Community to revive Sindhi-Arabic script
EVENT TO HELP INDIANS, PAKISTANIS RECONNECT WITH THEIR ROOTS
We have to think of innovative ways to revive the language. It is important to teach children to read and write in Sindhi.”
Asha Chand | Indian expat
As cultural identities go, Indian and Pakistani expats have a shared past. Highlighting this is an event titled Jhalak Sindhyat Jee, to be held in Dubai on November 23.
Bringing Indian and Pakistani artistes on the same platform, the show is an attempt to revive one commonality between the two communities: the Sindhi-Arabic script.
Indian expat Asha Chand, who conceptualised the idea, said: “There are over 30,000 Indian Sindhis in the UAE alone. If we add the Pakistani Sindhis, the number will be much higher. We go back a long way and speak the same language. However, with few in the present generation able to converse in their native tongue, we have to think of innovative ways to revive the language.”
The November 23 cultural show, which will feature India’s mash-up sensation Jatin Udasi and Pakistani folk singer Shazia Khushk, among others, hopes to touch the right chord.
“Our shared Sindhi literature is very rich, as we can judge from the works of Sindhi poet Shah Latif. We have a priceless treasure but our children don’t have the key to open it. Hence, it is important to teach them to read and write in the Sindhi script,” said Chand.
Sindhi is an Indo-Aryan language that can be traced back to the Sindh region of the subcontinent. Currently the official language of the Pakistani province of Sindh, it is also one of the scheduled languages officially recognised by India.
But unlike the ‘Sindhi-Devanagiri’ that Indians developed after 1947, the original script is in Sindhi-Arabic. Like Arabic, Sindhi is also written from right to left, but has more letters (52).
Chand, who has been working with a group of volunteers under the umbrella of Sindhi Sangat over the past 18 years, has launched several initiatives to promote the Sindhi language.
Besides cultural events, the activities include global Sindhi competitions for children, a Sindhi educational project in Sindhi-managed schools, an effort to create a database of Sindhis worldwide and a dedicated language app and interactive website.