Punjab's Floods Met with Punjab's Spirit

When the floods came roaring through Punjab, nature may have thought it could bend the land and break its people. But Punjab has never been a land that bows easily. And Sikhs have never been a people who surrender to despair.

What the world witnessed was not panic. It was not helplessness. It was resilience in its rawest form. Men, women, and even children waded waist-deep into the waters. Not to save themselves first, but to save others. Boats became lifelines, tractors turned into ambulances, and the legendary langar kitchens floated into action, feeding thousands even as the flood tried to swallow villages whole.

This was not the work of institutions alone. It was the work of the common man : the shopkeeper who gave away his rations, the farmer who opened his barn for shelter, the young boys who tied ropes across gushing streams to pull stranded elders to safety. Children, who should have been frightened, were instead ferrying food packets with hands too small for the load but too big in heart to sit idle. And even the destitute - those who had nothing - gave the one thing they still possessed: their labor, their sweat, their will to stand shoulder to shoulder in the crisis.

This is the Sikh way. This is Punjab’s way. Chardi Kallan. That indomitable spirit that insists on hope even when everything screams hopelessness. A spirit forged in centuries of struggle, sacrifice, and service. A spirit that stares adversity in the eye and says, You will not defeat us.

While Punjab battled its waters, the Mewatis poured their hearts out in solidarity. From prayers to provisions, they extended hands across distances, reminding us that humanity has no borders. It was an unspoken truth made visible: when Punjab hurts, the nation hurts. And when Punjab stands tall, the nation stands taller with it.

The floods may have tested Punjab’s soil, but they only proved once again what we already knew about its people. Resilience runs in their veins, and service is their reflex. The waters rose. Fields were drowned. Homes were swept away. Yet Punjab answered not with tears, but with courage. Not with bitterness, but with brotherhood.

This is not merely survival. This is defiance. This is faith. This is Punjab. And long after the floodwaters recede, what will remain is the spirit that no river, no storm, no disaster could ever wash away—Chardi Kallan.