How Panwar learn Punjabi?

A gentleman who was not quite aware about Punjab or Punjabi language, was sent to the state because his boss wanted him to go. During his posting in Jalandhar, the officers learned Punjabi and started speaking the languge fluently.After retirement whenever he talks with his freinds from Punjab, he speakes Punjabi. He also had a taste of Haryanvi . That gentleman officer is B C Panwar.  
 When BC Panwar, the Jaipur Station Director of All India Radio, was transferred to Jalandhar, he pleaded with his headquarters not to send him there as he neither knew Punjabi language nor he was well-versed with the culture of the region.His Punjabi boss floored him with his reply. He said it was not difficult to learn Punjabi. 
" Tusee do peg lagao yaran vich baith ke. Pher vaikho tusee kis taran faraatedar Punjabi bolde o. (Just take two pegs with friends and you will start speaking  Punjabi fluently").
Panwar had to join at Jalandhar and soon he found the formula offered by his boss as quite effective. Mild-mannered but good conversationalist Panwar, now in his retirement at his home city of Ajmer, considers his Jalandhar tenure as the best out of his career of 35 years. He also recalls his official trips to AIR Rohtak in adjoining Haryana state where people said, "Ek cup chah me tera hajma kharaab koni hoga. Le pee le. Zaroorat padi, to baad me lassi pila denge. (A single cup of tea won't harm your stomach. Take it. Need be,  we will give a glass of lassi later on).Panwar's inference is that social drinks, soft or hard; cold or hot, promote informality and that in turn establishes better communication. Friendship survives on regular communication."Punjabis appear boisterous and outgoing through their 'japphies' and 'balle balle' (huggings and joyous exclamations), but they are also passionate lovers. I discovered it through Bulleh Shah, Warris Shah, Amrita Pritam, Prakash Kaur and several others", says Panwar now.
 "You have that great Saangi, Lakhmi Chand in Haryana, almost unknown outside but every Haryanavi will quote him so frequently. Now they are making a film on him", elaborates Panwar on his impressions of the people of linguistic and cultural groups other than his own.
Panwar's reference reminded me of Gurbaksh Singh Preetlari's book "Ishaq jinhan di haddi rachiya" (Love in their bones) that compiled the immortal folk love tales of Punjab like Heer-Ranjha, Shashi-Punnu, Sheeri-Farhad, Sohni-Mahiwal and Mirza-Sahiba.Friendship prompts you to learn the language of your friend. It is an exercise in deepening the friendship. We usually greet a person in his language to strike an emotional bond.
A Tamil friend Ganesh Subramaniam liked a write-up of mine that I had done on a mutual friend Swami Sudarshanam recently." tuhada jawab nahin Ajit ji", he wrote tagging along a snapshot of the link of an online news portal that carried the write-up. That, of course, appeared an endearing lovely comment. Formality binds friendship; being informal deepens it.The best thing is that people should meet and talk in person. If that is not possible, then talk on phone preferably by video-conferencing. At third place comes letter writing that nowadays has become instant responding through whatsapp and other social media apps. Social media seems to have substituted effectively the role of social drinks in this age of Corona virus, more so for senior citizens.
Apparently, only a few members remain active in these otherwise groups of large membership but others too enjoy being there. They bond with friends they might not have talked to for years. Some seek their phone numbers to talk and share old memories. Social media not only revives old friendships, it also creates new ones as some shine through talents heither to unknown. Most members who might appear passive consumers,  too enjoy the posts and promptly become active on birthdays, marriage anniversaries and, of course, on death events by sending appropriate messages. BC Panwar, a totally unknown person to me till a few days ago when he rang up to appreciate one of my posts, came out as a very warm jolly person in our conversation of about half an hour.  We are friends now.  Thank you Panwar for that call, thank you for sharing your  friendship formula and thank you social media. Cheers!
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