Joint Report/Article No. 1: (Mar-Apr 1997)

Published in

1. “Samvad Sindhi (Delhi)”, January 1-15 1998

2. “Sindhi International” monthly (Date unspecified by publisher)

Sindhis in Bihar and Few Other Places

Bombay-based Mohan G. Rohira and Bhagwandas S. Budhrani visited the following places to meet with Sindhis and to get their first picture. There are only hundreds to thousands of Sindhis settled in Bihar which is comparatively backward to other states. This could be the major reason for the thin population of Sindhis in Bihar

1. GAYA (Bihar) (March 1997):

There are at present 35 families of Sindhis. Originally, there were 70 families. However as there are no income revenues, Sindhis have shifted to other cities. Business in ,Gaya is dull. Sindhis are living from hand to mouth. There is terror at night time, hence all activities are mostly done during day time in Bihar, particularly in Gaya.

On our request, a meeting of prominent Sindhis was arranged by Shri Arjandas Ajwani (a dedicated worker). About 20 persons participated for about 2 hours. They showed much love and affection. They reported that at present there is no Sindhi Dharmsala, no temple, no Sindhi school etc. However they meet together on marriage and death occasions and maintain some material for that purpose. The son of the President Shyamlal Khushlani showed interest for the progress of Sindhi community.

They requested us for help in building Sindhi dharmsalas etc. We told them that first they should collect at least 50% from their sources and then we shall try to help them by approaching prominent Sindhis in Mumbai etc. and also gave them the example of other cities. They are very anxious to see and view Sindhi cultural programmes on AIR and TV. At the end, a dinner was hosted by Shri Arjandas Ajwani. Another person who showed interest for Sindhis progress was Seth Choithram Raitani. They all speak Sindhi partly at home. Shri Dwarko Sundrani, freedom fighter and ex. M.P., stays at Bodh Gaya but we learnt about it very late and could not meet him.

2. PATNA (Bihar) (March 1997):

A small meeting was arranged at the residence of Shri Hundaram, the President of Bihar Sindhi Association at Sindhi Colony, Boring Canal (East), near Govt. Girls High School. We gathered that Sindhis here are financially better. There is Sindhi Panchayat, Sindhi Temple, Sindhi Dharmsala but no Sindhi school. They speak Sindhi partly at home.

Another prominent and main person who met us and managed meeting was Shri Khialal Bhavnani. He is a great engineer and builder. He is founder president of Bihar Sindhi Association. He has given us a very useful directory of Bihar Sindhi Association which shows the list of names and addresses of Sindhis in all of Bihar including Arrah, Bhagalpur, Darbhanga / Dhanbad, Gaya, Jamshedpur, Katihar, Muzaffarpur, Patna, Pakur etc.

3. VARANASI (U.P.) (April 1997):

A meeting was arranged by Shri Sitaldas Manglani at our request with short notice, at Sindhi Kshretra & Dharmsala. Prominent Sindhis were present including main Sindhi social workers such as Vishnu Kumar Rupani (Mahamantri U.P. Sindhi Sabha), Brahrnanand Peswani and Rarnesh Lalwani, mohanlal Gidwani, T.R. Lakhurani, advocate, Mohanlal Khattar.

Note: Sindhi Ramayan of Dhanibai Fakir of Etah was kept in Tulsi Manas Mandir in Varanasi. 2 Mandirs, 2 annual melas (Jhulelal's on Chetichand day and Sri Krishna Janmasthami). Sindhi is partly spoken at home which is also mixed with Hindi. Sindhi population is about 12,000. Sindhis are economically 60% ok. There is no Sindhi school. Sindhi Samiti is Regd, and very active in Varanasi.

Dr. Narayan Samtani stays at Sarnath but we could not meet him for want of proper address and time. There is famous Sindhi Dharmsala named Karamal Sabidevi Raghumal at Varanasi (U.P).

There is also Prem Prakash Ashram (of Swami Teunramji), and Jhulelal Mandir; opp: Korean Hospital, Varanasi.

4. KATHMANDU (Nepal) (April 1997):

Here, there are 3-4 Sindhis only. We could meet one Shri and Smt. Gulab Harjani, having laundry and jewellery business at ‘My Shop’. He is about 80 years. They speak Sindhi with their children and have a good temple and business.

5. GORAKHPUR (U.P.) (April 1997):

A small meeting of about 10-12 Sindhis was arranged by Shri Shamandas Balani.

Jhulelal's statue is kept in Smriti Mandir, just behind Gorakhnath Mandir in Gorakpur.

The meeting took place at Jhulelal Mandir. There are 13 panchayats, including one Central Panchayat, 2 Sindhi Dharamsalas, 1 temple, 3 melas (annual). There are 1100 Sindhis here. Their business is comparatively O.K. There are no Sindhis schools.

Balani was very upset that there is no leader in the Sindhi community. Mukhi Odhandas Bagwani and Jiwat Madhwani were other prominent persons. Shri Jiwat Madhwani is a press reporter. Others present in the meeting were Mukhi Shamandas Raheja, Madanlal Savlani, Durgadas Lakhmani, Pohumal Jumnani and Awatram Raheja etc.

6. LUCKNOW (U.P.) (April 1997):

We stayed here one night only therefore we could not meet many persons. We attended executive committee meeting of U.P. Sindhi Sabha at Lucknow for a whole day where prominent persons had come to Sindhu Bhavan, Lucknow from all over U.P. state and exchanged information and views. Some had come from Varanasi. This committee is active for the upliftment of our community. We also visited famous Sindhi Ashrams such as Premprakash Ashram at Gola Ganj, Bornd Khana, Shiv Shanti Ashram of Saint Asudaram, Sant Kanwaram Darbar, Ram Gali, Allam Baug, Bhai Gopaldas Mandir and Dharamsala (also nearby), Hari Om Mandir (Near Jai Bharat Cinema, Lal Baug, Quantan Road) and others.

The population of Sindhis is about 40,000. Business is O.K. There are 33 Panchayats, including one Central Panchayat. There are 3 Devnagiri schools. The committee of the U.P. Sindhi Sabha is trying their best to press the govt. for establishing a UP Sindhi Academy. The exponent of this move is mainly a leading industrialist Shri Murlidhar Ahuja of Manoranjan Sweet House, Char Baug, Lucknow. He is also President of the U.P. Sindhi Sabha. (This academy has since been established). The total population of the city is 30 lakhs.

Joint Report/Article No. 2: (Jul-Aug 1998)

Published in

1. “Sindhi International” monthly, January 1999

Tour report on Sindhis of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra

by : Mohan G. Rohira and Bhagwan S. Budhrani

We had gone on tour of the above states in the months of July - August 1998. Meetings were held for 2 to 3 hours in each city where various matters were discussed regarding unity and improvement in the Sindhi Community, suggestions and informations were collected. There was good enthusiasm, a great deal of love and affection and good hospitality was extended to us every where. Mostly we stayed in Railway Retiring rooms, hotels or Sindhi Dharamshalas/Temples. On the whole, the trend was to have one co-ordinating body of Sindhis in the country and to preserve our culture, language and sanskriti as well as to get our rights from Government.

The city-wise report is as under:

1. AHMEDABAD (KARNAVATI) (Guj.) (Jul-Aug 1998):

On our request, a meeting of B.S.S. (Bharatiya Sindhi Sabha) workers was held at Sindhu Bhavan, Kuber Nagar, G-Ward on 12-7-98 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. wherein 7 persons were present. There are 21 primary Sindhi Medium Schools. 6 Sindhi Medium High Schools and one English School with Sindhi subject. The total number of members is 350. The B.S.S. supplies free note books to needy students and gives medical help to needy persons. However on the whole, the work of B.S.S. needs further improvement.

2. BEAWAR (Raj.) (Jul-Aug 1998):

No meeting could be arranged here for want of time. However, information was collected in the presence of Shri Arjandas Babani, a worker of B.S.S at his shop (Madras Emporium) in our presence and also in the presence of Shri Shewaram Sathi. The latter took us to some Sindhi social workers and some important religious and social places such as Prem Prakash Ashram, Brahmanand Kshetra Camp. Sindhi Colony, Shastri Nagar. He showed good hospitality by receiving us at the railway station, serving food at his residence and arranging our one day stay at Sindhu Bhavan (Lal Sahib Mandir Trust with Jhulelal Temple). He is disgusted with the performance of Sindhi Community in general. The information collected by us is as under :-

There are four Dharamshalas (one for staying and three for marriages) and one Central Sindhi Panchayat whose President is Shri Shewaram Sathi and Secretary Shri Radhakrishin Khubchandani. Out of a total population of 1½ lacs, there are 1200 Sindhi families. They mainly speak in Sindhi. There is only one Sindhi middle school with Sindhi (Arabic) medium wherein about 200 students attend. They celebrate important days such as Chetichand, Asu Chand (with procession), Sant Kanwar Ram's birthday etc. They meet one another on social occassions such as marriages and deaths.

3. AJMER (Raj.) (Jul-Aug 1998):

On our request an urgent meeting of B.S.S. workers was arranged by Shri Navalrai Bachani at short notice of one hour at our temporary residence in Sant Kanwarram Dharamshala on 15/07/1998 from 8.30 p.m. to 10 p.m. wherein 6 persons were present. Shri Navalrai Sachani complained that no Sindhi costumes are used in 55 Jhankies on the occasion of Chetichand. He was advised to create a lobby to this effect in the initial meetings of the co-ordinating body committee arranging such melas. He pressed for encouraging Sindhi culture, sanskriti, language and helping others. We were told that there are 34 Dharamshalas but a staying arrangement is available only in 5 Dharamshalas (the main Dharamshala being Sant Kanwarram Dharamshala, where we stayed) and others are meant for marriage purpose only. There are so many Panchayats with no central Panchayat. There are many Sindhi temples. The total population of city is about 5 lacs, 1/4^th being that of Sindhis. They speak mostly in Sindhi. There are about 16 primary and secondary schools managed by Sindhis and having only one Sindhi Subject in either of the scripts. There is also one Sindhi school with Sindhi (Arabic) medium and that is Sant Kanwarram High School. They celebrate chetichand with 55 Jhankies but without Sindhi dresses as mentioned above. There are 10 to 15 annual magazines, Hindu Bhoomi weekly news paper and Hindu and Bharat Bhoomi as daily news papers published from Ajmer. They listen to Akashwani for Sindhi programmes on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. The worth seeing tourist places are Pushkar, Daulat Park, Anna Sahib Lake, Sonijika Nasiyan, Taragardh Fort, 2½ Din ka Jhopra, Museum and Dargah. Two recently important additions are Prithviraj Chauhan Smarak and Raja Dahersen Smarak. This smarak is built on the way to Pushkar by Ajmer Municipal Corporation on sufficiently large land. It shows the history of Sindh when Mohammed Bin Kasim attacked Sindh in 712 AD and how Raja Dahersen and his two daughters fought the battle bravely and became shahid. Really we were greatly inspired by seeing this famous movement and no one who goes to Ajmer can afford to miss it.

4. JAIPUR (Raj.) (Jul-Aug 1998):

On our request a meeting of B.S.S. workers was arranged by B.S.S. Jaipur on 17/07/1998 from 7 p.m. to 9.30 p.m. at 9-10, Bappu Bazar. Jaipur i.e. at the shop premises of Shri Loungmal Khatri, its President. 15 persons were present. Moreover, some young Sindhi workers of B.S.S. were also present. Shri Gobindram Hukmani, State President could not attend meeting as he was sick. The information collected is as under :-

There are 14 Sindhi Dharamshalas which are meant only for marriage purposes However there is only one Sindhi Dharamshala with staying arrangment and that is Prem Prakash Dharamshala at M. I. Road. Amrapur (next to Prem Prakash Amrapur Ashram where we stayed). There are 52 Sindhi Panchayats with one Central Panchayat, & so many Sindhi temples. The population of Jaipur, which is capital of Rajasthan state, is 22 lacs including 4 lacs Sindhis. 90% speak in Sindhi. Those who don't speak Sindhi are mostly educated persons in Government and Private Services. There are 10 Schools managed by Sindhis where they have Sindhi as one of the subjects with Devnagari script. They celebrate two annual melas (i.e. Asu Chand and Chetichand), processions are taken out on such occasions with Sindhi and non-Sindhi costumes. Two Devnagari Sindhi weekly news papers are published from here, one of them being ‘Muhinjo Vatan’. They get Sindhi Programmes on T.V. once in a month and three programmes on Akashwani in a week. B.S.S. meetings take place every month. The Rajasthan Sindhi Academy is located in Jaipur. It is doing sufficient work for the progress of Sindhi Culture, language and Sanskriti under the able guidance of Shri Bhagwan Atlani, Chairman and Shri Atmaram Manglani, Secretary. There are so many important tourist places in this Pink city of India which is the capital of Rajasthan. These can be visited in Government and Private Luxury buses. For example, Hawa Mahal, City Palace, Ram Mandir, Govind Mandir, Raj Mandir Theatre, Observatory, Central Musieum, Ram Nivas Gardens, Zoo, Sisodia Rani Palace and gardens, Amber, Gaitor, Galta, Birla Auditorium etc.

4. ALWAR (Raj.) (Jul-Aug 1998):

On our request a meeting of Puj Sindhi Panchayat Alwar was arranged by Shri Lokram Thadani at Puj Sindhi Panchayat Dharamshala, Daudpur, Adarsh Colony on 19-7-98 from 6 p.m. to 9.15 p.m. wherein 18 persons were present. B.S.S. meeting could not take place as we came to know their names at the last moment when leaving Alwar. The report is as under:-

There is one Dharamshala for staying with temple at Daudpur and one Dharamshala for marriage purposes. There is only one Panchayat as stated above. They meet once a month. The population of the city is 5 lacs and Sindhis are only 300 families. 70% speak in Sindhi. They are in business and are middle class people. There is no Sindhi School. They celebrate Chetichand, Mahashivratri and Birthdays of Sant Kanwarram, Ailal & Hathiram Sahib. They take out one procession every year. They suggested that mutton and alcohol should be avoided in marriages, Sindhi circulars should be in Devnagri script, more Sindhi T.V. and Radio programmes should be arranged by authorities. At present they get only T.V. programmes once in a month and Radio programmes thrice a week from Jaipur-Ajmer Akashwani as well as All India Radio 6 to 7.30 p.m. daily. They complained that Shri L.K. Advani, present Home Minister could not accept their invitation though he had visited Alwar some time back. They want to start another Dharamshala also in city area, as present Dharamshala is a little away from city. They were advised to start from their own contribution first and then approach other Sindhis in big cities. Shri Lokram Thadani arranged for our food the whole day at his residence. We stayed in a railway retiring room.

5. HARIDWAR (U.P.) (Jul-Aug 1998):

As Shri Bhagwan S. Budharani had to go back to his home (Pune) urgently from Alwar, I (Mohan G. Rohira) was alone at Haridwar, Vrindavan and Mathura. He joined me again at Katni.

On my request a meeting of Sindhi Yuva Samaj, Haridwar was arranged by Shri Rana Punjwani in his Hotel, Mid Town on 24/07/1998 from 9:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. where 7 persons of young age were present (as business season was going on). The report is as under:-

There are about 28 Sindhi Dharamshalas with staying facilities and 3 Dharamshalas even have Air conditioned arrangement. The President of Sindhi Yuva Samaj is Shri Ashok Keshwani and Shri Yash Nankani is Secretary. There is also one Sindhi Samaj whose President is Shri Ram Panjwani and Secretary is Shri Ashok Keshwani. There are so many temples such as at Sindhu Bhavan, 'Pyaoo' at post office, at Godriwala Dharamshala etc. The population is 3 lacs and Sindhis are only 98 families. Most of them speak in Hindi. They celebrate Chetichand with Jhankis procession and have cultural programme in Hindi and preeti bhojan.

Shri Ashok Keshwani of Sindhi Yuva Samaj also complained in the meeting that Shri L.K. Advani, Home Minister, gave them only two minutes in Delhi and did not meet them in Haridwar, though he had come to Haridwar. They also wanted Sindhi programmes on T.V. and Radio. The Sindhis are well off in Haridwar. Even big hotels are owned by Sindhis.

The Sindhis in general at Haridwar are busy in business particularly in summer season and when there are melas. Hence they don't get time for social work on regular basis. They were advised to pay more attention for Sindhi Samaj and to call for Sindhi literature and news papers. There are so many religious ancient temples worth seeing and river Gangaji.

7. VRINDAVAN (U.P.) (Jul-Aug 1998):

Here no meeting could take place as there are only 10 Sindhi families who were busy in Raslila season. The population of city is 1 lac. However some information was collected from them. They mostly speak in Sindhi. In my 1996 report I have mentioned 20 families but 10 families have left the city as business avenues are very poor here. Out of 10 families, 8 are very poor. There is no Sindhi activity at present. There are 2 Sindhi Dharamshalas, one of them being Sukkur Panchayat Dharamshala with Jhulelal’s Murti.

There are so many ancient and modern famous temples such as Banke Bihari, Rangji ISKCON etc. and Jamna river in the city.

8. MATHURA (U.P.) (Jul-Aug 1998):

I was in Mathura for about 6 hours, hence no meeting could be arranged. However the information gathered is as under:-

There is one Sindhi General Panchayat with Shri Kimatrai as its president, whom I met. There is one Ladai Lohana Panchayat whose President is Dr. Devidas Lalwani whom also I could meet. There is also one Sindhi Bhatia Panchayat whose President is Shri Santaram Bhatia. Jury with help of Sindhi General Panchayat settles all individual disputes. There are 250 Sindhi Families in a population of 3 lacs, They mainly speak in Sindhi. They are middle class business people. They take out procession with Jhankis on the occasions of Chetichand, Swami Lilashah's birthday and Holi. They meet on Holi and take preeti bhojan on Chetichand day. They arrange Samuhik (joint) marriages in the name of Swami Lilashah. There are ancient important places worth seeing such as Shri Krishna Jamnabhoomi, Dwarkadeesh Temple, Kans Qila, Jamna river etc.

9. KATNI (M.P.) (Jul-Aug 1998):

Here Shri Bhagwan S. Budhrani also joined me again as stated above. On our request, a meeting of Puj Sindhi Central Panchayat was arranged by Shri Jairam Gandhi, at President Shri Ramchand Jadvani's residence on 31-7-98 from 9 p.m. to 11.30 p.m. wherein 18 persons were present. The information gathered is as under :-

There are 9 Panchayats such as Sindhu Sewa Samiti, Bharatiya Sindhu Samaj Nyaya Samiti Mandal, Vyapari Ekta Sangh, M.P. Navjavan Sindhi Central Panchayat, Baba Madhav Shah Sewa Mandal, Madhav Nagar, Sanatan Punjabi Mandal, Madhav Nagar, B.S.S., M.P. Sindhu Samaj Nyaya Samiti. There is one Central Panchayat. We could not arrange meetings of B.S.S. for lack of information in time. There are 3 Dharamshalas in the city and 9 in Katni Camp (now Madhav Naga,r which is about 5 kms away). All are for marriage purposes only. There are 3 gent and 3 lady Sindhi Parshads (Municipal Councillors) in the city. Sindhu Sewa Samiti supplies free ration to needy persons. Out of 3 lacs population, 40.000 are Sindhis (10,000 in city and 30,000 in Madhav Nagar). They are well.off in business. 95% speak in Sindhi. There are 4 Schools with Sindhi (Arabic) subject, and one high School at Madhav Nagar with Sindhi (Arabic) medium. Chetichand is a holiday and a procession is taken out, Guru Nanik Jayanti and Sai Madhav Sahib's Varsi are also celebrated. They suggested that a N.P. (newspaper) on national level should be started and federal body of Sindhis should be formed & there should be only one script. We also visited all darbars and schools in Madhav Nagar along with Shri Kaiyandas Febiani of B.S.S. and Shri Devendra K. Rajani in the car of Shri Vishindas Chellani. We were moved by the work done by the Sindhi Schools there and we questioned some students in their subjects. Shri Jairam Gandhi arranged our food at home for whole day. We stayed in a railway retiring room. One tourist attraction in city is Kataya Ghat Garden. There are 3 Sindhi Temples.

10. JABALPUR (M.P.) (Jul-Aug 1998):

On our request a meeting of B.S.S. was arranged by Shri Arjandas Manglani on 2-8-98 from 6 p.m. to 9.30 p.m. at Jhulelal Mandir, Bhartipur. Shri Ishwardas Rohani MLA (BJP) was out of station. 23 persons were present.

In the meeting, Shri Kishinchand Chandwani emphasised the need for consensus on having one Sindhi script. Shri Mukundlal Sharma emphasised on unity, courage, character, and helping the poor. Shri Rochiram Nagdev emphasised on economic position and Devnagari script. Shri Motiram Madhyan emphasised on making one script, courage and unity to avoid being browbeaten by other communities. He gave example of one Sadhwani of Madras who was defeated for not knowing Sindhi (Arabic) script. Shri Naraindas Budhrani suggested unity and one Sindhi party having representatives at the national, state and district levels. Shri Arjandas Manglani who presided over the meeting, informed us about the celebration of Sindhi Smruti Divas and Sankalp of Sindhi Sanskriti.

Further report is as under:-

There is only one Dharamshala with staying arrangement and 13 Dharamshalas are for marriage purpose and for social works ("Darshaniya Sthal"). There are 57 Sindhi Panchayats and efforts are also going on for making one Central Panchayat. There are 3 Sindhi Temples at Verighat, Lai Miti and Badi Omti. The population of the city is 20 lacs with 50,000 Sindhis. 90% speak in Sindhi. 10% are well off, 40% are middle class and 50% are lower middle class. There are 4 Schools managed by Sindhis (2 at Lai Miti and 2 in the city) but without teaching facility for even the Sindhi subject. Chetichand is celebrated with procession. Other melas take place on the occasions of the birthdays of Sant Kanwarram, Swami Shanti Prakash, Sant Asharam. Ram Navami, Dasahara etc. A School Rally is also taken out on important occasions. An annual magazine Yadgar is published from here. A directory of Sindhis is being prepared by Shri Sundarlal. They suggested for pressing Government to get political and cultural rights of Sindhis and to come together on one platform. They also called for articles for their Yadgar Magazine. They appreciated the initiative taken by B.S.S. for arranging Ladakh Yatra every year. They arrange 'Samuhik Vivah' every year. We stayed for 2 days at Jhulelal Mandir and were given special treatment by Shri Motiram Parwani, in charge of the temple. We also visited marble rocks (Beda Ghat), Dhuandhar, 64 Yogini temple and Pisan Hari Jain temples (within ½ day), which no body visiting Jabalpur can afford to miss.

11. ITARSI (M.P.) (Jul-Aug 1998):

We stayed here for one night only (from 8 p.m. to 10 a.m.) and we did not know any body there. After checking into the railway retiring room, we went to the city to find out if there were any Sindhi social workers and met one Sindhi Shri Premchand D. Sundrani at his Kirana shop at 9.30 p.m. and requested him to arrange for an urgent meeting of Sindhis in the Sindhi Dharamshala on the very same night and told him that we shall supply useful Sindhi literature and information on behalf of all important Sindhi associations. He obliged us and called for such a meeting with one hour notice i.e. at 10.30 p.m. The meeting of Puj Sindhi Panchayat Itarsi took place from 11 p.m. (3-8-98) to 1 a.m. midnight (4-8-98) at Sindhi Dharamshala. 13 persons were present. The information collected is as under :-

There is one Sant Kanwarram Sindhi Dharamshala Nirman Samiti and one Puj Sindhi Panchayat whose President is Shri Rajpal Manwani. Shri Chandumal Gehani and Shri Gopal Shivdasani are its Vice Presidents. There are 2 Parshads (Municipal Councillors) i.e. Dr. Durgadevi Gellani and Shri Gopal Shivdasani. The latter is also opposition leader (BJP) in the Nagar Palika Parishad and he is also a staunch believer of Swadeshi. He does not use any foreign articles. There is one Sindhi Temple. The Sindhi population is 4000 among total population of 1 lac. Practically all are in business and almost are O.K. They speak in Sindhi. They want monetary help to start Sindhi School, prohibition on national level, one Tirthasthan for Sindhis, progress of Sindhi literature and good image of Sindhi Community in the country. They celebrate Guru Nanik Jayanti, Jhankis are taken out in procession and preeti bhojan is served on the occasion of chetichand and shops are closed on that day.

12. BURHANPUR (M.P.) (Jul-Aug 1998):

On our request an urgent meeting of Sindhis was arranged by Shri Jairamdas Daultani and Nandiram Jeoomal on 5-8-98 from 11 a.m. to 1.15 p.m. at Shri Jairamdas’ office premises in mandi bazar, wherein 9 persons were present. The information collected is as follows :-

There are 3 Dharamshalas for marriage purpose only and 6 Panchayats such as Manghan Group (President Shri Tilokchand Gopaldas), Katni Group (President Shri Vadhumal Ganumal), Mana Camp Panchayat (President Shri Naraindas Jeswani) Bunhanpur Shahar Panchayat (President Shri Varandmal Kundanmal), Shri Guru Nanik Trust (which supplies ration to 60 needy families, gives medical help, donations in marriages and supplies free books to poor students), Puj Sindhi General Panchayat, Sindhi Colony (Secretary Shri Bhagchand). There is one Sindhi Temple (Baba Amardas Haridas Soichana Darbar, Sindhi Colony). The Sindhis are nearly 10,000 (1600 families) in total city population of 2 lacs. Mostly they speak in Sindhi. 60% are well off in business. One Sindhi Subhash School upto VIII std. with Devnagari script. They celebrate Guru Nanik Jayanti, Baba Amardas' Varsi, Dadi Khushibai's Varsi, Bhai Parmanand's Jayanti, Chetichand with procession with 1/2 day holiday and distribution of prasad. They were advised to make full day holiday on Chetichand (by closing shops for the whole day). They pass on information to all Sindhis regarding important occasions, by ‘parho’, that is, by moving in a vehicle while making announcements on a mike and beating a drum. They want to form one co-ordinating body of Sindhis. They are interested in increase of Sindhi programmes on TV & Radio.

The main complaint of Sindhis of Burhanpur is as follows :-

There is a naasal plot adjacent to Jama Masjid which was given to Sindhis in 1949 on temporary lease on which they constructed 68 shops. They were burnt by anti-social forces some years back and were reconstructed. The members of Jama Masjid have used their political influence to drive away these 68 Sindhi shop-keepers and filed a writ petition to that effect in the M.P. High Court. Likewise the Sindhi cloth merchants association also filed a writ petition in the M.P. High Court to maintain these shops and to get a permanent lease on the ground that they have been earning their livelihood on the basis of these shops for the last 49 years and they have already been uprooted from Sindh after partition of the country. The High Court, vide their order in case no. 3332 of 1995 dated 13-1-97, remarked that though a committee was constructed under the chairmanship of the Revenue Commissioner, Indore on 30-12-94 for carrying out a proper survey for considering the regularisation of the lease on a permanent basis, however nothing has been done so far. Hence they have ordered the M.P. State Government to decide within 6 months whether to grant a permanent lease or not, to the lease holders, on objective considerations or a manner looking to need of situation but without any political considerations. However it is shocking that nothing has been done so for though nearly 2 years have passed. Recently vide Hindi newspaper "Nai Duniyan" dated 2-8-98, Shri Digvijay Singh (Chief Minister. M.P) in his meeting with other M.P Government officials has given his opinion that alternative lands be given to these 68 Sindhi shopkeepers and the disputed land should not be given to either of the parties. Hence B.S.S. in coordination with other Sindhi organisations should use their good offices to see that these 68 Sindhi shopkeepers are not uprooted again.

13. BHUSAWAL (Mah.) (Jul-Aug 1998):

Here we got a good hospitality from a young man Shri Deepak Chandwani, a well known Patrakar and Secretary of Akhil Bharatiya Sindhu Yuva Samaj and Patrakar Parishad. On our request he arranged an urgent meeting of Sindhi Sewa Mandal on 5-8-98 from 9.30 p.m. to 11 p.m. at Guru Nanik Seva Mandal, Nanak Nagar. Sindhi Colony, wherein 16 persons were present. The report collected is as follows:-

There are 2 Dharamshalas, both in the name of Guru Nanak Seva Mandal, No. 1 & No. 2.There is one Panchayat in the name of Sindhu Seva Mandal whose President is Shri Suresh Gurbuxani and secretary is Shri Ramesh Tilokchand. There are 15 Sindhi temples (including one Jhulelal Mandir wherein we both got opportunity to explain our views in satsang). The population of the city is 2 1/2 lacs including 16000 Sindhis. 95% speak in Sindhi at Nanak Nagar, Sindhi Colony (which is the main locality of Sindhis) and 10% speak in Sindhi in the city area. About 80% are O.K. in business. There is one Adarsh High School and 2 primary schools with Sindhi (Arabic) medium. The Adarsh High School has been producing students who secure 1st rank in Sindhi since last 5 years. We visited this school and questioned students who have good standard. Its able and worthy principal is Shri C.G. Ahuja. Chetichand and Chaliha Sahib are celebrated with Jhankis in procession. Dasahara, Baba Tulsidas' Varsi, Guru Nanik Jayanti are also celebrated. One Hindi weekly with Sindhi community's news (Hindustan Best Samachar) is published by Shri Deepak Chandwani (who made our food and staying arrangement for the whole day). They suggested district and state wise coordinating bodies of all Sindhi organisations should be formed with a common leader who should be selfless, dedicated worker with power of judgement and should have compassion and humility (as opined by Dada Shri J.P. Vaswani).

