ਨਾਨਾ

Meaning

ਨਾਨਾ (nana) is the Punjabi word for your mother's father — your maternal grandfather. Paired with ਨਾਨੀ (nani, mother's mother), he forms half of the ਨਾਨਕੇ (nanke), the maternal grandparents' household. Punjabi distinguishes the two grandfathers absolutely: the nana is maternal, the ਦਾਦਾ (dada) is paternal, and the words are never interchangeable.

The nana is typically the head of the mother's birth family — the household she grew up in and married out of. For his grandchildren, he is often a figure of indulgent authority: the man whose word is law in his own village, but who melts completely at the sight of his ਧੋਤੀ (dhoti, daughter's children).

He is addressed as ਨਾਨਾ ਜੀ. The plural/respectful form ਨਾਨੇ is also heard, as in "ਨਾਨੇ ਦੇ ਘਰ" (at nana's house), which for many children simply means the happiest place they know.

Cultural context

ਨਾਨਕੇ ਜਾਣਾ — going to the maternal grandparents' home — is one of the great institutions of Punjabi childhood. It means school holidays filled with farm animals, village friends, food cooked on a scale the city never sees, and grandparents whose entire purpose for the week is your happiness. The nana presides over this world: he takes the children to the fields, tells them about the family's history, and slips them money their parents know nothing about.

In the traditional order, the nana also had a protective role toward his married daughter. If she faced hardship in her husband's home, her father's house — her ਪੇਕਾ — remained her refuge, and the nana its guardian. This is why the nana's blessing is sought at every major step of his grandchildren's lives.

Punjabi songs about leaving for the in-laws' home, and about returning to the nanke, form a whole genre of folk music. The nana appears in them as the embodiment of the mother's side of the family: proud, generous, and forever welcoming.

ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਵਿੱਚ ਅਰਥ

ਨਾਨਾ ਮਾਂ ਦੇ ਪਿਤਾ ਨੂੰ ਕਿਹਾ ਜਾਂਦਾ ਹੈ। ਨਾਨਾ-ਨਾਨੀ ਦੇ ਘਰ ਨੂੰ ਨਾਨਕਾ ਕਿਹਾ ਜਾਂਦਾ ਹੈ, ਜੋ ਹਰ ਬੱਚੇ ਦੀ ਮਨਪਸੰਦ ਥਾਂ ਹੁੰਦੀ ਹੈ। ਨਾਨਾ ਆਪਣੇ ਧੋਤੀਆਂ ਨੂੰ ਬਹੁਤ ਪਿਆਰ ਕਰਦਾ ਹੈ ਅਤੇ ਉਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਦੀਆਂ ਹਰ ਇੱਛਾਵਾਂ ਪੂਰੀਆਂ ਕਰਦਾ ਹੈ।

ਪੁਰਾਣੇ ਸਮੇਂ ਵਿੱਚ ਨਾਨਾ ਆਪਣੀ ਧੀ ਦਾ ਸਭ ਤੋਂ ਵੱਡਾ ਰਖਵਾਲਾ ਹੁੰਦਾ ਸੀ। ਵਿਆਹ ਤੋਂ ਬਾਅਦ ਵੀ ਧੀ ਦਾ ਪੇਕਾ ਘਰ ਉਸਦਾ ਆਸਰਾ ਰਹਿੰਦਾ ਸੀ। ਅੱਜ ਵੀ ਨਾਨਾ ਜੀ ਦੀਆਂ ਅਸੀਸਾਂ ਹਰ ਪੋਤੇ-ਧੋਤੇ ਲਈ ਸਭ ਤੋਂ ਕੀਮਤੀ ਹੁੰਦੀਆਂ ਹਨ।