Sindhi Community
The people that live in Sindh province are called Sindhis.
Unlike Punjab and Gujarat, Sindh was not divided so the entire territory went to Pakistan. Some are migrated to India after partition. Now they don’t have any separate state, so presently they are living in every corner of India full of spirits and making sure to keep their own rich culture, traditions, and language alive.
Etymology Of The Word “Sindh”
India, the very name comes from Indus River which is known as Sindh River in Sindh. But when Greeks conquered Sindh in 325 BC under the command of Alexander the Great, referred to the Indus River as ‘Indos’, hence The Modern Indus.
Persians and Mughals converted the word ‘Sindhu’ to ‘Hindu’.
So, from Sindh and Sindhu we get Hindu, Hindustan, Hindi, and India.
Sindhis In India After Partition
After 1947, Sindhi Hindus and Sikhs migrated to India, refugee camps were set up for these migrants.
An initial lot that came by sea settled either in Gujarat or Bombay. Those who came by trains settled in Ajmer and those who came by road went in Jaipur.
Migrated to India from their home with important things on backpacks in the midst of bloodshed and violence to build a new home in India.
Sindhi God
Hindu Sindhis worship the Dev Jhulelal, the patron saint of Sindhis.
He is believed to be an incarnation of Varuna, the sea god in Hinduism.
Sindhis believed that he seated on fish as a bearded figure holding a book and mala, emerged to rescue them from persecution by Muslim Ruler Mirkshah.
Mirakshah, the evil ruler dominates Thatta in Sindh and tried to convert all Sindhis in the religion to Islam.
The child names Udaychand lovingly called him Uderolal. When the child was placed in the cradle for the naming ceremony, the cradle started swinging on its own. Hence, they renamed him ‘Jhulelal’.
The birth of God is celebrated as the divine event called ‘Chetichand’ and also known as ‘JhulelalJayanti’.
About Sindh
Sindh, province by southeastern Pakistan. Bordered by the province of Baluchistan on the west and north, Punjab by the northeast, Indian states of Rajasthan and Gujarat to the east, and the Arabian Sea to the south.
Area of present-day Sindh province – the center of ancient Indus Valley Civilization, representation the cities of Mohenjo-Daro.
Karachi, the capital city of Sindh Province, most populous city as well as the Main Financial hub of Pakistan.
Geographically, it’s not part of India due to partition but will always be in the heart of our elders and that’s why Rabindranath Tagore includes Sindh word in our National Anthem.
SINDH is a reminder of all emotions, sacrifices that our ancestors went through in order to survive.
Sindhi Festivals And Weddings
Cheti Chand:-
As it is mentioned earlier, it is the birth anniversary of Jhulelal, the Sindhi saint.
Celebrated on the second day of Chetrashuklapksha or month of Cheth (generally, in the month of March and April).
It is the day when the new moon is visible after no moon day.
It also marks the New Year for all the Sindhis.
Another tradition on this day is the Procession taken out in Public, called Baharana Sahib. In which all Sindhis performed traditional dance and devotees gets lots of delicious Prasad.
Sindhis wished Chetichand to each other by saying- “TwakechetichandJi lakh lakhvadiyonhujan”.
Sindhi Weddings:-
Sindhi weddings are blend of fun, traditions, dazzle and glitters.
Sindhi traditions are mixture of Hinduism and Sufism.
1. Kachhimisri
It is the first meeting between groom and bride’s families.
After the match is fixed, it is like informal roka in which bride’s family gifts clothes, sweets, fruits, coconut and lumps of misri for good omen.
2. Pakkimisri
It’s the formal engagement of the couple in front of all the relatives and friends.
The groom’s family and bride’s family send some lavish gifts to each other like fruit basket, jewellery and clothes.
3. Beranasatsang
- This is a type of satsang in which Sindhi ladies performed Sindhi songs of jhulelal and ask the blessings for the couple.
4. Mehandi And Sangeet
The common mehandi ceremony held by the bride’s family in the afternoon in which all of the ladies and sometimes males covered their hands with beautiful henna designs.
And later in the evening, sangeet ceremony held in which all the family members and relatives dance and enjoy.
5. Head Bukki And Saanth
Head bukki is associated with haldi function but in Sindhi style, seven married women of the family apply oil to bride’s hair and smear her with turmeric paste.
Saanth is for groom, married ladies apply oil to his whole body, after which his clothes are torn away by his family to symbolize that he is leaving behind his past and single life and incorporate himself in new bond for lifetime.
6. Gharipooja
It is performed by both sides of the family in which the priest gives wheat grains to the bride and groom and with the help of married ladies of the family ground to flour.
It is for prosperity for the new home.
Bride and groom then smash the earthen lamp with their feet.
And then, barat, swagat and jai mala happened by all the Hindu rituals.
7. Hathiyala
The bride and groom’s hands are tied softly together with a red fabric signifying their union.
The couple walks around the holy fire, the groom leads in first three.
With this ritual, the couple bound together in love for the rest of their lives.
And after that, kanyadan, bidaai happened.
So, it is full of traditions, non-stopping dance with delicious Sindhi food.
Sindhi Entertaiment
Our biggest influence Bollywood filled with sindhis, like Ranveer Singh, Ajit Kumar, VashuBhagnani, Govinda, Jitendra, Vishal Dadlani, Rajkumar Hirani etc.
Sindhi political influence in Pakistan is Bhutto family- Zulfikar Ali, Benazir, Asif Ali Zardari, Bilaulaal Bhutto.
