Women remembering a village gathering
In Manav Mander’s July 2025 report from Ludhiana, Surjit Kaur remembers Teeyan without invitations or a formal programme: women met in a common village clearing. Balwant Kaur recalls months of anticipation, sewing suits, saving for bangles and preparing sweets with her mother. Jewellery could also become a way of displaying how well a married daughter had been treated. These are recollections of particular lives, including the pleasures and social judgments that surrounded preparation. Retired teacher Narinder Kooner criticises the movement towards staged celebrations. Her dissatisfaction belongs to that remembered experience; it is not a measurement of what every gathering has lost.[1]
Swings at a college residence
Punjab Engineering College documents another setting in Chandigarh. Its 19 August 2023 gathering took place at the Director’s Residence for faculty and their spouses. Flowers and fabrics decorated the swings, while paper craft and umbrellas helped arrange the space. Mehendi and bangle stations offered activities alongside performance. A residence within an institution could therefore become a festive meeting place through temporary decoration and planned participation. The account identifies the people brought together by that institution, rather than describing an entire neighbourhood. Chandigarh’s location should remain explicit when this example is read alongside celebrations in Punjab.[2]
Competition and recognition on campus
Chitkara University’s August 2024 account places students and staff in a programme organised by its Office of Student Affairs. Giddha appeared alongside mehendi-design and parandi-tying competitions. Phulkari decorated the hall, and winners received recognition at the close. Here, familiar dress, accessories and performance became parts of an arranged campus occasion with entries, judging and prizes. The university presents this as cultural preservation. What its report concretely documents is how it assembled a celebration: a prepared room, opportunities to perform or compete, and public acknowledgement of participants. That arrangement has its own social setting and purposes.[3]
Sources & notes
Source records include access dates and, where known, limits on what was examined. Checks used AI assistance; independent human or specialist review has not been completed.
- Manav Mander; The Tribune. Teeyan: Swings of memory and monsoon joy ↗original reported interviews · Source date: 2025-07-26 · Locator: Named recollections of Surjit Kaur, Balwant Kaur and Narinder Kooner; retained lines 250–256; byline/date 239–244. Accessed 2026-11-02.The actual report and named women’s recollections were read. Nostalgia and criticism remain attributed individual views.Return to Women remembering a village gathering, paragraph 1 ↑
- Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh. Teej Celebrations at PEC ↗primary institutional event report · Source date: publication date not established · Locator: Teej Celebrations at PEC: date, Director’s Residence, swings and activity stations; retained lines 123–126. Accessed 2026-11-02.The actual event account was read, including the dated residence setting, participants, swings and activity stations.Return to Swings at a college residence, paragraph 1 ↑
- Chitkara University, Office of Student Affairs. Chitkara University Celebrated Teej with Cultural Festivities and Vibrant Traditions ↗primary institutional programme account · Source date: 2024-08-07 · Locator: Published date and event body, especially mehendi/parandi competitions, decorated hall and prizes; retained lines 440–447. Accessed 2026-11-02.The actual dated campus account was read. Its preservation language is an institutional aim, not a measured outcome.Return to Competition and recognition on campus, paragraph 1 ↑
Record PH-CUL-0109 · English edition · human review not performed