CHAKWAL, Oct 17: At a time when it is said that people of Punjab are drifting away from their culture and language, a young man has embarked on an adventure to tour the province on a motorbike.

Sohail Abid the man behind the famous website folkPunjab.com arrived in Chakwal on Tuesday late evening.

“I want to observe rural culture of Punjab closely so that I could promote it in a much better way”, he told Dawn.

Mr Abid who did his BS in Computer Science fell in love with Punjabi poetry and culture through an interesting incident in his life.

“My parents migrated to Pakistan from Patiala after partition and they stayed in Lahore and later moved to Islamabad where I was born”, he tells and adds that his parents wanted to see him fluent in Urdu and English and they tried to keep him away from Punjabi.

“One day I saw a collection of revered Punjabi Sufi poets in the form of a book. The book was purchased by my father and its look was so beautiful that I could not help reading it”, he recalls and says that as he started to read the poetry of Bulleh Shah and Waris Shah, he found himself in an another realm.

After this incident, his interest in Punjabi culture and literature grew and he started reading up on Punjabi literature and culture.

“On the internet I failed to find any website about Punjabi literature, music and culture that’s why I resolved to launch my own website”, he informed.

The website run by Mr Abid has poetry of all the Sufi poets of Punjab. It also has wide ranging material on Punjabi culture. Songs of noted Punjabi singers, Punjabi dramas, movies, quotes, riddles, paintings and biographies of noted writers, poets and singers are also there.

“I will visit the whole of rural Punjab as it enchants me the most. My next destination is the village of Tehsil Choa Saidan Shah and Pind Dadan Khan from where I would move towards Kallar Kahar and Talagang. After visiting these towns I would set out for the rural area of Mianwali”, he explained. Mr Abid is highly optimistic about his adventure.