Punjabi is the fastest growing language in Australia. As per Australia’s 2016 censes, Punjabi is the 13th most-spoken migrant language in Australia and the first growing among the Indian sub-continent people, followed by Hindi, Malayalam and Gujrati. It grew 5 folds in the last ten years.
The Punjabi Sahitik Forum Sydney organised a seminar on 26 August 2018 in Parramatta to promote Punjabi language in Australia. Highlights of the seminar was recitation of poems by local poets including Dr. Davinder Singh Jitla, Sahib Singh Pannu, Dev Passi, Balvinder Singh Gill, Joginder Singh Thind, Jivan Singh Dusanj, Opinder Singh and Darshan Singh. A new poetry book ‘Aarju Di Pukar’ written by Balvinder Singh Gill was unveiled in the seminar.
According to Manjinder Singh, President of the Punjabi Sahitik Forum, another major community event recently organised by the Forum was addressed by Davi Davinder Kaur, Chief Sub Editor of the Punjabi Tribune, who was the guest of honour on 22 July 2018 at Glendenning (NSW). She gave a very motivational talk on her struggle and how she reached to her current prestigious position.
There was an interactive session with different speakers and audience on the social issues like drugs usage in youth, evil of dowry and struggle for career among females. Punjabi Sahitik Forum awarded a “Certificate of Honour” to Davi Davinder Kaur for her continuous efforts to promote Punjabi language. Various suggestions were provided to promote Punjabi language among younger generations and in Australian public schools. It was an interesting and meaningful session.
Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language. It is the spoken language of people originating in the areas of Punjab. It is spoken by more than 130 million people and is the 10th most spoken language in the world. There are more than 6000 languages spoken around the world. The term “Punjabi” depicts the language of Punj-Aab, or land of five rivers and there are thirty five letters (35 akhar) in the Gurmukhi script. Most people who speak this language live in the Punjab region of Pakistan and India. It is also widely spoken in Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi.
For more information about the Punjabi Sahitik Forum, including ways you can be involved, please visit the website Punjabi Sahitik Forum Sydney
