Punjab protests: With deft strokes, calligraphist breathes life into farmers’ slogans

Speaking to The Indian Express, Nagi, a drawing teacher at Guru Nanak Public School, said: “I had to come here because it is about the rights of our farmers. Though we live in the city, we eat what our farmers grow in villages. Then it was also an appropriate platform to raise our voices for our language, which is dying. My calligraphy in Punjabi language was the best way to raise my voice both for farmers and our language. If our farmers and language are not protected, how can Punjab survive?”

The teacher, who has been doing calligraphy of the Punjabi alphabet for a decade now, said, “I don’t have any formal qualification in calligraphy but started it because in my own school, a lot of stress was laid on handwriting and Punjabi language. Also, my father writes beautiful Punjabi so it was passed on to me. I developed an interest in calligraphy and adopted it as profession. Now I also teach drawing to children at GNPS and provide tips to those who are interested in Punjabi calligraphy, which is a rare hobby,” said Nagi.

The teacher has been doing calligraphy of the Punjabi alphabet for a decade now. (Express Photo: Gurmeet Singh)

Nagi who also runs a cycling club, said, “When we go to villages for cycling, we see how hard farmers work. People in cities cannot see the hard work that they put to grow food for us. If there is inclement weather and crop is in fields, they cannot sleep peacefully. People say farmers are rich, they own large chunks of land, but do they see the hard work that goes behind it. Painting some placards was the least I could do for them today…”