Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Beauty Of Sindhi Language

Language mirrors life, culture and day-to-day living of nations. History of language includes history of a nation. We find earlier indications of Sindhi language in Mohan-jo-daro civilization, which was later influenced by Aryan’s Prakrit, Iranian, Greek, Arabic, modern Persian and other languages. Arab travellers, specifically Al-Beruni in his book 'Kitab-ul-Hind', has categorically declared that even before the advent of Islam into Sindh (711 A.D.), Sindhi language was prevalent in Sindh. It was not only widely spoken but written too in different scripts. Al-Beruni has described many Sindhi words leading to the conclusion, that Sindhi language was widely spoken and rich in vocabulary in his times.
Sindh came under British rule in 1843 A.D. and until then Sindhi language did not have a uniform script and was written in different scripts. Hindus used to write in Devnagari, Gurmukhi and Hatkai (devoid of vowels), whereas Muslims took recourse to Persio-Arabic script for writing in Sindhi language. Sir Bartle Frere, the then commissioner of Sindh issued a decree in 1851 A.D., making it compulsory to use Sindhi language in place of Persian in Sindh. The officers of Sindh were ordered to learn Sindhi compulsorily to enable them to carry on day-to-day work efficiently in native language. A committee was constituted under chairmanship of Sir B.H. Ellis, the then Asst. Commissioner & Chief of Education Department, comprising equal number of Hindu as well as Muslim members which unanimously decided to go for Persio-Arabic Sindhi script with slight modifications in 1853 A.D. Britishers not only provided a road map for Sindhi language but they even wrote and published different Sindhi books related to various streams of the literature, which provided necessary impetus to Sindhi writers to move fast on the road of literacy.
India was divided in 1947 on the basis of religion and two separate countries Pakistan and India came into being. Whole province of Sindh was included in Pakistan and within one and half year after independence, some 1.2 million of Sindhi Hindus had to bid farewell to their motherland and chart a new course towards unknown destinations of various cities of India. The resultant scatter caused a heavy blow to Sindhis in the field of language, which was compounded when Indian states were re-organized on the basis of language and Sindhis became landless people in India. Miniscule number of Sindhi speaking people in every state of India made them politically weak and it looked as though local languages of every state will overwhelm Sindhi language everywhere. Sindhi lovers tried hard to save their language from complete demise. They represented to the Govt. of India for some succour, which was provided in the shape of inclusion of Sindhi language into the list of Sahitya Akademi, so that Sindhi too prosper alongside other Indian languages. Sindhi writers were also encouraged with prizes to write in their mother tongue, every year. They continued with their struggle for inclusion of their language into the VIII schedule of Constitution of India. Smt. Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India, granted this constitutional support to Sindhi language, on April 10, 1967.
Even after above stated steps taken by the Govt. of India, the decline of Sindhi language in India continued unabated. The language went into transformation differently in different states. The change in the language was visible in its pronunciations, grammar, construction of a sentence and vocabulary along with meaning of different words. Its Persian sounds were specifically turned upside down, e.g. (kh), (gh), (ph), (za) and (ka) are being pronounced as (kh), (ga), (ph), (ja) and (ka). A majority of new Sindhi generation is unable to say pure Sindhi voices of (ga), (ja), (da) and (ba) and instead use Hindi sounds like (ga), (ja), (da) and (ba). Different words have different connotations in different states or areas, which have gate-crashed into Sindhi language. For example a word ’Mast’ is used for beautiful, charming and attractive in Maharashtrian Sindhi, whereas in other states it still means ’mad’, ’insane’ or a ’dervish’. Gujarati Sindhi says ’Vando Nahe’ implying "Don’t worry", whereas everywhere else it means "No time to spare". Some of Indian Sindhi litterateurs have taken a short cut of using many indigestible and difficult Hindi words in their Sindhi writings, which even Sindhi scholars of Sindh are unable to comprehend. I would give a simple instance of this phenomenon.
