By Dada J.P. Vaswani

Ancient is the history of Sind. The Indus Valley civilization is at least 7000 years old. The Sindhis are highly civilized and cultured people, enterprising, hardworking and industrious, full of the spirit of faith and courage. They have won laurels in many walks of life- education, medical, legal profession, science and technology, management, creative arts and above all, in building institutions of social welfare.

The Sindhis are a cosmopolitan community and transcend all caste, religious, racial and national barriers. In his interesting travel-book, Peter Mayne says: "Sindhis are the easiest and most open of the Eastern people. I have come across…. They do not seem to be tormented by any inhibitions." Maharishi D.K. Karve, the celebrated founder of the Indian Women's University, repeatedly urged that the Sindhis were a 'most generous and hospitable people."

Wherever you go, you find a Sindhi to greet you and to extend his hand of fellowship and friendship to you.

As I have moved from one place to another in India, and traveled from one country to another and met my Sindhi brothers and sisters, it has seemed to me that for the survival of the community, we need the following seven-point programme: -

1. We Sindhis need to be health conscious. We are so absorbed in our work that we have forgotten to take care of the body. As Arabian proverb says: "He who has health, has hope; and he who has hope, had everything." At my evening walks in different places and countries, I meet people belonging to different nationalities but scarce a Sindhi. The English poet puts it very rightly when he says:

He spent his health to get his wealth,
Then with might and mien,
He turned around to spend his wealth
To get his health again!

2. The Sindhis have wonderful qualities. All they need is unity . "The multitude which is not brought to act as a unity, is confusion" said the great philosopher, Pascal. When the Sidhis will learn to speak with one voice, the whole world will pay heed to it.

3. Let the Sindhis help one another. If they find one amongst them going down, let them all try to lift him up. In the measure in which we lift others up, we are lifted up ourselves. The great Italian patriot, Garibaldi, said: "Great is the ready hand rather than the ready tongue."

4. The Sindhis are a gifted people. What they lack is simplicity. All our great ones have been simple in dress, diet and daily living. It was Emerson who said, "to be simple is to be great."

5. Take care of your children. They are your richest treasure. Addressing a meeting of wealthy bankers, Sadhu Vaswani said: "You are busy gathering silver and gold, but you have neglected your richest treasure. Your richest treasure is your children," Let us give them time and attention. Let us be careful to see that they receive the right type of training and atmosphere in the home and the right type of education in the school and college.

6. If our community is to survive, we must keep our language alive. We do not have a place which we can call our own. If there is one thing, which can help us, retain our identity, it is the Sindhi language. Let every Sindhi learn as many languages as he will, but let him not neglect the Sindhi language. It is the language of our Sindhi poets and darveshes. The Sindhi language has been the inspiration of Sindhi life. And in the words of Sadhu Vaswani : "To be cut off from your language and literature, O Sindhi people will be to be up rooted from life itself.

7. A community grows strong in the measure in which its members develop qualities of character, integrity and honesty of purpose, simplicity and sincerity , purity and prayer, sympathy and service. "The happiness of a people," wrote Halibustus, "depends upon the character has its roots in the heart.

May the new generation learn to develop qualities of character and love the Sindhi language and feel proud of the Sindhi Culture, which we have inherited from the hoary past, if indeed we are to have a future worthy of the hopes ad struggles of our Great Ones, and to achieve the purpose for which the Beloved Community has survived the shocks of history.

courtesy ASEEN SINDHI