Actor Divya Dutta has two reasons to celebrate Baisakhi today. Alongside the festive spirit, she is basking in the overwhelming response to her web show Chiraiya.

“Wherever I’m going, people shout ‘Chiraiya, Chiraiya’… even those who don’t know me are messaging about the performance. It is indeed a very good Baisakhi for me,” she says.

Reflecting on the response, she adds, “We are here to entertain, but once in a while comes a story that changes minds, and I’m glad I’m part of one... The way it has impacted everyone, be it on social media and from all walks of life, you will be surprised. Even men have called me and said that they sat down for one episode and couldn’t get up.”

The 48-year-old also plans to visit the gurudwara, as she does every year, to express gratitude. Recalling her fond Baisakhi memories during her college days, she shares, “I remember we would participate in gidda, eat good food together. It is all about celebrating new beginnings with the community.”

With Baisakhi approaching, singer-composer Sukhwinder Singh reflects on the festival that shaped his early years. Known for chartbusters like Beedi, Taal Se Taal, Fashion Ka Jalwa, Haule Haule, Kar Har Maidan Fateh, Jai Ho, and more recently Doubtwa, Sukhwinder shares memories of celebrating Baisakhi in his village. In this exclusive conversation with BT, he speaks about his musical beginnings, the global rise of Punjabi music, and his hope for a drug-free, healthier Punjab.

Baisakhi is a celebration of all your efforts throughout the year. Farmers reap their harvest, sell their grains, earn so, it’s also the vaisakhee (or crutch), ek sahara hai jo aapko aane wale saal mein kaam aaye. Yeh poore Hindustan ka New Year hai, khaas taur par Punjabiyon ka. Baisakh pehla mahina hai, pehla season.

I have beautiful, fond memories of Baisakhi from childhood. In Punjab, you’ll see one colour everywhere during Baisakhi, safed. White kurtas, white dhotis, white padgis. It represents purity, celebration, chamakta hai. Main bachpan mein bhi white libas, white chappal and padgi pehenta tha and I’d sing shabads at the gurdwara. I was just seven when people first heard my voice, and it was Gurbani. Guru Granth Sahib is the only scripture iss Brahmand mein where every hymn is based on a Raag. That’s the deep, divine connection between music and spirituality we have. Today I have worn a blue turban, signifying courage, patriotism and spiritual strength.

On Baisakhi, main gurdwara mein mattha tekta tha, and the whole town would be buzzing with rang-birangi Punjabi songs. I’d sing boliyan, rhythmic couplets that bring people together. Also, bhangra is huge during Baisakhi! The energy would be electric. There’d be competitions everywhere, and it's said that on Baisakhi, more than sawa lakh dhols beat together across Punjab. Though it’s a farmers’ festival and marks a new year, Baisakhi belongs to everyone, every religion, every community.

Kam se kam do kilo mithaiyan kha jaata tha, and not the kind you go out and buy! Mithaiyon ke langar lag jaate the. Jalebi was the star, followed by imartis, rasgullas the size of apples, and crunchy patisas, (similar to soan papdi). But our favourites were always from the langar, because they were free and full of love! I remember I used to get sweets from everyone in the village because I’d sing for them. Aur sabse zyada pasand tha crispy, garma-garam jalebiyan!

One big highlight used to be kushti! Every village would have a wrestling competition. And the prizes? Pure desi style! Winners would get 100 kg of ghee, a giant cannister of milk, 500 kg of almonds. I remember seeing wrestlers gulp down a kilo of ghee right after winning.

The culture and purity. The air, the food, even the silence has healing in it. No pollution, no cement, no chaos. Pind di mitti is magical. I still apply Multani mitti to my face regularly. No makeup. Gaon ki mitti ka asar hi alag hota hai.

Baisakhi ek din nahi hota for us, its like Diwali, the buzz is for a week. This year, I’m performing in Ras Al-Khaimah, and from there I’ll fly straight to Amritsar. I’ll have langar ki mithai there. Even though I can get sweets anywhere, there’s nothing like the taste of langar. Uska swad hi kuch aur hai. I’m also wearing a special seven-coloured turban this time, satrangi pagdi. Isse badi Taj Poshi kya hogi? On Baisakhi, I forget I’m a celebrity and sing wherever I feel like. I’ll eat jalebis, laal surkh gulab jamuns, and doodh-patti ki chai (tea without water, just milk).

Aadat pad gayi thi gaane ki bachpan se. I gave up kites and all those fun childhood games because music had taken over. I didn’t need much, just a harmonium, a percussionist. Back then, people around me, my mentors, believed that if a child was drawn to music, it meant he was straying from studies. But for me, music gave my soul peace and my heart joy. Itna energy aur sukoon milta tha, how to stay away from that? So I chose music and left everything else behind. I went go to Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) and would sing bhajans and shabads. The aura there, wahi mera maata-pita ban gaya.

Punjab ke log zindadil hote hain, they live life king-size, even while staying within limits, maryada mein. Dushman ke saamne bhi unki awaaz khuli hoti hai, and that same energy shows up in our celebrations, our music. That’s why our instruments are bold too, dhol baja toh dharti hile. Punjab’s spirit, its poetry, its raw power, people all over the world feel it in our beats. There’s no small-scale celebration in Punjab! I’ve added Punjabi flavour to Bollywood with Aaj Mera Jee Karda (Monsoon Wedding), Chaiyya Chaiyya (Dil Se), Layi Vi Na Gayee (Chalte Chalte) and more. The rhythm, the vibe, the energy, it’s infectious!

I wish for a drug-free Punjab. Punjab ko isse bhaitareen Baisakhi ka tohfa koi nahi ho sakta. I want my Punjab to return to its original glory — strong, healthy, proud.

