God Bless And Keep It Up!
by Rtn. Bhagwan Bhagchandani
Ms. Shobha Lalchandani, a doyenne of 'Sindhyat', is an unsung heroine. Although her contributions to 'Sindhyat' are significant and meaningful, she shuns publicity and considers herself a humble and dedicated promoter of 'Sindhyat'.
She is an M.A. in Sindhi Literature from Mumbai University and also in Arts & Printing. Born in February, 1955 in a celebrity family of Smt. Paroo & Shri Thakur Chawla, well known promoters and preservers of 'Sindhyat', who even at this age, continue to contribute; more particularly, in 'Sindhi Awazi Culture', Shobha inherited significant attributes from her parents. Married to Shri Ram Lalchandani, a popular 'Chitrakar' in May, 1974 both serve the Sindhi Community and 'Sindhyat' with devotion.
Shobha had a brief stint as lecturer of Sindhi in Jai Hindi College and MMK College, Mumbai, for about six years. She is a prolific writer and has written many papers, articles etc in Sindhi language, and also participated in several Seminars and cultural events. She has won many awards and is a profound speaker in her own right. She is a versatile personality and has great 'flair' for Journalism too.
She has been very actively involved in 'Hindwasi'- a complete family weekly news magazine in Sindhi, with a global circulation. Shri Mangharam Siphimalani, prolific journalist and freedom fighter started 'Hindwasi' in 1991 and while he was 'Editor-in-Chief' of this magazine, Shobha became the Assistant Editor. This is how her career as a journalist began. This weekly magazine is extremely popular with the Sindhi Community, and the faithful readers look forward to receiving and reading it with interest every week.
Shri Mangharam finally handed over the “baton” of Editorship to Shobha about a year back and she has done full justice to the confidence reposed by Shri Mangharam in her. It is very sad that the readership of Sindhi books, magazines, etc., is on the decline and, therefore, naturally there is a paucity of funds; but yet, Shobha has kept the flag flying, demonstrating her deep commitment to 'Sindhyat'. She is humble, humane and a dedicated worker. I can go on adding many more adjectives to her calibre and passion but conclude by saying that she is a young and dynamic personality with tremendous potential for growth. The words of Roberts Browning are worth quoting here:
“Grow old along with me – The best is yet to be”.