Punjab now a land of Bihari Sardars

LUDHIANA: The tenth and final Sikh teacher, Guru Gobind Singh, who was born in Bihar's capital Patna nearly 300 years ago, would have approved of this sociologial trend in contemporary Punjab. The old advisory to people to adapt to the culture of the places they go to, 'When in Rome, do as Romans do', has been assimilated with gusto by the migrant population of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, in the "land of five rivers". Indeed, with 'kara' around his wrist, long flowing beard, turban, and 'Singh' suffixed to his name, the 'bhaiyya' from the heartland has transformed into 'paaji' in Punjab. In a study by Punjab Agricultural University's Department of Economics and Sociology — with a sample size of 240 migrants (120 local labourers and 120 farmers) — a whopping 81% of migrants reported a change in the language they speak, the food they eat and the clothes they wear. Pegged at more than 10 lakh in a city of about 50 lakh people, there is one migrant from UP or Bihar for every five Punjabi. The study, carried out by Dr M S Sidhu, Dr A S Joshi and Inderpreet Kaur, employed something called a multi-stage sampling framework wherein samples were taken from districts, blocks and villages. It also zeroed in on local labourers and farmers for cross-references. Interestingly, in similar studies in 1978-79 and 1983-84, 33% and 40% of migrant labourers had reported a noticeable change in their language. In the last survey, however, the change in language went up to 76%. Also, 84% of respondents reported a change of preference from the traditional favourite rice to wheat. Similarly, 88% had switched from dhoti to pyjama-kameez. Some went for the more comfortable 'lungi' even as the women folk made the sartorial switch from sari to salwar-kameez. Like Ranjit Kumar, who calls himself Ranjit Singh these days, nearly 11% of people from Bihar and UP use Punjabi surnames. The 25-year-old, who came from Bihar to Sainian Bahurian village in Gurdaspur district to work in the farm of Mann Singh, is as much Punjabi as anybody around him. Sukhram, too, is no exception. He came to Sunam in Sangrur from Purnea in Bihar, some 15 years ago to work for Mohinderpal Singh Dhindsa. Now, with a beard and kara on his wrist, he is indistinguishable from the people around him in this nondescript town.