Punjab abhi duwidha mein hain. Paani tak ka problem hai. One of the oldest rivers there has become black with chemical pollution. Punjab ke safed libas mein dard ke dhabbe hain.

Jalebi! And in savoury, samosa with teekhi chatni.

Ki haal hai? So simple, yet full of warmth.

Aaj Mera Jee Karda, it captures the Baisakhi spirit perfectly. And of course, Jugni, Jugni!

What strikes us the most as we step into Hansika Motwani’s home is the abundance of cultural and spiritual elements. From little evil eye wall hangings to idols of Lord Ganesha and Guru Nanak, and the chant of Ek Onkar reverberating through the hall, the atmosphere has a calming vibe. The actress welcomes us, radiating in a turmeric yellow Punjabi suit adorned with zari-details, all set to usher in Baisakhi.

It’s while we marvel at all the numerous markers of faith around her home, she tells us about her most prized possession: the Guru Granth Sahib. The reverence on her face is palpable as she explains to us how the Granth has been passed on to her family, and how it forms the central crux of the Baisakhi celebrations. She explains, “I have had the Granth in my home for seven years now, and we feel very blessed. Baisakhi for us is marked by a paath, visiting the gurudwara and then the entire family getting together to enjoy scrumptious food and aate ka halwa prepared by me.”

Raised by her Punjabi mother, Hansika believes she has got the best of both the Sindhi and the Punjabi worlds. However, she confesses that it’s the Punjaban in her that’s out there for everybody to see. “My faith is deeply rooted in Punjabi culture and traditions,” she tells us, adding, “Infact, I had vowed to visit the Golden Temple within a year of my wedding. So, I went to the Golden Temple sometime in October or November last year. That’s the way I stay connected to my faith.”

This year, it’s Hansika’s second Baisakhi after her marriage (she married Sohael Khaturiya in December 2022). It’s going to be a big family affair, with the actress taking on the responsibility of preparing the halwa prasad.

She shares, “For us, festivals are all about the family coming together. The celebrations will take place at my mom’s, and before that, we will do the paath and visit the Gurudwara. In our family, on most such big occasions, I generally make the aate ka halwa and serve it in the Gurudwara. This is because my mom is very religious, and she believes it’s auspicious for me to prepare the prasad. Also, it’s everyone’s favourite.”

And what about dressing up to celebrate, we ask her. “Oh, I am a complete Punjaban when it comes to dressing up!” she exclaims. “I love wearing Punjabi salwar kameezes. My mother used to love wearing Patiala. So, till today, whenever I go to Amritsar, I make sure to buy authentic Patiala suits for us. The only thing I can’t do is tie my own paranda. But dressing up is a big part of celebrating Baisakhi, and I am all about donning the big jhumkas, the tassels, the paranda… basically, full saj sanwar ke vibing with the festivities,” she gushes.

It’s Baisakhi today and for Guneet Monga, the festival is extra special this time. Reason: the two milestones that the producer has achieved on the work and personal fronts over the last few months — getting married and winning an Oscar. She is looking forward to celebrating her first Sikh New Year after marriage with her husband, entrepreneur Sunny Kapoor, in Delhi.

“This Baisakhi is extra special as I am married and have an Oscar. I also have my parents this time (referring to her in-laws). I lost my parents very early in life. So, I am looking forward to my mother-in-law feeding me the amazing things she cooks,” says Monga.

Besides “looking forward to going to the gurdwara, listening to shabads and paying my gratitude” today, the producer will also try her hand at cooking. “I make the best kada prasad,” she exclaims.

Talking about her Baisakhi rituals, Monga, who won an Academy Award for The Elephant Whisperers (2022), adds, “Baisakhi has always been all about going to the gurdwara. I would go to Bangla Sahib (a gurdwara in Delhi). Even if I wasn’t home on Baisakhi, I would manage to find a gurdwara wherever I was. I remember I was in Goa once and while all my friends were partying, I was like, ‘Mujhe gurdwara jaana hai’.”

Harking back to her childhood, she recalls how her parents would go all out in doing sewa on Baisakhi. “They taught me all the things I do on the day of the festival. From having langar to making phirni at home — we kept the rituals quite simple. The idea of sewa was inculcated in me by my parents. I would see my parents make a lot of food or get it made by someone. Then, my dad would load all that on a truck and distribute food items like kheer, chole, samosas to people. The day is all about gratitude,” Monga ends.

When he was a child, Baisakhi was a time of unparalleled joy for actor-singer Jassie Gill. “As a family, we’d look forward to the festival as it meant that we could finally harvest our crops. It was a period of intense hard work. But excitement kaafi rehti thi yeh soch ke ki paise aayenge aur parents se jo chahiye woh maang sakenge,” shares the Panga (2020) actor, who grew up in a village in Punjab.

A lot has changed as he moved on to carve a niche in the film and music industries: “[Now] my family lives in Canada, and I live in India. And on Baisakhi, I miss them a lot.”

Gill has a four-year-old daughter, Roojas Kaur Gill, who lives with her mum in Canada. He believes the festival is a great way to teach her all about her roots: “The Punjabi community there hosts shows and dance performances, which are accompanied by stories about what they stand for. Mere family ke liye yeh important hai ki apne bachchon ko apne tradition ke saath jod ke rakha jaaye.”

As Baisakhi marks the onset of a new year, he makes a resolution to do quality work in Bollywood. “Rather than doing eight back-to-back movies in a year, I want to be selective about my work,” concludes Gill, who has wrapped up two Hindi films — Noorani Chehra, with actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui, and an untitled project.