STRAIGHT FROM THE HEART BY NAVJOT SINGH SIDHU BATS FOR TRANSFORMING CULTURAL AWAKENING INTO MASS MOVEMENT

STRAIGHT FROM THE HEART BY NAVJOT SINGH SIDHU

BATS FOR TRANSFORMING CULTURAL AWAKENING INTO MASS MOVEMENT

·      PROCESS AFOOT TO CONSTITUTE 12 WINGS UNDER PUNJAB KALA PARISHAD

·      CHAIRMAN DR. SURJIT PATAR DETAILS FINER POINTS

·      BRAINSTORMING MEET HELD TO DELIBERATE UPON PROPAGATION OF PUNJABI FOLK ARTS, CULTURAL & HISTORICAL HERITAGE

CHANDIGARH : "The cultural awakening is a necessary step to connect the youth of Punjab with their glorious cultural, historical, religious and artistic roots and this awakening needs to be turned into a mass movement so as to make the Punjabi culture resonate throughout the globe".

Expressing these views in a straight from the heart manner here today while addressing a meeting of the leading lights of literary field of Punjab, the Tourism and Cultural Affairs Minister, Punjab, Mr. Navjot Singh Sidhu said that process is already afoot to constitute 12 wings under the Punjab Kala Parishad (Punjab Arts Council) and these would be spread at the village and tehsil level in order to give concrete standing to the efforts to popularize various cultural forms of the state. The minister also said that each wing would be comprised of 8-10 people and would be headed by a convenor. Rooting for being decisive to infuse a new life into the movement for preservation of cultural and historical heritage of Punjab, the minister said that he would also hold meetings once a month with these wings. Exhorting all those present to involve themselves wholeheartedly into the task of bringing about a cultural renaissance in Punjab, the minister said that passion is what makes you win in the end.

Earlier, the Chairman of the Punjab Kala Parishad and noted litterateur Dr. Surjit Patar while detailing the finer points of the wings said that these would be devoted to 'Lok Dhara'- 'Sookham' and 'Sthool' category, establishing connect with the educational institutions keeping students in prime focus, efforts to promote Punjabi language, Rejuvenation of dying folk arts, strengthening the theatre movement, contact the media platforms for propagation of Punjabi culture, art and language, Preservation of works of great litterateurs through CDs, Painting contests with Punjab as theme and holding an 'ASIAN POETRY FESTIVAL' dedicated to the 550th birth anniversary of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji.

On the occasion, prominent personalities from literary/intellectual fields Mr. Jatinder Brar from Naatshala Amritsar, Mr. Amarjeet Grewal, Dr. Tejwant Singh Gill, Dr. Gurmeet Singh, Mr. Ninder Ghugianvi, Mr. Harvinder Singh Khalsa, Dr. Sukhdev Singh Sirsa, Dr. Nirmal Jaura, Mr. Swaranjit Savi and Dr. Nahar Singh put forward their valuable suggestions to bring a cultural revolution in the state. These suggestions included forming a theatre organization after every 10-12 villages, working wholeheartedly to preserve the joint culture of both Indian and Pakistani Punjab's, Having a state level museum to keep as well as conserve every article concerning culture of Punjab,  another museum dedicated to the dying artifacts and folk arts of Punjab, documentation of dialects of Punjabi language, making available such a platform for the youth who couldn't a chance to either study or properly exhibit their exceptional talent, organizing an inter university level competition of folk arts by the parishad, and propping up painting art.

The proceedings were ably compeered by the Secretary General of the Parishad Mr. Lakhwinder Singh Johal. Among others present on the occasion included Principal Secretary, Tourism and Cultural Affairs Department Mr. Jaspal Singh, Director Mr. Shivdular Singh Dhillon, Dr. Sarabjit Kaur Johal, Dr. Deepak Manmohan Singh, Sarabjit Kaur Mangat, Kewal Dhaliwal, Sukhi Brar, Dr. Karamjit Singh Sra, Diwan Manna, Prof. Manjit Indra, Sushil Dosanjh, Pritam Rupal, Dr. Yograj, Darshan Singh Aasht, Sri Ram Arsh and Prof. Dareya.