PUNJABI by nature

The Punjab you saw in Yash Chopra’s NRI nostalgia-version aka DDLJ and the real thing are quite apart. All the Punjabi clichés seem to be either untrue or changing too fast. For a state meant to have ghabru jawan (well built young men), malnutrition competes with unemployment. (The National Family Health Survey -2005-2006 confirmed that 1 in every 5 adult between the ages 15-49 is malnourished). Where the mustard delicacy, sarson ka saag is anything but homegrown. Where more and more young Sikhs are now simply chopping off their hair. The dismal sex ratio, the sex-selection deaths and farmer suicides have already come to light despite a state minus significant NGO presence. Text and photos by TISHA SRIVASTAV.

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Yahoo Lifestyle Entertainment Photo by Tisha Srivastav Thu 12 Apr, 2012 3:30 PM IST

The state of young men: The young men are more often than not educated, unemployed, landowners who hire migrant labor and do not work the land themselves anymore. Which is why the state has 14 % of India’s tractors and increasing amounts of debt money is being spent on farm machinery. Up from 15% in 1997 to 53% in 2008. Anyway against a national average of 40 per cent, almost 85% of Punjab is cultivated. So you can imagine how much work there ... more
The state of young men: The young men are more often than not educated, unemployed, landowners who hire migrant labor and do not work the land themselves anymore. Which is why the state has 14 % of India’s tractors and increasing amounts of debt money is being spent on farm machinery. Up from 15% in 1997 to 53% in 2008. Anyway against a national average of 40 per cent, almost 85% of Punjab is cultivated. So you can imagine how much work there actually is, but no one wants to be a farmer anymore. Making this, a Sardarji working with his hands in the field, a rare rare sight. less