Amar Jalil is a well known Sindhi short story writer in Sindh. There is a character named "Sachal" in one of his short story, titled "Sachal Sarmast Trouble Mein". Two detectives of Pakistan’s military establishment took exception to some revolutionary poems of a poet Sachal Sarmast, who used to live in Sindh some 200 years back. Due to little or no knowledge about poet Sachal Sarmast, Punjabi sleuths take present day Sachal as same revolutionary poet. They just pound on him, when he was busy selling pakodas by a roadside, as he was laid off from his service of a teacher. Original Sachal Sarmast is famous for his vast knowledge of different languages and is said to be "Haft-Zuban", means "knower of seven languages". The detectives cross examine present day Sachal and ask him, whether he knew seven languages and whether it includes Hindi too. Sachal replies in affirmative, by saying that he can very well understand Sindhi writings of Guno Samtani, implying that Sindhi of Guno Samtani can easily be counted among Hindi writings. His admission of the fact seals his fate and he is immediately arrested presuming him to be none other than original Sachal Sarmast.
Same is the case with present day Sindh. Whether we go through present day writings of Pakistan’s Sindhi litterateurs, read newspapers or hear Sindhi news on Pakistan’s satellite T.V. channel K.T.N., we are bombarded with heavy duty Arabic and Persian words, which Pakistan’s Sindhi language has adopted, due to overbearing influence of Urdu on Pakistani Sindhi, making it very difficult or at sometimes totally incomprehensible language to Indian Sindhis.
I have tried my best to fill up this gap by regularly inviting Sindhi scholars from Sindh, like Dr. Ghulam Ali Allana, Agha Salim and Dr. Fahmida Hussain in international seminars held by our Department of Sindhi, at University of Mumbai and provided them with an opportunity to present their fresh creations before Indian audience, and a chance to have first hand experience of Indian Sindhi writings. Then too, it will take a lot of time and herculean effort to narrow down this gap, forever. Continuous hostilities and acrimony between neighbouring countries also make our task difficult, if not impossible.
We are witnessing age-old traditions going through a sea-change, in every department and sphere of life. Buildings of centuries’ old values are being pulled down and new palaces built on ruins of those values. New theories and thoughts are propounded, and it looks as if every one is coming out with new hypothesis. A writer has to portray this change in his/her writings. Sindhi literature has been evolving with the passage of time. Sindhi writer has always taken notice of changes coming into force around him and this keen study of the life has been depicted in Sindhi litterateurs’ creations. Therefore, we can safely assume that Sindhi literature has always mirrored present times and that it may be termed as modern literature, too.
All hopes and aspirations related to Independence came crashing down, when we inherited same old, dilapidated and time-expired system of bureaucracy. Sacrifices of millions of innocents could not bring any change in the lives of people of sub-continent. The British rulers used to observe some norms of governance, but our brown sahibs crossed every line of decency. One of our well-known Sindhi writers, Kirat Babani has portrayed this barbaric act in his story "Salim ain Kalim", very aptly. In India, Sindhis were pre-occupied with the problems of bread, butter and shelter in the aftermath of Partition, but in Sindh, unholy alliance of Punjabi-Urdu military and bureaucracy targeted the Sindhi Muslims. Kalim tries to take revenge on a service man for molesting decency of a Sindhi daughter, but misses his target. The whole setup of state machinery is turned against Kalim. He is stripped naked and lashed again and again. These lashes, not only cause agony but even remove skin from the lower back of Kalim. He escapes his unlawful detention and reaches in Czechoslovakia. Kalim’s brother, Salim is also hounded by Pakistani establishment and he too follows suit and reach in Czhechoslovakia. From there both brothers and the wife of Kalim come to Bombay. We Sindhis in India can afford to raise our head and register our protests, but any resistance on the part of Sindhi Muslims in Sindh is met with severe punishment. The agony of Kalim is appropriately defined in following dialogue of Kalim, which he says to his Indian Sindhi host:
"Yesterday, you said: I am a young man. Yes, I am young but my youthfulness is looted. You have not seen my buttocks where I was lashed repeatedly. The area is stripped of pieces of flesh. Baba! Why did you leave Sindh! Why you left us alone?"
Jhamu Chhugani’s story "Hik Biyo Virhango" (One More Partition) is also true to the life, example of Sindhi literature. Confusion, prevalent due to forced migration of Sindhis in the aftermath of Partition and subsequent attack of Muslims on a train, full of Sindhi migrants, results in separation of Hardas, a boy from his father Jamiat Rai. He loses his way and is rescued by a Sindhi Muslim, who adopts him as his son and looks after him along with his three daughters. Hardas is given a new name of Hameed, becomes an engineer and marries a Muslim girl. He still yearns for his parents and when an advertisement informs him that his parents are settled in Bairagarh, Bhopal, he waits for a chance to visit Bhopal. Fortunately he is provided with an Islamic session, held at Bhopal. He comes there and meets his parents. The happiness of his parents, knows no bounds, but when they think about Hameed’s (Hardas) wife and children back in Karachi, they say:
"We won’t want him to abandon his family and skip his primary duty and come to us. We don’t want to see another Partition."
The tragic ramifications of Partition have left indelible scars on the psyche of Hindu Sindhis. They had to live in dilapidated barricks, endure every indignity and sell biscuits, toffees and fruit in local trains to make their both ends meet. Many of our Sindhi writers have tried their best to portray this aspect aptly in their renditions. Krishin Rahi has nicely described the pain of a migrant Sindhi:
Panhja Vari Pasan Lai Tan ja nena sikan, Manhoo hit bi thiyan Par asan ja ke biya hua. (Krishin Rahi) [To see their own -- their eyes wait endlessly, New areas too have people -- but ours were different from them.]
Different streams of Sindhi literature, like novel, short story, essay, play writing and poetry is dominated by longing for the homeland, nostalgia and progressive and socialist thinking, in first two decades after Partition. Progressive thinking, follow up of Marxist philosophy, unequal distribution of wealth by capitalist class, downward economic conditions of working class, social inequality, exploitation of women, injustice meted out to working class and establishment of class-less society by socialists, have invited many a Sindhi writers to take their pen. Gobind Malhi has described the movement for communism and sacrifices thereon, as true life in his novels "Zindagi-a ji Raah Te" and "Jeevan Saathi", while Sundari Uttamchandani has advocated overthrow of age-old traditions and Sindhi girls working side by side with their male counterparts in every walk of life in her novel "Kirandar Deewaroon". Ram Panjwani, Tirath Sabhani and Baldev Gajra have professed Idealism in their various writings. In the field of poetry, Narayan Shyam, Krishin Rahi, Arjun Shad, Prabhu Wafa, Khialdas Fani, Sugan Ahuja, Hari Dilgir and many more have pumped new spirit into the community through their poems. Here is an example from Narayan Shyam.
Jeeara ain Jaganda Keean Murdah Phiran Piya, Duniya ta naah, Sard Chita Bhanije Paee. [(Alive and kicking dead bodies stroll, It looks like a cold pyre not a real world.]
Slowly and gradually, Sindhis in India established themselves, economic travails became a thing of past, resulting with erosion of memories of Sindh. They became contended with their present life and abandoned the very thought of going back to Sindh and adjusted with their new environment. Socialism, as well as Sindhiat was things of the past. These things were put on backburner and replaced by modernism and personality cult.
Sindhi writers worked best in the field of research too. The greatest literary research is credited to Hiro Thakur, who was able to discover 107 poems of Kazi Kadan, a sixteenth century poet from Ranipur (Rajasthan), with the help of Raja Ram Shastri. He published a book "Kazi Kadan Jo Kalam", containing all these 107 poems duly explored by him. Jhamu Chhugani also discovered poetry of Mahamati Pran Nath and published it in two volumes. But real work in the field of research is being done in Sindh itself. There, research work is carried on in various languages, like Urdu, English and Punjabi on Sindhi language, as well as related to Sindh.
Sindh has got land, libraries, Sindhi researchers and Sindhi people. Their environment is conducive to research in every field of Sindhi literature. Institute of Sindhology, Jamshoro, University of Sindh; Sindhi Language Authority; Shah Abdul Latif Bhit Shah Saqafati Markaz; Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai Chair, Karachi University; Sachal Chair, Shah Latif University; Sindhi Adabi Board and many more institutions are working in this field. Sindhi folk literature is also being researched extensively there. Dr. Abdul Majid Memon, Dr. Abdul Karim Sandilo and Dr. Nabi Bux Baloch are noteworthy to be quoted in this context. Dr. Nabi Bux Baloch has come out with forty books on different streams of Sindhi folklore. He has also worked in the field of dictionary too, enhancing the beauty and richness of Sindhi language. He has given us "Sindhi Lughat" in five volumes, spanning up to 3088 pages, enlisting numerous Sindhi words and idioms. This work consumed 38 valuable years of his life and he had to seek assistance of 57 people in this regard.
