The Sindhi Revival

IN OCTOBER 1983, a Sindhi conference was held in New Delhi. It had the unusual distinction of being addressed by both, the President and the Prime Minister. Both of them indulged in fulsome praise of Sindhis for their ``intelligence, enterprise and adaptability''. Mrs. Gandhi recollected that way back in the Nineteen Thirties she had noticed a Sindhi shop even in an obscure village on the island of Sicily. Others had found a Sindhi enterprise even on Falkland Islands near the South Pole.

Zia-ul-Huq, the military ruler of Pakistan, denounced the conference as an attempt to aid and abet the revolt in Sindh. The fact is that the conference had been announced a whole year earlier, when nobody had imagined the 1983 upsurge is Sindh. Zia. even went on to say that the Sindhis in India were not ``Sindhi''. One of these days he might even decree that the Sindhis in Sindh are not Sindhi either --- having opted to become ``Pakistani''!

However, the response of the leaders in India and Pakistan alike, to the Sindhi people, underlines one fact --- that the ten million Sindhis, of whom only one quarter are in India, are a significant factor in India, in Pakistan, and in Indo-Pak relations. The emigre Sindhis are a lively little Sindh --- Sindhuri --- in the Iap of Bharat Mata.

Immediately after the Partition, Sindhis concentrated in Jodhpur and Ajmer, hoping that an unnatural thing such as Pakistan could not go on for long, and expecting to get back home quick from the proximity of Rajasthan. Bombay was considered too big, too expensive and too far away.

However, as the possibility of early annulment of Partition receded, they began to look for alternatives. One of these was Kandla Port, where the Sindhu Resettlement Corporation had been given land to build the city of Gandhidham. However, Rome was not built in a day; nor could even Gandhidham be built in a day, or a year, or even several years. And the impoverished refugees were in a hurry; they could not afford to wait for years. They, therefore, began to gravitate more and more towards Bombay. Here the barracks of Kalyan Camp, built to house the Italian prisoners of war during World War II, and now renamed Ulhasnagar, came very handy. The refugees could live here economically --- and make money in nearby Bombay.

Even as they tried to lift themselves up by their very bootstraps, many hearts failed. But before long, their will to live and make good prevailed. The challenge was great --- but their response was even greater. In Sindh we had heard of only a few companies such as Kaycee's Blue Star, Motwaney's Chicago Radio,and J.B. Mangharam's Biscuits. But in Gajra Gears, Krishna Steel, Advani Oerlikon, Weston TV, Westerworks, Esquire and India Book House, the Sindhi entrepreneurs have broken new ground and attained new heights. Before Partition, we could count the number of Sindhi Crorepatis on the fingers of one hand. Today, Ulhasnagar alone has more than forty Crorepatis. Their only problem is that they cannot negotiate matrimonial alliances with Warden Road or Colaba --- or even Vile Parle!

Although Bombay is the ``capital'' of the Sindhis in India, they have spread themselves far and wide. There is hardly a town in India that does not have a cluster of Sindhi families. Some of them have captured subzi mandis (vegetable markets) and retail cloth trade; others have gone into transport business and civil contracts; still others are working brick-kilns; some of them have even penetrated the tribal areas in Central India and taught tribal women to wear blouses. Even in an off-beat place like Fyzabad (Ayodhya) they are so numerous and prosperous that their annual Jhoolay Lal procession is an event --- like a mini- Republic Day Parade --- to which the whole city looks forward with joyous expectation. Even as the Huguenots, the French Protestant refugees in England, gave an impetus to the British economy two hundred years ago, the Sindhi entrepreneurs have been an important catalytic agent of economic development in many areas of India.

Sindhi Business Houses have always been prominent abroad. Today they are more prominent than ever before. In 1947 the ``Big Five'' were Wassiamal Assoomull, Pohoomal Bros., Kishinchand Chellaram, J.T. Chanrai and K.A.J. Chotirmal. In the new ``Big Five'', Dhalamals and Bhojsons have replaced Wassiamal and Pohoomal. However, the richest Sindhi family today is the Hinduja brothers, evaluated at more than 1,000 crore rupees. The Janata Government needed them as much as the Congress Government, in their big foreign business deals. Moorjani of Hong Kong dominates the world Jeans market with a $l billion turn-over. The biggest builders in Miami, Florida, USA's poshest state, are Melwani and Shyam Sani. And Ram Kripalani with his booming business and famous charities, is the Uncrowned King of Trinidad in the West Indies. A popular Negro song, ``Ram the Magician'' broadcast by Trinidad radio, tells the local Prime Minister, George Chamber, among other things:

Everything Mr. Ram puts his hand to

Turns from a shack to a mansion.

