This is the second year in a row that Sindhu Samaj wore a deserted look on Cheti Chand, a pious day which marks the beginning of Hindu Sindhi New Year. It was celebrated on April 13th this year. As regular readers of the blog will recall (from my previous posts) , Sindhu Samaj (Rajinder Nagar) every year celebrates Cheti Chand by hosting Behrana Sahib as well as social gathering which is followed by langar prasad consisting of Tairi (Tahiri) and Chhole. As a young kid, I really enjoyed standing in the queue to collect the Tippanas ( Hindu Sindhi Calenders). Such lovely days!
To keep the festive spirit alive, some prominent Sindhi Associations organised a four day virtual Cheti Chand mela. This was streamed on various social media platforms and included interviews, performance by various Sindhi artists. While not quite like the usual Cheti Chand celebrations, however, I am glad that atleast something was organised. I do hope that in the coming years, there is a greater emphasis on bringing a greater number of Sindhi organisations ( both in India and across the world) on a common platform so that we can gradually work towards increasing the viewership. A higher viewership will (hopefully) lead to improved programming quality as the organisers can work towards generating revenue streams to fund the production costs. To give the post a festive feel, whilst not related to the virtual show, I provide link to an excerpt from Mohit Lalwani's live performance in Kolhapur with a medley of Sindhi songs (2018) . I really enjoyed watching this medley sung by Saeen Mohit.
Sindhi Abani Boli || MOhit Lalwani || Cheti Chand - YouTube
As you all may be aware, India is going through difficult times. The latest COVID wave has spread across the entire country and passed all previous infection records. In New Delhi ( where I live) , the positivity rate currently is hovering around 30%. All this has put tremendous pressure on the city's ( & country's) healthcare resources stretching them to the point where they are almost on the brink of collapse. The virus is merciless and spares no one. For the past week , daily I have been reading obituary notices from all around which saddens me immensely. I conclude with a prayer to JhuleLal / Lal Saeen to end these troubled times soon and give strength to the bereaved families to cope with the loss of their loved ones. Mehr Kar Saeen.
Jai Jhulelal
Link to previous years Cheti Chand blogs is as follows:-
