(e) Social Life. – with the phenomenal advancement of education and medical facilities under the new national set-up in the country, the superstitions amongst the people are gradually fading away. It would, however, be rash to assume that the people have developed a scientific temper ; but slowly and steadily social barriers are being removed. With the passage of the Untouchability (Offences) Act, 1955, and recognition of equality under the Constitution, the status of Scheduled Castes has considerably improved.

After independence the old practice of observing purdah has practically disappeared amongst the Hindu and Sikh women in urban areas. the Muslim ladis, however, still observe it. In rural areas the orthodox Hindus and Sikh women still cling to purdah in a very restricted form ; but it is also expected to disappear with the rapid awakening and advancement of education.

Casteism in a milder form still persists. Even Sikhs and Muslims are not free from caste distinctions. Sikhs of higher groups, i.e. Khatries, Aroras and Jats etc. call themselves Sardars whereas Scheduled Castes Sikhs are called Mazabhi. Among the Muslims, Sayyeds and Sheikhs consider themselves superior to Rajput converts and similarly’ the Rajput converts claim a higher social status than Kumhars, arains, telis and dhankas (cotton carders) etc. Undoubtedly scorn for lower castes/groups has been considerably lessened, but still people do not freely mix up on social occasions. They, however, do not mind such free gatherings in hotels, restaurants and cinemas, etc.

It need hardly be gainsaid that modern civilization, typified by western education, increased communication facilities and commercial and employment avenues outside ones home, has brought a radical change in the joint family system a cultural heritage in India. The age -old system has not yet been completely shattered; but has undergone a radical change. The persons coming to the towns from villages still retain some connection with their ancestral places. They revert to their parental homes for the performance of important social and religious ceremonies. In certain cases members help the relatives financially at the time of need, viz. marriages, construction of houses, etc. people of urban area settled elsewhere also act in the same manner. Jopnt family system may, therefore, be said to exist as Joint Welfare system. Persons might separate at an advanced stage when they themselves have a big family. This type of change under the new pattern of industrialisation and urbanization was inevitable.

Inheritance among the Hindus was governed by Hindu law. The eldest son succeeded as the head of the family; but the brothers had equal share, Daughters did not claim anything from their fathers property. Sikhs were governed by customary law. “Page Wand” and “Chunda Wand” systems were practiced according to the cusrom. In the case of rank, viz, Lambardari, the rule of primogeniture prevailed. Now Hindu Succession Act, 1956, governs the inheritance of the Hindus, Sikhs, Budhists and Jains In accordance with the Act, the property of the deceased is distributed amongst sons, daughters, widow and mother. Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act,1956, governs the adoption of children and gives maintenance allowance to the wife.

Muslims are governed under Shariat Act,1937. Under Islamic Law, the son, daughters, wife and mother, inherit the property of deceased .Wife is the sole owner of mehr given to her at the time of marriage.

Inheritance among Christians is governed under the Indian Succession Act, 1925.

Marriages and Morals.- Marriages amongst the Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims, Jains and Christians are performed according to the customary ceremonies of their respective communities. Civil Marriages are performed under the Indian Civil Marriage Act,1954. Civil Marriages are performed to avoid social taboos and ostensibly to save the heavy costs involved in traditional marriages.

Marriage among the Hindus.- Many classified eight forms of marriages; Brahma, Daiva, Arsa, Prajapatya, Asura, Ganharva, Paaksaka, and Paisaca.Out of these the first four forms were classified as good. Among the Hindus marriage is enjoined as a religious obligation because a father is believed to achieve salvation onlyvthrough a son.

