Last week was (Late) Dada Jashan Pahlajrai
Vaswani's birth anniversary. Dada Vaswani was the Spiritual Head of Sadhu
Vaswani Mission, a non-sectarian organization that promotes unity of all
religions. It was originally founded by his uncle, Gurudev Sadhu T.L Vaswani as
Mira Movement in Education in Hyderabad, Sindh and later (post partition)
shifted base to Pune, India with centers spread throughout the world. Dada
Vaswani / Sadhu Vaswani organisation is a familiar name in Sindhi
households as he was for many years (and in many different ways) an influential
"glue" in binding the community together post partition. Radio
Sindhi now has a dedicated channel on Dada Sahib and his "sikhya" (Learnings).
Today, the mission runs numerous schools, Degree College, nursing institute,
hospital etc. all over the country including the well-known Sadhu Vaswani
International School for Girls in Delhi as well.
Sindh for long has been a land of sufis and
saints. As Dada Bhaneja quotes (Late) Prof. Motilal Butani in his book Troubled
Pilgrimage about Rohiri* “Oh Rohiri! even your stones must be worshipped
because in the past at one time all the saints must have passed over them,
graced by the touch of their feet." There were supposed to be twenty-five
thousand saints in Rohiri. You will find most Sindhis (even till now) to
have spiritual inclinations (general speaking). Almost every Sindhi family
knows of or follows a "Sain jan" ( Godman) whom they consider
as a guru / philosopher / guide to navigate the challenges of life. However,
most "Sain jan" in our culture identify themselves more with
being a fakir/darvesh rather than an incarnation of god (which I find
quite common in other cultures). My extended family on the maternal side
has been followers of (Late) Swami Shanti Prakash ji Maharaj and Satnam Sakhi
sect. The sect originally was founded by Swami Teoonram in Tando Adam in
Nawabshah district in Sindh. It is said that the place, Wari Jo Daro¸ became famous as the place for having dialogue about
the eternal god .Post partition, the sect re-established their headquarters at
Jaipur (Amrapur Asthan ) and are quite active in Ulhasnagar as well. It was
Swami Shantiprakash who during one of his many visits to my maternal home
advised my mother and uncle (out of five siblings) to adopt vegetarian diet
throughout their lives; something that both of them follow till date.
Dada Vaswani was a very scholarly man. His satsang"
focused on releasing oneself from anger and resentment, learning to let go
of hatred, and practice forgiveness. His birthday on August 2 is observed as
Forgiveness Day and Day of Calm. He usually started all his satsangs with the
familiar “Muhinja Pyaara Bhavron aen Behnroon" (My Dear Brothers
and Sisters) as a tribute to Sindh and Sindhi language. He held Sindhi "boli"
close to his heart and always encouraged Sindhis to speak their mother
tongue to keep Sindhiyat alive. Dada Sahib was a sought after speaker who spoke
at numerous venues including the in London,
the Global Forum of Spiritual Leaders in Oxford,
the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago,
and the Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders at the
United
Nations in New York.
I pay my regards to this great saint on his birth
anniversary and pray to Lal Sain to bless Sindhri with many more Dada
Vaswanis - the community needs such people more than ever before!
I end with this short two minute Satsang by Dada
Vaswani wherein he speaks about the challenges being faced by our community and
the importance of speaking Sindhi language. I chose this video because of its
bilinguality – the message being in both English and Sindhi which will make it
reach (hopefully) a much diverse set of audience.
Jai Jhulelal!
PS: *Rohiri is a town in Sukkur district in Sindh province, Pakistan
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