲ ਸੀ
ਸੁਘੜ ਲੁਗਾਈ ਓਸ ਦੀ
ਲੁਧਿਆਣੇ ਦੇ ਕੋਲ ਹੀ
ਇਕ ਪਿੰਡ ਬਾੜੇਵਾਲ ਵਿਚ
ਜੜ੍ਹ ਲੱਗੀ ਤੇ ਪੁੰਗਰੀ

ਰਾਮਕਲੀ ਦੀ ਕੁੱਖ 'ਚੋਂ
ਜਨਮੀ ਬੇਟੀ ਓਸ ਦੀ
ਨਾਂ ਧਰਿਆ ਸੀ ਮਾਧੁਰੀ
ਕੱਲ੍ਹ ਮੈਂ ਦੇਖੀ ਮਾਧੁਰੀ
ਓਸੇ ਪਿੰਡ ਸਕੂਲ ਵਿਚ

ਗੁੱਤਾਂ ਬੰਨ੍ਹ ਕੇ ਰਿਬਨ ਵਿਚ
ਸੁਹਣੀ ਪੱਟੀ ਪੋਚ ਕੇ
ਊੜਾ ਐੜਾ ਲਿਖ ਰਹੀ
ਊੜਾ ਐੜਾ ਲਿਖ ਰਹੀ
ਬੇਟੀ ਨੰਦ ਕਿਸ਼ੋਰ ਦੀ

ਕਿੰਨਾ ਗੂੜ੍ਹਾ ਸਾਕ ਹੈ
ਅੱਖਰਾਂ ਤੇ ਰਿਜ਼ਕ ਦਾ

ਏਸੇ ਪਿੰਡ ਦੇ ਲਾਡਲੇ
ਪੋਤੇ ਅੱਛਰ ਸਿੰਘ ਦੇ
ਆਪਣੇ ਪਿਓ ਦੀ ਕਾਰ ਵਿਚ
ਬਹਿ ਲੁਧਿਆਣੇ ਆਂਵਦੇ
ਕੌਨਵੈਂਟ ਵਿਚ ਪੜ੍ਹ ਰਹੇ

ਏ.ਬੀ.ਸੀ.ਡੀ. ਸਿੱਖਦੇ
ਏ.ਬੀ.ਸੀ.ਡੀ. ਸਿੱਖਦੇ
ਪੋਤੇ ਅੱਛਰ ਸਿੰਘ ਦੇ
ਕਿੰਨਾ ਗੂੜ੍ਹਾ ਸਾਕ ਹੈ
ਅੱਖਰ ਅਤੇ ਅਕਾਂਖਿਆ

ਪਿੱਛੇ ਪਿੱਛੇ ਰਿਜ਼ਕ ਦੇ
ਆਇਆ ਨੰਦ ਕਿਸ਼ੋਰ - ਡਾ. ਸੁਰਜੀਤ ਪਾਤਰ

When our own are abandoning their Maboli Punjabi in favor of English and Hindi at a very fast pace in Punjab - it is the immigrant children in Punjab's government schools that will carry the light forward. So we make sure that we touch these children and inspire them to learn this beautiful language as we do to our own children in the diaspora.

I am sharing a picture from a session that was recently held at GPS Lachru (Patiala district) on September 15, 2022. During the session our volunteer Simranjeet Singh narrated stories from the book followed by a discussion and a question-answer session in which children participated with a lot of enthusiasm. After the session, children promised that they will reduce their screen time at home and request their parents and grandparents for bed time stories. Two copies of Sanjha Punjab edition were donated to the school. One for children to take home on rotation basis and one - a teacher's copy.

The school has only nine students who come from economically weaker section and is a single-teacher school. It lacks many basic amenities yet has a lot of potential. Majority of village kids go to private schools in the area. The story of Lachru school is the story of many government run schools in Punjab. Providing them with at least one great bilingual book that engages them and inspires them to excel in the Punjabi language while teaching them good english seems like a small thing to do - but we hope that this seed will ignite a love for the land and the language in their hearts.

In the past three months we have been to many schools and reached out to many children - but this story stood out and I wanted to share it with you.

I know it breaks your heart. It does mine too.

But we do all we can. We hope to print the Punjab editions for our other books very soon so we have more material for our children back home. In the next few months we will also share another cool project with you. Please stay tuned.

Thank you for your support as always - we couldn't do it without you.

Gurmeet Kaur

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