Soc, Her: Nice reading for comments

[Gobind Nandwani <gobind@samart.co.th>]

Dear Friends,

I came across this beautiful article in Sindhi International and would
like everyone to read and comment:

Sindhis:  Other communities look at us and comment on the affluence we
tend to display. If anything, we are occasionally accused of
ostentation.  This confuses us because we feel misunderstood.  People
who make such comments fail to appreciate what went into the success
story.  We came to various parts of the world with nothing  We adapted
to the local conditions.  We created a work ethos.  We built bridges
with the people.  We contributed to the commonwealth.  We took risks, we
took chances, we put what we had on the line.  And if, again and again
whether in the East or the West, in remote island archipelagos or
bustling confines of Hong Kong, in the deserts of the Middle East or in
the wilds of Africa, we came out on top.  We sometimes express our
gratitude in tangible terms.  This is where the world thinks we are
showing off.  What we are doing is sharing our bounty, underscoring our
thankfulness to the Lord for his graciousness.  For there are few
communities as dedicated, as religious or as given to quiet charity than
the Sindhis.

It is no doubt that the future of Sindhi community will remain bright
and confident.  We are relatively benign people.  We loath controversy,
we like to stay away from politics.  We have very little tendency to
interfere on the local administration.  We aim towards an economic
prosperity and we put in more than we take out.

As I list these happy paragraphs of our alien successes and we face the
turn of the century, the main thing that concerns me is about tomorrow.
Is it that the Diaspora is spreading too fast?  Are our children
splintering from the pack by necessity and leaving the fold?  Will their
children enjoy the pleasures of the larger family of Aunts, and Uncles
and grandparents and cousins?  As we send our boys and girls abroad to
study and to work, will intermarriage soften the Sindhi identity?  Will
it be buffetted by new winds, that carefully protected insularism  that
we maintained, now weakened  enough to be robbed of that specific
identity.

I don't mean to be old fashioned but if our children and their children
go away then where is that strength when the uniqueness goes?  It is
happening around us and there are times I feel we cannot be apart.  It
will impact upon us and we have to be ready for it.
We are already stateless and our language is already vanishing from the
world scripts and it seems that we shall be without our children and
their family.  Where would that leave the Sindhi community?  IT IS TIME
TO THINK.

The problem facing us, then, is in the maintenance of Sindhi identity.
Today when we sit and watch cultural programs on a National Day of
India, absence of any Sindhi item gives us a feeling of being outsiders.
 Why is there no Sindhi float or Sindhi song or Sindhi dance.  In our
pursuit of economic security as a defense against alien climes we fell
short of the literacy and cultural aspects. We have hardly any material
to help create  a presentable and admirable folklore for the
appreciation  of non-Sindhis. I do not think even a single Sindhi film
is produced in the last several decades.

Sindhi International dresses have hardly gone through any refurbishment
in last 50 years.  If we see  a dress worn in Gujrati Garba, it has gone
through a tremendous transformation in the last few decades, and its
quite an acceptable attire even in no-Gujrati events.   So are Punjabi
dresses.  Unfortunately, the traditional dress has been totally ignored
by the country's leading fashion designers, many of whom are Sindhis. If
Sindhi attire had gone through a proper up-lift in the last half a
century, our Kurto and Suthana should have found entry in the wardrobe
of the elite of the country by now.

I also fear lessening can occur in our religious commitment.  Between
multichannel  TV  and the internet, time for the Lord gets slightly
reduced.  I did say at the beginning that our children have maintained
tradition but again, what about the next generation? Is the lure of
rat-race, the grab and go fast track existence endangering Mums and Dads
have the time to talk to their kids about religious conduct.

Are we there for them?  How many teenagers sit with us during our
discourses or prayer meets,  restlessly wanting to leave because some
serial is starting or the friends are calling.  Our uniting deity
'Jhulelal'  has to be introduced to the young generation constantly.
Late Dada Ram Panjwani worked hard to bring awareness about Jhulelal.
We have to continue it.  Perhaps someone dressed in Jhulelal attire
moving around the crowd with sweets and gifts like Santa Claus will be
good idea in that direction.

Today Sindhi community is passing through an awkward phase.  We are one,
and we are not.  There are several groups in the Sindhi community.  They
are all Sindhis.  Still each group is in search of Sindhyat.  Sindhi is
searching a Sindhi.  All the members of Sindhi family are living in
Sindhi environment, but the Sindhyat is missing.  Sindhyat is part of
our life but we are looking for it outside our life.  Who is a Sindhi?
Whom to call a Sindhi?  That is the question which is likely to be asked
again and again.  It will become louder with the passage of time.  We
need to address that problem and do it on priority.  That is the future
of Sindhi community.  We need to be really worried about it.

The above article by Mr. Ram Buxani is an eye-opener and comments from
various Sindhi netters will really be good.

Shewak Nandwani.
gobind@samart.co.th