Usually the marriage is arranged by parents. In certain educated families parents have become liberal to the extent of permitting the boy and girl to see each other. The parents of the girl approach the parents of the boy either directly or through a mediator. In urban areas amongst educated classes matrimonial alliances are contracted through advertisements as well. The use of the services of nai as mediator has become obsolete. After preliminary inquiry about the required particulars the parties agree to effect matrimonial alliance. After consulting the priest the date is fifed for engagement. The father of the girl offer money and sweets to the boy , who is also given seven dry dates out of which he is to eat one. After this ceremony ,generally after consulting of the horoscope of the boy, the date for marriage is fixed by the priest. A day earlier the ceremony of ghori is performed. The bridgroom rides on a ghori(mare) and makes round of the locality. Among certain castes this ceremony is not performed. After this, the bridegroom instead of returning home stays either in a temple/ dharamshala or with some friend. The next day the marriage party proceeds to the brides house with pomp ans show. In recent years bhangra dance by friends of the groom has become a new feature of the marriage procession. At the brides place the marriage party is served with a feast . In the night the ceremony of lawan Phare is performed before the sacred fire under the Bedi before the priest and in the presence of relations responsible persons of both the parties.Next day the party returns with the bride and dowry, including gifts. In the bridegrooms house certain ceremonies i.e. taking the couple to temple, etc. are also performed. Ordinarily after staying for a day or so the bride returns to her parents house.

The marriage of spinda¹¹ relatives is not permissible among the Hindus. Hindu Marriage Act,1955 ,bars marriage within five generations on the agnaticside and three on the mothers side. It, however, permits the marriage of cross cousion, if this customary. This spinda bar equally applies to the Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists.

11. The term Spinda has two meanings :-

(i) those who share the particles of the same body ; and

(ii) those who are united by offering balls of cooked rice (Pinda) to the same dead ancestors.

The Sikhs.- Marriages amongst Sikhs were performed according to Hindu rites prior to 1909. With the passage of Anand Marriage Act,1909,the marriages are generally performed by Anand Akaraj.

The marriage system of Sikhs closely resembles that of the Hindus. The notable difference is that lawan (phere) are performed around the Adi Granth, which is always on the spot. Some texts from the Adi granth are recited. The couple is supposed to have received pahul before lawan. This condition is sometimes relaxed and the couple may be advised to receive pahul at some later stage after marriage, if not already done.

Marriage rises anand Karaj are cheap and simple. Unlike the Hindus the services of Brahmans are not required; but instead the Granthi (religious preacher) performs the duties. Dowry system, as amongst the Hindus, is also prevalent.

The Namdharis.- The marriage system among the Namdharis is the simplest and the cheapest. It was introduced in 1863 by Baba Ram Singh. Earlier marriages were solemnised according to the Hindu system, which involved a lot of time, money and cumbersome ceremonies. All these were reduced to the making of four rounds of a sacrificial fire (hawan).

The would be union by marriage is determined by parents, but the blessed approval of the Guru is most essential. The boy should not be under 18 years and the girl under 14, A Namdhari girl is generally married to a Namdhari. No dowry is allowed. Expensive and showy customs have been done away with.

After the bath the couple attends the congregation, where the Guru is present to grace the ceremony round the sacred fire. After baptism their handkerchiefs are knotted together. The lawan from the Granth are read as they make four rounds, the bridegroom always leading. Five shalokas (stanzas of the Anand Sahit- hymns of bliss) are also chanted . The Bhog ceremony follows. The distribution of prasad completes the wedding. From there the girl goes to her new home and returns after a fortnight. Total expenses of marriage do not exceed about Rs 13.

Muhammadans.- Marriage among the Muhahhadans is called nikah. Muhammadan marriage is a mutual contract agreed upon by the man and woman and certain prescribed rituals are performed at the time of the ceremony.

The marriage among Muhammadans is arranged by the parents of the boy and girl either by direct negotiations or through some mediator. The initiative is taken by grooms parents. The amount of the Mehr by the bridegroom to the bride is settled. Mangni (betrothal) takes place and on the appointed day of marriage the marriage party goes to the bridges house. With the usual feast the nikah takes place. The bridges vakil (agent) obtains her consent in the presence of two witnesses and conveys it to the groom. The Mullah or his Deputy obtains the consent of the bridegroom and sanctifies the nikah (confirms the marriage).

Among the Shias the consent of bridegroom is obtained first. The vakils of the bride and the bridegroom stand before each other and one asks the other if the consent has been obtained.