So, George Chamber, you should see

Mr. Ram Kripalani.

If you can't run the country,

Call in Kripalani.

Today the Sindhi charities are keeping pace with the Sindhi riches. The good old Wattumull Foundation was always there. The Chanrais of Lagos have donated 30 lakh rupees to the Vivekananda Education Society of Bombay alone. The In-Laks Foundation (named after Indru and Lakshmi Shivdasani) has donated one crore of rupees for Sadhu Vaswani Hospital and Research Centre in Pune. It also gives 200 foreign scholarships every year. Kishinchand Shahani is a distinguished philanthropist who patronizes all good causes. From ``Sharnarthis'', the Sindhis have grown into ``Pursharthis'' and ``Parmarthis''.

What could be the reason for the dramatic success of Sindhis --- and Punjabis --- after the shattering shock of Partition? It is the same reason that enabled Japan and Germany to revive themselves after the trauma of defeat in World War II. This is, the mind of a people. Milton described it long back as ``the unconquerable will, never to submit or yield''. The Sindhi considers it his Fundamental Right to Succeed. Given this frame of mind, men can make gold even out of dust.

Nor have they confined themselves to making money and instituting charities. They have established some of the finest institutions in Bombay and elsewhere. The Wattumull Institute of Computer Technology and Engineering has equipment worth two crore of rupees. Thanks to Hotchand Gopaldas and Khushi Kundnani, the Sindhis have not only set up a dozen colleges in Bombay, their Jai Hind College and K.C. College are two of the best colleges in India's premier city. Jaslok Hospital (named after Jasoti --- Sindhization of Yashoda --- and Lokumal) is the most famous in the country.

The Vivekananda Education Society of Bombay and the Mira Education Society of Pune are two of the more significant Sindhi services in the realm of education.

Ownership flat system is a Sindhi innovation in Bombay. Raheja Bros. alone have put up a thousand buildings on this basis. And Jethi Sipahimalani's Navjiwan Housing Colonies in Mahim, Chembur and Bombay Central are a marvel of cooperative en- terprise in the field of housing. Atur Sangtani of Pune is not only big in construction, he runs The Poona Herald.

However, the greatest builder of them all was Bhai Partap who built the twin cities of Adipur (residential) and Gandhidham (commercial) for Kandla Port. Ram Nagrani, I.P.S., has been put in charge of the newly constituted National Security Guards --- to handle situations like the one in Punjab.

Individual Sindhis have also made a name in various walks of life. Dr. Menda presided over the Indian Medical Association and Prof. G.R. Malkani, over the Indian Philosophical Congress. Ram Jethmalani led the Indian Bar Council for years.

Sewakram Karamchand as general secretary of Servants of People Society became one of the ``Sapta Rishi'' (Seven Rishis) who, with Bhimsen Sachar, was detained in 1975 during the Emergency. Jiwanlal Jairamdas has devoted his life to Harijan Sewak Sangh. Dada Sewak Bhojraj keeps the torch of Balkan-ji- Bari alive along with his Bapu Village for the tribals.

Today G.G. Mirchandani heads the UNI (United News of India), a leading national news agency. Business India is run by Ashok Advani. Prof. K. N. Vaswani leads the Vivekananda'' Rock Memorial Committee in Kanyakumari. Hari Atmaram is a trustee of Vishwa Hindu Parishad.

Justice Nain presided over the MRTPC (Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission); Justice Chainani over the Bombay High Court; and Justice Thadhani over the Assam High Court. T.M. Advani became Vice-Chancellor of Bombay and Kashmir universities. K.L. Punjabi became Chief Secretary of Maharashtra, and Sadhwani, of Gujerat. Ms. Dr. K.A. Advani is Principal of the 125-year-old Government Law College of Bombay, the biggest and best in Asia.

