Legacy & tradition elders have memorized
Ain’t cool enough for kids these days to recognize

Speaking to the next generation, I emphasize
For you to carry the weight, you need to exercise
Your Mother Tongue

All you next generation kids coming up, raised in households where more than 1 language is spoken, a word of advice: don’t be like me.

Learn from my mistakes.

See that kid on the podium. That’s me. Proud as that I came #1 in a Punjabi speaking comp way back in the day

Fast forward 5 yrs & I let my language go. I lost my fluency. I lost the ability to be able to fully understand it, to read & write it

I regret it every day of my life

Peer pressure, trying to fit in, the impact of Australia’s assimilation culture, the byproduct of colonization, all of these things in combination made me feel like my language wasn’t cool or valuable.

I was conditioned to think my culture was lesser.

I take full responsibility for buying into that, for internalizing it. It’s my fault for not valuing Sikhi & Punjabi language the way I should have.

But I’ve learnt from that experience

Losing my grandmother was one of the hardest experiences of my life. She was the best person I ever knew. Always laughing, so full of love, & always bringing people together.

I regret not being able to speak to her openly & fluently in Punjabi, to tell her how much she meant to me before she passed away over 10 years a go now.

I regret not being able to learn from her wisdom, to take on board her insights & her knowledge.

Now, at 31 years old, I know how valuable Sikhi & Punjabi language is. There is nothing greater to me.

I’ve been trying my hardest to re-learn, to re-engage with my language. I can read (very slowly) & write (like a primary school kid) but I’m grateful that the connection wasn’t fully broken, so my journey in re-learning isn’t as difficult as it would have been if I let it all go.

I feel like the fluency is all there inside of me, I just need to unlock all the doors that have been built up that prevent me from accessing it.

If you’re still reading this, & you’ve experienced something similar, I can tell you from my own journey, there is very little in this world more rewarding than re-engaging with & learning your language.

Don’t be like me. Don’t let it go. Hold onto it. Love it. And what it’ll give back to you will be priceless.

The first 2 tweets from this thread are lyrics from my song Mother Tongue, taken from my new album SOUTH WEST, which was released last week Friday.

You can stream it & order it on vinyl here: https://ffm.to/lfresh_southwest