Maybe I should be grateful that some heritage preservation is taking place at all in Punjab. When I read recently that this is to draw Bollywood films into the region I shudder "Northern States Tourism Board woos Bollywood".

The popular Indian film industry (known as Bollywood) that has done so much to dumb down high culture in India, not to mention, ridicule minorities and promote one-dimensional sterotypes should never be the catalyst for good quality heritage conservation efforts. The film industry has, by its very nature, a facile and transitory interest in culture and heritage. Any preservation in their name will be as simplistic, superficial and fleeting as the industry that they are trying to woo.

It is simply amazing that the tourism authorites don't realise that at any moment in time many tens of thousands of bored, wealthy and western vistors are sitting just a few miles from fascinating historical monuments and museums. Nor do they realise that well-educated, discerning Punjabis should be enthralled by their own Punjbai heritage and culture rather than the draw of a weak Bollywood film.