T.V. Mansukhani heads HMT (Hindustan Machine Tools), M.J. Pherwani heads Ashok Leyland; Samat(-ani) is No. 2 in Bharat Heavy Electrical Limited; R.G. Keswani is president, All India Electrical Manufacturers' Association. G.S. Ramchand led Indian cricket. T.N. Idnani was the member for Power in the Central Water and Power Commission.

M. K. Kripalani was ambassador in Canada, Khilnani in Kenya and Vishnu Ahuja in Russia.

There are not only Maj.-Gen. Hira and Vice-Admiral Tahliani, Admiral Nanda --- the victor of the sea war in 1971, when Bangladesh was formed --- loves to speak Sindhi with the Sindhis. When asked how he managed to blockade Karachi, he said: ``I know every inch of Karachi harbour.''

Before Partition very few Sindhis --- Bhudo Advani, Hari Shivdasani --- had made a name in the movies. Today G.P. Sippy is a leader of the film industry, closely followed by N.C. Sippy and several others.

Leading film directors include Govind Nihalani (``Aakrosh''), Raj Sippy, Ramesh Sippy, Kumar Shahani. Leading Sindhi cine artists include Sudhir, Mach Mohan, Raj Kiran (Mahtani) Asrani, Sheila Ramani, Babita, Sadhana.

In the religious field, Dada Jashan Vaswani, Sant Lila Shah, Holy Guru Nanak Mission. Dada Chellaram's ``Nij Thanw'', Brahmakumaris, and several other organisations are so many beacons of spiritual light. The week-long celebrations at Majnuka-Tilla in Delhi, are a new high in Sindhi religious consciousness

In the field of literature, Kalyan Advani, M. 11. Malkani Lekhraj Aziz, Tirath Basant, Ram Punjwani Haru Sadarangani, Popati Hiranandani,Gobind Malhi, Narayan Shyam and several others have been duly honoured by the Sahitya Akademi.

In Sindh, Pokardas served Sindhi literature with his innumerable publications. After Partition, H.G. Mirchandani of India Book House has, through Amar Chitra Katha, introduced a whole new generation to the glories of Indian history and culture.

Krishna Kripalani has presided over Sahitya Akademi and he now guides the National Book Trust.

Bulo Rani, Shanti Hiranand, C.H. Atma, Master Chander,Kamla Keswani, Bhagwanti Nawani, Deepika Kripalani, Chainani Sisters and Hoondraj `Dukhayal' have put new life in Sindhi music.

In politics, while Acharya Kripalani was a colossus, Jairamdas served with distinction as member of Parliament, cabinet minister and governor. L.K. Advani shone not only as minister for Information and Broadcasting, he is in the front rank of Indian politics. Hashu Advani occupies a similar position in Maharashtra. Sucheta Kirpalani, Dr. Choithram, Prof. N.R. Malkani, Ram Jethmalani, Krishna Kripalani have made their name in Parliament. And Bhanu Kumar Shastri stormed Sukhadia's citadel in Udaipur to enter the Lok Sabha with a bang in 1977.

Oscar Wilde has said that all of us have five senses, but that unless we have the sixth sense to make money, we cannot make good use of the other five senses. The Sindhis have acted very well on this adage.

They are not very prominent in the services. This could be due to discrimination --- or due to the feeling that there is no money even in the highest services. However, they have partly made up for this by the universality of literacy. A Sindhi who cannot read and write will be hard to find. Also most of them are not just dubhashis, bilingual; they are regular chatur-bhashis,, quadri-lingual. They know their Sindhi and their Hindi; they know the local language --- whether it is Gujerati or Marathi, Tamil or Telugu --- and they generally know English. This has helped them in business --- and in social integration. It has made for psychological rehabilitation, after the uprooting of 1947. There have been many distinguished marriage alliances with non-Sindhis.

Pre-Partition Sindh had witnessed Acharya's marriage to Sucheta Majumdar, Krishna Kripalani's to Nandita, Tagore's grand-daughter, and Gopi Mukhi's to Gauba of Lahore. Later Sundari Bhavnani (Triveni Kala Sangam) married Krishnalal Shridharani. Kamla Malkani married Lokpati --- and- became Kamlapati Tripathi's ``Banut. Vishnu Ahuja married Nuruddin's daughter Amina. Bhai Pratap's daughter Nirmala married Balu Patwardhan, brother of Achhyut Patwardhan, Rajmohan Gandhi, grandson of the Mahatma, married Usha Kukreja of Larkana. Shirin Advani married Jehangir, son of M.C. Chagla. And in the film world Sadhana Shivdasani married Nayyar, Babita Shivdasani married Randhir Kapoor and Poonam Chandiramani married Shatrughan Sinha.