Christians.- Marriage among Christians is performed in the Church and the priest performs the marriage ceremonies. Before the marriage ceremony,he baptizes the bride and bridegroom. If a Christian wants to marry a girl of some other faith she must accept Christianity and vice-versa. After the ceremonies, the friends and relations are served with a feast. There is not much difference in rituals among the Roman Catholics and the Protestants.

Jains.- The Jains have the same system of marriage as the Hindus. The notable difference is that marriage ceremonies are performed by their own priest instead of the Brahmin.

Civil Marriage.- From 1950 to 1966 there have been 34 civil marriages in the district. The institution of civil marriage has not become popular. The Hindu and Sikh population being caste and got ridden and usually accustomed to arranged marriages have not reconciled with the new system. Even the advancement of education has failed to make the new mode popular. Generally inter-caste/inter community marriages agreed upon without the Special Marriage Act, 1954¹².

12. The Special Marriage Act of 1872 also legalized marriages between members of different castes on condition that the partners renounced their religion and membership of joint families.

Divorce.- Among different communities the marriages could be dissolved either by custom or by law. Before the passing of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, some castes allowed separation almost like a divorce since the women were allowed to re-marry.

Since 1955 there have been 65 cases of divorce. In most cases decrees were awarded the wife did not comply with the decree of institution of conjugal rights for a right for a period of two years or onward from the date of that decree. The incidence of divorcee in Ludhiana is higher than in any other district of the State.

Widow Re-marriage. - Widow re-marriage among the Hindus is not common. People marrying widows are considered to be of inferior status. Despite best efforts made by the Arya Samaj in the field there has been no perceptible progress. Among the Scheduled Castes widow re-marriage is performed not according to custom but as an economic necessity. Amongst the Sikh Jats widows are re-married to their dewar or jeth. Namadharis also preach widow re-marriage. Widow re-marriage among Jains is also not popular. Christians and Muslims, however, re-marry widows.

Birth and Death Ceremonies. - Religious ceremonies start among (the orthodox) Hindus before the birth of a child. The expectant mother is served with gifts (reet) by her relations. The birth of a son is announced by the dai by tying a branch of sirin tree and an iron (not essential) to the main gate of the house. The father (maternal grand-father in case of delivery at woman’s father’s house) goes to the priest or prohit and enquires if the time of birth is auspicious. If it is not, the propitiatory ceremonies, to feed the Brahmins, etc., are observed. If the child is declared as gand mool (born under the bad influence of stars) the necessary remedies (Upai) are observed by the parents of the child. For a period of 40 days the mother does not mix up with people as this period is called sutak. The other ceremony of the male child is mundane sanskar, which is performed during the first five years. This ceremony is not performed on the birth of a female child.

The Sikhs do not consult priests on birth of a child. They name the child by opening the Adi Granth at random and after the first letter of the writing on the page. Jat Sikhs generally do not observe forty days seclusion (shilla) unless required for special reasons. Some of the Sikhs perform kesi dahi ceremony by putting curd in the hair of boy- a ceremony corresponding to mundane among the Hindus.

When a child is born in a Muslim family, the Qazi or the Mullah comes on the first to third day and recites the kalma (holy words) in the child’s ear, and the child receives the name from the priest or from some respectable relative.

After birth of child the mother confines only for three days and thereafter she sees the sky and stars in the evening with the child in her lap. The period of impurity is ended by fast (Iquiqa).

Circumcision (sunat) is a ceremony of importance. It is performed at any time before the age of twelve in the presence of the Baradari. A child who is born circumsied is called rasulia.

A child born on a Christian family is christened by the priest. This ceremony is called baptism. The Christians also rejoice at the birth of the son ; but they do not dislike the birth of a daughter. The mother does not observe the period of impurity of forty days.

In case of death among the Hindus, the dead body is bathed and wrapped in a cloth. The body is put on bier and carried to cremation ground with recitation of mantras. The bier is put on pyre and put to fire by sprinkling samagri and ghee. On the third day a few persons go to collect the phul (the ashes). Those are broken into pieces and are immersed into the Ganges at Hardwar (U.P) in the presence of a preist. Similar custom prevails amongst the Sikhs with the only difference that the ceremonies among the Sikhs are performed by a Granthi or any learned man. They immerse the ashes into the rivers of Punjab and some at Kiratpur in Ropar district.

