The members of the Sindhi community are trying to impart their rich culture and tradition to the younger generation, who usually belong to the urban areas and do not even speak in Sindhi. Says Lachman Khubchandani, director of Centre of Communication Studies and and of Sindhu Documentation Centre, "The community has made a name for itself in trade, business, industry and by setting up many public institutions but it is in danger of losing its cultural identity. Majority of the younger Sindhis don't know the language. The new generation lacks the appreciation of our heritage and legacy. I feel that there is an urgent need in the cultural and educational quarters to preserve our culture."The language being the most important component of heritage, the Sindhi linguistics Department, established in 1961, in the Deccan College Post Graduate and Research Centre, has been playing a significant role in developing programmes in Sindhi studies.The department has undertaken projects such as a comprehensive Sindhi-English dictionary, a reference grammar of Sindhi language and they are also conducting some ethnographic studies of the Kutch region. Recently the Deccan College Research Institute, celebrating its Diamond Jubilee Year, conducted a one day seminar on Sindhi Heritage in collaboration with the Sindhi Documentation Centre (SDC) of the Sindhu Charitable Trust of Sind Society.The SDC set up at Sind Society has focussed its attention on building a repository of information on Sindhi studies and generating facilities of documentation. "The centre is launching an endowment fund to help create a repository of documentation on Sindhi studies maintained in the national libraries and Archives in various research institutes, universities, colleges and cultural organisations in India, Pakistan and abroad."The centre plans to conduct short term orientation programmes in different institutions to impart training in information processing for heritage studies and provide a few fellowships for budding scholars to take up time bound projects. We have put in Rs. 10,000 in this endeavour and we want to appeal to all the well wishers of this cause to give generous contributions to enhance this project." informed Khubchandani.With the help of computers and information technology, they want to form into a major economic and cultural force to be recognised by the world in the 21st century. "We have got a lot of information on the net and the Indian Institute of Sindhology in Kutch established ten years back is a centre for advanced studies and research in the field of the Sindhi language, literature, education and culture. Like the SDC, it has the same aim, to preserve and promote the culture by disseminating it in the younger generation in the modes and forms most intelligible to them." informs Raj Hirwani of the SDC.The Sindhi community may be of small population to receive any significant political representation in any part of the world, but the most precious thing they possess is the Sindhi Spirit of survival.
