Say ’haan ji’ to the Punjabi tee

A Sikh couple in the UK are behind a popular line of T-shirts selling everywhere from Mexico to Spain. Wearing your roots proudly with a T-shirt that says 'The Mighty Singh' and '99% Shareef' is becoming popular, especially among Punjabi NRIs trying to hold on to their desi-ness

If you used Bollywood as a reference, you wouldn't believe that Punjabis need to be taught or told how to be proud of who they are. Singh, after all, is king.

But a Sikh couple in the UK is making a livelihood out of helping the community, especially the NRIs, to hold on to their roots with pride.

According to urbandictionary.com, 'chak de phatte!' loosely translates
to 'pick up the floorboards', and is a war cry. The origins of the phrase
u00a0lie in times when warrior Sikhs would cross canals and attack Mughal
camps in a blitzkrieg attack. While escaping, they'd dismantle any
temporary bridges constructed by them (made out of 'phatte') to prevent
the Mughals from chasing them. The phrase later acquired the meaning
'to complete the route', and is now also used to imply 'bring the house down!'

The punjabification of Hindi films has made sure your vocabulary is packed with enough stock phrases to make sure you don't get lost in Chandigarh. But 'loung da lashkara' and 'sadi galli' don't make you cultural connoisseurs, argue entrepreneurs Harinder and Kirandeep Singh.

"We believed that people from the community were moving away from their roots. Punjabi is hardly spoken nowadays, and that's sad because our culture is rich," says Kirandeep Kaur, product development manager at 1469, a novel T-shirt manufacturing firm that relies on Punjabi symbols, slogans and graphics.

'KAURageous' is an interesting play of words, and refers to 'Kaur'
(princess) and is a usual surname for Sikh women

Harinder Singh's firm, Traditional Values, has been manufacturing T-shirts for corporates for over two decades, but 1469 was born five years ago and was named after the year in which the founder of Sikhism and the first of 10 Sikh gurus, Guru Nanak was born.

The 1469 range includes tees for kids, men and women in sizes XS to 3XL. Designs vary from hoodies to slogan tees available in a rainbow of hues.

"We sell to a lot of young customers but we also have a slightly older lot pick up our polo T-shirts with embroidery signage," explains Kirandeep over the phone from the UK. The label also stocks traditional Punjabi phulkari embroidered scarves and handicrafts decorated with quotes in Punjabi.

Bhagat Singh is remembered with his famous call for revolution,
Inquilab Zindabad! This tee pays tribute to the freedom fighter
who was hanged at 23

While the initiative stands for giving a fashionable spin on cultural roots, 1469 picks up a cause when it deems fit. "During the 9/11 attacks, hate crimes were reported against Sikhs in the US. For them, anyone with a turban was a threat. We released a series of tees with the slogan, 'proud by birth -- Sikh by choice'. They were sold at airports, and were statement-making pieces," she recalls.

While their customer base is scattered across the globe, the goods are manufactured in Delhi. "We have a large client-base in the UK. Punjabi Roots, a shop in Birmingham stocks our range. In Spain, Best of India retails the 1469 line. We sell in Mexico too."

While the guys can strut macho-like in tees that carry locomotive designs like the desi tractor, autorickshaw, and the bullet, the ladiesu00a0 can strut their stuff with tees that read 'KAURgeous', 'Nakhre Vakhre' and 'Jugni'.

Log on to https://www.1469tshirts.com/. All tees are pricedu00a0 from Rs 425 to 825 and sweatshirts are priced from Rs 925 to 1,425.u00a0In Mumbai, 1469 tees are available at Ms Banjaran, Oberoi Shopping centre, Nariman Point and Vishal Punjabi, 3A Himgiri Apna Ghar, Lokhandwala, Andheri (W).

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels