A bird’s eye view- Sindhi Prose

Speaking about Contemporary Sindhi prose in context of literature it may be taken to be prose written in Sindhi Language after migration of Sindhi Community in India in the wake of the partition of the country in 1947.  While presenting a bird’s eye view it is inevitable that many details may be missed and obscured for that I offer my apologies to all those writers whose important works do not find mention in the presentation. In the context of the migration of Sindhi community in India it is necessary to bear certain facts about the composition of the community. It is only a band of Hindu population that mainly consisted of trading community and professional middle class with a sprinkling of land owning gentry that migrated to India. The big landlords, peasants and workers and artisans mainly stayed back and in this way the Sindhi community in India is not complete society as is the case of other Languages in India. This fact along with it being scattered in many states and being linguistic minority in all states impose obvious limitations. In spite of all the limitation that the community faces it can boast of vibrant literature at par with other Indian Languages. All the literary trends that are present in the languages of other literature of India are reflected in Sindhi Literature also.

After the partition of the country the life of Sindhi people was woeful in refugee camps. There was utter sense of despondency and despair. At that time the progressive trend of literature was predominant. It promised a revolution with which all disparities and miseries would vanish as if with a magic wand. This literature struck a chord with the readers at that time as literature was considered as a means to convey the message of hope for better future.

Prominent writers of this trend were Gobind Malhi, AJ Uttam amd Kirat Babani. They were joined by senior writers of the community for the struggle for survival. Gobinf Malhi gave Sindhi literature more than 2 Dozen Novels, 40 one Act Plays and many significant short stories. At that time Anand Golani also contributed significant chunk to the early corpus of Sindhi Short Stories. A J Uttam apart from an ideologue- literary critic and creative writer  of the movement contributed in significant manner as an Editor of Naeen Duniya literary magazine that has a distinction of giving many writers to Sindhi Literature. Many writers such as Gobind Punjabi, Moti Prakash apart from being a good poet contributed stories and a Novel .Before partition of the country we come across one woman writer Guli Sadarangani after partition of the country number important female writers increased to include Tara Mirchandani, Sundri Uttamchandani, Kala Prakash, Poati Hirandani as significant early writers. It is not possible to write about all writers writing at that time.

After life started moving on even keel the progressive writing that portrayed characters as a part of Social milieu and an oppressive social order was sought to be    portrayed as an individual and Man-Woman relationship with inner working of mind and heart came to be portrayed. In This respect Mohan Kalpana, Lal Pushp and Guno samtani led the way. Incidentally all of them had started writing as Progressive writers.

This was soon followed by ‘New Wave’ literature that was sweeping other literatures at that time. Sindhi Literature did not remain immune to this trend. This was much pronounced in poetry though this is reflected in prose also. By seventh decade the process of urbanization in India was evident. The migrants from villages felt alienated from their roots and tradition and were passing through a painful phase. This sense of   alienation and being lost in torrent was articulated in all Indian Languages and the literary theories that dominated in war time in Europe found ready acceptance in Indian Languages. When one is gripped in the sense of falling into an abyss at that time all the formats of literary genres are shattered and expression is convoluted. This trend did not last for a long time but when it ebbed it left many a priceless literary pearls on the shore.    Important writers of Sindhi Language that significantly contributed were Hiro Shewkani, mostly as literary critic, Shyam jaisinghani, Lal Pushp, Vishnu Bhatia, Namdev Tarchandani ,  Prem  Prakash mostly in field of drama, and many others at various cities. Many literary periodicals also came up in this period.

There have been discussions and debates about Jaque Derida’s theory of deconstruction and reconstruction. Param Abhichandani and Anand Khemani have tied to contribute literature along those lines. Their credo is ‘Naked Truth’ and its portrayal through characters in their writings.

One significant fact that sets Sindhi society as distinct from other societies of India is that whereas other Indian societies are based on the caste system the Sindhi society is conspicuous by its absence. Other Languages have a strong presence of Dalit literature as a trend we do not have any Dalit literature in Sindhi Language. Instead we have strong presence of Literature of Sindhi Nostalgia.This trend was entwined with movement to retain the distinct linguistic and cultural identity of Sindhi Community in India popularly known as “SINDHYAT MOVEMENT” which had the issue of inclusion of Sindhi Language in the Indian constitution which could be achieved after the struggle of two decades.