Hindus mourn their dead for thirteen days. This mourning ends by feeding the Brahmans. Sikhs end the mourning with Bhog Path.

The Muhammandans, after bathing the dead body and wrapping it into white cloth, take the bier to the mosque. The Mullah reads the Kalma and then the dead body is buried in the graveyard. A stone slab is sometimes place on the grave and every man attending the funeral covers the grave with earth. The Mullah prays for the dead for three days.

Like the Hindus, the Jains also cremate the dead body. The only differnce is that the Jains do not mourn the dead, but instead forget all about it immediately after the death.

The Christians also bury their dead in a cemetry in a coffin. An epitaph is sometimes fixed on the grave indicating the particulars about the dead.

Home Life:

Types of dwellings. – The over-riding considerations of safety and security have been mainly responsible for the planning of the villages and towns in the Punjab. Wherever there was fear of raids and attacks, people concentrated in a small place of safety causing overcrowding. Fortification walls around towns and big villages were erected.

Types of dwellings in the district in urban areas differs from the dwellings of other districts. Ludhiana proper is a very crowded city. The areas of the houses are surprisingly small. There 8202¹³ houses per square mile in Ludhiana proper. The situation is quite alarming in Raikot. In the 19^th century, extension of Ludhiana beyond Budha Nala was not possible due to floods. On the western side the English had

established the Cantonment, their offices and residences. In the southern side the Presbyterian Missionaries had built their establishments. The town thus continued developing by reducing the sizes of the houses. Similarly Raikot continued developing inside the old fortification walls with the result that the total area of .34 square mile has alarming figures of population of 11,239¹⁴, which made Raikot the densest town in the district. In rural areas as well, the idea of safety in a particular area considerably affected the sizes and shapes of the dwellings.

The houses in Ludhiana and Raikot are very small, having generally 2-3 rooms. During the last two decades Ludhiana developed on all sides and the newly built houses are beautiful, airy and commodious. New construction is generally planned. But the corollaries of industrialisation, slums, are alarming. Obviously, the slums are unplanned and poorly built. Improvement Trust (constituted very late) is devising ways and means to remove the slums. The conditions in Khanna and Jagraon, however, are not bad. Newly built localities every where fulfil all the requirements of good living. There are some popular superstitions regarding the purchase of a house. A house broad from outside and narrow within is called sher muhan and considered unlucky. A house narrow outwardly byt commotious within is called gow mukha and considered lucky.

In rural areas the houses of villages consist of 2-3 rooms. In the villages of Ludhiana tahsil generally the houses are planned and pucca with separate rooms for cattle. In Jagraon tahsil the houses are very open having spacious sheds for cattle. In Samrala tahsil the construction is haphazard, the sizes of houses are small and in some cases built partially kacha. There is generally no provision for latrines and bath-rooms in rural houses throughout the district. Rural areas are also generally devoid of hygienic facilities. In some houses only one room is constructed pacca and is called the bithak. The dwellings of scheduled castes throughout the district are deplorable. They are being induced to construct new houses and for this necessary facilities are also being provided by the Government. The houses in rural areas are being electrified increasingly.

The average population of house in an urban area is about 6. It is about 5 in rural areas. Ludhiana municipality, one of the richest in the State, in endeavouring to make the city beautiful. Vegetable and fruit markets have already been built. Grain market is similarly being built. Even the Bus Stand has been shifted to a suitable locality. These changes will considerably ease congestion.

There are 1,76,418 dwelling in the district. Out of these 1,17,968 are in the rural and 58,450 in the urban area. Out of 58,450 urban dwellings in the district, 45,932 are in Ludhiana proper. There are in addition to this 915 shop-cum-dwellings in rural areas, 296 workshop-cum-dwellings in rural area and 505 in urban area. The tahsilwise break-up of the dwellings is as under :