14. JALGAON (Mah.) (Jul-Aug 1998):

On our request an urgent meeting of some Sindhis was held at Amar Shaheed Sant Kanwarram Trust and Seva Mandal Dharamshala, Sant Kanwarnagar where we were staying, on 6-8-98 from 9.15 p.m. to 10.45 p.m. wherein 12 persons were present. The information collected is as under :-

There is only one Dharamshala for staying as mentioned above (where we stayed). There are 5 Panchayats, one in the city called Shahari Panchayat and 4 in Sant Kanwarnagar (where all residents are Sindhis). These are Larkana Panchayat (President Shri Girdharilal), Sindh Jacomabad Panchayat (President Shri Lilaram H. Mandhwani), Garhi Mahre (President Shri Kauromal) & Bahavalpuri Panchayat (President Shri Gulomal). There is no Central Panchayat. There are many Sindhi Temples. The population of city is 6 lacs including 17000 Sindhis. All of them speak in Sindhi, particularly at Sant Kanwarnagar. 98% of them are in business and 70% are well off. There are two schools, one primary and one high school with Sindhi (Arabic) medium. They celebrate 5 melas such as Sant Kanwarram's and Puj Baba Hardas Ram's Varsi (combined), Bhai Garibdas, Sai Juriaram Sahib, Sai Vasiaram Sahib and Sai Gobindram Hans Sahib. The first one (i.e. Sant Kanwarram Sahib and Puj Baba Hardasram) is celebrated on a very large scale, wherein famous artists and musicians are invited from different parts of India for at least 4 days. This year the programme was fixed from 09/10/1998 to 12/10/1998. They publish in famous Sindhi news papers that all Sindhis are most welcome to this mela. They have also invited us to visit this mela. Furthermore, 4 processions with Jhankis are taken out on the auspicious occasion of Chelichand, Guru Nanik Jayanti, Baba Hardasram Jayanti and Janmashtami. Hence it is not exaggerating to state that any Sindhi visiting Sant Kanwarnagar gets a glimpse of mini Sindh. One magazine Sindhu Ujala is published from here whose editor is Shri Gordhan Tanwani. They have also published one Sindhi Directory. We also can not forget the great hospitality extended to us by Swami Parsram Gobindram Hans by arranging our food and transport to the city etc.

15. CHALISGAON (Mah.) (Jul-Aug 1998):

On our request a meeting of Sindhi General Panchayat was arranged by its President and a great selfless social worker Shri Kanaiyalal Bajaj, at Indira Gandhi High School on 07/08/1998 from 9.30 p.m. to 11.30 p.m. wherein 26 persons were present. The information collected is as under:-

There are two Sindhi Dharamshalas for marriage purpose only. There are 4 Panchayats such as Mirpur Sindhi Panchayat whose president is Shri Arjandas Vaswani.

He is also a great selfless social worker. (He has taken a vow on 25-3-98 for not taking food grains till Sant Shadaram Bhavan is constructed in Mumbai. He is also attached with Hinduja and other Hospitals in Mumbai). Another Panchayat is Larkana Panchayat whose President is Shri Pesumal Gurmani. There is one Sindhi General Panchayat whose President is Shri Kanaiyalal Bajaj (as stated above), Vice President is Shri Hansraj Makhija and Secretary Shri Lalchand Bajaj. There is also a branch of B.S.S. whose President is Shri Pritamdas Khialdas Ravlani but we learnt about it late, hence we could not arrange a meeting with them. There are 5 Sindhi temples. The Population of the city is 1 1/4 lacs. The Sindhis are only 275 families (about 2000). They all speak in Sindhi. Almost all are in business, 25% on top, 50% middle class and 25% lower middle class. There are 2 schools, but unfortunately educated Sindhi children do not take advantage of these schools. They celebrate Chetichand with procession and close their shops only for half a day on such occasions. They were advised to observe a full day holiday on such an auspicious occasion and demonstrate solidarity and unity among all Sindhis. They also celebrate Holi. One “Sindhi Raja” Hindi weekly (with information about Sindhis) is published from here whose editor is Mrs. Harsha Jethwani. They want that Sindhi MPs should be pressed to work for the welfare and rights of the Sindhi community.

They showed great hospitality by arranging our food and separate stay.

Last but not least, there is one Navjavan Sindhi Seva Mandal which performs a great social service to Sindhis as well as other communities by serving free cold water at Chalisgaon railway station to passengers in trains in hot season. Its President is Shri Haresh Arjandas Kalwani and Secretary is Shri Hansraj Pritamdas Ravlani.

JOINT REPORT/ARTICLE NO. 3

Published in “Sindhi International”, February 2001

Tour Report of Sindhis of (A) Abu Road, Ahmedabad, Khambat, Bhavnagar (July 2000) & (B) Gandhidham, Adipur, Ratlam & Dahod (October 2000)

- By Mohan G. Rohira

(A) July 2000:

I had gone on tour of above cities during July and October 2000 (two reports) for learning A to Z about the Sindhi Community and cementing the bonds of Unity among them irrespective of their political affiliations and to preserve our rich and ancient culture & language, and also for promoting the ideals of B.S.S. Meetings were held in these cities mentioned above for nearly 3 hours each wherein various matters were discussed regarding unity and improvement in the Sindhi Community, suggestions and information were exchanged frankly and we listened to each others views patiently. Moreover, Sindhi, VHP, national and spiritual literature was distributed. There was good enthusiasm and people were moved by the grand ideals of B.S.S. Red carpet hospitality was extended to me, too much to be described. The taste of the pudding is in its eating. It is rare in big cities like Mumbai. On the whole, the trend was to have a co-ordinating body of all parties among Sindhis in the country for preserving our culture, language and Sanskriti as well as to get our legitimate rights from the Govt, through its recently appointed Constitution Review Commission. They were therefore requested not to miss this golden opportunity and to send their voice to the said Commission in the form of letters. They were also requested to get united and work hard and meet frequently taking youngsters into confidence for achieving these obfects.

As I learnt from the meetings of above cities, practically most Sindhis are in business and are quite well off, except in Khambat. They celebrate important festivals throughout the year such as Chetichand, Gurunanak Jayanti, Mahashivratri, Holi, Diwali, Ganesh Chaturthi, Janmashtami, Chaliha Sahib, Varsis etc., and take out processions during some of these, wherein local people also join to some extent. They also eat together mainly on Chetichand-New Year. In Bhavnagar, nearly 1 lakh people take preeti bhojan on Chetichand day where local people (Gujaratis) join them. Moreover they meet together on happy and unhappy occasions such as marriages, deaths etc. They complained that they don't get Sindhi Cultural programmes on T.V./Radio and they suggested that a Sindhi Channel be started on TV. at the earliest so that youngsters could be encouraged to promote Sindhi language and culture.

Further report of each city is as under :

1. Abu Road (Raj) : The city has one Panchayat and one Dharamshala. Puj Sindhi Panchayat gives free books to needy students and prizes to deserving students. The city's population is nearly 1 lakh including about 300 Sindhi families with 5 Sindhi Temples. About 80% speak in Sindhi but there is no Sindhi school or night class in Sindhi. They were advised to start at least night class in Sindhi at the earliest. One magazine Jhulelal Jyoii is published annually by the Panchayat in mixed languages. They have published a Sindhi directory also, which will be sent by them.

2. Ahmedabad (Karnavati) :- There are 21 Primary Sindhi medium schools & 6 Sindhi medium high schools and one English school with Sindhi as one of the subjects. There is only one Sindhi Dharamshala at Kalupur and no Central Panchayat in the city, which has 15/20 Sindhi Temples. The total population of city is about 40 lakhs which includes 4 lakh Sindhis, nearly 90% of whom speak in Sindhi. Moreover, 10 weekly Sindhi Newspapers are published from here in Sindhi script such as Zindagi, Chingoon, Rashtra Prem, Chandraprakash Janani Janma-bhoomi, Ahwal Sindhi, Sachai, Jhulelal etc. One daily Sindhi Newspaper "Hindu" is also published. They have also published Maninagar Sindhi Directory. They get half an hour Sindhi programme on TV on alternate Monday and desire more such programmes.

3. Khambat (Guj): On my request, a meeting of Khambat Sindhi Samaj was held at Mukund Ashram, Gawara Road, Khambat, on 24/07/2000 from 8.30 p.m. to 11 p.m. under the guidance of Swami Paresh Giriji who inaugurated the meeting with chanting of Gayatri Mantra. In all, 12 persons were present. The information gathered is as under:

The Panchayat has no office bearers and no activities except that they celebrate Chetichand by taking out a procession in the town and have "Pritibhojan" every year. The town has 50 Sindhi families in the total population of nearly 1 lakh. They do not possess even a single Sindhi Temple. Nearly 70% speak in Sindhi. Nearly 90% are in business, majority of them being in lower middle class cadre, as no prospective business/service avenues are open to them. Recently, factories have been closed and the 'Karigars' have left town due to political rivalries. They do not have any Sindhi school or night class, or any Sindhi programme on T.V. They were encouraged to start at least night Sindhi classes and to speak at least in Sindhi.

4. Bhavnagar (Guj) :- On my request in writing, a meeting of Sindhis was held at Sant Kanwar Ram Hall, Rasala Camp. Bhavnagar, on 27/07/2000 from 9.30 p.m. to 12.30 AM (28/07/2000) under the banner of BSS wherein 41 persons were present. The information collected is as under :-

The city has 2 Sindhi Dharam-shalas — Swami Lila Shah and Sant Kanwar Ram. There is Sant Kanwar Ram Chowk with a statue in the heart of the city. There are 4 Marriage Halls including Bhai Prabharam Hall and Swami Lilashah Hall both in the Sindhunagar area. They have 22 Panchayats with one General Panchayat whose President is Shri Kanubhai Chhugani and secretary is Shri Hareshbhai Rajnani. The city has 65 Sindhi Temples in Sindhunagar area (which looks like Mini-Sindh) and 15 Temples in the city. The total population of the city is 6 lakhs including 15000 Sindhis (including 5000 in old and new Sindhunagar and 2 Rasala Camps). 95% are in business and are well off.

The city's main businesses such as cloth, fruit, kriyana etc. is in Sindhi hands. They have 5 Sindhi Primary Schools and one Sant Kanwar Ram High School, all with Sindhi medium & script. I was given chance to speak before the students of 12th std. They celebrate festivals on a large scale as mentioned above. They have urged for starting a separate Sindhi channel on T.V. They want to start a Sindhi library and a Sub-Committee was formed there and then for that purpose. They had published a Souvenir 10 years back.

Thus it will be seen that Sindhis are more or less well off financially and are interested in preserving their language & culture. However there are no Sindhi schools in small towns which is disturbing to us. However, efforts are going on to do the needful.

(B) October, 2000

1. ADIPUR (Guj) :- The city's Population is 60,000 out of which nearly 60% are Sindhis. It has 3 dharam-shalas such as Swami Lilashah Dharmashala, Sindhi Brahamkhatri Samaj Dharamshala, & Akhilbharat Lad Lohana Sindhi Panchayat Dharamshala. The city has 3 Sindhi Temples viz., those of Jhulelal, Lalsaheb & Devi Mata. All Sindhis speak in their language at home and among themselves and most of the local people there know Sindhi. The city has 2 high schools with compulsory Sindhi as one of the subjects (Maitrikanya Vidyalaya for girls & Maitri Maha Vidyalaya for boys.) The Sindhi language is also taught in the first and second year in Tolani Arts College by Prof. Vimla Sadarangani. Chetichand and the birth of the township by Shri Bhai Pratab Dialdas in February are celebrated on a grand scale and the shops remain closed on these occasions. There are 2 Sindhi organisations such as Ward 2(b) Sindhi Panchayat and B.S.S. I got the chance to meet the workers of B.S.S. who do a number of social activities such as running of Nari Shala by Shri Gulab Gurnani, Allopathy Hospital by others as well as taking active part in celebrations of important annual festivals. Sadhu Hiranand Navalrai Academy, Swamy Lilashah's Ashram and Kutiya, Indian Institute of Sindhology. Gandhi Memorial & Tolani foundation are the main places worth seeing. The prominent Sindhi personalities Shri Hundraj Dukhayal & Shri Hari Dilgir are staying there.

2. GANDHIDHAM (Guj) :- The city's Population is 1,00,000. Out of this, 25,000 are Sindhis. It has 3 Sindhi Dharamshalas such as Sant Kavaram Dharamshala. One marriage hall & Shahpur Chekar Dharamshala, and a Dharamshala near the Railway station. The city has 6 Sindhi Temples. Practically all Sindhis speak in Sindhi. The city has 2 Sindhi High Schools with Sindhi as one of the subjects. Shri Chellaram Khiani, a great social worker, has published a Sindhi Teacher and an Alphabetical Sindhi Calendar. Processions are taken out annually on similar lines as in Adipur. One Sindhi Directory has been published by Kundan stores jointly for both the cities (Adipur & Gandhidham) which are at a distance of only 8 kms. from each other. There are 9 Panchayats but no central Panchayat. The important places worth seeing are Sindhi Temples, Gurudwara, R.S.S. Karyalaya, Arya Samaj & last but not least –KANDLA PORT.

Thus on the whole, the twin cities have preserved Sindhi language & culture. The people are hospitable. While passing through the bazaar one feels like one is moving in mini Sindh and the cultural town of Sindhis. Even a pessimist will feel that the rich cultural heritage and sanskriti of Sindhi Aryans of Mohinjodaro days (though without their land at present) is immortal.

3. RATLAM (MP) :- The city has 550 Sindhi families, amongst the total population of 3,00,000. One Sindhi Dharamshala, Sindhi Temples such as Jhullelal Temple, Swami Teoonram Darbar, Sindhi Sanatan Dharam Temple and Anandpuri Darbar. A new area for Sindhis is under construction. The Sindhis are mainly in business and mostly O.K. Nearly 75% speak in Sindhi. However there is no Sindhi school. There is one Puj Sindhi Panchayat whose President is Shri Thakurdas Gangwani & Secretary Shri Govardhan Nanwani. The B.S.S. RATLAM is very active whom I got the opportunity to meet as could be seen from their following activities :- They give prizes to deserving students, they arrange cultural programmes in Sindhi only, they celebrate Hemu Kalani's and Sant Kavaram's "SHAHIDI DIWAS", Chetichand, Guru Nanak Jayanti, Raksha Bandhan, Sindhi Smriti Diwas (along with Puj Sindhi Panchayat). They arrange the competition by 2 groups, Sindhi food competition, ladies dress packing competition, Rangoli, Mehendi & Painting competition. The president of B.S.S. RATLAM is Shri Vishnu Kumar Bhagyawani & secretary is Shri Anant Kumar Krishnani. Recently they have started Sindhi Yuva Manch whose president is Shri Bhagwan Tilokchandani. They inspire Sindhi youngsters to do social work to eradicate social evils among Sindhi community. They also suggested that a Sindhi channel be started on T.V. so that particularly youngsters could be encouraged to preserve Sindhi language and culture.

4. DAHOD (Guj):- The city's population is 1 1/4 lac including 350 Sindhi families. They mostly speak in Sindhi. 95% are in business and there is no Sindhi school. There are 2 Panchayats, Sindhi Association whose president is Shri Atmaram J. Sahtai & Lad (lower Sindh) Panchayat whose president is Shri Lilaram N.. Both Panchayats work in Union. They do various social activities such as saving Sindhi girls from marriages in other religious communities etc. They celebrate important festivals and take out processions and have Priti Bhojan together particularly on Chetichand, Gurunanak Jayanti, Mahashivratri and Ganpati festivals. They meet on happy and unhappy occasions and help poor ladies in their marriages. In case of marriages of girls coming there from other cities, the total expenses of marriages are fully met by boy's side only which is rare in Sindhi community. The others could learn a good lesson from them. They also give prizes to efficient students and help poor students financially. The city has one Swamy Lilashah Dharamshala, 2 Temples (Mahadev and Jhulelal). 3 Sindhis are Municipal Councillors and they are doing good social and city work. A branch of B.S.S. was opened there on the lines of the one in Ratlam so that cultural and social activities of the Sindhis in the city could be further increased.

On the whole, the love and affection which I got from Sindhis everywhere surpassed all the physical discomforts of the journey.

Joint Report/Article No. 4:

(Published in "Sindhi International” Dtd. 10-2001)

Tour report of Sindhis

in Etah, Rishikesh and Amritsar in April 2001

- By Mohan G. Rohira, Advocate, Mumbai

and Bhagwan S. Budhrani, Pune

We had gone on tour of above cities in April 2001 for cementing the bonds of unity in the Sindhi Community. Long meetings were held with the office bearers of various Sindhi organisations wherein various matters were discussed regarding preserving our rich culture and language. Suggestions and Sindhi literature were exchanged. The report of each city in a nut shell is as under:

1) Etah (U.P.): The total population is one lakh, including 1000 Sindhis. Here we noticed that practically all Sindhis speak in Sindhi only at home and among themselves and their behaviour and character on the whole is quite appreciable. It all is due to the great influence of a great Sindhi saint "Dhanidevi Faqir" who is famous not only among Sindhis but other local people also. She gives spiritual discourses and celebrates Ramnavmi for whole week on a grand scale in her 'Ram Darbar' wherein many Sadhaks come from all over India. Their arrangement of lodging and boarding & hospitality is too superb to be described.They take out a big procession on this auspicious occasion. The city has 2 Sindhi Dharamshalas — Dhaneshwar and Puj Sindhi Panchayat Dharamshala. Dhanidevi is also President of this Panchayat. She has written a great no. of books in Sindhi. The General Secretary of this Panchayat is Shri Ramumal Bulani. The other 2 Sindhi Temples are Guru Nanik Darbar and Jhulelal Darbar. The Sindhis are mainly engaged in business. They have no Sindhi school or night Sindhi classes. They were encouraged to start at least night classes. In addition to Ramnavmi, Chetichand and Guru Nanik Jayanti are also celebrated on a grand scale, and they close down their shops on these three occasions. Shri Ram Darbar and Kailash Mandir are places worth seeing here: Puj Sindhi Panchayat, under the guidance of Dhanidevi, are doing good yeoman services in the community such as helping poor people financially, attending happy and unhappy occasions, celebrating Melas, arranging marriage of poor girls, publishing Jhulelal 'Pranav Patrika' etc. (We both were blessed with 'Pakhad' by Dhanidevi in Ramnavmi Mela Celebrations). She has got a great treasure of Sindhi books which are available for sale on reasonable charges at her address. i.e. Sant Dhani Devi, Shri Ram Darbar, Sindhi Colony, Etah -207001 (U.P.) (Phone No. 05742-33971)

2) Rishikesh (now Uttarakhand): Here 50 Sindhi families live among overall strength of one and a quarter lakhs. 30% of them speak in Sindhi and the rest in Hindi with no Sindhi school as in many other U.P. cities. They are in business and well off financially. The city has 2 Sindhi Dharamshalas — One Baba Ram Das Sahib Dharamshala at Triveni Ghat and the other Samadhar Sindhi Dharamshala on Dehradun Road. They have one Sindhi Panchayat whose President is Shri Surrendra Kumar Godhwani and Secretary is Shri Premkumar Chandani. This Panchayat is active in social work such as helping poor people, meeting on happy and unhappy occasions, celebrating Chetichand on a grand scale with Jhankis and procession, giving prizes to deserving students in competition, publishing directories of Rishikesh Sindhis etc. They suggested that a Sindhi TV channel should be started like channels of other languages as they don't get any Sindhi programme on TV and radio and that U.P. Govt. should declare Chetichand as Public holiday. They were advised to start such a movement by all Sindhi organisations of whole U.P on the same lines as they got U.P. Sindhi academy 3 years back. They have built a good Sindhi Temple in Samadhar Dharamshala. Bharat Mandir, Raghunath Mandir (with Jamuna River's water), Radha-krishin and Gopal Mandirs and Swargashram area on the other side of River Ganga are places worth seeing.

3) Amritsar (Punjab): This city has 70 Sindhi families in the total population of 16 lakhs. Out of these 50% (particularly elders) speak in Sindhi and the rest speak in Punjabi and Hindi. No trace of Sindhi Schools cannot be found anywhere in Punjab. They are also mainly in business and quite well off. They do not have any Dharamshala, However Guru Ramdas & Hargobind Niwas and Akal Guest House are managed by Sikhs near Golden Temple with good staying arrangement on reasonable charges. They have also arranged free and frequent bus service between the Railway Station and these places on behalf of Golden Temple authorities. The Sindhis have one Puj Shikarpuri Bradari and one Puj Sindhi Bradari which includes membership of all Sindhi families staying here. Shri Vashdev Bhambhani is President and Shri Omprakash Bulani is General Secretary of Puj Sindhi Bradari. They have published Amritsar Sindhi Directory. They meet on happy and unhappy occasions and help poor families. They don't celebrate any Mela. However they assured us they would start 'Chetichand' and 'Holi' Melas in future. They are also interested to see that a Sindhi TV Channel is started shortly, particularly when they don't get any chance to see any Sindhi cultural programme on TV or radio. They are trying to purchase a plot for their Panchayat for which they were encouraged. They have one Shikarpuri Sindhi Mandir (Previously they had a beautiful Sindhi temple in the name of "Khatwali Darbar" near the entrance of Golden Temple which was destroyed after operation blue star in 1984). The places worth seeing here are — Golden Temple, Shri Durgiyana and Sitladevi temples, Vaishnodevi Mandir, Jalianawala Baug and Pakistan Border (wherein daily military parade is held jointly by the armies of India and Pakistan).

Joint Report/Article No. 5:

Published in “Sindhi International”, March/April 2003

SINDHIS IN RAJASTHAN & MADHYA PRADESH

— Mohan G Rohira

Tour Report of Sindhis of some cities of Rajasthan & Madhya Pradesh during December, 2002.

I had gone on tour of the following cities of Rajasthan & MP (which lie on meter gauge section of Ajmer-Rajasthan) during December 2002, for learning A to Z information of Sindhi Community, cementing the bonds of unity among them, irespective of their political affiliations & preserving our rich and ancient culture & language. Meetings were held in these cities for nearly 2-3 hours for above mentioned purposes, suggestions & information were exchanged frankly and listened to each other's lectures patiently. Moreover Sindhi, National & Spiritual literature was distributed. There was a good enthusiasm & red carpet hospitality was extended to me too much to be described here. The taste of pudding is in its eating. It is rare in big cities like Mumbai. On the whole the trend was to have a co-ordinating body of all parties among Sindhis in the country and to speak in Sindhi with children for preserving our rich culture, language & Sanskriti as well as to get our legitimate rights from the Government.

As I learnt from meetings in these cities, practically most of Sindhis are in business and are quite well off. They celebrate important festivals throughout the year such as Chetichand, Gurunanak Jayanti, MahashivratrL Holi, Diwali, Ganesh Chaturathi, Janmashtmi, Chaliha Sahib, Varsis etc., and take out processions wherein local people also join to some extent. They also eat together mainly on Chetichand New Year etc. Moreover they meet together on happy and unhappy occasions such as marriages, deaths etc. They complained that they don't get Sindhi Cultural programmes on T.V./Radio and they suggested that a Sindhi Channel be started on TV at the earliest so that youngsters could be encouraged to promote Sindhi language and culture.

Further report of each city is as under:

1) Bhilwara(Raj.) The city's population is a little over 3 lakhs including 13000 Sindhis. The Shirting & Suiting industry of this city is famous throughout the country. Though 90% of Sindhis speak in their language but unfortunately there is no Sindhi school here. There are so many Sindhi organizations such as 1) Sindhi Central Panchyat (President Shri Devandas Hardasani, Secretary Shri Kailash Kripalani), 2) Sindhu Seva Samiti (President Shri Rajkumar Badlani), 3) Guru Seva Sansthan 4) Sant Kanwarram Vidhva Mandal, 5) Sindhi Navyuvak Mandal, 6) Akhand Dham Tirthasthan. All these organizations are working for social welfare of community in their respective fields. There are so many Sindhi Dharamshalas & temples such as Hari Shevva Dham, Dada Sahib Dharamshala (Nathdwara Sarai), Sant Kanwarram Dharamshala & Hemu Kalani Statue (both in Sindhu Nagar), Baharwani Sindhi Dharamshala, Gopaldas Sindhi Dharamshala & Prem Prakash Ashram (both in Bapu Nagar). Except Hari Sheva Dham, all other Dharamshalas are for marriage purposes only.

The importance of Hari Sheva Dham cannot be described. It befits its name in Social Welfare activities. It is like a pilgrimage place not only for Sindhis but other Communities also. I stayed there a night and saw a free eye medical camp wherein thousands of people from the city and outside took advantage of this camp and needy people got free lenses and they stayed there for 4 days during their eye operations in over 100 rooms. Likewise so many social activities and satsangs take place here throughout the year. The present Saint of this Dham is Swami Hansram Baba Gangaram Sahib who had helped in the construction of homes for needy people in the Kutch area during the Earthquake of 2001. As such, activities of Hari Shewa Dham have enhanced the prestige of Sindhi Community in the Country in general and Rajasthan in particular. They have also published a Directory of Sindhis.

2) Chitaurgadh (Raj.): This is a prestigious tourist and historical fort city, famous particularly for Maharana Pratap and Rani Padmavati. 325 Sindhi families stay here among overall population of One Lakh. Most of them speak in Sindhi, a bulk of them stay in Pratap Nagar, wherein there are 1) Sindhu Community Hall with 3 rooms, 2) Shanti Bhavan with 18 rooms, and 5 Temples such as i) Sai Purandas Bhagwandas Darbar. ii) Moti Maharaj Kutia, iii) Sai Lenaram Darbar, iv) Guru Nanak Darbar, v) Prem Prakash Ashram. Puj Sindhi Panchayat—under its able President Shri Dunichand Bhojwani and Secretary Shri Kishore Vaswani is engaged in various social activities of the welfare of the Community. It also plans to work for Co-ordination among different Sindhi Organisations - right from ground level i.e. from Village, City, District, State and Central Level. They also run Sindhi teaching classes with the help of Rajasthan Sindhi Academy, The Sindhi Directory is under preparation. The owner of famous Chandra Lok Cinema is a Sindhi Gentleman. Smt. Veena Devi Nebhnani is Parshad in Nagarpalika. The Organising Secretary of Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee is also a Sindhi named Shri Dilip Nebhnani.

To be concluded in April issue.

Report

SINDHIS IN RAJASTHAN & MADHYA PRADESH

By: Mohan G Rohra

Tour Report of Sindhis of some cities of Rajasthan & Madhya Pradesh during December, 2002.

—Concluding Part—

3) Nimbahera (Raj.): The city's population is nearly half a lakh which includes 300 Sindhi families, out of which 50 families stay in Sindhi colony. Practically all speak in Sindhi. Puj Sindhi Panchayat has its President Shri. Khemchand Kripalani & 2 Secretaries Shri Hundraj Chughwani and Shri Bhajanlal Jagiasu who do so many social welfare activities and also run Sindhi classes on alternate days with 30 students with the help of Rajasthan Sindhi Academy. The city has Shri Guru Nanak Sindhi Dharamshala for marriage purposes only. They were advised to make rooms for staying purposes also. There are 4 Sindhi Darbars such as i) Guru Nanak Darbar, ii) Sri Anandpur Darbar, iii) Dadi Harchi Devi Kutia and iv) Dadi Kalavanti Kutia. Shri Radha Krishna Temple in J.K. Colony is worthseeing for tourist and pilgrimage place. The Sindhis of this tiny city are not lagging behind in politics and city upliftment. Shri Srichand Kripalani is M.P., 2 Sindhis are Parshads in Nagarpalika (Shri Motilal Ahuja - BJP and Shri Parsram Kripalani -Congress). Shri Deepchand Ahuja is Notary of Rajasthan State. Shri Bhajanlal Jagiasu is editor of ‘Dainik Bhaskar'. Here Sindhis have good relations with local peolple. The President of Vyapari Mandal of the city is Shri Verhomal Chughwani. He is also ex-President of Puj Sindhi Panchayat and owner of Sitaram Guest House. The owner of another famous Suvidha Guest House is also a Sindhi Gentleman. On the whole, Sindhis of this small city are more united and meet frequently on marriage and death occasions as well as on Sindhi Melas. The others should learn and get inspiration from them.

4. Neemuch (M.P.): Here the total strength of Sindhis is Ten Thousand out of total population of 1 and half lakhs i.e. out of 15 persons, one is Sindhi. 90% speak in Sindhi, however there is no trace of any Sindhi school or such night class, which is a discouraging trend. A good number of Sindhi Organisations are doing good social work here eg. i) Bhartiya Sindhu Sabha (President - Shri Kishanchand Mulchandani and Secretary - Shri Nandlal Malani), ii) Sindhu Seva Sangh (President - Shri Chellaram Anandani, Vice President - Shri Gurumukhdas Dadnani, Secretary Shri Nandlal Malani). iii) Sukhmani Mandal Seva Samiti (President - Shri Kishanchand Mulchandani, Secretary - Shri Mahesh Kumar Tulsiani), iv) Bahrana Samiti (President - Dr. Laxmikant Aswani, Secretary - Shri Dilip Lalwani), v) Sadhu Vaswani Seva Samiti (President - Shri Khushal Dhameja), vi) Jhulelal Navyuvak Mandal (President - Shri Suresh Mulchandani), and vii) Puj Sindhi Panchayat. All these Organisations are doing good social activities in their respective fields and have co-ordination among one another in working together on special occasions such as celebrating annual functions, taking out processions and taking Priti Bhojan together wherein some local people also join resulting in good relations with them and this has raised the prestige of Sindhi Community in the city.

Apart from the above, Shri Vashdev Manthrani is a Sindhi poet, Shri Rajkumar Jethwani and Shri Topandas Lalwani run 'Humsafar' and 'Kaka' marriage bureaus respectively. Another satisfactory factor was noted here i.e. 2 Sindhi bi-weeklies (with Devnagri Script) are published from this city i) Jie Sindh Samachar (Editor Shri Purshottam Hirani) and ii) Sindh Panchyat Samachar (Editor Shri Kamal Vardani). The city has a very famous large Temple namely Shri Bhageshwar Mahadev Ashram which includes Prem Prakash Ashram. Other worth seeing places are Sindhu Bhavan in Sindhi Colony, Sindhi Gurdwara near Railway Station, Jhulelal Mandir in Gudko Colony, Anandpur Sahib Darbar, Radhasoamy Satsang Hall, Shiv Ghat and Jaju Sagar Dam, Radha Krishna Mandir in Vikram Colony. A Sindhi Directory is also prepared by Sindhi Social Workers. The Statue of Hemu Kalani is under construction. As such the above said organisations are active and playing their nice part in social and humanitarian activities. However most of the Sindhi Dharamshalas here and in other cities are made for marriage purposes only. Hence all of them were advised to make some arrangement for Lodging and Boarding also so that Sindhi Social Workers and Visitors could stay in a Sinhii atmosphere in Sindhi localities on Low cost basis.

5. Mandsuar (M.P.).: The city has 1 lakh population which includes 10% i.e. 10,000 Sindhis. Nearly 80% speak in Sindhi. Sindhi Organisations are at work in different fields such as i) General Sindhi Panchyat (President - Shri Vasudev Khemani), ii) Bharatiya Sindhu Sabha (President - Shri Rupsingh Nandwani, Vice President - Shri Sahjram Budhwani, Secretary - Shri Wadhumal Chahuja), iii) Hemu Kalani Yuva Sangathan, iv) Lari Lohana Sindhi Panchayat. Here, Bhartiya Sindhu Sabha is quite active. They celebrate annual functions, hold medical camps, arrange Kavi Samelans etc., with the help and co-operation of other organisations. 4 Sindhi Dharamshalas are meant for marriage purposes only. Such as Jhulelal Dharamshala, Sindhi Gurudwara (at Lachhman Darwaja), Sindhu Aradhana Mandir (at Gol Choraha, Naiabadi) and Sant Kanwarram Dharmashala. The speciality of this city is noted in the statues of Hemu Kalani and Sant Kanwarram in the heart of the city. Though there is no Sindhi School, however they passed a firm resolution (on the same day in the meeting) to run Sindhi classes. Along with celebration of annual functions, they celebrate Satnarain Katha alongwith 'Abhishek' and Bhandara every month. They have also published a Sindhi Directory. They need financial help for arranging ambulance. They suggested telecasting of Sindhi programmes for sufficient time in Astha channel. The spirit of brotherhood and help was noticed to a great extent among them.

6. Javra (M.P.): Though Sindhis are hardly a little over one percent here in the city's total population of over a lakh, they have created a good image in the eyes of others by their good behaviour and dealings with the local people in the business. They speak in Sindhi onl,y except hardly 5% who are in service. There is no trace of Sindhi School but well wishers are seriously thinking of running Sindhi classes. They have Sindhi Panchyat whose President is Shri Gurmukhdas Ramchandani, Secretary - Shri Mahesh Soni, Vice President - Shri Hukumchand Badlani and Shri Bharat Mansukhani. They are doing sufficient public service activities and get full co-operation from famous Social Worker Shri Shankarlal Gagimal. The city has 2 Sindhi Dharmashalas for marriage purposes and 3 temples.They celebrate the melas of Durga Mata, Guru Nanak Jayanti and Chetichand on a large scale. They are preparing directory for Sindhis shortly. They complained that Sindhi programmes are not shown on T.V. hence a Sindhi T.V. Channel be started.

In view of the survey of above mentioned 6 cities, it will be seen that the Sindhis in general are well off financially on the whole, and are trying their utmost best to preserve their Language & Culture and are conscious of not getting their due rights. Yet their voice is not heard properly in the political and cultural fields as they are scattered all over India. For example: a small demand of having a Sindhi Jhanki on Republic Day-is not accepted by the authorities and sufficient Sindhi programmes on T.V. are not shown, as it would have boosted the morale of youngsters. Unfortunately there is also dearth of Dedicated and Selfless Sindhi Leaders with foresight who can unite our community. Let us pray God so that we get such type of leaders who can preserve our rich culture and civilization of Mohen-Jo-Daro era and where the ancient Vedas were written on the banks of the Sindhu river. Otherwise Sindhis have enough strength. As they have solved their economic problems on the whole, likewise they can also solve other problems provided they are guided properly.

Joint Report/Article No. 6:

Published in "Sindhiyat" Monthly, Pg. 24 dt. 15/03/2004

DESTINATION - Bangalore & Satara

Tour Report by Mohan G. Rohira

Mohan G. Rohira

Mohan G. Rohira, advocate and noted Social Worker is an avid traveller. He has a habit of reporting to press the details of his tour. This time he has travelled to Bangalore and Satara. Here he reports.

I got golden chance to meet the important Sindhis of Bangalore & Satara. They were good enough to arrange meetings of office bearers of Sindhi organizations at short notice on my request for promoting our ancient culture, language and Sanskriti and cementing the bonds of brotherhood in our Community.

The detailed report of these Cities is as under:-

Bangalore :-

This 'City of Gardens' is a mini-metropolis having a total strength of 70 lakhs, but Sindhis comprise of hardly 2400 families (12000) as could be noticed from their directory published in 1999. However, their importance cannot be over-exaggerated. They are quite well off in their respective business. They have built 2 Dharamshalas namely Puj Sindhi Dharamshala at K.G. Road 2^nd Cross, Bangalore - 9, for staying and a Sindhi Community Hall in Sindhi Colony for marriage purposes. They have also built 7 temples such as Bhai Gobindram Darbar and Lilaben Satsang Hall in Shanti Nagar, Sindhi Seva Samiti Satsang Hall at Kumar Krupa Road, Sindhi Panchayat Temple at Dispensary Road in cantt area, Dada Amar Satsang Hall in Sheshadripuram, Lai Sai Mandir in Nagrathpeth where 40 days Langar (Mass Feeding) of 150 persons daily is arranged during Chalilah Sahib throughout the day by Shri Arjandas Khathuria. Moreover, the above mentioned 2 Dharmashalas also have temples in their premises.

The City has 13 Sindhi Organizations, namely (1) Bangalore Sindhi Merchants Association in Sindhi Colony, (2) Nagrathpeth Puj Sindhi Panchayat (3) Puj Sindhi Panchayat (General), (4) Puj Sindhi Panchayat Cantt., (5) Shantinagar Sindhi Association, (6) Sindhi Seva Samiti, (7) Sindhi Bankers' Association, (8) Sindhi Bradri Mandal, (9) Sindhi Panchayat Dharamshala, (10) Sindhi Youth Association, (11) Sindhi Seva Sangh, (12) Bharatiya Sindhu Sabha, (13) Dada Amar Charitable Trust. Rev. Dada Amar, aged over 85 years, is the guiding force behind all the affairs of the Trust. I got the golden opportunity to meet him personally and found in him another Dada J. P. Vaswani. Under his guidance various activities are carried out such as Dada Amar Rehabilitation Centre for 40 Cerebral Palsy Children. Amar Dham is constructed with 60 apartments for needy families who do not pay any rent. Rural Health Clinics and monthly Juvenile Diabetic Camps are organized and borewells have been dug in a number of villages. Likewise other Sindhi Organizations also play important role in their respective fields. However, their detailed activities can not be mentioned here for want of space. Above all they have formed one Sindhi Federation of Bangalore as a co-ordinating body for all the Sindhi Associations. Its President is Shri Ramchand Ahuja. This Federation, among other activities, has also published a valuable Sindhi Directory of Sindhis of Bangalore with useful information.

The Sindhis of this beautiful City speak mainly in Sindhi at home & among themselves. They are mostly in various businesses. Two schools and 3 colleges are managed by Sindhis but unfortunately Sindhi is not taught there even as one of the subjects, and no preference is given to Sindhi students. Except one Sindhi library in Nagrathpeth, even private classes of teaching Sindhi are not arranged. They were persuaded to do something concrete in this direction. Recently they have started a movement by which practically every Sindhi home / office is persuaded to keep a laminated Murti of Jhulelal Sai. Sindhis in other Cities also should follow this practice. They celebrate important festivals such as Chetichand, Chaliha, Sri Ganesh Chaturthi, Durgashtami, Guru Nanak Jayanti, Dasara etc. Furthermore, Sindhi Seva Samiti is publishing monthly English Magazine "Mission Hebbal". A Sindhi weekly famous newspaper (in Devanagiri Script) is published by Shri Srichand Nainani (without whose help I could not have got most of the above information). A famous hospital is managed by Sindhis in S.R. Nagar. They gave many suggestions, mainly Sindhi Channel should be started on T.V. at the earliest emphasizing vocal music, dramas, songs, information & Sindhi history so that youngsters should get inspiration to promote Sindhi Language & Culture. The places most worth sight seeing in this City of pleasant climate are Lal Baug with Glass, Cubbon Park, Vidhan Saudha, Shiva & ISKCON Temples, Tipu Sultan's Palace, Nandi Hills, Shiv Ganga Pahadi & many other places.

SATARA

50 Sindhi families stay in this City of Maharashtra in overall population of One Lakh. They have formed a Sindhi Seva Mandal in Bhavani Peth whose President is Shri Jagdish M. Rohira and Secretary is Shri Dwarkadas R. Udani. They have constructed one Jhulelal Mandir in Rajwada as well as Radhakrishin Mandir. They perform various social activities for the betterment of Sindhi Community, meet together on marriage & death ceremonies etc. but so far they have not been able to have their own Dharamshala though they are planning for the same. They are practically all in business and speak in Sindhi. However, I saw them speaking some times in Marathi also among themselves. They have started Naraindas B. Chhabda Sainik School & Jr. College but unfortunately there is no provision of learning Sindhi as one of the subjects. They take out procession & arrange Langars on the occasions of annual festivals such as Chetichand & Ganesh Chaturthi. Sindhi Mahila Mandal has published a mini Directory of all Sindhi families. The Sindhis of this town have cordial relations with local people. The editor of one Marathi Magazine 'Sanjawad' is Shri Ghansham Chhabda (Sindhi). He has promised to publish one column in Sindhi. The City has important tourist places such as Sant Ramdas Samadhi, Ajinkia Fort, Shivaji Museum, Natraj Temple, Vaishnavdevi Temple, Mahabaleshwar Hill Station is hardly 55 Kms. away from here.

Joint Report/Article No. 7:

Published in installments in

1) "Hindu Bhoomi" Sindhi Weekly, dt. 29/11/2006, 6/12/2006, 27/12/2006, 3/1/2007, 10/1/2007, 17/1/2007

2) “Sujag Sindhi” Weekly (Devanagari) dt. 25/12/2006, 15/1/2007

3) "Samvad Sindhi" Hindi - Fortnightly Dt. 16-31 December 2006 & again dt. 01-15 March 2007

The Report of Sindhis of Different Cities in India

(By Mohan G. Rohira, Advocate, Mumbai)

I had gone to following cities during different periods. Meetings were held for 2 to 3 hours in each city with office bearers of Sindhi Associations wherein various matters were discussed regarding unity and improvement in our Community, suggestions and information were collected. There was good enthusiasm, a great love & affection & good hospitality was extended to me everywhere so much so that it can not be described. The taste of pudding is in the eating. It is rare in big cities like Mumbai. Moreover it surpasses the discomforts of traveling long joumeys in Rly Sleeper class & getting irregular outside food. The readers can themselves verify by taking such sojourns. One particular point which was noticed everywhere, was that the Murtis of Bhagwan Jhulelal is normally kept in practically all Sindhis' shops / offices or homes for keeping Sindhi identity. However, whenever these Murtis were not to be seen, they promised to keep the same in the near future. These Murtis were also sent to some cities by Bangalore Sindhi Samaj. Other points which were noticed were that leaving apart Sindhi Schools, even Sindhi subject is not being taught (except Nagpur) even in Sindhi Managed Schools, which is disheartening. More over Sindhis are mostly in business and they are well off on the whole. They mainly speak in Sindhi only among themselves and at home particularly in small towns and thus they have contributed to a great extent in preserving our rich culture and language, which is heartening.

Further report of each city in a nutshell is as under:-

1. Shillong (Meghalaya) (1989): This city is the capital of Meghalaya State and an important hill station in North East India. Here only 35 different Sindhi families stay in the total city population of 7 lakhs. They have formed a United Sindhi Association (U.S.A.) with 200 members. Their President is Shri Gobind Bahirwani & Secretary is Shri Haresh Mordani. They perform some social activities for the benefit of the Sindhi Community and celebrate the annual cultural festivals of Chetichand & Holi on a grand scale. At least 90% of them speak in Sindhi among themselves. They also run Sindhi teaching classes on public holidays and meet among themselves on happy & unhappy occasions. Being a hill station, the city has many places of tourist interest such as Shillong Peak, Lukar Peak, Chirapunji having heaviest rainfall as compared to all other cities of India.

2. Jamshedpur (Jharkhand) (1995) : Here 40 Sindhi families stay in the total city population of 15 lakh. They mainly stay in Sindhi Refugee Colony, near R.D. Tata High School (P.O. Agrico). They have built Sindhu Bhavan in this Colony in 1964 for doing all social functions as well as for lodging & marriage purpose. They have a Sindhi Panchayat whose President is Shri Amritlal Mohnani & Secretary is Shri Devanand Jumani. They celebrate Holi on a grand scale. Fifty percent of them speak in Sindhi among themselves. They are both in business & services (mainly of TISCO & TELCO etc.) They are mainly having middle class income. This city has many worth seeing famous tourist spots such as Dimna Park, Jublee Park, Rusi Modi Park built by Tatas. These can be compared with 'Vrindavan Gardens' of Mysore full with Musical Fountains. The Steel Factories of Tatas in this City are very famous throughout the world.

3. Vishakhapatnam (A.P.) (1995): The city has a total population of 18 lakhs and the number of Sindhi families is 150 only. They have a Sindhi Panchayat whose President is Shri Manu Menda and Secretary is Shri Deepak Idnani. They have built a Sindhi Panchayat Hall (near Hotel Mayuri) for the purpose of doing all Social functions, as well as for running Marriage Information Bureau for the benefit of the community for the whole A.P. State. They are united and often meet on happy & unhappy occasions. They have published a good directory of Sindhis and they mainly speak in Sindhi Language among themselves. They celebrate Chetichand & Holi on a grand scale. The city has a famous 'Sinhachallam' (God Narsinh) Temple worth seeing and a huge Naval Dockyard as well as a long Seashore which could be seen in a tourist bus.

4. Vijaywada (A.P.) (1995): The City has a total population of 18 lakhs with 200 Sindhi families. They have a Puj Sindhi Panchayat, whose President is Shri Mohanlal Ashplay and Secretary is Shri Chander Prakash Sachdev. This Panchayat is affiliated to Sindhi Federation of South India and later Sindhi Council of India as well. They speak mainly in Sindhi Language among themselves. They have also published a good Sindhi Directory for the benefit of the community. They have built a 'Sindhu Bhavan' with total investment of 2 ½ * crores. They do much social activities for the benefit of community as well as for local people. They celebrate 4 Melas in the year such as Chetichand, Guru Nanak Jayanti etc. The city has a famous 'Kanak Durga' temple (on the Hill) and another famous temple of Lord Narsinh (in Mangalgiri nearby) There is a big Railway Junction Station here wherein at least 200 Railway trains pass throughout the 24 hours for going to all corners of India.

5. Bhubhaneshwar (Orissa) (1995): This Temple City is the Capital of Orissa. The City's total population is nearly 12 lakhs and the number of Sindhi families is 50. The President & Secretary of this City's Sindhi Central Panchayat are S/Shri Pawankumar Motwani & Dilip Kumar Motwani respectively. They celebrate Chetichand Festival on a grand scale and meet on happy & unhappy occasions among themselves and also do some social activities for the Community. However they do not have any Sindhi Dharamshala or Temple but crave to build some in the near future. They often speak in Sindhi at home & among themselves and are well off in their business. The places of tourist attraction are Lingraj & Rajarani Temples, Konarak Sun Temple, Jagannath Puri Dham, Chilka Lake (biggest lake in India) etc. which can be seen in a tourist bus in 2 days.

6. Moradabad (U.P.) : The City has 40 Sindhi families in a total population of 11 lakhs. The President & Secretary of Sindhi Panchayat are S/Shri Jeevat Singh Chandwani and Devidas Wadhwani respectively. They celebrate Republic Day and Chetichand Festivals with enthusiasm. They do some social activities and meet on happy & unhappy occasions but they do not have their own Sindhi Dharamsala or a temple. At least 50% of them speak with their brethren in their language and the remaining speak in Hindi language. They are often in business & are monetarily so so.

7. Jhansi (U.P.) (1996) : The City's total population is 7 lakhs & that of Sindhis is 525 families. This city can be divided into 2 bastis (pockets) for convenience sake i.e. (i) Sipri Bazar & (ii) Shahar. The details of each basti are as follows:

(i) Sipri Bazar : 175 Sindhi families stay here. The President & Secretary of their Sindhi Panchayat are S/Shri Khushiram Ahuja & Mohan Ahuja respectively. They have built a Sindhi Panchayat Bhavan in Masiha Gunj (Sipri Bazar). Moreover a Homeopathy Dr. Mahtabsingh Gurnaney has established 'Sindhi Navjivan Sabha' in the year 1967, whose President, and Secretary respectively are S/Shri Girdharilal Tolani & Lachhman Karnani. Both Associations are doing enough social activities in their respective fields. They close shops on every Monday.

(ii) Shahar : This has 350 Sindhi families. The President & Secretary of their Puj Sindhi Panchayat respectively are S/Shri Viruma! Karnani & Chander Prakash Nainwani. They have also built a Sindhi Panchayat Bhavan on Rani Mahal Road. They also have established Sai Asudaram Mandli & Sai Madhavdas Shah Mandli. Every organization is doing a lot of social activities in its respective field. They close shops on every Tuesday.

Both the above Sindhi Bastis in the whole city are celebrating together Chetichand & Guru Nanak Jayanti on a grand scale. They have published a beautiful Sindhi Directory. They mainly speak in Sindhi among themselves. Most of them are in business only and belong to middle & lower middle class income groups. They have also established 'Bundelkhand Sindhi Samaj' in 1994 which comprises of 13 districts (7 U.P. & 6 M.P. districts). The State President, of this Samaj is above mentioned Dr. Mahtabsingh Gurnaney. He is also President of (City's) Senior Citizens Welfare Association & Convenor of Sri Satya Sai Seva Samiti and thus does a lot of social activities not only for Sindhis but for others also. Hence he is loved by one & all (His Tel. No.: 09451130736). They also run International Marriage Bureau & a Ladies Wing with active social work in their organizations. The attractive Tourist places are Rani Mahal, Narayan Baug, Lakshmi Vyayam Mandir, Kali Mandir and last but not least a Great famous Fort built by Freedom Fighter Rani Laxmibai of Jhansi, which nobody can afford to skip.

8. Bilaspur (Chhatisgarh) (1995) : The total strength of this City is 6 lakhs which includes 30,000 Sindhis (almost 5%). There are nearly 10 Sindhi Pockets (Bastis) in the City e.g. Sant Kanwar Ram Nagar, Sindhi Colony, Sarkhanda, Bandhwa Pada, Torwanaka, Adarsh Colony, Rishi Colony, Azadnagar, Chakarbhatta Camp etc. They have at least their own 10 Sindhi Dharmasalas namely Sindhi Samaj Dh. (Gol Bazar), Fatavdas Dh. (Sindhi Colony), Puj Panchayat Bhavan (Sant Kanwar Ram Nagar, Sindhi Colony, which manages Sindhi School till V Std.), Sindhi Bhavan in Tarva Naka (built at the cost of ½ % crore) etc. The Sindhis of this City have also built many Temples & Halls e.g. those of Radha-swamy, Dhan Nirankari & Anandpur religious organizations. Other marvellous achievement of Sindhis here is that the main business activities of the city are under the control of Sindhis though they comprise of only 5% of the total population. Hence they command a good respect among the local people also for all their noble activities.

They have 12 different Panchayats (including Bharatiya Sindhi Sabha) in their different localities and a Cental Sindhi Panchayat whose President is Shri Bhimandas Dayalani and Secretary is Shri Manohar Khatwani. Every organization is doing social activities in its respective field. All Sindhi organizations celebrate all main festivals together particularly Chetichand Mela with a long procession and all of them close their shops for half a day. They were however persuaded to close their shops / offices for the whole day.

9. Raipur (Chhatisgarh) (1995) : At the time of the visit, Raipur was just another city in Madhya Pradesh, but is now the capital of Chhatisgarh.The main achievement of Sindhis here is that though their population in the City is 1 lakh out of total population of 10 lakhs (i.e. only 10%), the main business activities of the City (such as Stationery, Cloth, Maniar, Kiryana, etc.) is in their hands! They are quite well off particularly after this City became the capital of the newly formed Chhatisgarh State. They command a good respect among local people also particularly for their noble social activities. The Sindhi localities in the City are Fafadi, Jawaharnagar, Lakhenagar, Katora Talao, Telebandha, Nahar Pada, Rajinder Nagar, Geetanagar, Shankarnagar, Anupamnagar, Shailendranagar, Devendranagar, Shyamnagar, Sindhi Colony, etc. The Sindhi Spots worth seeing are Jhulelal Dham (in Shailendranagar) with the cost of 1 ½ crores and Sindhu Bhavan in Devendranagar etc. However one can not afford to miss a world famous 'Shadani Darbar' at Dhamtari Road, National Highway. This Darbar manages to send over 100 pilgrims to Sindh for visiting Shadani Darbar there & other pilgrimage places of Sindh every year. In turn, nearly 500 Pakistani Hindu Sindhi pilgrims visit Indian Shadani Darbar as well as other important places in India. Even the local people of Raipur & neighbouring cities visit this Darbar with reverence. Sant Yudhishtralal is present head of this Darbar, which is unique in philanthropic & religious activities as well as in arranging stay of pilgrims in the Darbar. Here the Sindhis have formed many associations / Panchayats, Bharatiya Sindhu Sabha & a General Sindhi Panchayat whose President and Secretary respectively are S/Shri Anand Kukreja and Jawaharlal Budhwani. More over the President & Secretary, respectively of whole Chhatisgarh State Sindhi Panchayat are S/Shri Srichand Sundrani & Hargundas Menghwani. Dr. Godeja is President of Chhatisgarh Sindhi Sahitya Academy. Chhatisgarh Bharatiya Sindhu Sabha President is Shri Murlidhar Makhija. Every Sindhi Organisation is doing Social activities in its respective field. The city has one Sindhi School where Sindhi language is taught upto Std. V. There are 3 to 4 Sindhi Temples & a Temple of Bajrang Bali in Telebandha Locality. While passing through Sindhi pockets, one feels that one is moving in Bazars of Sindh! Many annual cultural festivals take place here (Particularly in abovementioned Shadani Darbar) and the Sindhis of this Capital City have contributed enough in preserving the Sindhi Sanskriti & language. They don't miss to speak in Sindhi among themselves & at home. Being capital, many places are worth seeing here.

10. Durg (Chhatisgarh) 1995 : This small town of 4 lakhs strength is situated near Raipur. The strength of Sindhi is 5% i.e. 20,000. They stay at different localities such as Sant Kanwar Ram Nagar, Hemu Kalani Nagar, Shadani Darbar, Sindhi Colony (Raipur Naka). Many Sindhi Associations are engaged in social activities here, such as Jhulelal Seva Mandal, Sakhar Panchayat, Sindhuri Seva Samiti, Sant Kanwarram Seva Samiti, Shadani Seva Samiti & Asudaram Seva Samiti. They have also formed a Sindhi General Panchayat whose President is Dr. Ghanshyam Rajpal & Secretary is Shri Mahesh Ganeshani. The address of this Panchayat is Sindhu Bhavan, Sindhi Colony, Station Road, Durg. The Chetichand Festival is celebrated annually by all Sindhi Associations together, wherein merit students are felicitated, Sindhi Folk Songs, art, Sanskriti and 'Chhej' etc. programmes are arranged. They also celebrate Chaliha Sahib, Sant Kanwar Ram Jayanti, Guru Nanak Jayanti, Baba Khatwala Varsi etc. on a grand scale. These Sindhi Associations particularly Sindhuri Seva Samiti - teach embroidery, stitching, etc. to poor persons so that they can stand on their own legs. They also visit each and every Sindhi home for promoting Sindhi Language. They are determined to start Sindhi School / Classes shortly, however they have not succeeded so far. They often speak in Sindhi among themselves. They do not lag behind in building Sindhi Temples such as Jhulelal Temple, Sindhi Gurdwara, Shadani Darbar, Sindhi Dharamshala & Temple, Sheetal Ashram, etc. A praise worthy point was noticed here that (like Bangalore Sindhi Samaj), every Sindhi Shop / Office or home had a Murti of Sai Jhulelal for keeping Sindhi identity.

11. Rajnandqaon (Chhatisgarh) 1995 : The population of this tiny town is 1 ½ lakhs wherein 5000 Sindhis stay. This town is divided into 3 Sindhi localities, each locality having its own Panchayat. Main locality is Lal Baug with 3000 Sindhis. The President & Secretary respectively of Sindhi Panchayat of this locality are S/Shri Arjandas Panjwani & Awatram Tejwani. Nearly 1000 Sindhis stay at Hattithan and the remaining stay in the main city. All the 3 Panchayats have one Sindhi Central Panchayat whose Secretary is above named Shri Awatram Tejwani & President is Shri Lilaram Bhojwani. He was a minister previously in erstwhile M.P. State and now he is Chairman of Handicraft Corporation (equivalent to a minister in the present Chhatisgarh State). The town has 2 Sindhi Dharamshalas. Every Panchayat is doing social activities in its field. They meet on happy & unhappy occasions, particularly in their locality. They mainly speak in Sindhi and celebrate Chetichand, Guru Nanak & Sant Kanwar Ram Jayantis, Mahshivaratri etc., melas with enthusiasm. They are on the whole well off. One feels the charm of a village life while passing through this small town.

12. Hoshangabad (M.P.)1996 : The population of this small town near Bhopal is 1 lakh and the number of Sindhis is 2500. Here each Sindhi Panchayat is doing a lot of social work of the Community in its different localities such as Krishnapuri (Mukhi Shri Shewaram Wadhwani) and Gokalpuri (Mukhi Shri Bhagwandas Mulchandani). Both these localities are in Sindhi Colony. A large number of Sindhis also stay in the main town. Here the main social worker is Shri Ghanshyamdas Jhamnani, an ex-Parshad and Ex-member of Distt. Planning Committee. He is also now Secretary-General of Sindhi Council of India (M.P. Branch). Ms. Ishwari Mulchandani is a Sindhi Parshad. They have also established General Sindhi Panchayat whose Mukhi is abovenamed Shri Shewaram Wadhwani. Sindhu Seva Samiti runs Sadhu Vaswani Vidya Mandir but alas, no Sindhi Language is taught here! Sant Asudaram Samiti has built a big Satsang Bhawan and it also arranges serving of cold water at Rly. Station to all the passengers who travel on pass through trains throughout the day during hot season. There are 2 Sindhi Dharamshalas for marriage purpose only. The disciples of Baba Hardasram (Jalgaon) have built 2 Satsang Bhavans. All Sindhi Associations unitedly celebrate annual cultural functions on a grand scale such as Chetichand, Guru Nanak Jayanti, Janmashtami & Sai Chanduram Jayanti (15th June). At least 95% of them speak in Sindhi among themselves. They are mainly in business and belong to middle class income group. The Sindhis have established Sant Meherdas Charitable Hospital for the benefit of one & all. This town is on the river Narmada.