At the time of migration to India many writers had spent their youth in Sind. Therefore the depiction of composite Sindhi society while in Sind and the harmonious living with Muslim neighbors and friends were also depicted. They had loving memories  of the times spent together tinged with a sense of loss. Mnay who left were made to believe that they would soon return back to their homes and hearths of their ancestors. This gave rise to literature of nostalgia. This trend continues to cut across all other literary trends and Generations. 

In this respect two short stories of Narayan Bharti ‘Claim’ and ‘ Dastawaz’ are important. In Dastawez the main character reminisces about his peasant Muslim friend who had mortgaged his land to him against loan. Tears induced by his fond fellowship with him  fall on the document and document is destroyed. Popati Hiranandani’s Story ‘ Muhiji Nani’ ( My maternal Grandmother) is another piece of nostalgic literature about bygone times. Sundri Uttamchandani’s Story ‘BHOOTI’ ( A porcelain Doll ) describes youthful beautiful girl of Hyderabad Sind reduced to poverty to sell Papads at various households. Though she has lost her physical beauty but is now endowed with beauty of self confidence born out of dignity of labour. Kala Prakash’s  Khanwan speaks about life in native village Khanwan and a small child is looking forward to see that same life in India as he does not grasp the reality of the partition. KIrat Babani’s ‘Toon Pucheen tho maan Cho Udhas aahiyaan?’ ( You ask me why I am sad) is evocative story. Whereas Loknath Jetly’s entire collection of Short Stories ‘ Visara na Visran’ ( Though I like to forget but cannot) is about characters set in rural Sindhi life. Whereas the Story ‘ Ghanti’  ( A bell) by Harish Vaswani dwells on the precarious condition of Sindhi Language in the wake of globalization when most of aspiring class is abandoning its language and in case of Sindhi language the situation has become very serious.     

Gobind Malhi’s Novel ‘ Pakhiara Valran Khan Vichrya’ ( Birds separated from the flock)  occupies an iconic place in Sindhi Literature. It is set in rural Sind before partition of the country. Its protagonist refuses to leave his mother land while all others are leaving for safety. It shows un flinching commitment to soil of the birth.

In Contrast the Novel of Krishin Khatwani ‘ Tarander Badala’ ( Floating Clouds ) written nearly six decades after the Novel of Gobind Malhi depicts the character HEM as one with exceptional intellectual capabilities who comes to India but in the end he realizes that it is not Sind that needs me but I need the Sind ands embarks on a journey to Sind through desert. Mohan Kalpana and Hari Motwani has also written powerfully nostalgic novels on background of  Sind.

Travelogues of Moti Paraksh and Kala Prakash and Dodeja also strongly evoke the nostalgic feeling.

Many important writers have written their autobiographies who grew in Sind at the bloom of their youth and continued to write in India also. Notable autobiographies are those of Hari ‘Dilgir’,Kirat Babani , Mohan Kalpana, Lachamn Bhatia ‘ Komal’ and Popati Hiranadani. Whereas the autobiographies of Mohan Kalpana and Lachaman Bhatia ‘ Komal’ have been published in Sind and proved to be immensely popular it is autobiography of Poapti Hiranadani that poignantly pens the departure from Sind. It is so compelling that I cannot resist but quote a few sentences from that book:

‘’ That night we visited every room of our house and carry with us in our minds, not only rooms we touched every piece in the room with longing tinged with despair. We said good bye not only to our rooms but standing in the courtyard we wanted to carry that patch of sky also in our heart and bid it good bye. We looked at the familiar streets with a twitch in our hearts. We did not miss say good bye to even a white dog pup of our lane. A gust of wind that was blowing from nearby hillock was also not overlooked nor the tank of water for horses to drink water from. We remembered even a nest built by birds outside our house. 17^th September happened to be my birth day but it proved to be a day of death of one phase of my life. We left home at 2-30 am at pitch dark. I with my mother and sister along with my three brothers constantly looked back with apprehension if at all we would be able to see all those sights again!

Heart was weeping. Windows of lorry were shut and moved and speedily moved on. We were leaving our own land as thieves.”

(Paper presented on 1^st March 2023 at International Book Fair at New Delhi under the auspices of National Council for promotion of Sindhi Language.)