Ve-ee nikri man moon, Sami khincha tan.
Vasya mengh mahir ja, bhariya mena nihan,
Achi beetha pan, sanamukh muhinja supreen.
( My true and wise Guru put his hand upon my head;
And all the tussle, Sami says was banished from my mind
Showers of mercy fell, and my eyes were filled like fountains ;
The Lover himself came and stood face to face with me.)
-------- Bhai Chanrai "Sami" ( 1743-1850)
And yet another year passes by ! Chokro is now three years old ; a feat unthinkable when I first started this blog in 2018. Exploring own identity has been a fascinating journey, a difficult one yet rewarding nonetheless. Over these past three years , I have come to know about facets of Sindhiyat which I was not aware about earlier - the legendary role played by Bhai Pratap's in establishing the twin cities of Adipur and Kutch, of Dada Ram Panjwani's efforts in unifying the community with Jhule Lal ( Lal Saeen) at its centre, of Tirathdham Trust to establish a pilgrimage centre for Hindu Sindhis in Gujarat, of Dada Ram Buxani in establishing Indian Institute of Sindhology , of Didi Asha Chand's unwavering commitment to preserving and spreading Sindhi " Boli" through her organization Sindhi Sangat , of Dada Mohan Rohra's remarkable efforts in conducting an unofficial Sindhi census by visiting each and every major city of India understand the spread and the challenges faced by common Sindhi , and hundreds of other unspoken men and women who have committed their lives to ensure that displacement from Sindh doesn't lead to the extinction of Sindhi identity. Sindhi Chokro is my humble attempt to pay tribute to such remarkable men and women.
Sindhi identity is going through tough times. One one hand, there are increased instances of atrocities on fellow Hindu brothers and sisters in Sindh (Pakistan) thereby leading to an existential crisis and on the other hand in Hind (India), we are facing the threat of cultural extinction. Sindhi identity in a predominantly non-Sindhi world is increasingly getting blurred with my generation largely being indifferent to our cultural heritage ( "viraast)". (Late) Dada Ram Jethmalani once remarked that he wouldn't be surprised if the Hindu Sindhi identity became extinct in the next few decades. It is therefore important for each one of us to work towards preserving Sindhiyat for it will be tragic to see an entire civilizational heritage getting lost. We have the inspiring example of Jewish community who despite being physically scattered all across the world were still able to retain their identity. I reproduce here a letter which (Late) Dada J.P. Vaswani wrote to Mr. Arjan Daswani in 2011 when he was made aware about Mr. Daswani's website on Roman Sindhi Script.
"December 30, 2011
Beloved and Esteemed Brother,
Pray forgive me. I should have written to you earlier.
But I have just seen your very kind letter and I hasten to write these few hurried words to you.
I rejoice to learn that you have hosted a Sindhi teaching school on Internet in roman Sindhi script. I have often said: use any script that you like but please keep the language alive. We must not lose our beloved Sindhi language. We are a scattered community. If there is one thing that will keep us united and that will help us retain our identity, it is the language. The Sindhi language is the life-breath of the Sindhi community. If the life-breath departs, how long will the community last?
Let the Sindhi children learn as many languages as they will: but let them not neglect the Sindhi language. In our homes, we should converse with each other in the Sindhi language.
The Sindhi language has been the inspiration, the soul of Sindhi life & culture. And in the words of Gurudev Sadhu Vaswani: “To be cut off from your language and literature, O Sindhi people, will be uprooted from life itself!”
Let me thank you for all your efforts to keep the language alive.
With humble, loving regards,
In the One Service,
J.P. Vaswani"
Part of the cultural extinction is self inflicted. Most of us have failed in our duties to pass on information about our lineage, our background and culture to the new generation. Whilst it is easy to blame displacement and on non-availability of a specific state in India as the root cause of all problems, a major portion of the blame is also to be shared by the community at large.
However, as they say " A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step". Let that step be taken today. Whilst knowing Sindhi is important, however, I believe that connecting with ones roots can begin in any language . Take out some time today to read about our history, about culture , about heritage on the internet speak with a family or a community elder about our background. A small effort of spending 10 minutes at dinner time once a week to discuss our culture and heritage within families can go a long way in preserving our heritage. For those interested, (Late) Dada K.R. Malkani's book " The Sindh Story" is a good starting point. I promise it is going to be a worthwhile journey.
I would like to end by expressing my profound gratitude to all the readers. Thank you for being an integral part of this journey. I am amazed to see visitors on the blog from all corners of the world. I remain eternally grateful for you love and support. Please feel free to reach out via the comments section.
I end by providing a video link to Didi Kajal Chandiramani's wonderful rendition of " Dama Dam Mast Qalander" on the occasion of Cheti Chand celebrations at Sri Sathya Sai Baba Centre in Puttaparthy , Andhra Pradesh in 2019. It was the first time that Cheti Chand was being celebrated at the centre. I hope you like the video.
Jai Jhulelal.
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