13. Datia (M.P.) (1996) : This small town of 1,15,000 population includes 8000 Sindhis. The Sindhi General Panchayat's President & Secretary respectively are Dr. G. R. Lilaramani & Shri Mahesh Gulwani. The President of Bharatiya Sindhu Sabha is Shri Ghanshyam Suryavanshi. Each organization does social work in its respective field. There is also Prem Prakash Ashram of Swami Teoonram at Thandi Sadak area, whose construction cost is 1/4 crore. Sant Hajariram Jyotwala's Darbar & Dharamshala is situated at Garikhana, where Akhand Jyoti (permanent flame) is burning continuously since last over 200 years. Moreover there is Sant Kanwar Ram Shewa Mandal Sindhi Dharamshala & a Sindhi Gurdwara. Many Saints visit this town to have Darshan of pious religious places & to give their religious discourses. Many Melas take place here such as ‘Jyoti Ishnan' Mela (on Shravan month's - moon day), Chetichand, Sant Kanwar Ram Jayanti, the birthdays & anniversaries of S/Swami Teoonramji, Sarvanandji & Shantiprakashji etc. They often speak in Sindhi among themselves. They are mainly in business and are quite well off on the whole. The main trades in the city are carried out by Sindhis only. The places worth seeing are Old Fort, Rajgarh, Pili Kothi, Peetam Peth, Thandi Sarak, etc.

14. Bina (M.P.) (1996 and 2008) : This City is near Jhansi & has a very big RIy Junction on C.RIy. It has total population of 1 ¼ lakhs which includes 350 Sindhi families. They have a strong Sindhi Panchayat whose President & Secretary are S/Shri Dhanrajmal Wadhwani & Chandirlal Chotwani respectively. They are united and do a lot Social Service so much so that if any outsider Sindhi passenger finds any kind of difficulty at Bina Station itself, their Panchayat goes out of way to help such a person. At least 99% of them speak in Sindhi only among themselves. The Super Market of Bina is full with at least 90% Sindhi Shops. They are mainly in business and belong to middle class income group on the whole. They have Sri Guru Nanak Sindhi Dharamshala (in Gandhi Ward) & Jhulelal Sindhi Dharamshala (near Tuti Puliya). Both the Dharamshalas are meant for lodging & marriage purposes. They utilize the income of these Dharamshalas for marriage of poor girls & for helping poor widows in the community. They celebrate 2 annual festivals on the noble occasions of birth anniversaries of Sri Guru Nanak & Sai Jhulelal (Chetichand) and they close all their shops & do "Priti Bhojan" on both these occasions. Many Satsangs are arranged here by Radhasoami, Dhan Nirankari & Anand Puris. Sundrani Families have built many Satsang Halls. The Sindhis of other cities should learn these virtues, particularly unity and helping others, from these people.

15. Gwalior (M.P.) (1996 and 2008) : This Royal City of Scindia Dynasty has total population of nearly 15 lakhs which includes 1 ½ lakh Sindhis. They have formed 52 small associations in different localities but mainly they have 2 parallel Panchayats. One is "Puj Sindh Hindu General Panchayat". Its President is Shri Srichand Valecha & Secretary is Shri Anand Karara. This Panchayat was established in 1948 when J. B. Mangharam Factory was established here wherein a great number of Sindhi's were employed (The factory has since been taken over by the Britannia Co.). The name of the other Panchayat is "Sindh Hindu General Panchayat" whose President & Secretary are respectively S/Shri Mulchand Jaisinghani & Nanakram Purswani. 2 main members of each of the 52 small associations mentioned above are represented in either of these 2 General Panchayats. Bharatiya Sindhu Sabha is also having its branch here. However, this city does not have a Central Sindhi Panchayat. In addition to above Panchayats, they have also established "Sindh Navyuvak Samajik Suraksha Mandal" with 400 young members (aged 18 to 35 years) for the purpose of guaranteeing the Security of all Sindhis & also for preserving our rich culture, art and language. Hence Sindhis of this big city have high hopes in this organization (of being leaders of tomorrow). The Sindhis of other cities can learn from such an example, particularly for safe guarding their life and property in case of periodical attacks by goondas & terrorists, etc. Each organization is more or less doing social services in its own field. Many annual festivals are celebrated here separately by different associations in different localities. However, it is satisfying to note that Chetichand Festival is celebrated on a grand scale unitedly by all organizations. They are mainly in business field and are well off economically. Most of them speak in Sindhi Language at home & among themselves. They manage Sindhi Adarsh Mandir School but alas, Sindhi Language is not taught there even as one of the subjects! Kavi Sammelans are arranged here on the occasions of birth & death anniversaries of martyr Hemu Kalani. Nearly 80 Sindhi affluent families stay at the famous "Sindh Vihar" situated at Royal Jai Vilas Palace area of Late Madhavrao Scindia. There are some Sindhi Dharamshalas & Temples here such as Parmanand Pahumal Sindhi Dh. (Khaski Bazar), Sindhi Dharamshala & Jhulelal Mandir (Madhav Gunj), Jhulelal Mandir (Dhanauli), Nij Dham Ashram, Prem Prakash Ashram etc. Being a royal city, many tourist spots attract tourists here such as Kings' Fort (including Sikh Gurudwara), Rajmahal, Surya Mandir, Ful Baug & many other gardens, etc.

16. Vardha (M.S.) (1995) : Nearly 2 lakh people are staying in this historic town which includes about 1100 Sindhi families. They are staying in 3 different localities, namely Dayal Nagar (700 familes), Ramnagar, Sindhi Colony (300 families) and Main City (100 families). They have one Sukkur Sindhi Panchayat represented by Shri Ratanlal Punjwani as President & Shri Jamiat Dayalani as Secretary. The other Panchayat is General Sindhi Panchayat whose President is Shri Ramanlal Lalwani and Jt. Secretary is Shri Tekchand Watwani. Each organization is doing social activities for the benefit of the community in its own field. They unitedly celebrate annual festivals such as Chetichand & Guru Nanak Jayanti. They have one Sant kanwar Ram Sindhi Dharamshala and a Sindhi Gurudwara. They often speak in Sindhi among themselves & at home. They are mainly in business and belong to middle income group on the whole. They are united & have good relations with local people. Many historical places are tourist attractions worth seeing here. Such as Sevagram Ashram Pratishthan (founded by Mahatma Gandhi), Punnar Ashram (founded by Sant Vinoba Bhave), Geeta Mandir (with 700 shlokas of Bhagwat Geeta inscribed on 700 different stones), Golden Budh Temple and last but not least - International Hindi University (which was previously Rashtrabhasha Prachar Samiti, Vardha), etc..

17. Nagpur (M.S.) (1995) : The total strength of this big city is nearly 28 lakhs, including 80,000 Sindhis. Since the City occupies a big geographical area, Sindhis are staying in different localities such as Jeri Patka, Mekosa Baug, Kotia Colony, Itwari, Tulsinagar, Shantinagar, Khamla, etc. They have a number of Sindhi Associations and one Central Sindhi Panchayat represented by Shri Shravankumar Madnani as President, and Shri C. L. Menghrajani as Secretary. In addition, they have one Naga Vidarbha Panchayat representing the whole Vidarbha territory, whose President and Secretary respectively are S/Shri Vijaykumar Kewalramani and Pratap Motwani. Bharatiya Sindhu Sabha is also active here. Each Sindhi organization is trying its level best to work for the community in its own field. The city has many Primary, Secondary Schools & Jr. Colleges for boys & girls under Sindhi Management. However, the arrangement of teaching Sindhi Subject (Devanagiri) is only in one "Mahatma Gandhi Sindhi Centennial High School", whose Principal is respected Shri Deepak Bajaj. Vidya Samiti's 4-5 Schools are managed by Sindhis but they don't teacn Sindhi even as one of the subjects.

The city has many Sindhi Dharamshalas along with Temples. Such as those of Sant Satramdas, Baba Hardasram, Bhagat Kanwar Ram (Gandhi Baug), Shri Manghanmal Vensimal (Lal Ganj), Shri Sanwaldas Devani (near Rly. Station), Shri Moolchand & Shri Hiranand (both Dharamshalas at Jeri Patka) as well as Shri Chetandas Lakhwani Hall and Prem Prakash Mandir (Queta Colony, Itwari) etc. It is also encouraging to note that the main trades (e.g. stationery, cloth etc.) are in the hands of Sindhis here, though they are hardly 3% of the total population of the city. Hence they command a good respect among the local people particularly when Sindhis have good relations with them. They are mainly in business and are quite well off on the whole. Nearly 75% of Sindhis speak in their own ancient Sindhi Language among themselves & at homes, particularly in Jeri Patka Colony where a passerby feels Sindhi atmosphere. Shri Rochiram Thawani, a veteran freedom fighter and the pride of the Community & Nation, is also staying here. Many worth seeing tourist places here include Dr. Hedgewar Bhawan, Khensi Lake, Kavi Kalidas Smark, Ramtek, etc. which can be conveniently visited in 2 days in a tourist bus.

(Last Installment)

Published in

1. "Hindu Bhoomi" Sindhi Weekly dt. 06/02/2007

2. "Sujag Sindhi" Weekly Devnagri dt. 12/02/2007

3. "Samvad Sindhi" Hindi - Fortnightly Dt. 01 -15 March 2007

Mohan G. Rohira

Advocate

18) Report of Sindhis of Bhopal :-

The total population of this Capital City of MP is 24 lakhs including 2 1/2 lakh Sindhis. The city can be divided into 2 areas, i.e. Bairagarh (Suburbs) and Main City for convenience sake as shown below:-

(i) Bairagarh: This suburb is better known as Sant Hirdaram Nagar or Sant Nagri with total population of over 1 lakh which includes 80% Sindhis. They speak practically in Sindhi only among themselves. Hence while passing from this Suburb, one feels as if one is passing from mini Sindh! They are mainly in business. They have many private and Govt. Schools with Sindhi as one of the Subjects. They celebrate annual festivals such as Chetichand, Dassera (with procession), Sant Kanwar Ram Jayanti, Raja Vir Jayanti etc. They have many Sindhi Associations such as Puj Sindhi Panchayat (President, Shri Sabu Rijhwani and Secretary Shri Madhu Chandwani), Sindhu Samaj, Navyuvak Sabha, Navjeevan Samiti and Sanskruti Kala Mandir, etc. Every organization is doing a lot of social work in its own field. They have 4 Sindhi Dharmasalas in the names of Swami Shanti Prakash, Sai Assandas, Daulatram (for marriage purposes) and Foot Kath Dharamshala (for Marriage and Lodging). They have many temples such as Jhulelal Mandir Raja Vir Mandir and Sant Kanwar Ram Mandir etc. Pradesh Times and Lion City (weekly) are published from here. They have 2 Sindhi Municipal Councillors i.e. Shri Rajesh Hingorani and Shri Ishwar Nathani.

The description of this Suburb would be incomplete without mention of Sant Hirdaramji who attained Mahasamadhi recently after completing centenary and whose name is given to this Suburb. With his blessings and inspiration, many pious activities are going on since very very long time here for all the communities such as free water supply, education, financial and medial help, vocational training centre, eye hospital where there is arrangement of free operations and free lodging and boarding for patients throughout the year. All such information is available from their quarterly magazine 'Anmol Moti' under 'Jeevan Seva Sansthan'. This Suburb is 'Sant Nagri' in real sense.

(ii) Main City : Here Sindhis have many Associations such as Sindhi Central Panchayat (President, Shri Kanayalal Israni, Secretary, Shri Dev Jhurani - a Press Reporter), Sindhi Vikas Samiti, Bharatiya Sindhu Sabha, Sindhu Social Circle, Sindhu Bhavan Trust etc. Each organization is busy in doing social work in its field for the benefit of the community. They have Sindhi managed schools i.e. Sindhu Vidyalaya and Lal Sai Vidya Mandir but without teaching Sindhi as one of the subjects. Nearly 40% of them speak in Sindhi at home and among themselves. They are mainly in business and celebrate annual festivals along with their counterparts at Sant Hirdaram Nagar as mentioned above. The periodicals published by them are Akhand Sindhu Sansar, Challenge, Sindhu Dhara, Bhojanchal Times, Amar-E-Hind, etc. They have 2 Sindhi Dharamshalas namely Atalram Sindhi Dharamshala Trust and Manwani Panjumal Sindhi Dharamshala - both for lodging and marriage purposes. They have famous temples such as Durga Mandir (Sindhi Colony), Jhulelal Mandir (Govindpura) etc., Being a Capital and a big ancient city, there are many attractive tourist places which are worth seeing (with the help of Govt. Tourist Dept.), which no one can afford to miss.

Joint Report/Article No. 8:

Tour report of Sindhis of Goa and Pune during February 2009.

(Mohan G. Rohira , Advocate)

Published in Sindhi and Devanagari Newspapers

Recently I got the Golden opportunity to visit Goa on the grand occasion of all India Sindhi Samaj Convention and also to visit Pune on pious occasion of Sadhu Vaswani Mission's Sindhi Convention. Such noble occasions encouraged me to meet the important dignitaries of Sindhi Community in both the cities by pre-arranged meetings for promoting our ancient culture , language & Sanskriti as well as for getting legitimate rights from the Central Govt, and for boosting the morale of particularly the youngsters in the community. The report of each city is shown as under –

1. GOA :- This city has its own beauty. Just to preserve Portuguese culture & identity, it has been given the status of a full fledged state in the Indian Union with a meagre area of 3702 Kilometers. The City's total population amounts to 16 Lakhs including 200 Sindhi Families (135 in Madgaon, 35 in Panaji or Panjim and 30 in Vasco etc. areas). Each area has its own Sindhi Panchayat such as (1) Madgaon Sindhi Panchayat (President, Shri Lakhi Raheja & Secretary, Shri Sanjay Asrani, (2) Vasco Sindhi Panchayat (President, Shri Dharampal Agicha & Secretary, Shri Jairam Dayalani (3) Goa Sindhi Association's Secretary is Shri. Shivandas Parisram & President is Shri Murli B. Melwani. The latter, particularly with the co-operation of others, contributed with "Tan, Man, Dhan" for the grand success of all India Sindhi Samaj Convention held there. (4) Goa Sindhi Community. This Panchayat at Panaji works at the level of Central Sindhi Panchayat. (President, Shri. Suresh B. Melwani & Vice President, above named Shri Murli B. Melwani). All these Sindhi Associations do some social work for betterment of the Community & others in their respective fields and also jointly (particularly Goa Sindhi Community) arrange Satsang programmes of Dada J.P. Vaswani annually on a grand scale. They celebrate annual festivals such as Holi, Guru Nanak's & Guru Gobind Singh's birthdays and particularly "Chetichand" on a large scale wherein they arrange preeti bhojan in their respective areas and close their shops for a half day. They were advised to celebrate Chetichand jointly by all Sindhi associations and close the shops for whole day and view Sindhi Programmes on T.V. like Sindhis of other cities. They also celebrate "Chandd" monthly. They are united and meet together on happy and unhappy occasions. They are mainly in business.

They have Guru Nanak Darbar in Panaji (Panjim) but do not have any Sindhi Dharamshala, never the less they aspire for one such. About 70% of them speak in Sindhi language among themselves and at home. However they were inspired to speak 100% in Sindhi and also to keep the murties of "Sai Jhulelal' at their shops / homes for keeping their identity intact (on the lines of Bangalore Sindhi Samaj).

This city is very important from tourist angle. Its beaches, casinos, boat cruises, churches, temples are very famous. The 500 years old relics of St. Francis Zavier are kept here in the old church of Bom Jesus Basillica in old Goa. One can join Boat Cruise from Jetty in Panaji for one or two hours to see Portuguese Culture in the form of dances, music & entertainment. Every year tourists throng here from all over India as well as from foreign Countries. One can view the city through conducted tours arranged by the tourist deptt. Cashew nuts of this city are cheap and of better quality which no tourist can afford to miss.

2. PUNE :- This famous mini Metropolis city's total strength is 45 lakhs including1 lakh 30 thousand Sindhis. About 40% of them speak in Sindhi Language in their
homes and among themselves & they are mainly in different professions / businesses. There are so many Sindhi Associations such as 1) Bharatiya Sindhu Sabha (President, Shri Ishwar Ahuja & Secretary ,Shri Suresh Hemanani). They do wonderful social work such as giving medical and financial help to poor widows & other needy persons, arranging students competition , arranging matrimonial relations, celebrating Chetichand, Raksha Bandhan, Holi & other Sindhiyat days etc. 2) Sindhu Seva Dal, (Pr. Shri Suresh Jethwani & Secy, Shri Vijay Daswani ). They arrange annual function on a grand scale, among other things 3) Shiv Shankar Mandli (Pr. Shri Prem Advani). They give medical help and used clothes to needy persons, apart from doing other good work, 4) Puj Lai Sahib Mandli (Pr. Shri Bhagchand Ramchandani). They arrange fortnightly Satsangs, celebrate Holi and Chetichand etc. along with other activities, 5) Sindhi Adbi Sabha (Founder Pr. Shri Goverdhan Sharma "Ghayal" , Secy. Prof Neelam Chhabria & Vice President, Patron Smt. Ratna Godia "Rolaak"). They have 78 members and arrange monthly gatherings, Sindhi Kavi Samelans & Musical programmes, celebrate annual festivals, publish annual books etc. The writer also got the opportunity to attend such Kavi Samelan on 20-02-2009 where famous literary persons came from different corners of the country and read their valuable poems. The city does not have any Sindhi Central panchayat or Federation. They were therefore humbly pressed to make such a body, to keep Murti of Sai Jhulelal at their premises for preserving Sindhi Identity and to celebrate Chetichand jointly by all Sindhi Associations in order to cement further the bonds of Unity among themselves & to raise the image of Sindhis further among the masses of the city.They gave many practical suggestions particularly to start separate Sindhi T.V. Channel which will boost the morale of youngsters among the Community and enable them to get legitimate rights from the Govt.

The city has 2 Jhulelal Temples in Vanvari and Bhawani Peth, Shiv Shankar and Lai Mandli Halls in Nanapeth, Swami Teooram Prem Prakash Ashram and Pushpa Hall in Agarwal Colony, wherein there are also arrangements mainly for marriages & staying. Moreover there is "Nij Thanw" Temple in Bhawani Peth & Amrit Vela Ashram (Holy Mission) in Padamji Compound area. However one cannot afford to miss the biggest Ashram of Sadhu Vaswani Mission near Pune Rly. Station which is a matter of Pride for not only Sindhi Community but for the whole Country! Apart from daily Satsangs, various other numerous pious activities are conducted here for the benefit of not only human beings but for all living beings also, such as performing free / concessional Cardiac Surgeries at Fabiani & Budhrani Heart Institute, conducting free eye surgeries at K.K. Eye Institute, feeding 2 Lakhs needy people with one meal a day, releasing books, CDs and periodicals, starting Sadhu Vaswani College of Nursing, St. Mira High School and Sadhu Vaswani International Schools (Hyderabad & Pune), providing Medical check up and monthly vaccination for animals, inspiring crores of people to pledge for abstaining from Non-vegetarian food on Meatless day etc. Dada J.P. Vaswani is not only the Doyen of Sindhi Community but an "avatar of peace" on this mortal earth. The writer also got the golden chance to listen to this Noble Soul's Pravachans in the Sindhi Convention of Feb. 2009 which inspired one and all attendees. Hence there is little wonder why his followers worked selflessly day and night during this convention.

The city has nearly 6 schools managed by Sindhis but there is arrangement for teaching Sindhi (Devanagiri Script) as one of the subjects only in 2 schools namely St. Mira High School (Sadhu Vaswani Mission) and B.T. Shahani Navnidh High School (Bhavani peth) which gives a little consolation. The city has many Tourist spots such as Aga Khan Palace, Kharak Vasla Dam & Military School, Sinhgarh Fort, Junglee Maharaj Saras Baug, Pune University, Shinde Chhatri, Parvati temple on Hill, Sant Gyaneshwar Temple (in Alandi) etc. Most of them could be conveniently seen through conducted tours.

Joint Report/Article No. 9:

Published in (1) "Hindu Sindhi" Daily dt. Jan 9, 2014

Tour Report of Sindhis Staying in Munger (Bihar) and Kolkata (West Bengal)

(Mohan G. Rohira, Advocate – Mob: 9321448147)

	Recently I got the golden opportunity to attend Golden Jubilee of World Yoga Conference arranged by Bihar School of Yoga at this famous and ancient town, wherein 20000 delegates had gathered from all over the world. On such a noble occasion, meetings were pre-arranged with office bearers & Sindhi Samaj here as well as in Kolkata, for cementing the bonds of unity in Sindhi Community (& thus boosting their morale), preserving our rich and ancient culture, language and sanskriti, as well as for seeking our long awaited legitimate rights from the Central Govt. Suggestions & information were exchanged frankly & listened to each others views patiently in these meetings. More over Sindhi, National and Spiritual literature was distributed therein. The report in a nutshell is as under:-

	--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MUNGER (Bihar) (Oct 2013) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Population of this ancient & Fort Town is 3 lakhs, wherein 10 Sindhi families stay. Previously about 50 families used to stay here. However due to change of State Govt. in 2002, main stone business of Sindhis was practically stopped and hence 40 Sindhi families have migrated from this town. They are mainly in Bakery, Stones & Sweetmeat business and on the whole are well off. They normally speak in Sindhi among themselves and at home. They have cordial relations with local people. They have one ‘Sindhi Panchayat, Munger’, whose President is Shri Naranidas Sunderdas and Secretary is Shri Nandkishore (Bachulal) Pahuja. They do not possess any Sindhi Dharmasala or Temple, but they are longing for the same. They celebrate Chetichand Festival annually & arrange Priti Bhojan on that auspicious occasion. They also meet together on happy & unhappy occasions and are united. They strongly desire for starting of Sindhi T.V., Channel by Govt. They were given list of Sindhi T.V. Programmes on different channels. They are preparing mini-sindhi directory of Sindhis. 6 members were present in their meeting which took place on 20/10/2013.

	A very ancient and famous ‘Maa Chandika Asthan’ (Shaktipeeth Mandir) is situated here. It is said that ‘Mahadani Karna’ in Mahabharata days used to visit this temple daily and burn himself by throwing himself in the hot oil pot. Maa Chandika Devi used to make him alive and give gold equal to his body weight, which Karna used to donate daily. Modern Munger and Bhagalpur districts put together, used to be called as ‘Anga Pradesh’ in those days which Duryodhana had given to Karna and that is why he was called ‘Anga Raja Karna’. Karna used to live in ‘Ganga Darshan’ (Fort Area – which was built by Mir Qasim in Muslim reign period) ‘Akhand Jyot’ is burning here continuosly since 1963 and world famouse Bihar School of Yoga is having its Head Quarters at this very place (Ganga Darshan) and Yoga seekers throughout the world come here very often to take practical training in Yoga. More over Indian Tobacco Co. & Cigarettes factory are situated in this ancient town.

.	--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- KOLKATA (West Bengal) Oct 2013 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This ancient and marvelous Metropolis was capital of India for some time in The East India Co, period (British Rule). Now it is capital of West Bengal. This metropolis containing 2 crore population, earns the distinction of being city with the largest population in India. The total no. of Sindhis staying here is hardly 20000 (i.e. 1 in 1000) which looks like salt mixed in wheat floor or sugar in milk. Nevertheless they have created so many Panchayats, Associations etc., (in whatever area they are in large numbers), which do not lag behind in doing social work in their own different fields, so much so that it is not possible to give full details here. Hence the same is summarized here.

1.	Sindhi Panchayat: They own a nice place at Ambassador Apptts, 61A, Park Street, Kolkata – 700 016 [Tel.: 033-22290660] wherein they arrange meetings on happy & unhappy occasions & annual festivals i.e. Chetichand, Holi, Guru Nanik Jayanti (in collaboration with Holy Mission of Guru Nanik), wherein Sindhis from far away localities also join together and arrange Priti Bhojan (Joint Food) among themselves on such auspicious occasions – Shri Harish G. Metharamani & Shri Murli Punjabi are respectively President & Secretary of this Panchayat. Nearby to above mentioned premises, there is Meera Mandir (in Moria) and Jhulelal Mandir (in Free School Street). 25 members were present in the meeting of this Panchayat on 29/10/2013 which included Bharatiya Sindhu Sabha’s President – Shri Ashok Bhagnani & their other main active members such as Shri Kishin & Prakash Khairajani brothers & Shri Lalit Kalwani. Further more Sindhi Council of India’s President & Vice-President respectively Shri Dilip Bhojwani & Shri Gopichand Nihalani as well as Sindhi Bradri (South Kolkata)’s President Shri Daulatram Jagwani etc. also attended this meeting. This all indicates that Sindhis of Kolkata are united & freely mix up among themselves irrespective of their various different organizations.

2.	Bharatiya Sindhu Sabha: This Sabha is active in social work. They arrange procession on the occasion of Chetichand & also celebrate Holi on a grand scale with co-operation of other Sindhi associations. More over they arrange tours to pilgrimage places in India. Their Secretary is Shri Vijay Badlani. The other dignitaries’ names are mentioned in foregoing para.

3.	Sindhi Punjabi Panchayat (Regd.): This Panchayat is 60 years old. They have built their own Sindhi Punjabi Bhavan in 1978 at 31/2C, Marquis Street, Kolkata – 700 016 (Tel.: 033-22527679) wherein they arrange all functions such as marriage & death ceremonies, children’s dress competition, blood donation, yoga classes, matrimonial & other Social Work etc. They also arrange M.C. meeting every month. Their President is Shri Tulsidas T. Bachani & Secretary is Shri Ramesh L. Bachani. The total strength of this Panchayat is 174 families (852 members). They speak in Sindhi only among themselves & at home and are united, which is shining & inspiring example for other Sindhis. They celebrate Chetichand & Holi annual festivals with dignity. They invite Swami Devprakash Maharaj (Prem Prakash Ashram) every year. 7 members were present in their M.C. meeting on 30/10/2013. Near to this Bhavan, there is one nicely built Amrit Vela Mandir (Holy Mission of Guru Nanik), opp. to jamuna Cinema, wherein religious & social activities take place such as Nari Shaba, feeding of needy persons, Guru Nanik Jayanti etc. There is also Prem Prakash Mandir of Swami Teoouram nearby, where Satsangs are arranged regularly.

4.	Sindhi Bradri South Kolkata (New Alipore): This Panchayat has constructed Sant Kanwar Ram Seva Mandal Trust Bhavan at 25/26, Ramswaroop Khetri Road, New Alipore, Kolkata – 700 053 (Tel. No.033-24000749 / Mob.: 09831360450) wherein they arrange marriages & death ceremonies & other social activities. They also celebrate annual functions such as Sant Kanwar Ram Jayanti, Guru Nanik Jayanti, Sai Vasanshah Jayanti & Varsi, Holi, Chetichand etc., with dignity. They take out procession in New Alipur locality and arrange Priti Bhojan on the auspicious occasion of Chetichand. They have Gurudwara close to this Trust Bhavan. They have prepared a nice Directory of Sindhis staying in South Kolkata. The President (Mukhi) of this Panchagat is Shri Daulatram Jagwani & Secretary is Shri Chunilal Premchandani. The meeting of this Panchayat took place on 31/10/2013 wherein 45 members (including many ladies) were present. Some of these members gave valuable suggestions, prominent among them being Shri Gaugaram Satdev (Writer), Kishore Sadhwani, Prakash Maduani, Smt. Geeta Choithwani etc. In addition to above association the other associations are famous Sindhi Council of India, Sindhi Merchants Association, young Sindhis, Sindhu Foundation, Sindhi Saraswati Mandal, Vasan Shah Mandali, etc. which are doing many social & cultural activities in their respective fields. Nearly 70% Sindhis speak in their mother tongue among themselves & at home in this great Metropolis. They are mainly in business & mostly they are well off. They normally keep photo of Jhulelal Sai at their premises. Many worth seeing places are there in this great Metropolis such as Raj Bhavan, Writers’ Building, Howrah Bridge, Belur Math, Dakshineshwar Mandir, Jain Mandir, Police Museum, Raja Ram Mohanrai Museum, Shahid Minar, Town Hall, Eden Gardens, Netaji Bhawan, Victoria Memoraial etc. which can be conveniently visited in Govt. & Private conducted Tours.

