Sanjana Bhambhani's ancestry traces back to the time of India's Partition, a period when her family gradually lost their mother tongue. Can she now reclaim it?
Growing up, I only spoke Hindi among the Indian languages, unaware of my family's second regional language. When I inquired about it from my father, his response left me perplexed.
"It's Sindhi," he said, a language unfamiliar to me. He explained that Sindhi is predominantly spoken in the region of Sindh, which lies in Pakistan, our neighboring country. Why did my family lose our ancestral language? What led us, unlike other Indian families, to no longer speak our regional tongue?
The exodus from Sindh resulted in the loss of a significant portion of its Hindu community. Hindus from Sindh, many of whom had fought for India's independence from colonial rule, lost their homeland and the language of their roots, Sindhi.
At 14, my grandmother departed with nothing but memories of her upbringing, the streets she wandered, and the loved ones she cherished behind.
We didn't even have a teacup and saucer to call our own, she recounted, highlighting the communal importance of these items in our tea-drinking culture.
Among the captivating aspects of Sindhi is its ability to blend linguistic elements of India and Pakistan, despite the political divide between the two countries.
When my grandmother left Sindh, she carried her language, symbolizing her diverse upbringing, with her. However, upon settling in Delhi, India, she had to master Hindi, the dominant language of her new home state. Today, I address my grandmother as दादी (Dadi) in Hindi.
In an endeavor to preserve the language, some individuals are making efforts to reconnect with Sindhi. Kiran Thadhani, born in the US to grandparents who migrated from Sindh to Ahmedabad, India during Partition, now residing in the UK, attends Sindhi classes but encounters challenges with pronunciation.
There are moments in my language classes where I falter, and it's a struggle to get it right, Thadhani shares.
Thadhani acknowledges that while certain words flow naturally, mastering others, like "guɗi" for doll, proves more challenging, as she tends to Anglicize the pronunciation.
Despite encountering difficulty, Thadhani remembers speaking her first words in Sindhi and the particular emotional connection she feels when expressing herself in her mother tongue.
The quest to uphold Sindhi culture encompasses various aspects, including language, cuisine, and online communities that unite Sindhis across borders.
The article explores how Sindhis navigate challenges preserving their language and cultural heritage in a changing world, reflecting on personal journeys like that of Sanjana Bhambhani's family and overarching themes within the Sindhi community.
---