Devoted Dedication - Preserving Sindhiat
Some of the Torch Bearers
Mrs. PARVATI THAKUR CHAWLA
Born in 1932, in a middle class family in Sewan, Karachi, she is the eldest among the seven children, and has borne all the responsibilities of the family truly like any elder will do. Paru as she is popularly known, was fond of Sindhi ‘Kalams’ and music from childhood, but was never trained at that time, due to financial restraints. Later at the age of thirty she started learning singing from Shri Gobindram Mathur. Since she sings from the heart the clarity of the words and the “soz’ from the ‘Kalams just oozes out. Another amazing quality is her memory, she remembers over one thousand Sufi Kalams by heart.Paru Chawla is an excellent mother, home loving and maintains a fine balance between outside commitments and the home. Her love for the Sindhi language is vast and she has been running free Sindhi classes for those who show interest. Mrs. Paru Chawla believes that it is never too late to learn, as she herself learnt the Gurmukhi language at the age of forty years. Her latest offering to the Sindhi culture is a collection of 365 parables relevant to the day to day lives of Sindhis.
ASHA CHAND
To be born of illustrious parents can be intimidating as well as challenging. It is intimidating in as much that the social expectation from progeny are quite high and challenging because in order to establish his/her identity the progeny has to come out of the tall shadow of the parents. Being the daughter of Mr. A. J. Uttam and Sundri Uttamchandani, notable names in the history of literature and leading figures in the ‘Sindhi’ Movement, she has created an identity for herself.
From childhood, groomed in arts like music, dance and drama, she found her niche in the field of competing by conducting various programmes at national and international levels. She is an ‘A’ grade approved voice for Films Division of India and All India Radio. Now she has graduated into a successful events organizer with the object of collecting funds for activities for the furtherance of Sindhi language, literature and culture.
Initially she launched ‘Jai Sindhi Publications’ in her personal capacity, essentially to promote Sindhi literature in audio media of CD’s and cassettes. Thereafter in the year 2000, alongwith like minded lovers of Sindhi, she set up ‘Sindhi Sangat’ and is the driving force of this movement. Sindhi Sangat is totally focussed on the goal of promoting Sindhi language and culture though the audio and visual media including computers and internet It is needless to add that in all these activities she has the full support of her husband Mr. Chand Punjabi, who has always been a pillar of strength for her.
ANILA SUNDER
‘Kathak refined with a difference.’- The Times of India, Mumbai
Anila Sunder (nee Makhijani) who has a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology from the University of Mumbai, started her career as a lecturer in Psychology at the Jai Hind College, Mumbai. Trained by Guru Hazarilal, Padmashree Damayanti Joshi and Shri Vijay Shreshtha in Kathak, and under Guru Natbar Maharana and Guru Shankar Behra in Odissi, she had a long and successful career as a solo performer. Creative innovations and an intelligent approach in themes and choreography provided a new dimension to Anila’s dance technique.
With her deep love and dedication for the art and her perseverance to attain perfection in her dance form, Anila began scaling new heights of glory within a few years. And soon she formed her performing unit along with which she staged over 1,000 performances in different parts of the world viz., Japan, West Africa, Scandinavian Countries, UK, UAE, USA, etc....
Anila has preformed for the television medium too. Her stances have a natural sophistication and elite look, which comes from a unique way of thinking. Some of her dance numbers have a classical touch and yet others have elements of abstract dimensions.
Anila Sunder has made a significant contribution to the popularity of Kathak and development of Sindhi Art and Culture in the course of her career. Her works include dance dramas, ballets and group compositions featuring both traditional and modern themes.