JOINT REPORT/ARTICLE NO. 10 (PUNJAB, U.P., M.P.)

Tour report of Sindhis staying in some cities/towns of India

(Mohan G. Rohira, Advocate. Mob. No. 09321448147)

In order to cement bonds of unity and to preserve & enhance Sindhi Identity, I have so far visited 114 cities/towns of India Since 1987, met officials of important Sindhi Organizations (particularly Bharatiya Sindhu Sabha), got first hand information regarding Sindhi community which has been published in many newspapers & periodicals. The readers can visit “www.fragrancesindhicommunity.blogspot.in” for ready reference. Continuing same efforts, I got the golden opportunity to visit following 12 cities/towns of India where in pre-arranged meetings were arranged for 2:3 hours in each place on my request with the office bearers of important Sindhi Associations (particularly Bharatiya Sibdhu Sabha) wherein various matters were discussed regarding unity, Sanskar and social services in the community for its betterment & to claim legitimate rights from Central Government after forming a co-ordinating body. Suggestions and informations were collected and Sindhi as well as national literature was distributed. There was a very good enthusiasm, a great love & affection (even more than that in earlier meetings!) and a very good hospitality was extended to me every where which can not be described in words. The names of attendees and their mobile nos. in all these meetings were noted. On the whole the Sindhis are generally well off financially at most of the places. The report of these cities/towns in a nut shell is as under:-

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MALER KOTLA (West Bengal) Apr 2015

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This town is at a distance of 45 km. from Ludhiana on Ludhiana – Hissar section of Central Railway. Its strength is 1.5 lakh including 150 Sindhi families (i.e. one Sindhi family per 1000 persons). Out of these 150 families, 60% are Sikhs (i.e. 90 families). Nearly 70% of Sindhis here speak in their mother tongue among these selves & at home. 90% of them are in business such as biscuits factories, cycle parts, fursen and small industries etc. They have an organization called “Sindhi Bradari Maler Kotla” comprising of 5 committee members namely -1. Dilip Singh Amrit Singh Lalwani, 2. Amarjeet Lal Singh, 3. Darshan Kumar Chetram Chandwani,4. Iqbal Singh, Harjeet Singh and 5. Jaykumar Satnamdas. This association celebrates Guru Nanak Jayanti on a grand scale. Procession is taken out in the town and then ' Langar ' is arranged for all attendees. They also do some other social activities. They also have other association namely “Sindhi Welfare & Education society” comprising of 15 social workers (servadharis). However main person among them is Shri Darshan Kumar Chetram Chandwani (one of above named 5 persons).This society grants 50% college/school fees to needy Sindhi students, distributes woolen clothes to Sindhi needy persons, arranges computer and cooking classes etc. Both organizations work in co-ordination with each other particularly when one of main officer bearers is common in both organizations.

The town has 3 Temples (Gurudwaras) of Sindhis namely 1. Mata Radha Gurudwara Trust (with loading arrangement) 2. Guru Nanik Darbar 3. Shahidan Gurudwara.They have compiled directory of Sindhis staying in the town. 10% of them keep the Murti of Sai Jhulelal at their homes/shops. They were persuaded to keep such Murtis & also to celebrate important annual festival of Chetichand. They have cordial relations with the local masses. Apart from 3 religious Gurudwaras, the other important tourist places worth visiting are Kuka Smark, Kali Devi Mandir & Hanuman Mandir, where meeting took place on 23/03/2015 from 8.00 pm to 11.30 pm wherein 98 members were present. Some of them expressed their views & gave useful suggestions.

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NOIDA (U.P.) April 2015

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This city is in the vicinity of Delhi Metropolis. 3 lakh people stay here which include 250 Sindhi families. Nearly 25% of them speak in Sindhi among them selves and at home. 90% of them are busy in one or other business. They have formed “Sindhi society Noida (Regd)” (website www.noida_sindhis.com). The President of this society is Shri Bhagwen Motwani & Secretary is Shri Prem Prakash Manghani. They celebrate annual festivals such as Lal Loi, Holi, Chaliha Sahib & Chetichand. They distribute presad & Sharbat on Chetichand day. More over they arrange picnic along with their families twice a year in order to cement bonds of love and unity among them. They have compiled a directory of Sindhis of city. They also publish a quarterly news letter in English, Devnagiri Sindhi & Hindi on behalf of their association and also do some other social work. Shri Lohit Srichand Matai of this city is selected as IPS officer of 2014 batch which is a matter of pride for the community. Important religious & tourist place “Akshar Dham” is hardly 6 km away from this city. 11 members were present in the meeting which took place here on 1-04-2015 (From 4 am to 6.30 pm).

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BANDA (U.P.) April 2015

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The city is situated on Jhansi-Manikpur section of Cent. Rly. Total population of this city is 2 lakh including 200 Sindhi families (i.e one Sindhi family per 1000 persons). 90% of them normaly speak in Sindhi at home & among themselves and nearly 99% of them are engaged in one or other business. They have 3 Sindhi doctors (Dr. Kishore Mulchandani, Suresh Singh Bathija & Darshan Singh Bathija) & one advocate Shri Ramchand Kimtani. 50% of them Keep Murti of Sai Jhulelal at their homes/shops. They have formed one “Pujya Sindhi Panchayat Banda” where President, V.P and Secretary respectively are Shri Shyamlal Jethani, Bhawandas Manglani and Mahesh Kumar Bhagwani. They have also formed one “Guru Nanik Seva Samiti” (under above named Panchayat) which looks after the management of Sindhi Gurudwara. The above named office bearers of both associations are Same.Shri Amarlal Rohra & Lalchand Mulchandani look after Sindhi Gurudwara. Moreover Lion Jiandrai Savlani has been nominated as convenor of Bharatiya Sindhu Sabha .He is also chief committee member of famous Kapda Vyapar Mandal of the city. Hence Sindhis of the city (thought being in microscopic minority) have cordial relations with the local messes, (particularly with businessman). Both associations do some social work & celebrate annual festivals of community together & in coordination with each-other (particularly when office bearers are common in both of them), particularly Chetichand & Guru Nanik Jayanti where in they arrange joint food (Priti Bhojan) for all of them. They also celebrate Guru Gobind Singh Jayanti & Mahalaxmi Festival in a better way. They have one Sindhi Gurudwara (Temple) (wherein all Murtis of Prem Prakarsh Mandal are kept). The happy & unhappy functions take place in this Gurudwara. Here, the important worth seeing temples are those of Vamdev, Sankat Mochan, Kalidevi & Maheshwari Devi. The meeting took place in the Sindhi Gurudwara on 03/04/2015 from 5.00 pm to 7.00 pm wherein 20 members were present.

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SATNA (M.P.) April 2015

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This famous city of M.P stands on Manikpur-Katni section of Cent. Rly. Whose total strength is 5 lakhs. Nearly 3000 families of Sindhis stay here. Out of these, 1500 Sindhi families stay in Sindhi Camp and the remaining families stay in city area. Nearly 50% of them speak in Sindhi among one another and 10% of them speak in Sindhi at home with children. Around 95% of them are busy in one or another chief business of the city and the remaining are in service line. On the whole they are well off financially. They have-(1) Sant Kanwarram Sindhi school (at Sant Kanwar Nagar Sindhi Camp),(2)Sindhu Vidya Mandir (at Rewa Road), (3) Sindhu College under their management, but Alas! Sindhi is not taught even as one of the subjects in any of these 3 institutions.They have many Sindhi Associations, the main among them are-1) Bharatiya Sindhi Sabha (President - Manohar Artani, V.P - Gopichand Kapdi, Secretaries - Girdharilal Soni and Ashok Chandwani). This Sabha is doing much social work for the community with the cooperation of other social organisations such as arranging joint marriage samelan, marriage bureau, Thayalsima checking camp, Sindhi teaching classes (since last 5 years), as well as celebrating many annual festivals such as Mahashivratri, Sindhi Anand Mela, Sindhi Smruti Day (14th August) and Chetichand where in “Vahan Rally” (procession) is taken out and joint food is arranged for all attendees. All Sindhi shops remain closed on this auspicious day. (2) Sindhu Vikas Samiti (Samrakshak Gopichand Gelani, President Ashok Pinjani, Mahamantri Vinod Gelani). This association also does much social work such as arranging construction of Muklidham (cemetery) at the cost of Rs. 3 crores. They also celebrate Hemu Kalani Martyrs Day and Chetichand with help of other association.(3) Zila Panchyat Kanwar Nagar (President Hariram Jivnani,(4) Sindhi Central Panchayat (President Gopichand Kapdi, Secretary Santosh Notwani), (5) Pujya Mirpur Sindhi Panchayat,(6) Hemu Kalani Park Vikas Samiti, Sindhi Colony (PresidentGopichand Gelani). More over Shri Manohar Lal Ahuja (BJP Parshad) also stays here. Every association is doing much social work in is own field with the co-operation of other associations which can hardly be described here in detail.

There are many Sindhi religious centers and Dharmashalas here. Such as Sant Satram Dham (SSD) (Sant Kanwar Nagar), Hemu Kalani and Baba Mehar Shah Yoga Kendra, Sant Dham (I/c Sant Ishwardas, in Sindhi Camp), Jhulelal Mandir (I/c Sant Samanaram, in Bajraha Tola), Jhulelal Mandir (Sindhi Camp), Motiram Darbar (I/c Baba Khimyadas ( Khirmai Road), Baba Meher Shah Darbar (with Lodging arrangement in Sindhi Camp), Baba Nihaldas Jagyasi Darbar, Dwarkadham (I/c Vijay Kumar Jagyasi in Sindhi Camp), Baba Manohar Dham (I/c Baba Santokhdas). Radha Swami, Nirankari and Anandpuris also have their Centers in this city. Moreover they have 2 Sindhi Dharam Shalas such as Mangal Bhawan Sindhi Dharam Shalla (opp: Baba Meher Shah Darber, in Sindhi Camp), Krishna Nagar Sindhi Dharam Shalla (in Krishna Nagar). Nearly 25% Sindhi families keep the Murtis of Sai Jhulelal at their homes or shops. Apart from Shivanand Darshan Yoga Asuram (Bihar School of Yoga) and above mentioned religious Centres the city has some more worth seeing places in the nearby places such as Ramban (16 Km). Dharpuri (60 Km) & Chitrakoot Dham (80 Km). In the joint meeting of all Sindhi Associations called by Bharatiya Sindhu Sabha in Madhav Gunwanti Hall here on 05/04/2015 (from 5.30 pm to 8.00 pm) 41 members were present and some of them expressed their useful views.

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REVA (M.P.) April 2015

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This city is at a distance of 25 Km (east side) from Satna on cent. Rly. Its total Strength is 4 lakhs which includes nearly 15000 Sindhis. They normally stay at Kanwar Nagar, Arjan Nagar, Jhulelal Nagar, Shastri Nagar, Jawahar Nagar, Chirola Colony Rani Talao etc. They have many associations the main are 1) Bharatiya Sindhu Sabha (Samrakshak Sardar Prahlad Singh, President Rajkumar Tilwani, Secretary Kishore Wadhwani, BSS Mahila Vibhag Anju R. Tilwani, Youth wing President Sanjay Chelwani). They do a lot of social activities such as arranging Joint Janya Sanskar, honoring merit students, celebrating Hemu Kalani Martyrs day, Sindhu Smruti day (14^th August), Sindhi Bhasha day (10^th April) and Chetichand etc. with the cooperation of other associations. 2) Sindhu Seva Mandal (President Sardar Prahlad Singh, Secretary Mahesh Tharwani), 3) Pujya Sindhi Central Panchayat (President Prahlad Singh), 4) Sindhi Council Of India (President Prakash Shivnani).Every associations doing so many social activities in its own field which is difficult to describe here in details. One peculiar Virtue was noticed here that the office bearers of all associations have faith, Shradha and unity among one another and all social activities are carried out with consultation, cooperation and in coordination with one an other. Most of the office bearers of these associations are same (common). For example Sardar Prahlad Singh is head of 3 main associations. This peculiarity is noticed in a very few cities only. Hence kudos to Sindhis of Rewa! 93 members were present in the all associations joint meeting called by Bharatiya Sindhu Sabha in Sant Kanwar Nagar Sindhi Dharam Shalla on 06/04/02015. The Subject of this meeting was the “condition (Dasha) and direction (Disha) of Sindhi Samaj”. This historic meeting continued from 8.00 pm to 12.00M.N for 4hours wherein 17 members gave their useful suggestions. Some thing concrete was turned out and 10 members gave their names for learning Sindhi Script. Consequently 2 members came out therein (Ramesh Talreja and Vijay Nanwani) who were appointed as teachers for the same purpose. A dinner was awaiting after the meeting at mid night.

Here, Sindhis speak in their mother tongue 90% among them selves and 70% at their homes. Most of them (say 95%) are engaged in main businesses of the city particularly in Kriyana, Cloth, Medicines, Rice Mills, General Stores etc. They celebrate so many annual festivals such as Sant Kanwar Ram Jayanti, Varsis of Bhai Sundardes, Bhai Mayaram and Bhai Guraldas. They also celebrate Chetichand Mela on a grand scale wherein all associations jointly take 'Priti Bhojan' together under the banner of Jhulelal Seva Mandal. They also take out procession in the city on this occasion leading with Baharana Sahib along with scooter rally on behalf of Kanwar Nagar Navyuvegc Mandal. They have also compiled a directory of Sindhis of of the city under the name of “Sindhu Suvidha”. They normally keep the Murti of Sai Jhulelal in their homes/shops. A weekly periodical “Sindhiu Parag” is published from here whose editor is Shri Vijay Thanwani.

The Sindhis here have made many Sindhi Dharamshallas and temples such as- (1) Shri Ramakrishna Sindhi Dharam shalla (near Khana Talkies),(2) Jawahar Nagar Sindhi Dharamshalla,(3) Kanwar Nagar Sindhi Dharamshalla,(4)Shastri Nagar Sindhi Dharamshalla these are mainly meant for marriage ceremonies,(5) Sindhu Bhavan (at Guru Chowk) whose construction is just being completed at the cost of Rs. 3 cores on a grand scale. They have arranged many facilities in it such as lodging, and a huge Jhulelal Mandir. & other (6) Jhulelal Mandir is made at Kheri (Jhulelal Nagar). Moreover they have purchased a plot for constructing (7) Prem Prakash Mandir of Swami Teoouram. Apart from above mentioned pious worth seeing places the other worth seeing places here are Fort Museum, Govind garh Fort (15 Km), Bhasawar Mama, Mahamraty Unjay Mandir, Chirolanath Mandir, Mataji's Mandir & Talab, Hanuman Mandir & Talalb (Chirola colony), 12 Jyotirling Shivji Mandir, Eko Park etc.

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MAIHAR (M.P.) April 2015

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This small town is situated on Satna-katni section of cent. Rly and it is at a distance of 25 Km from Satna. Only 80,000 people stay here. The No. of Sindhis is only 350 families. They mainly stay at Ward No. 14,16,18 (Sindhi Camp) & in the vicinity of Guru Nanik and Jhulelal Chowks. In spite of being less in No. they have fromed many association such as- 1) Pujya Sindhi Panchayat (President Mahesh Daryani),2) Bharatiya Sindhu Sabha (President Mohan Goklani, Mahila Morcha President Sushma Kalwani), 3) Sindhi Council of India (President above named Mahesh Daryani and Yuva ShakhaPresident above named Bharat Goklani), 4) Sindhu Yuva Mandal (President Prakash Daryani). All associations work in coordination with one an other in doing social activities and celebrate annual festivals such as Hemu Kalani Jayanti, Guru Nanik Jayanti, Raksha Bandhan, Cheliha Sahib and Chetichand etc. They normally eat together & take out procession practically on all these functions. On Chetichand they take out scooter rally also and close down all their shops which is worth praising matter. They also award prizes to merit students.

Here the joint meeting called for by Sindhi Associations took place in Jhulelal Mandir (Mangal Bhavan) on 07/04/2015 (from 5.00 pm to 7.00 pm) wherein 35 members were present which included Ladies & youngsters which is a matter of pride for Sindhis of this small town. All associations work in team spirit particularly when some office bearers of these associations are same (common) as mentioned above. They mainly (90%) speak in Sindhi among one another. However they speak (say about 30%) in Sindhi with their children. They are mainly engaged in one or another business in the town. They possess one Jhulelal Mandir (Mangal Bhavan) situated opposite Punjabi Gurudwara. There is one Jhulelal Chowk on Devji Road. They have also compiled a Directory of the Sindhis staying in the town. Here the temple of Maihar (Sharda) Mataji (at the height of 700 metres & with 1065 steps) on the hill can be conveniently visited by cable car. This temple is very popular not only among local masses but people from all far off places do not miss the opportunity of visiting this pious place. The name of this town itself is derrived from this temple. The famous Bandogadh National Park is at the distance of 105 Km from here.

Note:- The following 6 towns of M.P are situated on Jabalpur – Itarsi section of cent. Rly. and they are very close to each other (say, hardly 25-30 km away from each other)

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GHOTEGAON (M.P.) April 2015

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This tiny town (village) is also called as Shridham. Only 60,000 people stay here. The Sindhis' total no. is only 50 families (250 members). Never the less they have formed many social associations such as-1) Pujya Sindhi Panchayat (President Shamumal Madhwani, V.P Gopaldas Madhwani),2) Bharatiya Sindhu Sabha (President Gopaldas Madhwani, as afore said, Secretary Khushal Sukhwani, Malila shakha President Rukmani Balani, Secretary Kavita Madhwani). Both Associations work in co-ordination with each other to do a lot of social activities and celebrate annual festivals (even some of office bearers of both associations are same). Specially on the occasion Guru Nanik Jayanti & Chetichand they take food together & take out procession in the village. They close down their shops on Chetichand day. They are mainly in business such as kriyana, cloth, hotels etc. They speak in their mother tongue 50% among themselves & only 10% at their sweet homes. They normally keep the Murti of Sai Jhulelal at their residence or shops. They possess one Sital Sindhi Dharamshalla (Guru Nanik Ward) & Jhulelal Mandir (nearby) where the meeting of all associations took place on 8-4-2015 (7pm to 9pm) wherein 13 members (including Ladies) were present. The worth seeing tourist places are Bagaspur Sapta Sarovar (7km), Jhoteshwar Tripulasundari Mataji Mandir (15km).

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NARSINGHPUR (M.P.) April 2015

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This city is district Head Quarter. Six Lakh people stays here which includes 250 Sindhi families (2500 members). They mainly stay in Sindhi Colony, but some families stay in Sidheshwar Colony, Vanari Colony, Kandeli & city area. However most of them do business in city area. Nearly 98% of them are engaged in one or an other main business of the city. 5 of them are Doctors, one advocate, one C.A & one is Accountant. Nearly 80% of them speak in Sindhi among themselves & 60% at home. They mostly keep Sai Jhulelal's Murti at home or at shops. They have 2 Sindhi Associations who do a lot of social activities in their fields & with co-operation of each other.

Such as organizing Bal Sanskar Kandra & Blood donation camps, teaching Sindhi to children & celebrating annual festivals. They take out procession within the city & arrange Priti Bhojan on the occasion of Chetichand & Chaliha Sahib. They arrange Priti Bhojan on the occasion of Guru Nanik Jayanti also. They also celebrate Hemu Kalani Martyrs day. The names of these two associations are-1) Shri Pujya Panchayat Sindhi Samaj (President Suresh alias Raja Sadhwani, Secretary Thakurdas Hirani),2) Bharatiya Sindhu Sabha (President Lalji Dhameja, Secretary Gulabchand Gulwani).They have Mahila Shakha also. Shri Rajeshkumar Makhija is BJP (Sindhi) Parshad in the city. Moreover Radha Swami, Nilankari, Anandpuri sects have their centres in the city. They have one Jhulelal Mandir & Sindhi Dharmashala in Sindhi Colony (for marriages etc. purpose) where meeting of Pujya Panchayat Sindhi Samaj took place on 9-4-2015 (from 9 pm to 11 pm) where in 12 members were present. This Panchayat has complied a list of all Sindhi families of the city. The city has famous worth seeing temple of God Narsinh & consequently this city is called Narsinghpur. The other worth seeing place is Barman Ghat (30km) on bank of Narbala river where Shri Brahmaji had made Tapas.

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KARELI (M.P.) April 2015

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This tiny town (village) is in Nar Singhpur district. Its total population is hardly 35000 wherein only 30 Sindhi families stay. They mainly stay in Sindhi colony. In spite of being in a smaller group they are having “Pujya Sindhi Panchayat Kareli” whose President is Shri Vasumat Bajaj & Secretary is Shri Hari Shankar Lalwani. They are busy in doing social activities such as giving financial help to needy persons in marriage & death ceremonies, giving Rs. 500/- per moth to each widow, celebrating annual functions like Chetichand where in they take out procession in town & take Priti Bhojan together. Recently they have opened branch of Bharatiya Sindhi Sabha whose President is above named Shri Harishankar Lalwani & vice President is Shri Harishkumar Chandwani. It is highly expected that both associations will work better in co-ordination with each-other particularly when one of the heads is same in both associations. At present they do not have Jhulelal Mandir & Sindhi Dharam Shala. However construction work for both is progressevely going on in Sindhi Colony & is highly expected that both will be inaugurated by Chetichand day of year 2016.They speak in their mother tongue nearly 80% among themselves & nearly 50% with children at home. About 10% of them are in service & the remaining do one or other business such as Kriyana, Electronic, general store, stationary etc.They normally keep the Murti of Sai Jhulelal in their homes/shops. The joint meeting of both associations took place at residence of Shri Harishankar Lalwani from 8pm to 10 pm on 10-4-2015 wherein 43 members (including 14 ladies) participated. Here the Sindhi are united & respect each-other. They also meet together on happy & unhappy occasions & they have cordial relations with the local masses. The worth seeing place is famous Barman Ghat (16km) on the bank of Narbada river where Shri Brahmaji had made Tapas.

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GADARWARA (M.P.) April 2015

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This town is also in Narsinghpur district. The total population of the town is 1 lakh which includes 150 Sindhi families (nearly 1500 members). They mainly stay at near New Bus Stand & Sindhi Colony (Near Rly Station) & in some other localities. They have two Sindhi Associations namely-1)Sindhi Yuva Samiti (Samarakshak Dr. Tarachand Kalwani, President Sitaldas Sobhwani, Secretary Sureshkumar Pritawani), 2) Bhartoya Sindhu Sabha (Samrakshak Ashok Kumar manglani, President Sanjay Kumar Sobhawani. Mahamantri Shankarlal Hemwani). Both Associations do many social activities & celebrate annual festivals on a grand scale by working in co-ordination with each-other. Such as Hemu Kalani Jyanti (23^rd March), on Cheti Chand they takeout procession with Bahrana Sahib & arrange joint food for all as well as they close down their shops. They arrange langar (joint food) on Guru Nanik Jayanti. On the occasion of Chaliha Sahib they invite famous saints of Satna (Sai Samaneram, etc.), Narsinghpur, Kareli Chainka & Pipariya etc. Nearly 40% & 25% of them respectively speak in their mother tongue among themselves & at home. 10% of them do one or other service & the remaining are busy in business such as cloth, kriyana, electronics, biscuits, Pan masala etc. Nearly 70% of them belong to Radha Swami Sect. Nearly 40% of them keep the Murti of Sai Jhulelal at their shops or homes. They do not possess Sindhi Dharamshalla but they are trying to have same. They have one Jhulelal Mandir (near new bus stand) where they meet on happy/unhappy occasions. The joint meeting of both the associations took place in this Mandir on 11-4-2015 (from 8pm to 10pm) wherein 54 members participated. Shri Kamal Ganwnai added colour to the meeting by Singing beautiful Sindhi songs at the end of meeting. The worth seeing place here is temple of Shri Shankar Bhagwan (Damru Ghati) at a distance of only 3 km.

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SOHAGPUR (M.P.) April 2015

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This tiny town/village (Nagar Parishad) has total strength of hardly 30000. The total no. of Sindhis here is 80 families (500 members). They Mainly stay in Sindhi Colony (Shastri Ward) near Rly. Station. They have 2 associations-1) Pujya Sindhi Panchayat (Samrakshak Kripaldes Chhabria, President Khemchand Chhabria, Secretary Vijay Kumar Aswani). 2) Bharatiya Sindhu Sabha (President Vijay Kumar Kripaldas Chhabria, Mahamnrti Ashok Kumar Israni, Mahila Morcha President & Parshad Bhagyashri Manoj Golani,Mahamantri Anita Aswani). Both associations do a lot of social activities in their own field & in co-ordination with each other & celebrate annual festivals together, so much so that the father & son from same home are main office bearers in both associations. On the pious occasion of Chetichand they take out procession in the town, arrange Bhandara (joint food for all), arrange Rangoli, Mehandi program & award prizes to merit students. On Guru Nanik Jyanti they Organise “Prabhat Pheri” (move in the streets while singing Bhajans) & Bhandara. They distribute prasad on Mahashivaratri day. They keep Murtis of Sai Jhulelal (25% of them at home & 10% of them at their shops). 90% of them belong to Radha Swami Sect. They speak in their own language (100% of them among themselves & 80% of them at their homes). Total 10 persons are in service & the remaining do one or an other business like kriyana, cloth, ready-made, medicines, footwear, etc.

They have Guru Nanik Darbar, Pujya Sindhi Panchayat Darbar & one Pujya Sindhi Pnachyat Dharam Shalla in Sindhi colony (Shastri Ward), where the joint meeting of both associations took place on 12-04-2015 (from 5 pm to 7 pm) in which 39 members (15 Gents & 24 ladies) participated. This shows here that Bharatiya Sindhu Sabha Mahila Shakha have inspired ladies to work for the community with enthusiasm. The worth seeing spots are Nagarpatika Park, Sidha Maharaj Garden & Shiva Parvati Mandir. Moreover they have a picnic spot called Morai (animal, garden & lake) etc. at distance of 20 kms.

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PIPARIYA (M.P.) April 2015

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This town's strength is one lakh. It accommodates 175 Sindhi families who mainly stay in Sindhi Colony, near Rly station. A few families also stay at other side of the station. They have two associations- 1) Pujya Sindhi Panchayat (Samrakshak Dv. Baldev Prasad Varandani, President Gopaldas Dudani, V.P-Ramesh Ahuja, Secretary Kanayalal Panjwani).2) Bharatiya Sindhu Sabha (President aforesaid Ramesh Ahuja, Secretary Ghashyam alias Raja Israni, Yuva Shakha President Romi Israni, Mahmantri Kiran kumar Varandani, Mahila Shekha President Sima Punjwani, Mahamantri Varsha Punjwani). Both Organizations do social activities & celebrate annual festivals in co-ordination with each other - particularly when some office bearers are common (same) in both of them (i.e. Shri Ramesh Ahuja occupies high office in both these associations). On the occasion of Chetichand (Sindhi New Year), they run procession in the town & then all of them take food together (langar), do cultural programs like Rangoli etc. & award prizes to students in competition. On Guru Nanik Jayanti also they take out procession & all of them take joint food (Langar). On Chaliha Sahib's day also they arrange joint food (Bhandara) for all of them. They also celebrate Guru Gobind Singh Jayanti. They also arrange 'Path Sahib” on all these 4 pious festivals. They have complied the list of all Sindhi families (with telephone no.) of the town so that they can contact one an other on happy/unhappy etc. occasions. They normally keep the Murti of Sai Jhuleleal at their homes/shops for preserving Sindhi Identity.

They have constructed a 'Sindhu Bhawan” (Established on 8-12-1990) for doing social functions (such as marriages, death & meetings etc.) & also a 'Sindhi Gur Mandir'. They speak in mother tongue nearly 75% of them among themselves & 10% of them at home. Nearly 10% of them are in service category & the remaining do lots of business activities such as cloth, medical, footwear, kriyana, vegetables etc. They have two Sindhi Doctors (aforesaid Dr. Baldev Prasad Varandani & Dr. Deepak Varandani). They have good relations with local masses particularly when they are mainly in business line. The wroth seeing places are Devi Mata Mandir (at Mangalwara Choraha), Kali Mata Mandir (near Rly crossing) & Gurudwara (near Rly. Station). However the most important tourist place is Panchmarhi Hill Station at a distance of only 54 km by road from here. Not only Indian but foreign tourists also visit this hill station. For this purpose a no. Of Rly. trains stop at this Pripariya Station. The meeting of both associations took place in Gur Mandir on 13-04-2015 from 9 to 11 pm where in 44 members participated.

