The URL for this site includes two very misused & ambiguous words; Punjab and heritage. Punjab could mean either of the states of India or Pakistan or indeed both and in the case of both countries it could mean today's politcal boundaries or those during the Raj or even the Punjab of the Mughals.

Heritage, too, is a much misused word. It is used to refer to cultural traditions, language, food, religious practices and even the environment. More usually it is conflated with history, and here I think that the boundaries are a bit blurred

It wasnt that long ago that Indian builders were a joke in the UK, Prince Phillip famously remarked that "you must have Indians into to do that" when he saw a bodged bit of electrical work during a factory tour in Scotland. Those were the days that western countries ran the its professional services, call centres and IT themsleves.

It seems that the whole thing has turned on its head.

A really encouraging story in the Indian Press this morning. It seems that the Archaeological Survey of India is planning to outsource its preservation and conservation work to people who actually know what they are doing ! In most cases these will be western conservation experts doing hands on restoration in India. This could be a really powerful force in inspiring excellence in restoration and building preservation.

India can sell the West IT services and in return India gets a bunch of western builders.