There is a famous poem of Iqbal which creates a
‘mirror’ in which we Sindhis may recognize
ourselves.
Says Iqbal :
Khudi Ko Kar Buland Itna, Ay Bandey,
Ki KHUDA Bandey Se Khud Poochhe
Batha Teri Raza Kya Hai?
Sindhis today have re-invented themselves - after
the mass-scale uprooting and financial losses of Partition
in 1947. In that historic year, the composite Hindu-Muslim
world of Sindh disappeared from the map of history,
perhaps forever. During the period 1947-50 a whole
way of life, culture, a social world came to an end
in Sukkur, Karachi, Hyderabad, Larkana. Yes, Sindh
the place still physically exists, but it is now a
very different social world.
The point of recalling the past is to appreciate the
road we Sindhis have travelled. On the ruins of Old
Sindh has arisen a New Sindh, which truly has a Global
presence today.
And this New Sindh is carried by each one of us in
our identity, especially in our never-say-die Entrepreneurial
Spirit. It is that spirit which Iqbal calls khudi
in the poem above, it is the spirit of creating opportunities
where only problems existed.
More than anyone else, the Sindhi businessman embodies
that adventurous spirit, that inner strength which
has made todays’ Sindhi a true Citizen of the
World.
Yes, we can look into Iqbal’s poetic mirror,
thanks to the landmark achievements of Sindhi merchants,
Builders, Industrialists, and smile. |