13. Census of India 1961, Vol. XIII, Punjab, Part IV-A. p. 11

14. Census of India 1961, Punjab, Ludhiana District, p. 29.

Name of tahsil		Number of dwellings	Shop-cum-dwellings	Workshop-cum-dwellings
Jagraon	Total Rural Urban	40,434 33,334 7,100	416 376 40	125 87 38
Ludhiana	Total Rural Urban	99,096 53,164 45,932	844 319 525	621 187 434
Samrala	Total Rural Urban	36,888 31,470 5,418	298 220 78	55 22 33

(Source : Census of India, 1961 Vol. XIII, Punjab, Part IV-B)

Furniture and Decoration. - Furniture and decoration in the villages of the district are not different from those in the areas falling under the central districts of Punjab. The average house has charpoys (stringed bedstead), peehri, panghura, muhras, Bara muhraI (Identical with armed chair) and sometimes a small table and chair. A wooden plank is some times fixed parallel to the wall on pegs and decorated with brass utensils, crockery pieces, etc. The village folks are ignorant of internal decoration. Still to give the house a colourful touch they install some calendars and large sized coloured prints of gods, goddesses or some national leader of film actress. They also, sometimes, paint pictures on walls in gaudy colours. They plaster the kacha floor of the room with cow-dung as and when necessary. Economically better persons have niwari charpoys (bed-stead) which they fix in the corner of room. They paint their houses from outside as well as inside. The houses of landlords contain all the modern furniture and decorations. They have chairs, tables sofas, radio-sets, transistors, wardrobes and decoration pieces, etc.

The utensils used commonly by the villagers are tauri (earthen) degchi, katori, tumblers, kpitchers, valtohi (brass storage utensil).

In urban areas, generally two chairs and a table are kept in a house. They also generally keep cheap pieces of crockery. Internal decoration is not very common and calendars of gods and goddesses, national leaders are actresses mostly displayed. Framed pictures of gods and goddesses are also hung against the walls. Sometimes, cheap curtains are also fixed. Sofas and Plang (superior charpoy) are rarely seen. The utensils used by them are more or less the same. Radios are generally seen in urban houses

Houses of well to do persons in the urban areas have modern furniture. The houses are duly curtained, decorated with artifacts. they have refrigerators, radio-sets, transistors, ward-robes, drawing-rooms and bed-rooms. Some decoration plants are also kept within and outside the houses. They use superior crockery, stainless steel utensils, pressure cookers and sundry modern electric gadgets. In the kothis (bungalows) small gardens and lawns are also laid out.

Persons living in slums in Ludhiana are the worst hit. They might be economically better than the ordinary villager, but terrible shortage of accommodation debars them from adding to their comforts. To decorate the houses according to any acceptable aesthetic standards is something foreign to them. They have accommodation hardly to sleep therein. They have to do every thing in the single room. The single, small and sometimes dingy room is their kitchen, dining, bath, drawing room and bed room.

Dress and Ornaments.- dress and ornaments of the people are generally conditioned by tradition and new trends in vogue among the higher classes. During the Muslim rule the dress of the local people was affected and the people consciously or sub-consciously adopted Muslim dress with slight modification. Since the middle of 19^th century the district enjoyed contact with the Europeans and the factor has left an impact on the livung of the people.

In rural areas generally the men put on qamiz, kurta, pyjama, tehmat and turban or cap. In winter they cover themselves with a khes or blanket or put on a jacket (woolen), a long coat of rough texture, sweater and phatuhi. Usually their footwear is a desi juti (country shoes) generally made locally by the cobbler. Among the well-to-do zamindars and the retired literate military personnel the pattern of dress is a bit different. They put on shirt, pant, coat, pyjama and even sport a necktie. Their foot-wear is generally shoes, boots, chapal and fashionable western-style shoes.

Among the women and teenage girls generally a shalwar, Kamiz and ourhni are used. The eldery ladies also use ghagra (bulky skirt), now almost out of fashion or meant for special occasions. Their foot-wear is generally slipper type country shoes. Sometimes chappals and sandals are also used. In winter, woolen sweaters, shawls (made of wool or cotton) are also used. The girls belonging to the well-to-do parents and going to schools or colleges generally dress like girls of urban areas. their shalwars and churidars and shirts and kurtas with orhni (dopatta) are akin to those put on by urban girls. Their foot-wear is chappals and sandals. In winter, they put on sweaters, cardigans and lady-coats. They also adopt new types of hairdo, different from the traditional style of rural areas.

