Punjabi History

The Punjab is defined by the floodplains of the five rivers that give the area its name, and as a result, it is one of the most fertile regions of South Asia. However, since the 1947 partition of India, the “Land of Five Rivers” is something of a misnomer, as the partition not only divided India but also the Punjab. The eastern part of Punjab remained a province of India while the western section was ceded to the newly created Pakistan.

The British-born Punjabi Shergill sisters Rajni, Jezmeen, and Shirnia were never close and barely got along growing up and now have grown even further apart as adults. Rajni, a school principal, is a stickler for order. Jezmeen, a 30-year-old struggling actress, fears her big break may never come. Shirina, the peacemaking "good" sister, married into wealth and enjoys a picture-perfect life. On her deathbed, their mother voices one last wish: that her daughters will make a pilgrimage together to the Golden Temple in Amritsar to carry out her final rites.

"I am learning Punjabi": 300 essential words and phrases, 140 common expressions, the 100 most common verbs, the 1000 essential words. Punjabi is a language spoken in Punjab (India and Pakistan) by about 100 million speakers. How to learn a language differently? Today, language learning is revolutionized: you do not have to go to traditional language classes anymore. Our learning method : a selection of hundreds of phrases and essential words. You listen to them, you repeat them, and you speak.

Punjabi Phase 1, Units 16-20 build on material taught in prior units. Each lesson provides 30 minutes of spoken language practice, with an introductory conversation, and new vocabulary and structures. Detailed instructions enable you to understand and participate in the conversation. Each lesson contains practice for vocabulary introduced in previous lessons. The emphasis is on pronunciation and comprehension, and on learning to speak Punjabi.

When Namita is 10, her mother takes her to Dhondutai, a respected music teacher from the Jaipur gharana. Dhondutai's antecedents are rich - she is the only remaining student of the legendary Alladiya Khan, the founder of the gharana and of its most famous singer, the tempestuous Kesarbai Kerkar. Namita begins to learn singing from Dhondutai, at first reluctantly and then, as the years pass, with growing passion. Dhondutai sees in her a second Kesar, but does Namita have the dedication to give herself up completely to music - or will there always be too many late nights and cigarettes?