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| | The !:Global Sindhis Network is not currently active and cannot accept new posts | | For those who could not attend the Sindhi Sammelan in S'pore - A report | Views: 1096 | | Aug 19, 2007 4:02 am | | For those who could not attend the Sindhi Sammelan in S'pore - A report | # | 
Rajan Bhavnani | | “STRIVING TO STAY CONNECTED”
August 2007
Dear Sindhi brothers and sisters
We are pleased to report that the Sammelan, as promised, was an enlightening, exciting and fun-filled event. The 3-day extravaganza was held on the 27th - 29th July 2007 at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel and the Grand Finale evening at Siloso beach in Sentosa. The event drew a crowd of 900 people from all over the world. Unfortunately we had to close down registrations 2 days prior to the event to ensure that the venue could comfortably accommodate those who had already registered. We apologize that approximately 200 Sindhis, mostly Singaporeans, were let down due to their last minute applications.
Day One, July 27, 2007:
At about 3 p.m. Shri Prem Lalvani, Chairman, ASAA, welcomed all the delegates and this welcome was followed by a prayer and a ceremony. Shri Lalvani thanked the Sammelan team for the excellence in organizing the event. He also paid tributes to two important Sindhis who passed away this year: the late Shri Jhamatmal Wadhwani, of the VES Institute, and late Shri Kishore Lala, ex Vice-President ASAA, (he was also the person responsible for running, for many years, Sammelans of the past and this one before he passed away in Los Angeles, just two days prior to this Sammelan).
Mr. Raj Sriram, the head of Coutts Bank, the main sponsors of the event, was the next speaker and he paid a tribute to the Sindhis of the world and spoke a few words in support of the Sammelan.
This was followed by Ms Vimla Tewari, President ASAA, who offered her tributes to late Shri Kishore Lala. At the request of Sm. Kamal Kishore Lala, Ms Vimla read out a message dictated by Shri Kishore from his bed, which touched everyone's hearts. A prayer was offered by those present for his peace and for the courage for the family to bear this irreparable loss.
Shri Ram Jawahrani, Dr.Satish Rohra and Shri Kimat Israni each spoke in turn in Sindhi and spoke on Sindhyat. Their talks were enlightening. Due to time constraints, Dr. Rohra's moving talk was kept short and many felt that they were eager to hear more from him. Since Dr. Satish is a regular at the Sammelans, we are hoping to hear more from him, and understand and follow his serious words.
At 5 p.m. Swami Swaroopananda of Chinmaya Mission gave a special address, which was spiritually enlightening. Swamiji emphasized the need for the unity of Sindhis and demonstrated that nothing can break us if we are united.
At 7 p.m. His Excellency, the President of Singapore, S.R. Nathan, officiated at the opening of the Sammelan by lighting the lamp. The President and several government officials with their spouses, who graced the event with their presence, appreciated the excellent manner in which the event had been organized. The President's message was, "Wherever Sindhis have settled, they have a network of family firms who have played a crucial role in the economy of host countries....."
On behalf of SSA, President Nathan presented the "Coutts Recognition of Service to Community Awards" to:
1. Swami Swaroopananda of Chinmaya Mission
2. Shri Murli K. Chanrai - a well-known Sindhi businessman and philanthropist.
3. Shri B H Melwani - a well-known self-made Sindhi philanthropist.
At 7.35 p.m Shri L K Advani (Leader of the Opposition in the Indian Parliament and ex Deputy-Prime Minister of India) addressed the gathering in Sindhi. He expressed his happiness to see a crowd of 900 Sindhis from all over the world and he delivered a powerful message to the audience. He remarked, "Sindhis were uprooted from their soil but have demonstrated a remarkable ability to adapt. Their flexibility and friendliness have enabled them to make a name for themselves wherever they have gone …."
This was followed by a ten-minute address by Dr. Jai Shankar, the High Commissioner for India in Singapore, welcoming all and complimenting the Sindhis and the Sammelan.
At 8 p.m. the keynote speaker, Professor Kishore Mahbubani, Dean of Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at National University of Singapore and former Singapore's Ambassador to the United Nations, addressed the gathering with an interesting speech. He referred to Sindhis as a "globalized community." Some historical facts of Sindh that he shared were astonishing, because they were unknown to many of us there. The Professor remarked, "Despite immense geographical dispersal, Sindhis have remained close-knit. Marriages have been arranged across great distances. Indeed it can be argued that Sindhis created their own version of Internet by establishing World Wide Web of trust and confidence......".
At 8.30 p.m. Shri Deepak Gurnani, Sammelan Chairman and Singapore Sindhi Association President, gave a welcome address.
A fashion show, cocktails, dinner and dance followed thereafter which went on till the late hours.
Day two: July 28, 2007:
Around 10.30 a.m. Shri L K Advani was invited to the stage and Shri Prem Lalvani, ASAA Chairman, greeted him, and at his request, Shri L.K.Advani presented the "SINDHU" Awards on behalf of Alliance of Sindhi Associations of Americas to:
1. (Late) Mr. Kishore Lala, (Ex) Vice President of ASAA. The Award was presented posthumously and accepted on his family's behalf by Ms.Vimla Tewari, the President of ASAA.
2. Shri Deepak Gurnani, Sammelan 2007 Chairman and President of Singapore Sindhi Association, for his outstanding leadership for the success of the Sammelan.
3. Shri Arjan Daswani, Singapore Sammelan 2007 (Overseas) Coordinator: In recognition and appreciation for his selfless service to the Sindhi Community and for the success of the Sammelan.
