The sath: the village meeting place
The platform under the big tree in the village square, where the men sat, talked, played cards and settled quarrels.
Every Punjabi village has its sath, a raised platform or open space, often under a pipal or banyan tree near the well, the gurdwara or the mosque. Old men sat there all day; news, gossip and jokes travelled from it; marriages were arranged and quarrels settled by the elders of the panchayat.
In the sath, too, the kavishri singers and the bhands performed, and the qisse were told on winter nights.
More dress, sayings and games
The turban, the Punjabi suit, the tehmat and the chadra, the parandi in the hair and the jutti on the feet.
The sayings that season every Punjabi conversation, and the riddles told round the fire on winter nights.
The games of the Punjabi village: girls spinning in kikli, boys at gulli-danda and pithu, and kites on every roof at Basant.
From roka to doli: the rituals of a Punjabi wedding, and the songs that go with each one.
The pointed leather shoe of the Punjab, embroidered in gold and silver thread for weddings.
The woven string bed carried into the courtyard by day and onto the roof at night, and the low stool beside it.