How Sindhis see themselves. Taken at random from perhaps not the best laid out but earnest Sindhi website.
Sindhis of World
What makes Sindhis distinct?
The people of a race or a community distinguish themselves in comparison with other races or communities because of the characteristics they possess, the characteristics which are exclusive property of that community or race. These characteristics which make Sindhis distinct from others are enumerated below:
Sindhis are successful:
The stories about Sindhis being successful in their life and profession are many. Wherever Sindhis have gone they have shown others how to achieve their goal and prove to be successful in whatever profession they have entered. Though Sindhis were labeled as non-martial race by Britishers, they always fought courageously with numerous invaders and came out successful from all adverse situations. Earlier Sindhis were recognized as successful businessmen only, but Sindhis of today have excelled in all walks of life – industry, medicine, cinema, learning and letters, technology, computers, journalism, finance and banking – in short in every conceivable vocation.
Sindhis are enterprising:
Sindhis have ventured far and wide. Establishing successfully in far off lands is proof enough of their enterprising spirit. The perseverance always enables them achieve their goal. Because of their enterprising nature they are present in every nook and corner of the world as successful businessmen. The younger generation has acquired control over other occupations as well. Besides trade they have excelled in technology, industry, journalism, finance, etc. With their knowledge and intelligence they have established themselves in their new professions successfully. They have even entered the armed forces of the country and have proved that they are warriors as well.
Sindhis are self reliant:
Sindhis do not seek any support from others. They always put in their efforts to achieve their goal. The manner in which Sindhis have established themselves in various walks of life and society irrespective of trying environments after their migration to India in 1947 speaks of this distinct quality of Sindhis. They did not depend upon the begging bowl and instead worked hard and found new moorings.
Sindhis are God fearing:
Sindhis have deep faith in God. Whenever they find themselves in a tight corner and are at a loss to think of a way out of that situation they turn to God and get through all difficult situations. This enabled them to survive in hard and trying situations under various invaders in spite of their persecution. Jhulelal, their God, heard their prayers and relieved them of the persecution by the king of the times. Besides their Ishtdev Jhulelal, Sindhis follow the philosophies of propagating other religions. Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism, Buddhism, Jainism, Christianity all are equally important for them because they believe in “Vasudheva Kautambakam” i.e. entire universe is one family. As such they worship all prophets, Saints, great men. Their worshipping places preserve photographs of all of them.
Sindhis are benevolent:
Sindhis believe in helping others to the best of their capability. They look after the necessities of the society and contribute towards the social causes. We find that Sindhis have opened a number of schools and colleges, hospitals, homes for widows, orphanages and many such institutions wherever they have established themselves. Sindhi businessmen always take out some portion of their earnings for using it for charitable purposes. The Palau Sindhis recite at the end of their social and religious functions where they specifically ask for good of all the neighbors and all the people residing in even far off lands.
Sindhis are cosmopolitans:
Sindhis go to many far off places for the purpose of their business. Being expert businessmen, they very well know that their customers are very important for them. As such they adapt the ways of life and society of their customers. This enables them to gain confidence of new society and become a part of that society. They borrow new ways of life – food, clothes, manners, philosophy – from other cultures and in the course of time these ways of life become inseparable part of Sindhi culture.
Sindhis do not have any caste system:
All Hindu communities in the country follow the varnashram system of Aryans and have divided the society in four castes – Kshatryas, Brahmins, Vaishyas and Shudras. Sindhis do not have such division in their society. They never followed a rigid caste system. That is why Sindhis are considered to be only businessmen. All members of the society inter-mingle with one another without any consideration of four castes of Aryans. There are no untouchables in Sindhis.
Sindhis are hospitable:
Sindhis consider a guest a God incarnation and try their best to greet the guest with open arms and make him/her comfortable during his/her stay with them. Even the poorest amongst Sindhis will always greet the guest with something to eat. The least they offer is a ‘papad’, which has now become a universal food item.
Sindhis are very simple:
Sindhis are simple in their dress and habits. ‘Muan-jo-Daro’ excavations have established this fact. They are simple to the extent of being gullible. However, some of Sindhis have now joined the main stream of society where show off has become a part of their lives.
Sindhis are not united:
Sindhis have ample intelligence i.e. ‘BUDDHI’, but they do not have unity i.e. ‘BADHI’. Due to this Sindhis have not only lost their motherland, they have not been able to acquire any position in governance of the country. If one acquires a position of importance, others will try to bring him down and will feel pleased with their doing. Due to this Sindhis are only for playing second fiddle in many walks of life.
Sindhi Panchayats
Historically the institution of Panchayat (Painchat in Sindhi) dates back to the period of Aryans. The village administration of Aryans was run by a group of elders, similar to a Panchayat. The senior most person of a group of families was the head of the Panchayat and the heads of various branches of the families were the members of the Panchayat. They looked after administration, cultural and social development of the inhabitants of the village. These villages were self sufficient in all respects.
In rural Sindh this practice of having a Panchayat was continued. Each village had its own Panchayat. In urban Sindh, besides a regular Panchayat various trades people and different sections of the society formed their respective Panchayats or Associations e.g. Bhaiband Panchayat, Amil Panchayat, Sonara Association, Bajaji Association, etc. Many of such associations sometimes overlapped the areas of work and often had common members.