JOINT REPORT/ARTICLE NO. 11 (SINGAPORE, MALAYSIA)

Tour report of Sindhis staying in Singapore and Malaysia

(Mohan G. Rohira, Advocate. Mob. No. 09321448147)

In order to promote Sindhi Culture, Sanskriti & language & to cement bonds of unity among the community, I have so far travelled & visited 126 cities/towns of India Since 1987, met officials of Important Sindhi organisations, got first hand information regarding Sindhi community which has been published in many newspapers in Sindhi (both the scripts) & in English. The readers can visit “www.fragrancesindhicommunity.blogspot.in” for ready reference.

Recently I got the golden opportunity to go abroad (through Thomas Cook Travel Agents) & visited Singapore & Kuala Lumpur. Keeping the aforesaid objects in view I utilised that opportunity to attend meetings of office bearers of important Sindhi organisations which were prearranged by them on my request. The names & Mob. Nos/E-mail, Ids of the attendees were noted in the meeting. Sindhi & national literature was distributed therein. The Sindhis of both these cities are very hospitable. The love & affection extended by them in these meetings can not be described in words. The taste of pudding is in its eating. The report in a nut shall is as under.

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Singapore: (Jul 2015)

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The total population of this Big City is 52 lakh. The total no. Of Sindhis therein is nearly 7500. Mostly they do one or other business. Some of them also are Professors, Advocates, Engineers, Doctors, etc. Say practically in all fields. The name of their association is '' Singapore Sindhi Association'' (SSA) (Established in 1921). Its main object is to look after the interest & welfare of Sindhi Community & promote the Educational, social & spiritual activities (website www.singaporesindhi.com.sg) Its present President is Shri Vashdev A. Khialani, Vice President is Shri Hary Gurnani & Secretary is Shri Vashi Chandiramani. They Celebrate many annual festivals such as Chetichand, Asu Chand, Ram Navami, Janmashtami, Divali, Ganesh Chaturthi, Holi, Mahashivaratri Guru Nanik Birth Day, Swami Lilashah Birthday & Varsi, they arrange open house Priti Bhojan on all these occasions. They also arrange Sri Satyanarayan Katha every month. Moreover they arrange weekly functions such as Assa-Di-Var Kirtan (every Sunday), Lord Shiva's Aarti (every Monday), Sri Satya Sai Baba's Bhajans (every Thursday), Geeta Satsang (every Friday). Thus they keep our Hindu & Sindhi Culture & Identity alive, even though they are far away from their mother land. They conduct all the above activities & arrange their periodical meetings at their Sindhu House Prayer Hall. They also have a temple, Gurudwara & Sadhu Vaswani, Radhasoami & Anandpuri centres etc. They have compiled a beautiful.“Singapore Sindhi Association Directory 2012” which gives useful information, such as associations activities, full details of all members and non-members, brief history of Sindh, Sindhi Saints, Sindhi culture & Sanskriti etc. Such a useful directory can hardly be found any where in India. Nearly 15% of them speak in Sindhi among themselves & at home. About 70% of them keep the Murti of Sai Jhulelal at their homes/offices. They are united and well off financially. They view Sindhi cultural programs through you-tube only.

There are many worth seeing attractive places in a very clean famous and advanced city of Singapore such as Santosa Island (by cable car), Garden at Bay, Flyer, China Town, Little India, Singapore River cruise, under-water world oceanarium. Dolphins show, Night Safari, “Wings of Time” (a show of Characters, sound, light and laser extravaganza), Universal Studio and many more, which can be conveniently visited by conducted tours. The meeting took place at Sindhu House on 8-7-2015 from 8pm to 9.30 pm where in 11 members were present. The dinner was served at the end. (The photos of the meeting can be seen on my aforesaid website).

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Kuala Lumpur: (Jul 2015)

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This is the capital city of Malaysia. Its total strength is 16 lakhs which includes nearly 1500 Sindhis, 30% of them speak in Sindhi at home & among themselves. Most of them (say nearly 90%) are doing one or an other business. They are quite well off financially. They have formed “Sindhi Association of Malaysia” (for whole country) in the year 1979 (email- Sindhi.association.malaysia@gmail.com). Its President, Vice President & Secretary respectively are S/Shri Datuk Shah Lalchanda Ranai, Sunil Vaswani & Jitendra Ubrami. They are united & celebrate many annual festivals such as Chetichand, Diwali, Mahashivratri, Ganesh Chaturthi, Navratri, Holi, etc. & take food together on all such occasions. In addition they take out procession in the city on the occasion of Chetichand. They also celebrate New Moon Day every month. They conduct all functions from their Mira Ishwar Sindhu House. They have kept murti of Sai Jhulelal in Laxmi Narayan temple in the city. Radhasoami, Brahma Kumaris & Sadhu Vaswani Mission also have their centres in the city and they do their activities from their residential places. Most of them keep the murti of Sai Jhulelal at their homes/offices etc. Thus they have been preserving our Sindhi Culture, Sanskriti & language in one or other ways though they are thousands of miles away from the mother land. They have compiled a precious ''Sindhi Directory Malaysia'' (5^th Edition) in 2014, which gives very useful information regarding full details of all members, history of Sindh, Sindhi culture, customs, life of Sai Jhulelal in pictures & details of religious ceremonies etc., which can rarely be found in Indian such directories. They have also published a very precious and rare book named “We, the Sindhis” on the occasion of 21^st International Sindhi Samelan which took place on 25-27 July 2014 at Kuala Lumpur. This book throws light on A to Z about Sindhi Community and it is indescribable in words. In the words of aforesaid President Shri Datuk Shah L. Ranai “while seeking to appreciate the history and Rich Culture of our community, this book is also a reminder of the resillence and determination which characterizes us at present. It is an inspiration for us to stay in touch with our glorious roots, even as we fly high in our chosen spaces in the world. It brings us all closer, uniting us through our identity as the Sindhi community”. They are very hospitable & care much for Sindhis. Here one illustration is sufficient to prove this point. The meeting of this association was fixed at 7.30 P.M on 10-7-2015. However since our bus (arranged by Thomas Cook Travel Agents), which takes about 5 hrs from Singapore, reached at 10 PM in our Hotel Holiday Villa Subang. They obliged me on my request to postpone meeting for 3 hrs & it actually took place from 11.45 PM (10-7-2015) to 1:20 AM (11-7-2015) in my Hotel room where 6 members participated. (The photos of the meeting can be seen on my aforesaid website).

There are many worth seeing & attractive tourist places in this beautiful city such as National Monument (Istana Nagara), National Mosque, Petronas twin towers, ChinaTown, Parliament House, King's Palace, Genting Highlands by cable Car (where a Hotel exists with 6000 rooms!), Genting Snow world, Batu Caves (a Hindhu Shrine with 272 steps), & Putrajaya in its Suburbs a cybercity which is Federal Govt. Administrative centre & full with lakes & parks. All these places can be conveniently seen by conducted tours.

Note:- The readers can look into these 3 books (refered to above) at my Khar (Mumbai) residence by contacting me on my Mobile. No. 9321448147. These books were received by me from both the above Associations, as it is the property of Sindhi Community.

JOINT REPORT/ARTICLE NO. 12 (KARNATAKA, TAMIL NADU, A.P., TELANGANA AND MAHARASHTRA)

Tour report of Sindhis staying in some cities/towns of South India

(Mohan G. Rohira, Advocate. Mob. No. 09321448147)

In order to cement bonds of Unity and to preserve Sindhi Identity, I have so far visited 133 cities/ Towns of india and abroad since 1987, met officials of important Sindhi Organisations (Particularly Bharatiya Sindhu Sabha), got first hand information regarding Sindhi Community, which has been published in many newspapers & periodicals ( in sindhi, Devanagiri and English). The readers can visit www.fragrancesindhicommunity.blogspot.in “ for ready reference. Continuing same efforts, recently I got the golden opportunity to visit following 5 cities of South India wherein pre- arranged meetings were held with them for 2 :3 hours in each city on my request, wherein various matters were discussed regarding unity, Sanskar and Social Services in the community for its betterment and to claim legitimate rights from central Govt after forming a co-ordinated body. Suggestions and information were collected, sindhi as well as national literature was distributed in the meetings. There was a good enthusiasm, a great love & affection and very good hospitality was extended to me every where which can not be described in words. The names of attendees and their mobile nos. were noted in all these meetings. On the whole sindhis are mostly well of financially in these cities. The report in a nut- shell is as under :

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Mysore (Karnataka State): January 2016

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The population of this marvelous, beautiful and clean city is 8 lakhs. This wonderful city has secured first rank among 73 cities whose recent survey was conducted by central Govt. In “Swachha Bharat Abhiyan”. The total number of sindhis here amounts to 1000 ( 250 families). They proudly & normally speak in their mother tounge among themselves and at their homes. They have formed 1) “Mysore Sindhi Association” ( President Shri. Kishnichand Parsram Dodeja and Secretary Shri. Jagdish N. Kinger) , 2) Mysore Sindhi Ladies chapter( Sindhi council of india ) whose President is Smt.Deepa Jagdish Kinger and Secretary is smt. Komal A. Kataria, 3) Mysore sindhi youth Association ( President Shri. Deepak M.Chawla and Secretary Shri. Nikhil Jagdish Kinger).

They have built a Mysore Sindhi Dharamshalla for marriages & staying purposes (Add : 309, 3^rd Cross, K-R. Hospital Road, Mysore-570001, Tel No. : 0821-2441660 ). It contains 8 rooms, 2 halls and a beautiful temple. They are angaged mainly (say 80% ) in different businesses of the city. eg. Cloths, hardware, Electronic, finance etc. and remaining sindhis are in Govt. & Private services. They celebrate many annual festivals such as Mahashivratri, Janmashtami, Ganesh Chaturthi, Rakshabandhan, Navratri, Guru Nanik Jayanti ( including Langar ) and chetichand. On this occassion they take out procession in the city, arrange Priti Bhojan and close down their shops for half a day. They were persuated to close shops for the whole day in future. They also celebrate Moon Lit night every month and arrange Shri. Satyanarayan Katha every month. They have published a beautiful directory of sindhis of the city. Every Sindhi shop or home is provided with murti of Sai Jhulelal. They also view Sindhi programmes on U-Tube & Astha & Sanskar T.V.Channels on sundays and they are eagerly waiting to see sindhi programms on DD Sindhi Channel.

They do many social activities such as managing 'Vrudha Asharam', School for deaf and dumb, students education, matrimonial centre etc. They have cordial relations with local masses. All the above 3 associations work in co-ordination with one an other in doing social services, So much so that 3 members of one family are office bearers of these 3 associations. Many worth seeing tourist places are located in this beautiful city. Such as vrindavan Gardens with musical fountains ( Best among gardens in India), Maharaja's Palace, Chamundi Hill, Art Gallery, Zoological Garden, Tipu Sultan's fort, Shri Rangapatna, Ranganatha Swamy's Mandir, etc. The joint meeting of all sindhi Associations took place on 19-01-2016 from 12 noon to 2 Pm in the aforesaid temple where in 18 members were present (Including ladies and youngsters)

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Chennai (Tamilnadu): January 2016

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The total strength of this beautiful Mahanagar is 60 lakh. The sindhis here are arround 5000 families, nearly 15% of them speak in sindhi at home and among themselves. They are scattered in different localities. Nearly 70%. Sindhis are engaged in business or profession and the remaining are doing Govt or Private services. They have formed many sindhi Associations, namely 1) Sindhi Federation of south India (SFOSI). Their website is “sfosi.org.” This federation is very strong in south India which comprise of Sindhi Associations of Karnatak, Kerala, Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telengana. They publish sindhi directory of the federation every year. Their head office is in chennai. Their president shri J.C.Prakash and secretary shri G.D.Prakash stay here in chennai. 2) Sindhi Development society (President Smt Pratibha Vijay Khatri and Secretary smt Kirti Mutreja) 3) Chennai Sindhi Ladies chapter(SCI) ( president Smt. Daya J.C. Prakash, secretary Smt. Renu Raheja), 4) Bharatiya Sindhu Sabha ( President Shri J.C.Prakash and secretary shri G.D.Prakash), 5) Sindhi Hindu (Mandal) Association ( president Shri Ramchand Shewaram, Gen. Secretary Shri.Haresh M.Chandnani, Ladies wing president Smt.Vidya Manghnani and secretary smt. Sonia Ajnani ), 6) sindhi multani Bankers Association, 7) Sindhi Chamber of commerce, 8 ) Khatri Panchayat, 9) Nichani Bradari 10) Sindhi Punjabi panchayat etc. Each association is doing much social work in its own field and in co-ordination with each other which can hardly be described here.

They have arranged many religious and other places here e.g. 1) Sindhu Bhavan ( at Jhulelal Square, 13, Halls road, Egmore, Chennai 600008, tel 044-42146477, 42647694). There is a nice arrangement here for staying as well as for marraige purposes. It also has a nice temple wherein around 400 sindhi brothers and sisters attend satsang on every sunday morning. ( wherein I also got the opportunity to speak on sindhiyat). Matrimonial and other social activities are carried out from this bhavan under the management of afore said Sindhi Hindu (Mandal) Association 2) Sadhu Vaswani Mission ( Asha Deep Apprt, near sindhu Bhavan, Tel. No. 044-28194183, President shri Hashmat Gwalani and Secretary Shri. Biharilal Ahuja) , 3) Sindhi Kilpak Darbar ( New Avadhi Road, I/c Swami Atmadas, Tel.044-26449294, Secretary Shri. Ramesh Wadhwa), 4) Sindhi Hindu Dharamashalla and Mandir, ( 24, ERulapan Street, Sowcarpet, Chennai -600079, Tel. 044-25388057, President.Shri Arjandas Chhabria). There is also arrangement for staying and for marraige purposes here. 5) Sufi Dar Trust (9^th Street, R K Salai, Roya Pettah, Chennai -600014, I/c Shri Ashok Khubchandani & Shri Lachhmandas Chhatlani), 6) Swami Teoonram Darbar ( Kala Niketan Apptt, Mankeshwari Road, Kilpak, I/c Shri Naresh Jeswani Mob -09840166599 and shri Prakash Thakurdas Mob 09840085161),

7) Gurudwara etc.

The Mahanagar has 2 sindhi model Sr. Secondary High Schools.( at Damodar Street, Kellys and chick pet) but alas! no Sindhi subject is taught in any of these schools. Many annual festivals are celebrated here. They take out procession (Prabhat Pheri) on the occassion of Guru Nanik Jayanti, Chetichand and Chaliha Sahib. They also celebrate Ram Navami, Janmashtami, Navratri etc. They arrange joint food (langar) in all these festivels. Mostly all sindhis keep murti of Sai Jhulelal at home or at their shops. They view sindhi programmes on U tube. Sindhi development society publishes “Shahi Sindhi “ By- weekly English Magazine ( Editer Smt. Pratibha Vijay Khatri)

Many worth seeing tourist places are located here such as St.George Fort, Govt. Museum, Snake Park, Shri. Kapaleshwarar Temple, Birla Planatorium, Marina Beach, 2 Ramakrishna Mission temples (in T. Nagar and Mylapore), Kanchipuram, Mahabalipuram, etc which can be conveniently seen through conducted tours. The joint meeting of all Sindhi Associations took place at Hotel Residency Tower, T.Nagar, Chennai on 22.01.2016 from 4 pm to 6.30 pm, where in 14 members were present ( including some ladies)

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Vijaywada(A.P.): January 2016

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20 Lakh people reside in this beautiful and ancient city, which includes 262 sindhi families. They have formed one pujya sindhi panchayat whose president is shri Dayaldas Chandnani and secretary is Shri Chandraprakash Suchdeva. This panchayat is affliated to Sindhi Council of India and Sindhi Federation of South India. They do many social activities such as arranging education expenses of 54 students, giving medical help to needy persons, giving financial help to needy girls in their marraige etc. They have published a beautiful directory of sindhis living in the city. In addition, they have built a praise worthy and a huge Sindhu Bhavan in Vrindavan colony which is worth 35 crores at present. It contains 9 AC rooms, Conference Hall, Dining Hall, Receiption hall etc. It also contains a beautiful temple with Murtis of mostly all devi /Devatas and Sri Guru Granth Sahib. They do all the activities mostly from this Sindhu Bhavan. Sindhis of other cities should not miss to visit this bhawan which gives much inspiration. Perhaps this bhavan ranks 2^nd no. In india in its beauty.

The ladies chapter of SCI was established here on 25-09-2011 for the purpose of preserving our ancient rich culture. Its president is Smt. Lata shyamlal Ramrakhiyani and secretary is Smt.Reshma Haresh Peswani, who manages matrimonial centre from Sindhu Bhavan on behalf of ladies chapter. This chapter also assists Pujya Sindhi Panchayat in its activities as well as in celebrating annual festivals. They aslo get full co-operation from the panchayat in their activities. Recently Yuva sindhi mandal has also emerged in this city who had arranged a big festival.

The Sindhis of this beautiful city arrange many annual festivals. They arrange langar and take out procession in the city on the auspicious occasions of Chetichand, Ganesh Chaturthi and Guru Nanik Jyanti. They always meet together on happy and unhappy occasions. They have cordial relations with local masses. They normally speak in sindhi at home and among themselves, and also keep murtis of sai Jhulelal at their homes/ shops. Many worth seeing tourist places are located here. Such as Sri. Kanak Durga Mandir, ISKCON mandir, Balaji Mandir, Saibaba Mandir, Rajiv Park, Gandhi Hill (with library and Toy Train), Krishna river with boating facility and a huge famous temple of Sri Narsinh Bhagwan in Mangalgiri at a distance of 12 K.M.) etc. The city also has a big railway junction which has a fortune of passing of nearly 200 trains daily for whole country. Since Hyderabad has become capital of recently carved out Telengana State, a new capital “Amravati” is being emerged near this city for Andhra Pradesh. When it happens the importance of this city will be increased by Leaps & founds.

On republic day (26.01.2016), our national flag was saluted with singing of national anthem at 10 am is sindhu Bhavan. There after breakfast was served after that meeting of all associations started at 11 am which continued till 1.30 pm. In all 45 members ( including 16 ladies & some youngsters) took active part with enthuciasum which has made a good record worth remembering.

Note : - I have already given report of this city many years back after touring this city and arranging meetings with them which has been published in many Newspapers long back ( and which can also be visited at my aforesaid website along with other 132 cities / towns). However since many changes have taken place here for the better during the interval of many years, the above revised report has been written here again.

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Hyderabad & Secunderabad ( Telangana): January 2016

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These 2 cities are connected with each other like twins. Their total population is 1 crore( hyderabad 80 lakh and secunderabad 20 Lakh) Sindhis can be counted as 20,000/- in each of these twin cities. They speak in sindhi nearly 30 % among themselves and 20% at home. Nearly 95% of them are engaged in various different business of the city. Most of them ( say75% ) keep the murties of sai Jhulelal at their homes/ shops. Many attractive tourist spots are located in these cities such as Birla Mandir, Salarjang Museum, Govt. Museum, Sudhakar Museum, Nehru Zoological Park, Char Minar, Golkanda Fort, Falaknama palace, N.T.Ramarao garden, Lumbini Park, Laser Show ( with musical fountain ), Snow world, Planatorium, Hussain Sagar lake( and such many more) which can be easily and comfortably seen through conducted tours.

A- Hyderabad :- Here Sindhis have formed 1) Shri Sindhi Guru Satsang Sabha Association ( President Shri Ashok Vaswani, Vice President Shri Prakash Mulchandani & Secretary Shri Gobind Bachani), 2 ) Hyderabad- Secunderabad Sindhi Seva Samiti Trust which contributes to good co-ordination among Sindhis of both cities. President of this Trust is shri Shyam Jumani and secretary is shri Prakash Bolaki ( He is propritor of Hotel Rajmata and cares much for sindhi customers)

Sindhu Sadan :- (4-1-1236, king Kothi Road, Hyderabad-500001 Tel No. 040-24756061 / 24758605, Email :hydsindhidurbar@rediffmail.com / hydmarriagebureau@gmail.com). Many social activities are carried out by above mentioned 2 associations through this sadan such as treatment of patients through homeopathy and physiotherapy, arranging marriages and meetings through Hira Hall, Mohan Hall & shri Rama Hall, Managing Jala Shalla ( serving cold water to passers by ), running Sadhu Vaswani school till 10^th standard (without teaching sindhi subject), running matrimonial centre through Didi Kamla Matai (Mob 09866346893) etc. This sadan contains 6 rooms with common bathrooms for staying. Moreover this sadan has a Gurudwara and a temple. On 27.01.16 bhumi pujan of new bldg was done in the compound of this Sadan & thereafter a meeting of both associations took place here ( Sindhu Sadan ) wherein 15 members were present ( including some ladies)

They arrange many annual festivals. They arrange langar for 5000 Sindhi members on the auspicious occasions of chetichand and Guru Nanik Jayanti. They also celebrate lal loi, Mahashivaratri and other festivals. Shri sindhi Guru Sangat Sabha Association publishes “sindhu sadan samachar” a monthly (English) News Letter. Hyderabad- Secunderabad Sindhi Seva Samiti Trust publishes “ Sindhi Chronicle” a monthly (English ) periodical. Both associations do many Social activities in their own field as well as work in co-ordination with each other while celebrating annual festivals and doing other social activities. They have also published a directory of sindhis of the city.

B- Secunderabad :- Here they have formed shri Sindhi Satsang Durbar Association (President Shri Rocha Jethwani & Secretary Shri Radhe Shyam Katara). They conduct all activities through sindhu bhavan (Sindhi Colony, P.G.Road, Secunderabad-500003, Tel No. 040-64535476/ 27813922, Email- secbadsindhi@gmail.com). There is good arrangement for marriages and staying in this bhavan. It has a nice temple wherein satsangs are conducted throughout the year. This association's working office is located in this bhavan but their regd. Office is at old place and Durbar ( Khandoji Bazar, Secunderabad-500003, Tel-040-27812493). Some activities are carried out by them from this office also. They celebrate many annual festivals, like sindhis of Hyderabad. They arrange Langer & take out Prabhat Pheri on occassion of Guru Nanak Jayanti. They also arrange Langar on the occasion of Mahashivratri & Chetichand as well as on moon lit night every month. They have published a sindhi directory of sindhis of the city. They have a sadhu vaswani school at a distance of 10 kms but alas ! Like Hyderabad School, sindhi language is not tought here even as one of the subjects. This association, apart from celebrating annual festivals, does other social activities also. No meeting could take place here on the very same day for want of time but above information was collected from aforesaid secretary Shri. Radheshyam Katara & Shri Vinod Mata ( Ex. Committee member) in Sindhu Bhavan on 27.01.2016.

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Solapur (M.S.) : January 2016

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The total Population of this city is 14 lakhs. The sindhis here could be counted as 2500 members (450 families). They stay in different localities of the city such as 100 families in guru nanik nagar, 65 families in its near by Navjiven society, 18 families in Sindhunagar, 18 families in Krishna Nagar and the remaining stay in other localities. Guru Nanik Chowk is located here at main area. Many religious places for sindhis could be seen here, e.g. Guru Nanik Darbar, Jai Shankar Ashram & temple, Shri Anand Nivas satsang, Anand Puri Kutia, Shri Prem Prakash Ashram ( Swami Shanti Prakash Dham. I/c Sant Rajni Tel. No. 0217-2601195). Guru Nanik Mangal Karyalaya which includes one Hall & 4 rooms for marriages & staying purposes. All the above places are located in Guru Nanik Nagar itself. Sadhu Vaswani Centre is located in near by Gangadhar society(I/c Seema Nankani Mob .9850140500), Gurudwara Shri Guru Nanik Darbar and sant Nirankari Satsang Bhavan ( Antrolikar Nagar), Radhasoami satsang Bias (Tuljapur Road ), Jaya Matadi Mandir ( (Kemthanaka) etc.

Five sindhi doctors stay here ( Dr. Devendra T. Hotwani, Dr. Sunil Devendra Hotwani, Dr. Vinod Kumar D.Rohira, Dr. Neha Vinodkumar Rohira, and Dr. Kamlesh prakash Kukreja). They have formed 1) “Pujya Sindhi Panchayat Solapur” whose president is shri Lalchand Wadhwani and chaiman is shri.Jethanand Gopichand Bahirwani. The later is also chairman of shri Guru Nanik Nagar Charitable Trust 2) Solapur sindhi Samaj seva sangh (President Shri. Rameshlal G.Kukreja, Secretary Shri. Chandirlal A. Sachdeva ( Vaheguru). This Organisation has prepared a beautiful Sindhi Directory (2015). 3) Third Associan is ladies chaptar of Sindhi Council of India ( President Smt. Jaya Sunil Hinduja & secretary Smt. Rajni Punjwani). Each association is doing much social work in its field and also works in co-ordination with one an other.

Mostly all sindhis ( say 90%) speak in their mother tounge at home and among one an other. 80% of them are engaged in different main businesses of the city such as wine, Cloth, Hozari etc. Handloom & power Loom chadars and towels of solapur are very popular throughout india. They celebrate many annual festivals. They Arange Langer on the occasions of Mahashivaratri, Ganesh Chaturthi, Chetichand and Guru Nanik Jayanti. Even Local masses take part in the langar and thus they have cordial relations with them.

They take out procession (Prabhat pheri) on Guru Nanik Jayanti. They close their shops at 5 pm on Chetichand day. They were persuated to close shops for the whole day on such occasion in future. They mainely do social work in their own sect (Panth). Most of Sindhi homes / shops contain Murti of Sai Jhulelal. Many tourist places are located here. Such as a huge & famous Sidheshwar temple ( Railway train is also named after it), Fort, Kila Bagicha, Shri Parasnath Mandir, Shri Roop Bhavani Mandir, Kanwar Bijapur Talab (Hub of Karnatak) etc. Pandharpur is at a distance of 60 Km from here. The Meeting of all associations took place in above mentioned mangal Karyalaya on 30-01-2016 in the morning where in 17 members were present.

JOINT REPORT/ARTICLE NO. 13 (USA, DUBAI)

Tour Report Of Sindhis Staying In Some Cities Of

USA & Dubai During October, November 2016

(Mohan. G. Rohira & Anil. G. Gidwani www.fragrancesindhicommunity.blogspot.in)

In continuation of my efforts to bring Sindhi community together by getting in touch with officers of various important Sindhi organisations across 136 cities / towns in India & abroad so far, recently I got the opportunity to visit following further 4 main cities of USA & Dubai. This time I got the company & full co-operation of Shri Anil. G. Gidwani in this tour for the same in a nut-shell is as under.

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New York (Including New Jersey): October 2016

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This famous city is on the east coast of USA, Its population is 84 Lakhs. Which includes 2 ½ lakh Sindhis. They stay in different localities such as New york proper, Manhattan, Queens, Long Island, Bronx, Brooklyn & some far away in New Jersy state. They pass a very busy life. Nearly 10% of them speak in Sindhi with their children & 60% speak in Sindhi among themselves. 50% are engaged in various businesses, some are in professions & remaining do different kinds of jobs. Some sindhi temples are managed by them. Such as Sri Satyanarayan temple in Queens Area, satnam sakhi temple of Swami Teoouram at Grand central park way (Resident sant Naresh Prakash), Holy mission of Guru Nanik at Elmhursts, Sadhu Vaswani Mission (New Jersy) etc. Many activities take place in Satyanarayan Temple (President Jagdish kakwani,secretary Manish Bhambhani). They arrange satsanghs & take joint food at weekends (Saturday & Sunday), Sukhmani Pattu every month etc. They celebrate many annual festivals such as Chetichand, Diwali, Holi, Tijri, Kadva chowk etc & take joint food together on every such occasion at this temple. They also take out procession on the occasion of chetichand. Most of them keep the Murti of Sai Jhulelal at their homes / offices & thus they have been preserving Sindhi as well as Hindu culture & Sanskriti at foreign lands which are far away from the mother land.

They have one overseas Sindhu sabha (branch of Bharatiya Sindhu Sabha overseas) in charge of Shri Ram Sachdev. They do many social & cultural activities. An other Association is SANJ (Sindhi Association of New Jersey) They also do many social activities in New Jersey for betterment of Sindhi community. In Queens locality there is Ravidas Temple Sikh Gurudwara also. Two meetings took place - one at long Island on 20-10-2016 with members of overseas Sindhu Sabha wherein 13 members were present. An other meeting took place in Satyanarayan temple on 23-10-2016 wherein 11 members were present. Many attractive tourist spots are located here such as Central Park Zoo, Statue Of Liberty, Rockefeller Centre, Empire State Building, Statue Island ferry, World Trade Centre Memorial etc.

