Culture
Punjab sings before it argues. Its scripture is arranged by raga; its saints wrote in the language of the spinning wheel and the river crossing; its love stories are older than its borders and are still sung on both sides of them. This is the Punjab of the qissa and the kafi, the dhadi's ballad and the dhol, the hill painter and the bonfire at Lohri.
Heer Ranjha
Dama Dam Mast Qalandar
Mela Chiraghan
Bhangra
Gurmat Sangeet: kirtan in the ragas
Ajj Aakhaan Waris Shah Nu
Lahore's film industry
Kabaddi
The long romances that Punjab sings at weddings, fairs and graves: lovers, rivers and the families that stood between them.
From the Sufi kafi to the modern lyric: the voices that made Punjabi a language of longing, protest and devotion.
Kirtan in the Gurus' ragas, the dhadi's war ballad, the village boli and the Sufi kafi.
The voices of the radio, the akhara stage, the gurdwara and the shrine.
The pieces every Punjabi knows the first line of. Described here, not reproduced.
From Mardana's rabab to the dhol on the threshing floor.
Bhangra at harvest, giddha in the courtyard, jhumar in the bar country and the gatka arena.
The year turns on Lohri bonfires, Vaisakhi harvests, Hola Mohalla's mock battles and the lamps of Bandi Chhor.
The langar's equal meal, the winter saag and the sweet karah parshad.
Lahore's studios, the Punjabis of Bombay cinema, the films of both Punjabs, and the stage from the naqqals to Ajoka.
Kabaddi, wrestling and hockey: the games of the villages and the Olympics.
What Punjabis wore, the proverbs they lived by and the games they played.
The crow on the roof, the spinning wheel, the evil eye: the images that run through Punjabi songs and everyday belief.
Painting, sculpture, coins, manuscripts, arms and buildings: now in their own section
The poetry of the old chronicles
Nani's corner folk tales, home remedies and food lore
Folk tales
Grandmothers' stories were told on winter nights under the quilt: fables of the clever gidar, the jackal, who outwits the lion and the crow; the foolish dreams of Shekh Chilli; the adventures of Raja Rasalu of Sialkot and the sorrows of Puran Bhagat; and ghost stories of the churel with backward feet who haunts the well and the crossroads.
Home remedies
Haldi wala doodh, hot milk with turmeric, for every cough, cut and bruise; desi ghee for strength; ajwain for a stomach ache; a warm brick wrapped in cloth for pain. A new mother is fed panjiri, a rich mix of wheat flour, ghee, nuts and gond, for forty days.
Hot and cold foods
Foods are 'garam' or 'thande' by nature, not temperature: gur, eggs, meat, dry fruit and pinnis heat the body in winter; lassi, sattu, cucumber and sherbat cool it in summer. Children are told not to drink milk with fish, or water straight after melon.