Operational Charter
Mission & Activities
“To document, educate, and preserve the shared cultural threads of a divided land.”
The Foundation
“Give me Thread, Not Scissors. I am a weaver, not a divider.”
— Baba Farid Ji Ganjshakar
Taking inspiration from this timeless wisdom, Purva Masaud founded Jeevay Sanjha Punjab in April 2020 in Pakpattan—the city of Baba Farid ji. Our organization serves as a bridge between Charda (East) and Lehnda (West) Punjab, working to restore the cultural fabric of a land separated by history and promoting a shared identity for all Punjabis.
The Origin of the Mission
It began in Pakpattan
What started as a personal journey by our founder in the historic streets of Pakpattan evolved into a collective mandate. It was here, amidst the echoes of Baba Farid and the crumbling havelis of the old city, that the urgency of our work became clear.
“The past is not a foreign country; it is a shared home that we have simply forgotten the way back to.”
— The Visionary Mandate
Archiving the Soul of the Soil
Witnesses
The Imperative
Preserving the
Living Library
“Every time an elder passes away, a library of our shared Punjab burns to the ground.”
The 1947 Partition did more than divide land; it silenced the centuries-old dialogue between communities. Today, we face a race against time. The last generation of eye-witnesses—those who remember the nuances of a truly shared Punjab—is leaving us.
Jeevay Sanjha Punjab was born from the urgency to catch these whispers before they vanish. We believe that by documenting these stories, we provide the “thread” needed to heal the cultural fabric of our people.
The Vanishing Horizon
Saving the Silent Sentinels
Deep within the villages of Lehnda Punjab stand the crumbling remains of Gurudwaras and Havelis—the physical echoes of a shared past. These structures are now falling into ruin, claimed by time and neglect.
We conduct field surveys to document these “Falling Legacies.” Through videography and mapping, we create a digital record of sites that may not survive another decade.
Visardi Virasat
The Script Barrier
One Language, Two Scripts
Punjab is a unique land where people speak the same mother tongue but are blinded by the written word. The wall between Shahmukhi and Gurmukhi has created a profound intellectual disconnection.
An entire generation of Punjabis is unable to read the literature, poetry, and history produced by their counterparts across the border. This “literacy gap” is the final barrier to a truly shared identity.
We believe that language should be a bridge, not a border. By promoting bi-script literacy, we are tearing down this invisible wall, allowing the poetry of Bulleh Shah and the prose of Amrita Pritam to be read by all.
Alphabet
Faced with fading voices, crumbling brickwork, and the silence of the written word, we refuse to remain silent witnesses to the erasure of our identity.
The disconnection of Punjab is three-fold: human, physical, and intellectual. Jeevay Sanjha Punjab serves as an institutional response to this triple crisis. Our work is the “thread” that reconnects the living witness, the historic site, and the shared script into a single, unified narrative.
Our Strategic Response
Digital Archiving of Oral Histories
To counter the loss of our “Living Library,” we systematically record and catalog the eye-witness accounts of Partition. We don’t just tell stories; we create a searchable, scholarly database of Punjab’s human geography.
Architectural Documentation
To protect our “Silent Sentinels,” we deploy field teams to Lehnda Punjab villages. We produce virtual tours and high-fidelity visual records of crumbling Gurdwaras and Havelis to ensure their historical blueprint is never erased.
Bi-Script Literacy Initiatives
To solve the problem of linguistic separation, we teach Gurmukhi and Shahmukhi scripts. This allows the next generation to bypass the political divide and access the shared literary soul of Punjab in its original forms.
The Global Sangat
A Movement Beyond Borders
The Methodology of Heart
Beyond the Lens: Fieldwork as Pilgrimage
“Our history isn’t found in quiet libraries, but in the dusty lanes of border villages, through the steam of shared tea, and in the trembling voices of those who remember a Punjab without borders. Every journey is a search for a home that exists in memory.”
The Search Begins
Dusty Village Roads
Trust Over Tea
Uncovering Relics
Whispering Walls
The Archive Lives
A History That Speaks
Our recordings are not locked away in private vaults. They belong to the people of Punjab. We actively curate our field findings into digital documentaries and oral history archives, ensuring the flame of our shared heritage is passed to the next generation.
Explore the Video Archive