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Northern California: November 2016

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This includes San Francisoco City & Bay Area (Cilician valley) Sr Hoze, (St. Jos) etc. These cities are located on west coast of USA. Here Sindhis have formed Sindhi Association of Northern California (SANC) comprising 900 Sindhi families. They celebrate many annual festivals such as Diwali, Chetichand, Thadri & monthly Sri Satyanarayan Katha in Freemont Hindu Temple (having Jhulelal Murti). They take joint food on Chetichand & Guru Nanik Jayanti. They go for a picnic once a year & also take out Bahrana sahib on the occasion of marriages. The elderly persons (above 40 years) mainly speak in Sindhi at home & among themselves where as youngsters speak in English or Hindi. Nearly 30% of them keep the Murtis of Sai Jhulelal at their homes/offices. The meeting with some of them (5 members) took place on 28-10-2016 at Freemont (North California)

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Southern California (Los Angeles to San Diego): October 2016

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These cities are located on west coast of U.S.A which are called counties. The total population of Southern California is nearly 1 ½ crore wherein approximately 500 Sindhi families stay. Hardly 20 families speak in Sindhi at homes or among themselves, They have formed an association called “Sindhi Association of South California” (SASC) whose president is Shri kumar Bhavnani & General Secretary is Shri Dayal Punjabi. Some retired Sindhis have also formed an association called Sindhi Seniors Association, whose president is Dr. Hiro Badlani. They meet together once a month at New Sindhu Centre, Nor Walk, CA.

General body meetings & elections take place on Holi festival.They also celebrate Diwali, Mahashivaratri, Chetichand, Guru Nanik Jayanti etc & go for picnic once a year. They take joint food on all the festivals. They have also prepared a beautiful Sindhi Directory, on the auspicious occasion of Diwali 2015, whose editor is Shri Mohan. G. Dadlani. They also have Sadhu Vaswani Gurukul of LA (Los Angeles). There are many attractive tourist places here such as world famous Holywood Universal Studio, Disney Land, The Griffith observatory, Ronald Reajan Museum, LA Zoo, Botanical Gardens, Malibu & many other beaches. The meeting of Sindhu seniors Association took place on 30-10-2016 on the occasion of Diwali at New Sindhu centre Norwalk wherein 12 persons were present.

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Dubai (UAE): November 2016

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This is very famous city in UAE, Nearly 30,000 Sindhis stay here. They are quite well off financially. They have not been able to form any Sindhi association as per U.A.E. rules. However some of them are prominent social workers who devote their valuable time for the betterment of community. Prominent among them are S/Shri Ram Buxani, Vashu Shroff, Lachhmandas Pagrani, Lakhi Rajwani (Choithram's) Mohan Chru, Maya Group, Binita Ram Nagpal & last but not the least Mrs. & Mr. Asha Chand Punjabi couple (popularly known as Asha Chand). They have started many important places such as Sindhi commercial Centre (Bar Dubai),Sindhi Mandir, Bhatia Mandir, Shri Krishin Mandir, Gurudwara etc. Pakistani Sindhi Muslims are also staying in the city. Nearly 80% shops are owned by Sindhis in the whole sale market called Meena Bazar. They manage 2 High Schools but unfortunately neither of them has Sindhi as one of the subjects. One is Indian High school with 13000 students. The School management has 28 trustees. Out of which 23 Sindhis are Trustees. The other is “our own school”. Due to their good behaviour & doing social activities they command good respect in the city.

They celebrate Chetichand, Guru Nanik Jayanti etc. & take joint food on such noble occasions. Many famous tourist places are located here. Such as Dubai Museum, Almanzur Beach Park & other beaches, Burj Khelifa Tower, Jumeirah Mosque, Water Canal, Thena & other Parks, Dubai Mall with capacity of 10,000 cars parking space (largest in the world) musical fountain with 275 meters height (Heighest in the world), Desert Safari, Beautiful shops & buildings etc. which no one can afford to miss. The meeting was hosted by Mrs & Mr. Asha Chand couple at their residence on 9-11-2016 wherein 13 members were present. Dinner was served at the end.

JOINT REPORT/ARTICLE NO. 14 (PUDUCHERRY, TAMILNADU & KARNATAKA)

Tour Report of Sindhis staying in Puducherry, Tamilnadu & Karnataka States

During January 2017

(Mohan. G. Rohira Adv. Mob # 9321448147, www.fragrancesindhicommunity.blogspot.in)

In continuation of my endeavours to bring Sindhi community together & to preserve their identity & culture, by getting in touch with the officers of various important Sindhi Organisations across 140 cities / towns in India & abroad so far, recently I got the opportunity to visit following further 9 cities of South India (i.e. Puducherry, Tamil Nadu & Karnataka States). The report of the same in a nut-shell is as under:

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Puducherry (previously known as Pondicherry): January 2017

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This is a union territory having total strength of 10 lakhs. Only 20 Sindhi families stay here. Nearly 50% families speak in Sindhi among themselves & they hardly speak in Sindhi at home. Mostly they are in one or other business & are quite well off. They do not have any association & do not celebrate any festival like Chetichand etc. However in the meeting held on 6-1-2017 at Shri Haresh Nanwani’s office, 15 persons were present wherein they formed Puducherry Sindhi Panchayat on the spot & promised me to start celebration of Chetichand festival from this year (2017). More over they were moved to join Sindhi Federation of South India by contacting its President Shri Murlidher Ramani of Mangalore. (It has been learnt now that they celebrated Chetichand Festival of this year as per their promise with me & Shri Manoharlal kalra of salem is pursuing their Panchayat’s inclusion in Sindhi Federation of South India). Shri Haresh Nanwani was elected as President & Shri Khialdas Chainani was elected as secretary of Puducherry Sindhi Panchayat in the meeting.

They have Radhaswami Satsang Hall, Brahmakumaris centre, Satya Sai Baba Centre, Sai Baba Temple, Punjabi Gurudwara etc. So many attractive tourist spots are located here such as Shri Aurbindo Ashram, Auroville, Maitri Mandir, Govt Palace, Raj Niwas, Botonical Garden, Beach etc. which can be conveniently seen by Govt. Conducted Tours. The Govt of Puducherry (Tourist Deptt) organises a Mega 4 days Yoga Festival in the 1^st week of January every year wherein many thousand persons (mainly students) from all over India & abroad participate. (This year I also got such an opportunity)

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Tiruchirapatti (Tamil Nadu): January 2017

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This ancient & pilgrimage city is also called Trichy. Its over all population is 12 lakhs only 70 Sindhi families (300 members) stay here. Most of them (say 90%) speak in Sindhi at home & among themselves & practically all (nearly 95%) are running one or other business. They celebrate many annual festivals such as chetichand, Chaliha Sahib, Guru Nanik & Guru Gobindsingh Jayanti’s, Lala Loi etc. & take joint food on all these occasions. They keep the Murtis of Sai Jhulelal at their homes / shops. They have also prepared a beautiful directory of Sindhis staying in the city. They have formed a Pujya Sindhi Panchayat whose President is Shri Prakash. N. Asrani & secretary is Shri Suresh. A. Punjabi (Babu). S/ Shri Mahesh Lakhe, Ramchand Makhija & Mohan Narang are some of the important M. C. Members. Shri. V. Prakash Shroff is a good social worker & also owner of business class Hotel (Maya Residency). He gives good treatment & discount particularly to Sindhi visitors & also supports the Panchayat.

They have one Pujya Sindhi Panchayat Darbar (under Renovation now) in Chumambukere street from where they conduct all their social activities. The meeting of this Panchayat took place on 10-01-2017 which was hosted by above named Shri V. Prakash Shroff in his Hotel (Maya Residency) wherein 11 persons were present. There are many worth seeing places here. Such as ancient Rock Fort Temple (on top of hill with 434 steps), Ganesh Temple (with cave temples of Pallava Era), Sri Thayumanaswamy (shiva) Temple, Sri Ranganathaswamy (Vishnu) Temple at Sairangam. It is one of the largest Temple in south India & it is on Island on Kaveri River.

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Madurai ( Tamil Nadu ): January 2017

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The population of this very ancient religious city of south India is 15 lakhs. Only 27 Sindhi families (125 members) stay here. They have formed Madurai sindhi Shikarpur Association (President Vasudev G. Talreja, V.P. Gopal Khana, & secretary Mahesh B. Chhatria). An other association is ladies chapter of Sindhi council of India whose President & secretary are Mrs. Priya Ramesh Chugh & Mrs. Hema Vijaykumar Talreja respectively. Nearly 70% of them speak in their own language at home & among themselves. Most of them are engaged in business & 3 persons are working in Banks.

They celebrate many annual festivals such as Chetichand, Holi, Navratra, Janmashtami, Guru Nanik Jayanti etc. & take food together on all these auspicious occasions. Such festivals are arranged at their Darbar (Sri Laxmi Narayan Mandi) except Navratra festival which is arranged at Chetana school. They have published a nice Sindhi Directory of their members. They also keep the Murti of Sai Jhulelal at their homes / shops. Madurai is famous for ancient temples. Largest among them is Sri Meenaxi temple on the banks of Sacred river ‘Vaigai’. It has 12 temple towers (Gopurams). The 4 outer towers are the Land Marks of the city. The visit of Madurai is in complete without visiting this temple. The other famous places here are Sri Ramana Mahrishi’s Mandiram, Mukhteshwar Mahadev Temple, Vandiyon Mariamman Thapakulam Tank, Thiruparankundram (Lord Murugan) Temple (8 kms), Thirumalai Naick Mahal, Gandhi & Govt. Museum, Ramakrishna Math, Vishnu Temple etc. 10 persons were present in the meeting held on 12-01-2017 at 1 pm at Hotel Ratna Residency. The lunch was served at the end.

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Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu): January 2017

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The population of this famous city is 15 lakhs wherein 450 Sindhi families (nearly 1500 members) stay. Nearly 70% of them speak in Sindhi among themselves. However their children hardly speak in Sindhi. Most of them are in one or an other business. They have formed so many associations such as (1) Coimbatore Sindhi (Panchayat) Association ( ESTT 30-10-1949) (President Ishwarlal Ayami, Secretary Rajesh Mulchandani) (2) Shikarpur Sindhi Panchayat Bankers Association (President Suresh Lund, Secretary Mahesh Ahuja) (3) Sindhi Forum (President Kamlesh Gera, Secretary Ram Asrani), (4) Shikarpur Sindhi Charitable Trust (M. Trustees Shyamlal Rajani Rajesh Lund etc. (5) Ladies Sindhi Forum (LSF) (President Mrs. Karishma Raheja, Secretary Mrs. Navya Raheja (6) They have also prepared ‘APP’ in name of “Sindhi Parivar” Coimbatore for all. All associations work in co-ordination with one another.

They celebrate many annual festivals such as Chetichand, Holi, Lalaloi, Ganesh Chaturthi,etc. & take food together on all these occasions. They have published a nice directory of the members of Coimbatore Sindhi (Panchayat) association (2012). Another directory is published by Shikarpur Sindhi Panchayat Bankers association wherein names of all Sindhi families are mentioned. Moreover most of them keep the Murtis of Sai Jhulelal or their homes / shops. They have (1) Sindhi Darbar (by Shikarpur Sindhi Panchayat Bankers Association). (2)Radhakirshin Mandir (Priya Kunj Trust – Managing Trustee Hariram Samant), (3) Sindhu Sadan with AC hall (Estt. 1966 by Coimbatore Sindhi Panchayat association at CV Raman Road, R. S. Puram, from where they conduct most of their activities (Lala Loi is celebrated at Sindhi Vidyalaya) In this Sindhu sadan marriages also take place, 2 rooms are meant for lodging also. They also run Matrimonial Centre from here I/C Ratan Radhakrishnani Mob-9842299955) (4) They have one Sindhi Vidyalaya Matriculation school (at Dr. Ambedkar Road, Vellandi Palayam, coimbatore – 641025) managed by Shikarpur Sindhi Charitable Trust (wherein Shri Nanik A Sachdev, mob no: 9843344838, is one of 8 Trustees), however no Sindhi subject is taught here.

The meeting of all the above mentioned associations took place at aforesaid Sindhu Sadan on 15-01-2017 wherein 16 members (including Ladies) were present. Here, the important tourist places are Murudmalai Temple (of Lord Murugan) (12 Kms) on a hill rock, Perur Temple (Lord Shiva) with Hall & sculputre (7 kms), Agricultural university with a Botanical garden & Forest college (4 kms) VOC (Chidambaram Park) with zoo, Joy train & Munasamy garden etc.

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Erode (Tamil Nadu): January 2017

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Eleven lakh people stay in this city. The No. Of Sindhi families is only 60. Practically all of them speak in Sindhi among themselves. However only 30% of them speak in Sindhi with their children. Nearly 95% Sindhis are in business activities. They have 2 associations namely E Rode Sindhi Panchayat & Sindhi Merchants Association. They celebrate many annual festivals & take joint food on the occasion of Diwali, Chetichand, Guru Nanik Jayanti, Chaliha Shahib etc. They take out procession to Kaveri river on the occasion of Chalihasahib. E Rode Sindhi Panchayat with 44 families conducts these activities through their Darbar at Moideen Street & Sindhi Merchants Association celebrates above festivals separately through their Darbar at Hanumanthrayam Koil street. The president & secretary & E Rode Sindhi Panchayat are Shri Lalchand V. Dembla & Shri S. Amarlal Punjabi respectively. The President & Treasurer of Sindhi Merchants Associations (with 16 families) are s/shri Ramchand R. Lulla & Madanlal S. Jumani respectively. Both associations have prepared directories of their members. Nearly 50% Sindhis here keep the Murti of Sai Jhulelal at their homes / Shops. The worth seeing places here are Sai Baba Mandir, Murgan Temple at Thindal (5 kms), River Kaveri etc. This city is famous for Handoom & Haldi. The meeting of E Rode Sindhi Panchayat took place at their above mentioned Darbar on 16-01-17 wherein 15 members (including ladies) were present.

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Salem (Tamil Nadu): January 2017

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The population of this city is 15 lakhs, 200 Sindhi families stay here. About 60% speak in Sindhi among one an other & about 30% speak in Sindhi with their children. Most of them are in business (say 85%) & the remaining are in different professions or service. They have many Sindhi Associations such as 1) Salem Sindhi Association (President Deepak G. Bathija, secretary Suresh V. Bathija) 2) Salem Sindhi Youth Forum (President Rajesh P. Chawla, secretary Anil Kumar M. Bathija) 3) Salem Ladies chapter (SLC) of Sindhi council of India (President Raksha A. Chhabria, Secretary Meeta Narang) 4) Salem Darbar Ladies Association (President Veena Chawla, Secretary Preeti Kinger). All these associations work in co-ordination with each other. Salem Sindhi Association has published a beautiful colourful directory of all Sindhis of Salem showing 197 members (151 Patron, 34 Ordinary & 12 non members) Shri Manohanlal U. Katra is in charge of matrimonial centre. He is also M.C. Member of Sindhi Federation of south India (with HQ at Chennai)

The Sindhis of Salem have got a beautiful Sindhi Darbar (with Sindhi Maharaj & staying arrangement) at 234, 2^nd Agraharam from where they conduct all their social activities (even I got the opportunity to stay there for a day). They celebrate many annual festivals & arrange Lungur (joint food) on such occasions. They take out procession on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi. They also manage one Sindhi Hindu Education Society School at Narayan Nagar ( In charge Shri Laxmichand Chhabria Mob No : 9442235745). This is Govt. Aided school where 1400 pupils get free education. However no Sindhi subject is taught in this school. Here the worth seeing plans are Shiva Mandir with 1000 Lingas (10 kms), Hanuman Mandir, Vinayak Mandir etc. The city is famous for silver anklets, Soya (Sabu Dana), Steel plants. The meeting of all Sindhi Associations took place in the above mentioned Sindhi Darbar on 17-01-17, wherein 17 members (including Ladies) were present.

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Tumkur (Karnataka State): January 2017

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This tiny town of 2 lakh strength is hardly 70 kms from Bangalore on Bangalore- Hubbali railway route. Only 15 Sindhi families stay here. However they have been preserving rich Sindhi culture. They have got Jhulelal seva Mandli having Sevadharis namely Naresh Kishinchand Raichandani, Ghanshyamdas Anchhiram Thakur & others. They have got 3 Sindhi Temples. All of them speak in Sindhi at home & among themselves. Most of them are in business but younger generation have joined service. They celebrate all annual festivals such as Chetichand, Chaliha sahib, Guru Nanik jayanti etc. & take food together on all such occasions, They also meet together on all happy & unhappy occasions. All of them keep the Murtis of Sai Jhulelal at their homes. The famous places in this town are Sri Sri Shivkumar Swamy Gatu, shri Sidh Ganga Math Kythandra. The meeting of Jhulelal Seva Mandli took place on 20-01-2017 at 12:30 pm Ashirwad Handlooms big shop of Deepak & Naresh Kishinchand Raichandani where in 6 memberts were present.

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Hubbali (Karnataka State): January 2017

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The population of this famous city is 16 lakhs, wherein 80 Sindhi families stay. Practically all of them speak in Sindhi only among themselves. However nearly 10% do not speak in Sindhi with their children. Practically all of them are busy in one or another business. They celebrate all annual festivals like Chetichand, Chaliha Sahib etc & take food together on all functions at their newly constructed nice Sindhu Bhavan (with Temple) of Sindhi Panchayat at Naveen Park, Kusugal Road. They have published “Sindhu Sagar”, Directory of all members. They also keep the Murtis of Sai Jhulelal at their homes / Shops.

They have formed Sindhi Panchayat (Regd in 1996) whose President is Shri Sanjeev (Shyam Bhatia). (He is also called Bulet Raja as he has travelled throughout India (including Ladakh)on Bulet Motor Cycle). The Secretary is Shri Kiran Lalwani. Subhash D. Jotwani is their Treasurer. Secondly they have Hubli Ladies chapter (HLC) of Sindhi council of India (President Geeta V. Kalra, Secretary Alka Gurnani). Thirdly, they have youth wing of Sindhi Federation of South India (President Dinesh T. Lalwani Secretary Amit Kalra). All these associations do their social work in co-ordination with each other. The meeting of all associations took place on 22-01-2017 at above mentioned Sindhu Bhavan wherein 26 members (including 13 ladies) were present Lunch was served after the meeting. The worth seeing places here are Sidh Arur Math, Navagraha Teerth Jain Mandir (Varur) (10Kms), ISKCON Mandir (15 Kms) etc.

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Belgaum (or Belgavi) (Karnataka State): January 2017

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This city of 6 lakh strength is on the Northern border of karnatak state. Nearly 160 Sindhi families stay here. They have one Pujya Sindhi panchayat (Chairman Hariram K. Jamnani, Vice Chairman Chandirlal S. Ahuja, Secretary Neelulal Khilnani), Jt secretary Nandhal Talreja. Mostly (say 90%) of them speak in Sindhi among themselves & 30% speak in Sindhi with their children. Practically all Sindhis here are engaged in business. They celebrate many annual festivals & eat together on the occasions of Chetichand, Ganesh Chaturthi, Navratri, Guru Nanik Jayanti etc. They also take out Prabhat Pheri on Guru Nanik Jayanti & procession on Chetichand day. They have published a directory of all Sindhi members of the city in 2014. Nearly 50% keep the Murtis of Sai Jhulelal at thier homes / Shops. Here, the worth seeing places are Hindalga Ganpati Mandir, Military Mahadev Mandir, Fort Lake, Yellur Fort, an other Fort in city (wherein Ramakrishna Mission, Jain, Durgadevi, Ganpati & Shiva Mandirs are located), ISKCON Mandir etc. They have got 1) A beautiful Sindhi Sanskrutik Bhawan with new temple ( Which has since been inaugurated on 14-02-2017) in Sindhu Nagar, Sindhi colony Hindalga Road. It has arrangement for marriages & staying also. 2) Sita Sadan in Khade Bazar (I/C Neelulal Khilnani), 3) Sindhi Gurudwara ( Bhakti Dham – I/C Pahlajrai Tolani) in Shastrinagar. The meeting of Pujya Sindhi Panchayat took place on 24-01-2017 at Sindhi Sanskrutik Bhawan wherein 12 members (including Ladies) were present.

JOINT REPORT/ARTICLE NO. 15 (PUNJAB, U.P.)

Tour Report Of Sindhis staying In Beas & Gurgaon

During March 2017. (Mohan G. Rohira 9321448147)

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Beas (Punjab) : March 2017

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This religions city is the Head Quarters of Radhasoami sect called ‘Radhasoami Satsang Beas’. It is on the right side of the Beas Rly Station called ‘Dera’. Its area companies of 1500 sq. Kms; where in nearly 7000 families stay normally, Total capacity of staying here is nearly 5 lakh people which can be seen at the time of festivals. Its disciples are very much dedicated & disciplined in every manner & they have made wonderful arrangement for feeding 50,000 people at a time! This area is also self sufficient in producing vegetables & grains. Hence it can rightly be called ‘Heaven on Earth’ Nearly 100 Sindhis stay here in Dera (for doing seva) which includes retired persons & some stay here with their families. The population of other (left) side of the Beas Rly station i.e. town proper is hardly 25000 which includes 20 Sindhi families including 12 Sindhi Doctors who are attached to Radhasoami Hospital on this side of the town. They do not have any Sindhi Panchayat & do not celebrate any annual festival’s except visiting a Zindahapeer Temple with Murti of Sai Jhulelal on every Chetichand day. This temple is prostrated by local masses. Most of them (say 60%) do not speak in Sindhi with their children or among themselves, though emphasis was made to that effect. Practically all of them are in business (except Doctors). They seem to be cut off from Sindhi Jagat.’ The information about Sindhi T. V. & Radio programs & some Sindhi Literature was given to them after which they were inclined to form some Sindhi association & do some thing concrete for the community in near future. The meetings were held individually with them on 18-03-17.

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Gurgaon (Haryana) : March 2017

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This city is connected with Delhi by Road & Metro Rly. by an hour’s journey. Its population is 13 lakhs, wherein 260 Sindhi families stay. Here unlike other Indian cities, they are mostly (say 95%) in one or other kind of service or profession. They have formed one Sindhi Welfare association (Regd.) at 814, Sector 14, Gurgaon-122001. Its President is Shri Lilaram Lalwani & General secretary is Shri Kamal Keswani. The later is the only Ex Sindhi officer (Ex IG) in over all 13 lakh officers of BSF. They celebrate many annual festivals such as Guru Nanik & Sadhu Vaswani Jayantis, Chetichand etc & also take joint food on these auspicious occasions. They also meet among themselves on happy & unhappy occasions. They suggested that in order to get political power, young Sindhi generation should be encouraged to join executive, judiciary, Arms & other police forces as they normally dont get tickets from political parties for contesting elections due to being scattered all over the country. They have prepared a directory for Sindhis of the city. They are running a “Sindhi Marriage Bureau (managed by Shri Daulatram Danyani aged 85 years Tel. No: 0124-2325321 & mob. No: 9899577223). They view some Sindhi T.V programs some times. Sitla Mata Temple & Huda City Centre are attractive places here. Hardly 20% of them speak in Sindhi at home & among themselves. Shri Manoj Lilaram Lalwani, (Son of above named President) is Director of Jyoti Public School (affiliated to CBSE) but no Sindhi subject is taught here as one of the subjects. The meeting took place at President’s residential address i.e. H-No:566, Sector 14, Gurgaon – 122001 on 30-3-2017 from 2 pm to 4:30 pm wherein 6 persons were present.

Note: In continuation of my above Sojourn, I also visited some more cities of Uttarakhand & M.P during March / April 2017 (after a gap of 12 years) wherein I found that this time attendance of Sindhis in the meetings was more than double & they seemed to be more enthusiastic & conscious of preserving our language & culture as well as for getting our legitimate rights from the Govt. These cities include Amritsar, Haridwar, Rishikash, Ratlam, Nagda, Ujjain & Khandwa. (The Report of these cities has already been published in these columns 12 years ago) . This is a healthy sign for our community.

JOINT REPORT/ARTICLE NO. 16 (INDONESIA, THAILAND, HONG KONG)

Tour Report of Sindhis staying in Jakarta, Bangkok & Hong Kong during June 2017
(Mohan. G. Rohira Adv. Mob # 9321448147, www.fragrancesindhicommunity.blogspot.in)

Recently I got the opportunity to attend 24th International Sindhi sammelan organised by Alliance of Global Sindhi Associations through Royal Caribans “Voyager of Seas” (Jhulelal Cruise) from 17-06-2017 to 25-06-2017 between Singapore & Hongkong (via Thailand & Vietnam). Out of total 5000 persons on the cruise (including 1200 crew members) 550 persons were Sindhis who had come from different corners of the globe to meet together for full 8 days to attend the sammelan, enjoy the melodious songs of Kajal Chandiramani & Mohit Lalwani, attend kirtan & satsang of Huzur Sai Sadhramji of Rahrki (Sindh) in the temporarily made ‘Jhulelal Mandir’ on the 2nd deck of the cruise & to enjoy other amenities in the cruise such as cultural programs (in the form of dramas, dances, music, Lectures), shops, restaurants, libraries, casinos, computer games, swimming pools,yakusi, steam & sauna bath etc. In the 14 storey cruise. In other words it was a ‘mini town’ & a ‘mini sindh’on water. Really the voyage on the cruise was an unforgetable event ! (It’s further report has already been published in Sindhi Newspapers by Punam Chandru Malani etc). Therein I got the opportunity to meet the dignitaries of Sindhi organisations of various countries, out of which I could collect some useful information regarding Sindhi communities of Indonesia, Thailand & Hongkong from there. The same is enumerated below in a nut shell for the information & motivation of our brethren.

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Jakarta (Indonesia) (June 2017)

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This famous city is capital of Indonesia with population of 10.5 million in the overall Indonesian population of 260 million. The city accommodates 2500 Sindhi families. Nearly 70 Sindhi families stay in Surabaya, 60 families in Bandung & a few families stay in Medan, Jogia & other cities of Indonesia. Moreover 25 families stay in Bali which is 2 1/2 hours journey from Jakarta. The Sindhis had settled long back before partition of India in Indonesia including Bali, Java, Sumatra. It is a matter of pride for our community that Indonesia Sindhis particularly Tejumal Bhojwani of Bandung & Kundandas family of Surabaya) had contributed maximum (as compared to other Indians) financially in the Army & by joining Azad Hind Fouj organised by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose during freedom struggle in the year 1943! (Please also refer Isar Singh Beddi freedom fighter’s article in Hindu Sindhi dt. 9-8-2017 in this connection).

The name of Sindhi Association here is ‘Gandhi Seva Loka’ (GSL) whose president, Vice-President, secretary & Jt. Secretary respectively are s/ Shri Shyam R. Jalthnani, Prem. B. Bhojwani, Murli D. Tolani & Ramesh R. Kripalani. Nearly 50% of them speak in Sindhi among themselves (& 20% at home with their children).

They posses many temples i.e. Devi Mandir, Sai Mandir, Shiv Mandir, Anandpur Sahib Mandir ( Where 2 doctors give free medical help to patients),Prem Prakash Mandir ( where free eye cataract surgeries are carried out,I/C Shri Gope Samtani). They also have one Gruha Sindhu community centre or Sindhu house from where most of their social, cultural, yogic & religious activities are carried out (such as helping widows, aparting free education to children, arranging blood donation camps etc). GSL has published a beautiful & valuable “Sindhi Directory 2014” (8th Edition) which is worth preserving. (A copy of which is sent to me by abovenamed Shri Prem B. Bhojwani V.P; GSL from Jakarata. He had met me in the cruise & given much useful information regarding Indonesian Sindhis). It throws light on so many topics. GSL manages 7 schools of International standard in Indonesia (having 7000 students) such as “Gandhi Memorial International School (GMIS) with Bappuji’s statue (in Jakarta & Bali chairman Suresh G. Vaswani), Mahatama Gandhi school (in Kemayoran & Posarbaru), Gandhi school (Ancol), Cambridge Int. School etc. In this way they have contributed to a great extent not only in preserving our ancient rich culture but also in raising the image of Sindhis & India in the eyes of Indonesian masses & Govt. & won their hearts, though they are in microscopic minority (being 10,000 in Indonesian population of 260 million with 88% being Muslims !), & though they are thousands of miles faraway from the motherland! We are really proud of such brethren who give inspiration to all of us! Due to these reasons Prof. Dr. Boedeono, V.P. of the Republic of Indonesia has been attending their functions regularly. The Sindhi Directory is testimony to his speech on 1st Mahatma Gandhi Memorial lectures on Bappuji’s 143rd birth anniversary on 2nd Oct. 2012 in GMIS. Further more Ex-president of India Mrs. Pratiba Patil (2008), Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam & Ex P.M. Dr. Manmohan Singh during their tenure in office were felicitated in GMIS Jakarta whose auditorium has capacity of 1500 persons. GSL had also hosted 17th Int. Sindhi Sammelan in July 2010.

