Recently a transcreation client asked us to translate a marketing text about Holi, the Indian Holiday of Colours, into Hinglish and Punjabi.
Sure, no problem! But then I talked to our Punjabi copywriter.
Not so fast, he said. This text is fine for Hinglish (a mix of Hindi and English written in the Roman alphabet), but culturally it’s not a fit for Punjabi.
Why not? Here’s what he said:
Today, Holi is a mainly Hindu festival. Moderate (i.e. less orthodox) Sikhs – the majority of the Sikh community, who love Holi as much as Hindus do – will be fine with reading the text in Hinglish. But the more orthodox Sikhs now celebrate a more religious Sikh festival instead, called Holla Mohalla.
If you publish a Punjabi text about Holi, said our copywriter, the most conservative Sikh voices are going to complain, just as they do about the harvest celebration Vaisakhi, which they believe should be a somber religious festival, not a party with dancing. And they may make trouble for the advertiser, as they did while back, when the whisky brand Crown Royal took out ads celebrating Diwali.
So our copywriter’s advice was : if you’re going to have Punjabi text about this festival, make it about Holla Mohalla. And otherwise, just go with Hinglish.
So that’s what we told the client, who did their own due diligence and agreed.
