Aate Di Chidi 2018

Dilip Singh and his wife Eliza are part of a Canadian Punjabi family with two sons, Vikram and Lavi. Dilip is eager to pass down Punjabi traditions to Lavi, while Eliza worries that Lavi will grow up in Canada without a true connection to his roots. The couple’s life is quietly marked by this cultural tug-of-war, with Dilip’s insistence on keeping the language and customs alive meeting Eliza’s concern for adaptation and exposure to a broader world.

Dilip dreams of visiting India, but Eliza holds his passport, complicating the plan. The neighborhood scenario adds tension: the wife of a friendly neighbor works with Eliza, and the Father-In-Law from India arrives, brought by his son [Gurpreet Ghuggi], who doesn’t want him to stay—that clash sets the stage for the larger conversations about family, tradition, and respect. Dilip and the Father-In-Law trade lines about how daughters-in-law can be disrespectful to their fathers-in-law, a dynamic that foreshadows the friction and affection threaded through the trip to come. The old man’s arrival also nudges Dilip toward a decision: he is determined to reclaim his passport and take his family to India.

At a lively party, plans surge forward: a pact between the Father-In-Law and Dilip to secure the passport so Dilip can finally go back. Eliza discovers the scheme, yet Dilip insists that the entire family accompany him on the journey. Before boarding, the neighbor’s daughter asks Lavi for a memento from India. In a tender moment, Lavi promises an “Aate Di Chidi”—a bird sculpted from dough, a symbol of Punjabi childhood and heritage—explaining that his father recently spoke of how precious such little treasures are from home.

The family arrives in India and finds that things have changed. Dilip notices new realities—dancing at funerals, the rapid spread of social media, and a village that no longer feels as timeless as he remembered. He’s taken aback by a village sign whose languages are written in three scripts, with Punjabi at the bottom, signaling a shift in pride and visibility. In India, Dilip’s other son [Karamjit Anmol] married a woman from Bihar, a detail that broadens the family’s portrait and illustrates the mingling of cultures within the extended clan.

Vikram and Eliza want to explore a nearby city, but Lavi longs to stay in the village and soak up every corner of this homeland. The trip is complemented by advice from a Punjabi friend and a coworker: they urge Dilip to share his earnings with his parents back in Punjab, underscoring the ties that bind generations. The family attends a close friend’s wedding, wearing traditional Punjabi outfits. At first, a security guard at the venue stops them, mistaking them for dancers. The wedding’s atmosphere is intense—Eliza is drawn into the moment by the energy on stage, where dancers hold guns and celebratory drinks while the crowd cheers. Fear and curiosity mingle in her reaction, and she leaves the scene unsettled, wondering if Punjab truly lives up to the stories she’s heard.

After the wedding, Eliza’s perspective shifts. She begins to see the Punjab she once romanticized—it isn’t immune to conflict or pressure, and the social changes she’d feared are very real. A money-related visit to Vikram’s coworker’s home reveals happiness and relief for the coworker’s family, but it also exposes a rift with a spoilt son from Punjab who stirs trouble and causes Dilip’s turban to fall in a moment of public embarrassment. The realization hits hard: Punjab and India have evolved in ways that challenge old assumptions.

Ultimately, Eliza confronts the truth with newfound clarity. She regrets resisting her husband’s dream and accepts that culture is not static; it travels with people, adapting to new contexts while remaining foundational. The village sign’s reordering—Punjabi at the top—becomes a symbolic moment affirming that one’s mother tongue and heritage deserve pride, wherever you live. As the family prepares to return to Canada, Lavi still longs for a tangible link to India, but he doesn’t abandon his promise to the neighbor’s daughter. He cannot locate the exact “Aate Di Chidi” before leaving, yet back in Canada, Eliza makes good on the pledge by sharing the dough-bird with Lavi and the neighbor’s daughter, signaling that culture can be learned, celebrated, and carried forward far from the homeland.

In the end, the family’s journey reveals a nuanced portrait of diaspora life: love, tradition, and adaptation intertwined, with each member discovering that understanding one’s roots can enrich life in a new country as long as the thread of connection remains intact.