The dress of the urbanites is diversified. Some of them also maintain the same pattern brought by them from the villages while others, being more adaptable, have adopted fashionable urban dress. In urban areas men wear kurta, dhoti, tehmats, collared shirt, pyjama, pant, coat, long-coat, Jodhpuri and even necktie. Here dress varies according to financial resources and social position. The children put on shirts, pyjama, half-pant and pant. In winter, woolen sweaters, mufflers, cardigans, jersies and woolen-suits are worn. Their foot-wear varies from desi juti to ultra modern foot-wears. People from lower strata put on clothes of very gay colours. Orthodox Muslims use qamiz, pyjama (shalwar), sherwani and sweaters in winter. They also use a Fez cap in summer and fur-cap inn winter. Westernized among Muslims are not fastidious about dress and they use shirt, pant, coat, woolen shirts in winter with other accessories, such as sweaters, etc. The foot-wear ranges from desi juti to western style shoes.

Women in the urban areas dress themselves nicely. They use sari, blouse, shalear, qamiz, kurta, churidar and orhni also called (chunni). Christian ladies also use English dress, i.e., jeans, pants and frocks, etc. The dresses of women folk vary according to the social status. More affluent ladies use very costly sarees and blouses and other dresses. Poor women use cheap clothes of very gaudy colours. In urban areas to have a peculiar hair-do has almost become a mania. Few women want to dress hair in the traditional manner. They even use artificial and nylon hair in order to wear a spectacular hair-do. The foot-wear used by them is desi juti, chappals, shoes, and sandals.

The girls in urban areas generally dress themselves according to the uniforms prescribed by their schools. The Convent schools girls generally dress themselves in European manner whereas those studying in other schools put on shirt, shalwar and churidars. They generally do not put on gaudy colours. Saree among young girls in the district is not very common. A few girls, whose parents hail from other States and happen to be living in urban areas of the district, however, wear sarees.

Generally the ornaments in vogue in other parts of the country are in use in the district from very early times. The underlying idea about wearing or ornaments appears to be not only to make visible parts of the body more attractive, but also to make known to the public the financial position of the wearer. There are ornaments for hands, feet, nose, head and arms, etc. The designs of the ornaments for these parts of the body have, on account of varying fashions, undergone continued change. The most coveted metal for ornaments has been gold. Silver comes next. Precious stones are also used in gold ornaments making them more beautiful with the object of adding more charm to the body. For obvious reasons women have been using ornaments more as compared to men.

In rural areas the men generally do not use any ornaments. About 3-4 decades back men used kanthas (neck ornaments)ear-rings (murkies) and rings on festive occasions. Presently well-to-do persons wear rings only. Some time necklace is used by them at the time of marriages.

Among the women in rural areas rings, bangles, karas, necklaces and ear-rings of different designs are used. Head ornaments, ‘Phul Chauk’, have become rather obsolete. Nose ring (believed to be of muslim origin) is also used by women. Its size has completely been changed. The one presently used is called koka. A taragi of silver beads knotted with a thread is sometimes tied around the waist of the male child.

The Hindus and Sikh women are very fond of gold ornaments. They wear rings, bangles, karas, necklace, ear-rings, nose-rings and kokas of different designs. Ornaments for head have rather become out of date. They wear silver pazaib aroung ankles. Artifical stones are also in vogue. Rich ladies, for the sake of variety, and poor as an economic necessity also use artificial jewellery. Educated ladies have less weakness for ornaments. Moreover they are in a position to afford to wear so many ornaments and jewellery.

The Muslim ladies have less craze for ornaments and jewellery because they usually remain under veil (burka). Christian ladies generally do not use ornaments, though there is no bar.

Food. – So many factors are responsible for determining dietary habits. Availability of a thing at competitive rates and financial position of the person are inter-alia prime factors. For instance milk is mostly procured from rural areas, but is consumed in urban areas due to the better economic position of the urbanites.