GSL celebrate many annual functions such as Chetichand, Holi, Navratra, Diwali, Raksha Bandhan Jammashtami & monthly functions such as satnarian prayers & “Chand” (Moon) etc.They take joint food on all these auspicious occasions. They also organise “Wad-an-jo-Melo” (Seniors festival) program every alternate month in honour of Sr. Citizens who attend, participate & enjoy this program with full enthusiasm & give blessings to youngsters. Really it is a unique event which I have not heard so far during my visit of over 150 cities in India & abroad. Here hardly 10% Sindhis keep the Murti of Sai Jhulelal at their homes / shops. However most of them keep Murti of Guru Nanik at such places & also keep Guru Granth Sahib in all their temples. Mostly they are in business 22 being Doctors. They are quite well off financially.

Many tourist spots are located here such as 1) Monas, the national monument with National History Museum, 2) TM II (Taman Mini Indonesia Indah) i.e. Indonesia Miniature Park with cable car, 3) Ancol Beach with Amusement Park (Biggest in Indonesia) 4) Old Town Sunda Kalapa Harbour, 5) Ragunan Zoo, 6) Indonesia Suffery Park (Cesarna, Bogur) etc.

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Bangkok (Thailand) (June, 2017)

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After voyage of 2 days in the ocean, on Jhulelal cruise docked at a port in Thailand (80 kms from Bangkok) on 19-6-2017 & we were allowed to visit Bangkok for a few hours. As per pre-planning, Thai Sindhi Association had arranged dinner, cultural program & lectures in honour of all our Sindhi delegates who had got down from the cruise, in a five star Lotus Hotel in Bangkok for 3 hours we went there (nearly 70 persons) in 2 buses. Thai Sindhi association gave us good reception & showed us good hospitality which is beyond description. Practically all dignitaries of Thai Sindhi Association were present there. Therein I got the opportunity to collect some information from there in short time regarding Bangkok Sindhis which is shown as under.

The overall population of this popular capital city of Thailand is 9 million. The total No. Of Sindhi families staying there is only 250. They are mostly in business & are quite well off. The President, past president, Vice-president & secretary of this Association respectively are S/Shri Deepak (Danny) sajnani, Papnii Thakur, Kaushal Bhamuvani & Jacky Ramani, Hardly 10% of them speak in Sindhi at home & nearly 20% speak in this language among themselves. Most of them keep the Murti of Sai Jhulelal at their homes/shops.

They celebrate many annual festivals such as Chetichand, Diwali, Ganesh Chaturthi, Holi etc & take joint food on all such occasions. They also invite Artists from outside on Diwali & Chetichand & award prizes to children. Shri Papnii Thakur abovenamed past president arranges 10 dramas during the whole year. The Ladies arrange Satya Narayana Katha every month. They have many Sindhi Temples such as Prem Prakash Mandir I/C Jhaman Ganglani at 55,Sukumvit Road (Tel:081-2505446), Shri Anandpur Darbar, Radhaswami centre etc. The other temples are Hindu Samaj Mandir, South Indian Mandir, ISKCON Mandir, Akshar Dham etc. They also meet together on happy & unhappy occasions. Thus they are preserving our ancient culture & Sanskriti from foreign land. However it is sad that they are forgetting our rich ancient language of “Mohan-Jo-Daro” days.

Many worth seeing tourist places are located here. Such as Temple of Dawn, Royal Borges Museum, Grand palace,Wat Traimit Flower Market, Wat Pho, Chao Praya River, city of Angels etc. After collecting above information we returned to cruise by 2 special buses for making onward voyage.

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HongKong (June 2017)

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This famous city was independent some years back but now it is under Chinese control. It’s population is 55 lakh which includes 10,000 Sindhis. They have formed Sindhi Association of Hong kong & China, having its office at 15/F, Kowloon centre, 20-39 Ashley Road, Tsimshatsui, Kowloon, Hong kong. (Tel No: 852-23760009, Fax 852-23757227, Email ‘Sindhiassohk@gmail.com). It has 2 Patrons namely K. Sital BBS &Gary Harilela JP. They have one ‘Chartered Committee’, comprising of 5 Members i.e Notan Tolani, Lal Hardasani, Prakash Savalani, Lal Moria & Nari Keswani. Again, they have a committee comprising of other 5 members i.e Vashi Lilaramani, Ramesh Bharwani, Jyoti Khemlani, Bhavina Ladharam & Bhesham Buxani. They mainly (say 80%) speak in Sindhi among themselves but hardly speak in Sindhi (say 20%) at home. They have published a good Directory of Sindhis in Hongkong in the year 2016-17,which throws light regarding some aspects of the community.

They celebrate many annual festivals & take joint food on all such occasions. They also take out procession from Hindu Mandir Kowloon on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi. They are mainly in business & are quite well off financially. They have also excelled in other fields & earned reputation for the community i.e. 4 Sindhis are in Diplomatic Missions & JPS (Gary Harilela, Bob Harilela, Raj Sital & Vijay Harilela), one retired H.C.Judge (Arjan H. Sakhrani), 2 other judges, 9 Barristers, 10 Solicitors, 10 Hindu Priests & some are Doctors & so on.

They have many religious centres such as Sadhu Vaswani centre, Hindu Temple, Swami Teoonram Temple, Shri Paramahans Advait Int. So. (Anandpur), Nimanal Sangam (Darbar) Par Brahm Sadashiv Temple (Tung Chung), Radhaswami centre, Brahamkumaris centre etc. The city has also other temples such as ISKCON Temple, Chinmaya Mission Ashrama, Satya Sai Baba Temple, Shirdi Sai Baba Temple, Jain Temple, Gurudwara etc. It is important to mention here regarding activities of Shamdasani Foundation (P.O. Box 97764, TST. Hongkong, Tel. No: 852-27356544, Fax 852-27307090, website www.saibaba-fund.org). Its main object is to serve the under – privileged in India such as orphanages, schools for the handicapped, homes for aged-blind, health centres, hospitals & Rural self-help groups. It is registered with charity commissioner both in Hong kong & India.

Many worth seeing tourist places are located here. Such as Hong kong Island Tour, Hong Kong Maritime Museum, Victoria Peak (via peak tram) with sky terrace, Inter commerce centre (over 100 floors), star Ferry ride, Stanley Market, Old clock Tower (1915), Victoria Harbour cruise, Big Budha, tour in open big bus etc.

Note: The Sindhi Directory & most of the above information was received from Prakash Savalani (The above named Chartered committee member).

Joint Report/Article No. 17

International Sindhi Sammelan and tour report of Overseas Sindhis from running cruise during June – 2019

Mohan G. Rohira, Advocate, www.fragrancesindhicommunity.blogspot.in Mumbai Mob: 93214 48147

Recently I got the opportunity to attend 26^th International Sindhi Sammelan organized by Alliance of Global Sindhi Associations “AGSA” (In co-ordination with Indian Association of Barcelona) through Royal Carribean Company’s “Oasis of Seas” from 16- 06-2019 to 23-06-2019 running from Barcelona and back to Barcelona. Out of 8000 Persons on the cruise (including 2000 crew members) 800 delegates (including 170 delegates from Mumbai) were Sindhis who came from different corners of the Globe for full 7days to attend aforesaid sammelan, to enjoy other amenities on the cruise and to visit other cities for sightseeing and shopping wherever the ship halted for a few hours daily on the sea ports in route. (Such as Marcelles of France, Palma de milorica, Pisa Leaning Tower, Rome, Naples of Italy etc.). The Murti of Jhulelal Sai was established temperorily in big room on 3^rddeck of the cruise wherein Huzur Sai Sadhramji of Raharki (Sindh) gave ‘Pravachans’ daily in the evening. Famous Singers Kajal Chandiramani and Jatin Udasi entertained all delegates with their melodious songs every night. Anchor Simran Ahuja and Mohit Shewani also entertained audience with their humorous jokes. There were other amenities also in the ship such as cultural programs in the form of dramas, dances, music, Lectures, Shops, Restaurants, libraries, Casinos, Computer games, Swimming pools, Yakusis, Steam and sauna baths, Gym etc. Moreover there was 800 meters walking track around the whole cruise on 5^th deck from where Sunrise and Sunset points were easily visible. In other words it can safely he said that this cruise with 17 decks and 24 Lifts was a sort of a ‘mini town’ and a ‘mini Sindh’ on water. Really, the voyage on the cruise was an unforgettable event!

International Sindhi Sammelan:-

1) Its history: - In order to preserve and nurture our sindhi traditions, Language and

values for the future generations, to engender unity among Sindhis particularly youngsters (so that it may also help in their matrimonial connections in the community itself) and to help needy Sindhi Students in India get educated etc., devoted and visionary Sindhi of USA Shri Prem Lalwani with like-minded persons like Shri Kaloo Thadani etc. formed “The Alliance of Sindhi Associations of America”. Its first sammelan was held in New Jersey in the year 1994. After that such sammelans were held every year in different cities of USA. Furthermore the numbers of delegates used to increase year after year. In 2005 the 12th Sammelan was held outside USA i.e. Mumbai (BKC) under the main care of Shri Ram Jawaharani wherein the theme was “Unity in preserving involvement of youth in Sindhyat”. After that sammelans were held in London, Jakarta, Singapore, Indore, Barbados, Kuala Lumpur etc. Since their Association grew further on global level, more dedicated delegates were taken from different countries and its name was changed to “Alliance of Global Sindhi Associations” (AGSA) in the year 2013 with the same objectives but emphasized a more global focus. Its 24^thSammelan was held in “Jhulelal Cruise” voyaging from Singapore to Hong Kong in 2017. Next year (2020)

the 27^thSammelan is proposed to be the fixed in Pune.

2) 26^th International Sindhi Sammelan:- Its 1^st meeting was held in 5 Star Hotel of

Barcelona city in spain on 15-6-2019 i.e. a day earlier to departure of the cruise. The second and 3^rd meeting took place in the cruise on its last day i.e. 22-6-2019 (morning and evening) wherein many dignitaries gave their valuable suggestions and views for betterment of the community. Out of them some were from India such as S/Shri Murli Adnani, Gurumukh Jagwani, Jitu Jagwani, Vijay Lakhani (Mumbai), Manohar Dev (Indore), Mohandas Lodhani (Lucknow), S. Kumar (Varanasi), Asha chand (Dubai) etc. They all were felicitated. Asha Chand explained through video as to how with her struggle of so many years she got success parlty from Supreme Court in getting permission for starting DD Sindhi Channel for few hours daily with the help of Adv. Shri Mahesh Jethmalani. Shri Kamal Mirchandani of San Francisco (USA) explained by demonstrating on projector the use of Romanized script for Sindhi Language. Some resolutions were passed in the sammelan which included the demand of genuine rights for Sindhis from the Indian Govt. The Sindhi council of India’s members also played a big role in the Sammelan. A nice souvenir was distributed to all delegates. The Sammelan ended after Puja of Bahrana Sahib.

3) Though this Allaiance (AGSA) has not succeeded fully in its objectives as many

delegates did not take part in sammelan. Some short comings were also noticed for which its office bearers were made to realize for making improvements in forth coming Sammelans. However in spite of making intangible progress so far it has contributed a lot in its objectives. The Global Sindhi masses are mixing with and knowing one another under one umbrella every year even though their main motive may be for sightseeing of different countries. This also may help them in matrimonial connections in the community. In future it may help them particularly youngsters to understand and realize the problems of our community and to find out their solutions particularly when they participated fully in Sindhi cultural programs in the cruise. Kudos to these Sindhis of USA who sowed a small plant like this Association in ninetees which has become a tree by now. Let us hope that with the Grace of Sai Jhulelal and with co-operation of all well-wishers this Association will become a huge banyan tree giving shelter to all Sindhis and contribute in solving all the problems of the community.

Though I had a little time for social work in the cruise due to daily off shore outings, I got some little opportunity to meet dignitaries of Sindhi Organizations of various countries. Out of which I could collect some little information regarding Sindhi communities of main cities of Spain such as Madrid, Valencia, Barcelona, Malaga, Ceuta, Tenerife, Las Palmas and main cities of Holland. Some information was also collected on phones. The same is enumerated below in a nutshell for the information and motivation of our brethren.

Spain: - Nearly 25000 Sindhis stay in this country. They are mainly in business. Some

of them are in various professions also. On the whole they are well off financially. They have formed “Indian Association of Spain” whose Board members are selected from below mentioned main cities of Spain. Many worth seeing attractive tourist places are located therein which can be seen in tourist open Buses, Taxis etc. Sindhis of Spain celebrate many annual festivals and they have contributed considerably in preserving their identity, culture and language, particularly when many Sindhi youngsters are members of Sindhi Organizations of their country. It was also noticed that overseas Sindhis are more patriotic and do more Social work as compared to other Indians and thus they have raised the image of our country in foreign lands.

1) Madrid: - This city is capital of Spain. Its population is seven million. Nearly 2000 best Sindhis (350 families) stay here. Their association’s name is “Indian Sindhi Association of Madrid (ISAOM) whose president is Shri Nari Ramnani and Vice-President is Mrs. Renu M. Uttamchandani. She is also President of Indian Women Charity Association of Madrid (IWCA). Nearly 30% of them speak in Sindhi among themselves and hardly 5% speak in their own language at home. They are often in business. Only 5 among them are Doctors and one advocate. They celebrate many annual festivals. Such as Diwali, Holi, Navratra, Ganesh Chaturthi, Chetichand. Moreover they arrange “Priti Bhojan” on all such festivals. They have one Indian Culture Centre from where they celebrate all such festivals and do other social activities. They possess one Jhulelal Temple also. They have also prepared a directory of all Sindhis staying in the city.

2) Valencia: - 15 Lakhs is the total strength of this city. Out of which 7 Lakh people stay in city area and the remaining 8 Lakh stay in Suburbs. Only 22 worthy Sindhi families (57 adults and 44 youngsters) stay in this city. They are mainly in business and 2 of them are advocates. They have formed one association namely “Association Hindu de Valencia. (Here Spanish word ‘de’ means ‘of’) (President Nanikran Ratnani, Vice President Purushottam Amarnani and Secretary Shri Jaikishin Nanwani.) They celebrate many annual festivals such as Dada Vaswani’s birth day and Punya Tithi, Holi, Ram Navmi, Swami Teooram’s birth day, Raksha Bandhan, Indian Independence day, Shri Ganesh Jayanti (11 days) Navratra (9 days twice a year), Karvachauth, Diwali, Guru Nanak Jayanti, Chetichand and Punam (every month) etc. They arrange “Langar” in all these festivals as well as on every Sunday. The youngsters do not take so much interest in celebrating these melas for which emphasis was made to motivate them in this direction.

They do all social activities and celebrate above mentioned festivals from Radhakrishin Hindu Temple which is managed by Sindhi Association. It can be used by other Hindus (Gujratis, Punjabis etc.) also. Hence this associations takes help of others also in arranging there festivals and ‘Langar Prasad’ etc. The area of this temple is 240 Sq. meters wherein 180 persons can dine together at a time. (They often sit on the ground for taking Langar Prasad). On many occasions Local Spanish Students come in their temple to learn knowledge of Hindu Sanatan Vaidik religion. The Pujari of this temple Shri Hari Om shastri belongs to Utarakhand (India). They have also sent photos on w/A on this subject. In this way they have kept cordial relations with local masses. Out of these 22 Sindhi families, 7 families speak in sindhi, 5 families in Hindi and remaining in English or Spanish at home. However they speak in Sindhi among themselves.

3) Barcelona:- The city has population of 17 Lakhs. Nearly 2000 nice Sindhis stay here. They have formed “Indian Association of Barcelona” (President Satish Raisinghani, V. President Jaideep Nanwani and Secretary Rajesh T. Balchandani). In addition they have 6 excentive members on committee, namely Govind Morwani, Haresh Raheja, Ravi Bodani, Ms Ashika Nanwani, Ms Nisha Raisinghani and Shreya Nag. The last 4 and Rajesh T. Balchandani are youngsters. If this trend is followed in other cities also the future of Sindhi community has no risk of extinction at all! They celebrate many annual festivals such as Chetichand, Diwali, Holi, Navratra, Ganesh Chaturthi etc. They arrange pritiBhojan on all such occasions. They celebrate such festivals at Indian Culture Centre, Gurudwara, Sai Baba Temple, Shri Krishin Temple or Restaurants etc. Normally (say 90%) of them speak in Sindhi among themselves but at home hardly 20% of them speak in their mother tongue. They often meet among themselves on happy and unhappy occasions. This city is on the bank of sea and thus having many worth seeing beaches. Many tourists throng here to join cruise for sightseeing of various cities en route.

4) Malaga: - This city is populated with one million people. Nearly 300 handsome Sindhis stay here. They have formed an association namely “communidad Hindu de la Provincia de Malaga”. Its President is Shri Sunil Tharvani and Vice President is Shri Pradeep Mirpuri. They celebrate many annual festivals such as Janmashtami , Diwali , Holi, Navratra etc. On occasion of chetichand they take out procession with “Bahrana Sahib”. On the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi also they take out procession with Ganesh idol and emerse it on the sea beach. They also arrange “Satyanarayan Katha” every month. They normally celebrate all functions in Hindu Temple, which is normally used by Sindhis only. They arrange “Langar Prasad” on such occasions. They speak in Sindhi nearly 25% of them at their homes and nearly 50% of them among themselves. They have 8 doctors and 2 advocates among them.

5) Ceuta: - This tinny city is situated on a small island of Spain near Morocco (Africa) border. Its population is only approximately 80,000 which includes 240 good looking Sindhis (50 families), 300 other Indians, 240 Jews, 40,000 Muslims and remaining 40,000 Local Spanish people. The Sindhis association is named as” Indian community” which includes one Sardarji, one North Indian and remaining all Sindhis (President Ramesh Chandiramani, V.P. Premi Mirchandani, Secy. Dilip Nari Daryanani, M. Committee member Gul Adnani etc). They have one Hindu Temple wherein they celebrate all festivals etc. Such as Mahashivaratri, Holi, Navratra etc. On occasion of Diwali, they invite M.P.S. of other communities also and in turn they attend their programs also. They have cordial relations with all communities in the city so much so that for continuous 12 years they used to take Ganpati idol inside the city Church while on procession in the town on Ganesh Chaturthi festival. (This incident has been reported in Indian Newspapers many times and such photos have been received on W/A). However after coming of new bishop this practice has been discontinued since last 2 years and instead the Ganpati procession passes through church road. They arrange “Priti Bhojan” on all annual festivals. They are mainly engaged in various businesses. There are 4 doctors, 6 Advocates, and 2 judges among them. Ms Kissy Chandiramani daughter of abovenamed President is Cabinet Minister (M.P.) in the Ceuta Parliament which is a matter of pride for Sindhi Community! More over above named Gul Adnani and his wife Anisha received “Best Enterprise award” from their Government for year 2013 and again Anisha got “Best women Enterprise Award” for year 2015 from the Govt. (Photos for these incidents have been receives on W/A). Thus it is seen that Sindhis of this city have raised the image of not only Sindhis but that of India also in foreign Lands and they have attached the hearts of local masses. They Speak in Sindhi nearly 10% of them at their homes and nearly 50% of them among themselves. They also have Satnam Sakhi Temple (of Swami Teoouram Mahraj), Radhasoamy Centre and Anandpur Temple etc.

6) Tenerife: - This tourist city of one lakh strength is situated on an island and is full of Sea Beach. A large number of tourists mainly from European countries visit this place every year. It is having good climate. This city is divided in 3 centers-South, North and city center. 50,000 people stay in south, 2000 among them are noble Sindhis. Their association is named as “Association Hindu de Tenerife sur’ wherein ‘sur’ means ‘South’. Its President is Shri Jagdish G. Fabiani and V.P. is Shri Prakash Udhwani. He is also Zone chairman Lions Club & Secy. Indian cultural centre. They have “Indian Cultural Center (ICC) at Lapeneda from where they manage social activities and celebrate annual festivals. They have Las Vintos Temle and Sanatan Dharam Hindu Temple wherein religious programs of Satnam Sakhi (Swami Teoonram Maharaj) and Dada Vaswani Mission are also conducted. In addition they have Sai Baba Temple and Radhasoami centre here. They celebrate Chetichand, Holi, Guru Nanak Jayanti, Dassera, Diwali etc. They take out procession on Ganesh Chaturthi and arrange “Priti Bhojan” on all annual festivals. They speak in Sindhi nearly 50% of them at their homes and 70% of them among themselves. They give financial help to handicapped students and ‘Vradh Ashram’. They are engaged mainly in business activities such as electronic, Jwellery, Perfumes, Gift articles, souvenirs, readymade garments etc. Nearly 5% of them are in various professions and Govt. jobs. Nearly 500 brave Sindhis stay in city center, wherein Shri Gope Mahtani, Consul General of India also stays. 500 worthy Sindhis stay in North Centre, wherein Shri Sunil Rijhwani is President of Indian club. Sindhis of city and North center celebrate some festivals separately due to considerable distance from the South Centre. However they celebrate some festivals along with those of South Centre which is their main Centre.

7) Las Pal Mas: - This city is full with Islands wherein many world famous Sea beaches are located. The city is divided in 2 Parts city and South Center. City has 4 Lakh Strength and south has 50000 people. The no. of Lucky Sindhi families is 1500 in city and 1000 in South. Their association is named as “Club Hindustani Las Pal Mas”. (Main city) which comprise of mainly (say 95%) Sindhis. Shri Vinod Savnani is President of this club (City) wherein Shri Nitin Khatnani Jeevan is President of this club (South). Both centers are at a distance of 55 km. from each other. They have Geeta Mandir, Satnam Sakhi and Sai Baba Mandir in city as well as Geeta Mandir and Satnam Sakhi Mandir in South center from where they conduct all social and religions functions. They speak in Sindhi at their homes only nearly 5% of them but nearly 50% of them (Particularly elders) among themselves. Nearly 95% elders are engaged in various businesses and nearly 35% youngdters are accupied in various professions. They celebrate many annual festivals such as Chetichand, Holi, Diwali, Guru Nanak Jayanti, Ganesh Chaturthi etc. separately at both centers due to long distance between both centers. They arrange “Priti Bhojan” on all festivals. In addition, ‘Bhandara’ is arranged on every Sunday at Satnam Sakhi Mandirs at both places. They have prepared a directory of Sindhis of the city named as “Indian Club”. They help financially to needy persons and meet among themselves on happy and unhappy occasions. South Center is covered fully with tourist area wherein many tourists come from far off distances to enjoy good climate and nice sea beaches.

8) Holland (Netherlands):- This is a famous country in Europe. It has 4 important cities 1) Amsterdam (capital city), 2) Roterdam 3) The Hague. International court of Justice (ICJ) is situated here (wherein India won the case of Kul Bhushan Yadav from Pakistan on 17-7-2019), 4) Utrecht: This city is at the central place in this country. The total population of Holland is 17 million which includes 2.25 Lakh Indians. This country is on a little lower level from the earth level and hence it is also called ‘Netherlands’. Here only the hard working 25 Sindhi families stay. They have an association in the name of “The Indian Foundation” (IF) which has Head Quarter in Utrecht. Shri Dev Gurnani is its President. He had participated fully in the abovementioned 26^th Sindhi sammelan. He had disclosed that with his sincere and untiring efforts, the Govt. of India had gifted the statue of Mahatma Gandhi which was unveiled in Utrecht on his birth day i.e. 2-10-2016 through the hands of his Excellency Shri J.S. Mukul, Ambassador of India in Netherlands along with Honorable the Ven Zanen, Mayor of Utrecht. It was sculpt by Padma Bhushan sculptor Shri Ram V. Sutar. The Prime Minister of India shri Narendra Modi during his tour of Holland, while appreciating his (Gurnani’s) efforts, met a few Indians and shook hands with them near the statue on 27-6-2017 and he was one of them. More over Door Darshan India took interview of 3 Indians before arrival of P.M. and here also he (Gurnani) was one of them. (This whole episode had come on u tube and such photos have been received on W/A). We are proud of this brother who has raised the image of not only Bharat but of sindhis also even by staying in foreign lands! Nearly 50% of sindhis of this land speak in their mother tongue at their homes and among themselves. They do not have any temple. They celebrate annual festivals like Diwali and Holi etc. at the premises of India Foundation in Utrecht. They have arranged a Sindhi W/A Group through which they meet one another on happy and unhappy occasions. Many attractive tourist places are located in this land. The Tulip Garden of Amsterdam are world famous spots.

Joint Report Maharashtra and MP. Article No 18.

Tour report of Sindhis staying in Harapsar (Pune)

(Mohan.G. Rohira Mb:9321448147) (www.fragrancesindhicommunity.blogspot.in)

This city is in the suburbs of Pune and comes under the limit of Pune Municipal Corporation. It is hardly at distance of 12 km. from Pune Rly. Station. Its population is 5 lakh which includes Kharari, Magarpatta and Wanoworie localities. The no. of wise Sindhis staying here is 1800 (600 families) out of which 150 families stay in Magarpatta. They are engaged in one or other business (50% in Kharari, 30% in Magarpatta and 80% in Wanoworie). The remaining are doing jobs mainly in software companies. They have one Panchayat in Megarpatta namely "Asanja Sindhi Magarpatta" wherein they have not elected any President or Secretary but some members are elected as "Sevadharis" or committee members on equal level. Three of them are mentioned here. Such as Shri Jeet L. Chandwani, Parmanand C. Tilokchandani and Nitin Jusija. They do not possess any Sindhi Dharamshalla or any such place. However they own one "Vimla Jhulelal Mandir" in Wanowarie area. They clebrate two annual festivals of Diwali Milan and Chetichand program wherein they arrange "Priti Bhojan" among themselves. In near future they are planning to start Sindhi Literary, matrimonial centre and arrange monetary fund for helping needy persons in the community. They have started a whatsapp group showing all Sindhi families in the locality for giving information for their meetings on happy and unhappy occasions. Nearly 20% of them speak in Sindhi among them- selves. However, hardly 2% of them (which can hardly be counted on fingers) speak in their mother tongue at their homes. Further report of Pune city has already been pub- lished in these columns which can be viewed at above mentioned website. The meeting of above Panchayat took place here on 8-12-2019 (Sunday) between 2:30 to 4:30 pm at Magarpatta Club House (Kumar Paradise) wherein 11 members were present includ- ing 3 ladies.

Tour report of Sindhis staying in 2 small cities of M.P.

Mohan.G. Rohira Mb: 9321448147 (www.fragrancesindhicommunity.blogspot.in)

The report of 209 cities has already been published in these columns so far. Now report of further 2 cities is being given here.
1) Shivpuri : This small city of 2.5 lakh population is at a distance of 120 k.m. from Gwalior by Railway, 15 Sindhi wise families are staying here. They mainly (say 75%) speak in Sindhi among themselves and nearly 50% in Sindhi with children. 3 persons among them are in service and the remaining are engaged in various busi- nesses such as cloth, readymade, etc. They have formed a "Sindhi Panchayat Shivpuri" whose president is Shri Rajiv Bhatia and Secretary is Shri Suresh Bhagwani. They celebrate only Cheti chand festival annually wherein they take joint food and close their shops for half a day. They meet together on happy and unhappy occasions, for which they have formed a W/A group. They all keep the photo of Sai Jhulelal at their homes / shops. They have prepared a Sindhi temple recently and they are going to inaugurate it shortly. The worth seeing places here are chhatri of Scindhya Parivar, National Park and Bankare Hanuman temple (8kms). The meeting of Sindhi Panchayat took place on 16-02-2020 from 6.00 pm. to 8 pm. at the residence of Secretary Shri Suresh Bhagwani in Gandhi Colony wherein 6 members were present.

2) Guna : 2 Lakh is the strength of this small city wherein brave 30 Sindhi families (110 members) stay. Bharatiya Sindhu Sabha is having its branch here. Its President is Shri Rajkumar Dagwani and Secretary is Shri Anand Krishnani. Nearly 50% of them speak in Sindhi at home and among themselves. The rest of them speak in Hindi. Nearly 90% of them are engaged in various businesses and the remaining are in service. They celebrate Chetichand festival annually wherein they take Priti Bhojan together among themselves and some of them close their shops for a half day. They visit Hanuman Tekre temple on Hanuman Jayanti. They have cordial relations with Punjabi association so much so that their names are included in "Punjabi Parivar directory" (pages 91 to 97). Nearly 70% keep the photo of Sai Jhulelal at their homes / shops. The worth seeing places are Hanuman Tekri (on Hill), Kedarnath temple, Mallpur temple, Bajrang garh Purana Qila. The temple of Anandpur is at a distance of 90 kms., from here. The meeting of Bharatiya Sindhu Sabha took place in Gurudwara on 17-2-2020 from 8 pm. to 10 pm. wherein 31 members were present including 9 ladies.

Fragrance of Sindhi Community

Joint Reports/Articles

Tour report of Sindhis staying in Harapsar (Pune)

Tour report of Sindhis staying in 2 small cities of M.P.

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