Some Sikh intellectuals --- for example, Khushwant Singh --- have a feeling that Sindhis have become less Sikh after Partition. They have -and they have not. The Sindhi response to Akali tantrums in the Punjab is certainly negative. But even then, in Bombay, Pune and elsewhere, Sindhis are very prominent in celebrating Guru Nanak Jayanti. They have set up several Sindhi gurdwaras, including ``Nij Thanw'' on Pusa Road in New Delhi. But it is also true that Sikhism no longer occupies a near-monopolistic position in Sindhi religious perception. For one thing, even before Partition, while reading Gurbani and visiting gurdwaras, the Sindhis always read other Hindu scriptures and bowed to all gods and pilgrimaged to all shrines. They were ``Shishyas'' (disciples) that is ``Sikhs'' of the guru; with few exceptions, they were not Khalsas or Sardarjis.

In addition, after Partition, the Sindhis have felt the need for identity. They have, therefore, revived the old Sindhi patron- saint of Jhoolay Lal. Today the portraits of Guru Nanak and Jhoolay Lal are found side by side in Sindhi temples and homes.

Also, the Sindhis like to adapt to the local scene. They like to be always ``sugar-in-milk'' with the locals. In the north, they apply ``Sindhur'' in the `Maang' (hair-divide). In Bombay, the Sindhi women have learnt to wear Mangalsutra from the Maharashtrians, something unknown to them in Sindh. Likewise they have taken to Ganesh festival with gusto. The Sindhi child in Maharashtra will sing ``Dhan Guru Nanak Jag Tariyo'' (Glory unto Guru Nanak who saved the world); but he will also chant: ``Ganpati Bapa Moriya, Purcha Varshi Laukariya'' (Oh lord Ganesha, come ,soon next year). lt is at once natural and desirable; it is typical Hindu.

Even more important than Sindhi economic revival as an element in the emergence of the Sindhi factor in India and in Pakistan, is the growth of Sindhi consciousness. India is a land of infinite identities. Even after centuries, the Sindhis will still be known as ``Sindhis'' --- though many of them may not be able to speak Sindhi. In this situation the Sindhi feels for his roots --- and likes to nourish them.

The tendency towards the unity of all Sindhis is nourished by the thought that Hindus and Muslims in Sindh didn't have hard feelings towards each other. It was a pretty peaceful and good-natured co-existence. Even the Arya Samaj elders would say first thing in the morning --- ``Hindu Mussalman Jo Khair'' (May all be well with the Hindus and the Muslims).

This growing realization of the unity of all Sindhis --- as an integral part of all Indians --- is being felt both in India and in Pakistan. The Sindhi Muslims remember the Hindus with nostalgia. Sindhi Hindus in India reciprocate the feeling. This does not mean that Sindhi Hindus are planning to get back to Sindh in the foreseeable future. Once bitten twice shy. But it does visualise a normalisation of lndia's relations with Sindh. It could be G.M. Syed's plan of confederation. The Bharatiya Sindhu Sabha conference in Bombay in 1981 asked for commemoration stamps not only for Hemu Kalani and Bhagat Kanwar Ram, but also for Shah Abdul Latif and Shahid Allah Bux. They suggested reopening of the Khokhrapar railway track, linking Sindh to Rajasthan. Many suggested visiting Sindh as tourists and as pilgrims --- to Sadhbela and Hinglaj, Debal and Mooan-jo-daro. (When A.B. Vajpayee was minister for External Affairs, he had put Pakistan on notice to allow pilgrims to Sindh, or face reconsideration of Nehru-Liaqat Pact.) Others suggested bringing ``Sindhujal'' and Sindhu soil as sacred mementos. In this new situation many even shouted the hope: ``Next Year in Sindh!''

The story of Sindh is that interesting. And in the next few years it promises to be even more interesting --- and important!