In rural areas of the district, wheat, gram, maize and millets are consumed as cereals. In summer people eat wheat as it is available with them. After monsoon they take maize and millets. Due to water-logging in certain areas rice has begun to be grown and in due course people will be using it as well. Gram flour is used for preparing curry and pakoras. Villagers consume vegetables in much less quantity. They generally eat pulses particularly of moong, urd and gram. Moth and Masur are used much less. Only those vegetables are consumed by villagers as age grown on their own land, i.e. kaddu, paitha, onions and leafy vegetable, i.e.methi, chulai, bathu and mustard or rai leaves. They have started using potatoes even if they do not grow them. These are readily available with the village-grocer of hawker. Meat is used by them on special occasions. Fruit is not an item of food with the ruralites. Food is cooked in ghee or vegetables oils. Ghee is getting scare because the villagers mostly sell the milk.

Milk, curd, chhah and butter are rarely used. The obvious reason is shortage of milk, Chhah, a commonest Punjabi beverage, has become a thing of the past. Tea has virtually replaced it. Tea is taken in the morning afternoon and evening. It is served even in the fileds.

The commonest sweets are ladoo, jalbi and masu. Sikhs also like halwa very much. On every sankrant they prepare halwa. They also saivyan that prepare in gur or shakkar.

Smoking is very common among rural ties. Sikhs abstain from smoking. Alcohol is liked by the villagers. They take it on festive occasions with out any restraint. This evil is on the increase. Public sale opium has been stopped, although it is allowed to be taken by addicts on the recommendation of medical practitioners.

Among urbanities, wheat is taken as a staple food. Rice is used by them as am additional special item. In winter they also relish maize. Millets are rarely used. Pulses of moong, urd and gram are commonly used. The consumption of other pulses is less. They use all kinds of vegetables available. They also use fruit of every kind and in every season. Poor, however, cannot afford it. Most of them also take meat. Certain communities, viz., jains and Banias abstain from taking meat and eggs.

Food is generally cooked in vegetable oils or Vanaspati, ghee being used in rich families only.

Tea has become the most popular beverage. Coffee is also being used in urban circles. Milks curd and butter, being costly, are used by the well-to-do. In summer people take cold drinks, i.e. aerated waters, syrups and sugared lime-water (shikanibin).

They take all types of sweets of Punjabi and Bengali preparation Ladoos and Jalebis rank first. Biscuits, cakes, toffees, etc., are also freely consumed by urbanites. Hindus and Sikhs take sweets in abundance on Dewali and Muslims take sweets aninv yan on Id-ul-Fittar and Id-ul-Zuha.

Drinking has, of late, become very common. Muslims do not take wine. The Hindus and Sikhs take it without much hesitation. Besides the rich, even the labourers and factory-workers take wine in abundance. Ludhiana being an industrial city has heavy concentration of labour who have greatly increased the consumption of liquor. They take it at the cost of necessaries and other requirements of their families.

Sports, Games and Recreations. – Sports and games are an important aspect in the physical development of the people. Wrestling, kabbadi, and saunchi (now rarely seen) were popular old time sports. Wrestling and kabbadi may commonly be seen in the fields. The younger boys generally play gulidanda. In schools the boys play all the games, i.e., Hockey, Volley-ball, and Foot-ball. Some villagers also play chess and playing-cards. The girls play rassa tapna and other games in schools. They also play on swings as a part of teej ceremony in the month of August.

In urban areas people play chess and playing-cards. Some clubs are also reganised in the cities for playing games. Kite-flying is also very popular. In the schools and colleges boys and girls play Foot-ball, Hockey, Basket-ball, Badminton, Tennis and Cricket. These ball-games are of western origin. People also exercise in municipal parks with Mughdar, dumbles, etc.

The popular recreation in town and cities is the cinema. It is the cheapest entertainment. People in the villages also listen to bards and dhadis. Qawals and singers entertain marriage parties. Their services are requisitioned on festive occasions.

Since 1947 Bhangra dance has become very popular. The school and college boys in rural and urban areas perform bhangra on all sorts of special occasions as a part of cultural programme. On melas the villagers resort to performing bhangra to demonstrate their joy and vigour.

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