Mother’s Day Gives Sindhi Americans a Sense of Belonging

Mother’s Day Gives Sindhi Americans a Sense of Belonging


Want to see how the melting pot works its magic of assimilation? Observe how ethnic observances change their flavor and color as they blend with American traditions. The latest reminder of this truth was the picnic the Sindhi Americans organized at HoblitzellePark, Plano, on May 3, 2009, to celebrate Mother’s Day, a week in advance.

Sindhi Americans are one of the few ethnic minorities that have no homeland of their own and exist only as a diaspora. In 1947 India was divided into two countries, India and Pakistan, on the basis of religion. Hindu Sindhis were in a minority in Pakistan at the time of Partition. To avoid communal violence, they had no choice but to fan out to almost every country in the world. Although the Hindu Sindhis left their homeland with little more than the clothes on their backs, they prospered by dint of hard work and their innate skill to adapt to new cultures. In the United States they continue to be a model community.

The celebration of Mother’s Day every year in Dallas is one example of the Sindhi American community’s attempts to join the mainstream.

The blend of two traditions was evident in the food that was served at the picnic. The barbeque pits were afire. Corn on the cob was a favorite with all ages. The aroma of barbeque sauce mingled with the waft of stronger spices of the choley, dhokla and sanna pakora spread out on the tables in the pavilion.

A cake, which is an American rather than a Sindhi tradition, was cut to the symbolic mother. The words of the recitation that accompanied the cutting were improvised on the spot to the tune of “happy birthday to you”

It was a day for improvisation. The remix of traditional and modern music had the ladies bursting into a series of impromptu dances. These mutated into a singing competition between the women and the men, a sort of musical relay, where continuity was maintained by the opposing team starting a new tune with the last word of the competitor’s song. The presence of mind and the wit involved in not dropping the baton added to the liveliness of the occasion. Needless to say, the men lost.

The picnic was organized by the DFW Sindhi Association. “It’s one of the four events on the calendar of our association,” Mr Lal Daswani, its hard working president, explained, as he supervised the proceedings with a genial eye.

Traditions give the ethnic communities strength, but observing American customs give them a sense of belonging. What more than Mother’s Day?

Posted by Murli Melwani