This was the only cultural structure that Sindhis kept intact when they settled down in different parts of India after their migration in1947. In Sindh also whenever rural groups shifted to urban areas, peoples with distinct shades of their rural origin kept themselves together by forming their Panchayats as separate from other such groups. After 1947, in India too, Sindhis migrating from a particular area or belonging to a particular sect or group settled down together at one place and tried to stick together by establishing separate Panchayats. But the question of livelihood forced some of them to shift from one place to another and thus they had to adapt to the ways of the groups of that place. In this way the society which was earlier divided in various sects came together and the prejudices of the sects were either minimised or wiped off totally.
In India the associations are named as Panchyats and Societies. Various colonies in a city, where Sindhis are in good number have their Panchayats and Societies. In some cities, societies of various colonies have joined together in a mega Panchayat or Society representing the entire city. In the same manner there are societies on an All India basis, which try to bind Sindhis culturally nation-wide. All these associations called by whatever name viz. Panchayat, Society, and Council, etc. try at their level for the advancement of Sindhi literature, Sindhi Culture, and Sindhi Social structure.
An effort is being made to collect particulars of a large number of such institutions in India and overseas. Sindhi world expects YOU to forward information regarding such associations so that these are listed here to enable Sindhis to contact one another.
Sindhi Dharamshalas
It is very difficult and trying to adjust oneself in an unknown place. One has to face innumerable obstacles to get even the bare necessities of life in an unknown place.
And who can know it better than a Sindhi?
Sindhis have been traveling far and wide for their trade and business. They very often go to places they have never seen or heard of before. But once they reach such difficult places they adapt themselves to their environment thoroughly. And then they forewarn others who follow them to these places. Not only that, they also try to make others comfortable there. For this purpose Sindhis establish a Dharamshala, wherever they are settled. They have also established Dharamshalas in far off places of pilgrimage, hill stations and many other places worth visiting.
In these Dharamshalas the people get all facilities at little or no cost. These Dharamshalas in various towns and cities enable tradesmen and businessmen to stay there during their business trips. Dharamshalas in holy places and in places of pilgrimage are meant for the pilgrims to stay there during pilgrimage. During migration of Sindhi Hindus in 1947, these Dharamshalas provided a good shelter to Sindhi refugees till they could settle down in new environments.
Sindhis residing in foreign countries too might have established such places where their brethren could take refuge in initial days of their stay. Information about them will be welcome.
Mr. Vensi N. Motiramani of Mumbai, India has compiled a list of about 600-700 such Dharamshalas situated in various places of India. A click of the mouse for murlidb@hotmail.com can bring detailed information about Dharamshalas in various places.
Religious Sindhis
Sindhis being Sufis by nature do not adopt strictly the ritualistic religion. Nevertheless they are religious because they follow all religions and Sects. Sindhis keep idols of various Gods and Goddesses in their temple. Photographs of various Gods, Goddesses, Gurus, Pirs, Godman and prominent personalities of various religions and cults hang from its walls. Even Guru Granth Sahib, has a sacred place in a Sindhi Mandir.
Sindhis of Indus Valley were Shaivas (followers of Shiva and Ganesh) and Shaktas (followers of Shakti – mother Goddess or Devi). With the advent of Aryans in Sindh, Sindhis started following Trimurti of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh. The spread of Buddhism and Jainism in lower Sindh enabled Arabs to conquer Sindh because the Satraps of lower Sindh did not fight them. With Arabs came Sufis and Sindhis adopted Sufism being nearer to Advaitvad. In course of time it became inseparable part of Sindhi character.
With migration of Sikhs to Sindh because of their persecution by Muslim rulers of Punjab Sindhis adopted Sikhism. Especially Sindhi ladies learnt Punjabi script to enable them to read Guru Granth Sahib. Many of Amils, a sect of Sindhis, adopted Sikhism.
With British rule, Christianity found favour with Sindhis and many of them embraced Christianity. During British rule many social and cultural movements affected Sindhis who became Aryasamajis, Brahmosamajis, Radhaswamis, Radhasoamis, Nirankaris, etc. After coming to India Sindhis have become followers of Nuri Granth of Dada Vaswani, Nij Thanw of Sant Lachmandas, Brahma Kumaris (earlier known as Om Mandli) of Dada Lekhraj, Balaji Tirupati, Sai Baba of Shridi, Sathya Sai Baba of Puttapurthi, Acharya Rajneesh, etc.
Sindhis believe that God is one but He is manifested in various Gods, Goddesses and God men. As such Sindhis worship one and all. In fact Sindhis, not following any highly ritualistic worship, are adaptable to the neighbourer’s faith. As such Sindhis in Maharashtra worship Ganesh, those in Bengal worship Durga and in south they celebrate Pongal.
Uderolal (commonly known as Jhulelal) is Ishtadeva of Sindhis. His birthday is celebrated with great enthusiasm as Cheti Chand. Sindhis travelled by water to far off lands for their commerce. Hence they worshipped Water God and many of them were called Daryapanthis. Uderolal, who is incarnation of Water God once, saved them from persecution from Muslim king Mirkhshah, who ordered Hindus of Thatto to adopt Islam.
Hindus worshipped the Water God, who responded to their prayers for relieving them of the persecution by Mirkhshah and appeared as Uderolal. When he defeated Mirkhshah and impressed him with his powers, the latter became his follower along with many Muslims. Sindhi Muslims call him Zindapir.
In this manner Sindhis are true followers of Vasudhaiva Kutambakam.