Oye Bubbly! This is Jaipur – Punjabi style (FEATURE)

Oye Bubbly! This is Jaipur – Punjabi style (FEATURE)

Sanket Upadhyay

A smart Marks and Spencer’s tie flutters in the air as he tries to slide a few strands of hair inside his turban. Wearing the latest Gillette perfume he bought from Gaurav Tower, his hands dash to the pocket to grab the latest Motorola phone he bought only yesterday – it has an MP3 player too.

Soon after proposing a treat to his friends at Pizza Hut, he walks towards the parking stand, digs out a jazzy key ring and summons the Autocop beeper to unlock his brand new Scoda Octavia. “Peup Peup”, goes the car as he slides himself in, grabs the steering, switches on his Blaupunkt 5 CD changer music system and whizzes past many campy smiles coming from scooter, auto and cycle riders in Jaipur.

Welcome to the world of Divyajyoti Singh. Also, the world of some Punjabis (Sikhs also), who have around them a galaxy of appeal and charm – often criticised to be synthetic - but there. Singh is a second generation Sikh born in Jaipur. Though he ought be a Jaipurite – his key ring says everything about his Punjabipan – “If you have it, flaunt it!”

Many may think that the cult of suave and swanky sardars and Punjabis, the complete antonym of the conservative Rajasthani, may face a cultural shock (or give others one). But those settled in Jaipur - proudly preserving their Punjabi soul - call themselves Rajasthanis before anything else. Of course why won’t they sprinkle their soul essence around? They’re Punjabis after all.

A recent instance was the Baisakhi celebrations by the Punjabi Mahasabha. Arun Bakshi, the famous Hindi and Punjabi playback singer, was also in town. Clad in lehenga-choli, saris and gawdy make up, women bopped and hopped on anything Punjabi. Women of this community, they say, are branded beauties. “Jo sohni so Sikhni, Jo jhalla so Sikh,” goes the very famous saying among this community.

The state’s food palette also acknowledges Punjabi delicacies. Mouth-watering dishes of Hadoti, Dundhari, Brij and Punjab were featured in the recently concluded Rajasthan Diwas Samaroh from March 20 to 30.

“We are a mix of Rajasthanis and Punjabis. So we celebrate festivals symbolic to both cultures. The feeling is very good though,” 26-year-old Savita Singh, who is third generation Punjabi settled in the state, says.

But why have Punjabis settled in pockets like Raja Park and Adarsh Nagar? “During partition, many Punjabi refugees came in Jaipur from Pakistan. They were all settled and given land by the government in these places,” IP Singh, owner of the Mohan group of Restaurants and Hotels, tells Hindustan Times. He is the second generation in Jaipur. His grandfather settled in the city in 1947.

Also, a sizable number, which embrace the city for professional reasons, settle in these areas only. “When one learns that there is an entire colony of like minded people from the same community, one tends to settle down for the place,” adds Gurdeep Singh Sanotra, who came to Jaipur from Hoshiarpur in Punjab. He has settled in Raja Park.
What upset a few Punjabis in this peace loving state was a state government ban on Punjabis from buying land in the state. The National Commission for Minorities (NCM) said that it would approach the Rajasthan Government for lifting this ban on residents of Punjab. Many in Punjab said that they were interested buying agricultural land in the state but alleged that it was not being allotted to them in bordering areas as part of a discriminatory practice.
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