SAMAJ WEEKLY UK
Punjabi Listeners Club – 31st Anniversary
Humility and kind words are the true adornment of a human being.
Report
Tarlochan Singh Virk
Co-Ordinator, Punjabi Listeners Club
31 years ago, on Wednesday, 9 September 1995, during the third anniversary celebrations of BBC Radio Leicester’s Punjabi programme, the Punjabi Listeners Club was established on the eighth floor of Apex House on Charles Street, Leicester. The club continues to make its contribution towards the promotion and broadcasting of the Punjabi mother tongue, society and Sikh faith.
The club has organised turban-tying and Punjabi writing competitions for children; poetry conferences; health-information camps; recognition for children’s football teams; visits to London University, the Sikh Museum and LOROS Hospice; and, every year, an International
Mother Language Day programme. It has also donated thousands of pounds to UK charities, including Children in Need, Cancer Research, the British Heart Foundation, Khalsa Aid and several Lord Mayor of Leicester charities.
Among the languages, Punjabi is a sovereign language, known as the language of Punjabis. Those who brought its light to four countries,
within it the strings of the rabab still echo. Saints and holy men gave it birth, and the Gurus gave it lullabies. Bulleh Shah, Hussain and Waris Shah placed sweet words upon its tongue.
“O mother tongue Punjabi, may your honour and glory continue to grow; may your rising spirit flourish and may you have respect throughout the world.” — Tarlochan Singh Chann Jandialavi
“Whatever I have done for Punjabi, I regard it as a service to my friends. Whatever I can do—or cannot do—I nevertheless respect my mother tongue.” — Harbans Singh Jandu Litaranwali
Read, write, listen to and speak your mother tongue Punjabi. Take pride in your mother tongue. A cuckoo speaks its own language and therefore remains free, whereas a parrot that speaks the language of others spends its whole life in captivity in a cage. — Santokh
Singh Bath
“Love for the mother tongue is essential; it is everyone’s duty to teach children Punjabi.” — Tarlok Singh Virk
“A person who knows Punjabi will remain connected with the Guru’s Bani, Sikh history and Sikhism. At the same time, they will be able to look after their family and parents and serve society.” — Bhai Balwinder Singh Rangeela
“Let us increase the honour of our mother tongue Punjabi and, by becoming worthy sons of our mother, fulfil our duty.” — Inderjit Hasanpuri
“Anyone who has embraced the mother tongue wholeheartedly has created history and become immortal, because the mother tongue, like a mother, loves and cherishes her children and keeps encouraging them towards progress.”
At Guru Tegh Bahadur Gurdwara Sahib, Leicester, and Government Virk Primary Smart School, a total of 350 children’s Punjabi writing competitions were organised. You have sown the mother tongue in fresh soil and made it flourish. You deserve congratulations.
Long may sons like you, who serve the mother tongue, live. Through people like you, the victory and glory of Punjabi will always continue. With very best wishes. — Dr Harishinder Kaur Patiala
“Every person has three mothers: the mother who gives birth, the mother tongue that the person speaks, and the motherland—the land where they were born. Every person in the world has great love for the land where they were born. And if that land is one where Gurus, devotees, saints and holy men were also born, then it becomes something truly precious.”
“For this reason, the honour bestowed upon Tarlok Singh Ji of Virk village, by Dr Surjit Patra at Punjabi Bhawan, Ludhiana, Punjab, is especially pleasing to me.” — Dr Jagtar Singh
Dhiman, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Guru Kashi University, Bathinda, Punjab “For admission to universities for higher education, GCE A/S Punjabi and A-level Punjabi receive exactly the same number of points as any other A-level or GCE A/S qualification.” — Bhai Harjinder Singh Rai, Head Sewadar, Gurdwara Sri Guru Harkrishan Sahib Ji, Oadby, Leicestershire.
“My parents sent me to Punjab for a few years to learn my mother tongue Punjabi and other education, which proved very beneficial for me. In 2008, because of the children’s turban-tying competitions organised by the Punjabi Listeners Club, an invitation was received from the White House, Capitol Hill, Washington DC, USA, especially for the club’s director Virk Sahib Ji. In 2010, at the famous House of Commons, a certificate was presented to them by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Punjabis in Britain.” — Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, Member of Parliament, Slough
The 31st anniversary of the Punjabi Listeners Club is being celebrated with devotion and reverence at Farm House.
Let us love our mother tongue — come, let us protect and preserve it.