Along with the research work done in Sindh, they have also produced resistance-literature. Though most of their 56 years of independence, they have remained under military rule, then too, occasionally Sindhi literature has ignited the fire of resistance. 1972 saw linguistic riots, erupting throughout length and breadth of Sindh. The Sindh Assembly passed a resolution, making Sindhi as a state language of Sindh province, which infuriated Non-Sindhi Muslims. Right wing extremists, Jamait-e-Islami blamed it on Sindhi Hindus, who were not even remotely linked to it. The extremist Muslims carried out a morcha, brandishing spears and other arms in Kandhkot city of Upper-Sindh. They forcibly entered homes of Sindhi Hindus, raped their women and massacred many of their male folk. Well-known Sindhi writer, Amar Jalil in his story "Sard Laash jo Safar", highlighted this instance. The above said gory tale is told in such a touchy way, that if its English translation is published, it will be sold in hundreds of thousands and its readers will shed tears of blood after going through it. To add insult to injury, even popular government of Pakistan headed by a Sindhi Muslim; Zulfqar Ali Bhutto banned the sale and publication of that "Suhni" issue, which contained above said story of "Sard Laash jo Safar".
Another Sindhi writer, Agha Salim’s novellete "Oondahi Dharti Roshan Hath" has got a character, named "Sarang", living through different periods of Sindh history. In Mohan-jo-daro period, he is a sculptor. He creates such a beautiful statue of queen Sindhu that the jealous King orders for amputation of Sarang’s hands. Another era is related to British period, when Sarang became friendly with an English officer, Phillip and explains the poetry of Shah Latif to the later. The freedom struggle puts both on different sides of law, because Sarang has now turned into a freedom fighter and leader of "Kafan Posh" outfit. Additional troops are sent from Bombay to crush the uprising of Kafan Posh. Many innocent Sindhis are massacred and their leader "Sarang" is arrested and brought into the court of Phillip. He raises his head and found Sarang opposite him as revolutionary. Both had jointly framed Sindhi script, but presently one was judge and another accused. Phillip had to sign the decree of death unto Sarang.
In another era, Sarang is a Sindhi revolutionary pitted against Punjabi establishment of Pakistan. He is remanded to custody, where he is tortured incessantly. At last, on Pakistan’s Independence Day, he is released from prison. Sarang straightaway heads for his hometown of Shikarpur to see his love Sakina. He had become such a frail person that when Sakina met him, he fell down, vomited blood and passed away. Sakina too collapsed on the dead body of her fiancée, while people outside were celebrating Independence Day. How else can a writer protest against cruelties, and indignities heaped against human values and humanity itself. The struggle continues till today. Presently, Sindhi writers have to wage a war against injustice done to Sindh, in the shape of construction of Kalabagh Dam and Greater Thal Canal on river Indus and denying Sindh its due share of irrigation water, which has literally transformed Sindh into a desert. Even today declaring oneself a Sindhi is regarded as Anti-Pakistan act. Taking pride in one’s Sindhi origin is dubbed as anti-Islam and is punished severely.
We find a great change in music and other streams of fine arts too in present times. These have not only discovered new avenues, but have acquired new façade too. Poetry still retains: Doha, Sortha, Vaaee, Nazm, Geet and Ghazal, but a new form of poetry was added by Sheikh Ayaz, a famous poet of Sindh. It was "Haiko" from Japan, while Prabhu Wafa added "Panjkara" in India. Panjkara is a poem of five lines. This opened up a floodgate of new experiments. Someone brought "Teara" comprising three lines and others introduced one line poem called "Tanha". An example of such a poem is as under:
Randeegar Neta -- Janata jarnu football ah. [(Leader, a player -- Public his football.)]
Though subject-wise present day creations depict today’s life and its problems, e.g. writers equally wrote on 1992-93 Hindu-Muslim riots of Mumbai, alongside 1993 Bomb Blasts of Mumbai, then too it can be justifiably said that Sindhi literature is on a downward slide. Villain of the story may be increasing materialism, aversion towards vernacular languages and diminishing interest in fine arts etc. As compared to other vernacular languages, Sindhi has suffered heavily as its speakers are scattered through out India and the language itself is termed as a landless language. Internationalization, globalization and increasing commercialization has induced diminishing or no interest in Sindhis towards their mother tongue in India. Sindh is an exception in this regard as even in the face of mounting hostilities and pressure from government, Sindhi writers are leaving no stone unturned in Sindh.

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