Punjab stood test of time, embraced change: Academia
Partition, migration and globalisation, Punjab has seen it all. Let’s have a look at the larger picture now — how the state navigated through lows and highs; and lived on to tell a story of fall and rise.
Reflecting on this transformation, Guru Nanak Dev University Registrar KS Chahal sifted through the past pages at the Mahan Singh Dhesi Memorial Lecture organised by the University’s School of Punjabi Studies.
“Partition of the country, migration abroad and globalisation have given Punjabi culture a new identity,” Chahal observed.
“Despite displacement, economic uncertainty and repeated upheavals, Punjabi society has continued to reinvent itself and engage with the wider world,” Dr Chahal said, as he remembered the contributions of Mahan Singh Dhesi to the Punjabi global community. He said Dhesi was like a bridge between Punjab’s cultural identity and education development back home.
Mahan Singh Dhesi, a prominent member of North American Sikh diaspora, hailed from Jalandhar and was among the earliest Punjabi migrants in North America. In California around the 20th century, Dhesi was in the know of the fact that he belonged to a generation that ventured overseas when international migration was still an uncertain and difficult undertaking. Yet migration did not necessarily sever the connection with Punjab. The concern for community, education and social development travelled with the migrants. “This holds true even today when Punjabi diapora continues to make efforts to support and promote their culture, identify and language in addition to embracing new cultures,” said Dr Chahal.
That legacy eventually found an institutional home at Guru Nanak Dev University. His grandson, Prof Autar Singh Dhesi, a retired professor and head of the Punjab School of Economics at Guru Nanak Dev University, established an endowment at the university in his memory, supporting an annual memorial lecture.
Vice-Chancellor of Guru Nanak Dev University (Dr) Karamjit Singh, head of Punjabi Studies School Dr Manjinder Singh and professor, Punjabi department, Delhi University Dr Ravi Ravinder were the main speakers.