One common binding factor of Hindu sindhi and Pakistan sindhi is the Sufi songs, ‘LalShabazKalandar’ and ‘Damadam Mast Kalandar’ was referred to as Jhulelal.
In literature, Shah Abdul Latif is considered as Shakespeare of sindhi language. And recent masters are- master Chander, A.J. Uttam, Prof. Ram Panchwani, Ravi Karna, these are the icons of cultural studies.
Stereotypes Around Sindhis
Every Sindhi surname ends with “Ani”.
The route of this ‘ani’ is the Sanskrit word ‘Ansh’ which means ‘descended from common male ancestor’, so ‘ansh’ colloquially became ani and therefore Lachhwani, Vaswani, Goplani, so it came to know the descended of the family. There are exceptions also like chawla, ahuja, bhatia, nagpal.
- Sindhis eat papad with every meal.
- Business and Sindhi are the synonyms.
- Sindhis are misers.
- Sindhis are born rich.
- Sindhi and mota pet go hand in hand.
- All sindhis come from sindh.
- Sindhis and punjabis are same.
- Sindhis have lots of gold.
- Sindhi kadhi is everything they eat.
- Sindhis will always love tea.
Lip Smacking Sindhi Food
1. Vegetarian Dish-
- Mithi Lolo (flat bread made with jaggery, oil and flour).
- Sai bhaaji (made with palak and channa dal mix dal served with chawal).
- Sindhi kadhi (made with Besan and lots of vegetables, also served with chawal).
- Dal pakwan
- Phoolpatasaaalosbji
- Tayri (meethechawal)
- Seyun (vermicelli)
- Bheealoo (bhee- stem of the lotus flower, made with potota, lots of tomato puree and lots of spices).
- Kachalootuk ( kachaloo – arbi, boil it and deep fried it).
2. Non- vegetarian Dish-
- Sindhi biryani
- Sindhi mutton curry
3. Sweet Dish-
- Gheeyar
- Kutti (crushed wheat rotis with sugar and ghee)
- Khorak (made with flour and crushed cocunut and large number of dry fruits)
- Kharchihalwa (made with corn flour, sugar, ghee and pistachios and cashew nuts)
Biggest Concern Of Sindhis
Young people don’t use the dialect anymore.
Sindhi TV channel not stationed on television.
Indian government not been fair with Sindhi language until 60s not even counted as official language.
At that time 52 prominent Sindhi writers held one alphabet each from Sindhi language protested outside the parliament demanding Sindhi language should be in 8th schedule of the constitution and finally on 10thapril, 1967, Sindhi become the part of official language of Indian constitution.
Sindhi will not find on currency note.
Community is not represented in the republic day parade.
Central govt. wanted them to change their farshoarabic text to devnagri script, but the Sindhi community refused to do so, they took the matter to the court and Mr. Ram Jethmalani fought the case and won.
Recent News On Sindhi Community
56 feet jhulelal statue has been made in Raipur.
It is situated in front of kenal road in new Rajendranagar.
The construction of the statue started in December 2020, and within a year it is going to completed in March 2022.
It will be inaugurated on 2 April 2022 that marks the biggest festival of Sindhis that is chetichand.
It is built by jhulelalsevasmiti.
There is also news that the rest of the land around the statue is used to make 2 storey building.
On the first floor, they will go to teach Sindhi and Sanskrit to the children. On the second floor, they will make a hospital that will be free of cost for all the people.
It is great initiative as children get know about their regional language and the hospital is going to help many needy people.
Sindhi People Are Flourishing
Today, most of prestigious education institution, hospitals, and housing cooperation are owned by Sindhis.
The K Raheja, The Hinduja, The Hiranandani are major names in real estate sector.
Sindhi majoritarian township of Ulhasnagar, is one of Asia’s biggest pre- furniture, clothing and firecracker market.
Sindhis in other parts of world- Electronic business in Honk Kong, clothing in Spain and retail in Middle East and USA.
70 years of independence, from refugees to biggest names in real estate, media and education. They are flourishing day by day with same sprits and never to die attitude.
Top 13 Interseting Facts About Sindhi
The first mention of Sindh was found in Mahabharata where the Aryan King of Sindh Jayadratha fought against Lord Krishna.
There are many sacred symbols in Hindu literature found such as Swastika and Om which is found in the Harappa scriptures.
According to Sindhi population 2021, 50 million Sindhi resides in Sindh, province in Pakistan and 3.8 million Sindhi in India.
India’s first woman chief minister was also Sindhi- Sucheta Kriplani.
The first civil aviation flight that took place not only in India but in South Asia was from Karachi to Bombay.
776,000 Sindhis forced to migrate to India to avoid conversion to Islam.
A shrine of Oderolal, in Sindh Province is jointly used by Hindus Sindhi and Muslim Sindhi.
Pankaj Advani- 23 times world record holder in snooker and billiards is also Sindhi.
Among all the Indian Languages, the Quaran was translated first in Sindhi language.
The first railway train in Sindh was started on 13th may 1861 from Karachi to Kotri.
The Indian parliament house was constructed by a Sindhi building contractor Mr. LachmandasDembala.
Sindhi cultural day, also known as “Aekta Jo Diharro” (the day of unity) celebrated widely on the first Sunday of December.
Cultural heritage of Sindh including sindhitopi and ajrak are internationally recognized.
Neha Lachhwani
Writer
13angle