4. Ms. Bina Ramani, in recognition and appreciation for her indomitable courage and relentless pursuit of justice. She has succeeded in changing the unjust laws against women in India.
Shri Advani then continued his 2nd day's speech. Among many interesting points that he raised, Shri Advani stressed the need to speak Sindhi at home. He stressed that even if we or our children learn other languages that are essential for global communication today, at home we must speak Sindhi. He warned that if we fail to do this, Sindhi would completely vanish from our lives.
Other important speakers were Dr Ram Buxani, Shri Murli K. Chanrai, Shri Srichand Hinduja, Shri Kamlesh Moorjani, who all spoke on Sindhis and Sindhyat and how best to preserve it.
Shri Pakash Rohera spoke on "Josh – Achieving Dreams" while Miss Suman Balani talked of "Girl Power – Women of substance are connected" with her emphasis on Sindhi women.
All speakers were given traditional Sindhi greetings and presented with typical Sindhi shawl called "Ajrak".
Books and CDs relating to Sindhyat were on display.
Fashion shows were well attended and intrigued the audience with the various ensembles. Young Sindhis had the opportunity to mingle during the many breakout sessions held throughout the 3 days followed by disco partying till late. While the youth kept busy, others enjoyed the entertaining Sindhi play presented by Singapore Sindhis.
The matrimonial matchmaking session was conducted subtly and yet it attracted many youngsters. These sessions were started with icebreakers and followed by introductions. There was a lot of excitement and the matchmaking committee reports that at least a few families are in advanced talks for these alliances. They are confident that quite a few alliances will bear fruit, thanks to this gathering at the Sammelan. Thanks also to Rakhee Sajnani (Secretary, Sindhi Association of Edmonton, Alberta Canada) for her dedicated efforts and collaboration on matrimonial matchmaking committee. .
In the evening there were cocktails, music, dinner and dance till late hours.
Day three, July 29, 2007:
Many delegates attended the Sunday Assadivar Kirtan and a special welcome was organized for them in our very own Sindhu House on the last day of the Sammelan. This was followed by a delicious lunch of Kadi-chawaran, boondi etc for the delegates present. Others went shopping and sightseeing.
The last evening Grand Finale gala dinner, "Sindhis in Suits and Sarongs @ Siloso" at Sentosa was thoroughly enjoyed by the participants. Many came dressed according to the theme of the evening. Dance items by a children's troupe and a professional dance troupe as well as Zul and the band with Tania from Harry's Bar fully engaged the audience with excitement.
It was interesting to see that many Sindhis across the world shook hands and/or embraced each other as if they were meeting "their own" after long time. Many stuck new friendship and others renewed old with vows to keep in touch. Important point to note is that in such a large 3-day event not a single untoward incident occurred, and every one seemed relaxed and happy.
Comments like "I am really proud to be a Sindhi!" and "Where can I buy books to teach my children spoken Sindhi?" etc were heard at the Sammelan and it showed the relevance and the continued need of the Sammelans.
At a breakaway session Shri Chatru Vaswani (SSA & Sammelan Team Official) introduced and distributed copies of self-teaching booklets for learning to read and write Phonetic Romanized Sindhi Script prepared after many years of research work by Shri G. L. Chandiramani of Mumbai. Many more booklets were sent through various delegates to many overseas destinations for local distribution. An enlarged version can be viewed at www.chandiramani.com under "Roman Sindhi Script". Shri Vaswani has however, warned that unguided learning would result in distortion of the spoken language and suggested that audio-video medium or audio dictionary etc. (on which, author says, he is working) would certainly go a long way as helping tools. Shri Chandiramani has requested for comments, votes and if possible volunteer Sindhi help for this selfless community work. Please email vote or comment directly to: mrchandiramani@yahoo.com as he intends to develop the version to the level to get it admitted in official teaching institutions as also perhaps on BBC channels.
The Singapore Sindhi Sammelan team would like to thank all volunteers both individuals and the SSA Committee members including Rishi Kumar, our IT Specialist, and all others who helped make this event a great success.
Our special thanks are also due to all our overseas colleagues who acted as Sammelan's Coordinators in their respective areas namely: North America, Canada, Caribbean, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, India, Spain, Canary Islands, UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Pakistan. We are glad that from all these countries we had delegates and without our said colleagues’ dedication we would not have achieved such a wide variety of delegate participation.
Thanks also to Mr. and Mrs. Vashdev Khialani, and the "Jawan" and "Buzzurg" volunteers for welcoming and taking good care of the visiting delegates and the VIPs.
Our thanks are also due to artistes, Ghanshyam Vaswani, Kaajal Chandiramani and their troop, who were specially flown in from Mumbai for the event and other groups like Tezdaar, etc. who entertained us at the finale.
We record our thanks and appreciation also for good job done by Ramesh Travel Service, Singapore for their efficient and effective services especially to the delegates who bought tours from them.
The venue for the next Sammelan has not yet been determined; according to ASAA officials, it is tentatively scheduled for Barbados. We will announce the venue once it is fixed and confirmed.
Meanwhile we thank ASAA for having given the honor to host the 14th International Sindhi Sammelan 2007 to Singapore Sindhis. We wish ASAA all the best in their future endeavors.
The Sammelan Photo Gallery is now hosted and may be viewed at or downloaded from www.singaporesammelan.com (click at Photo Gallery).
Deepak Gurnani, Chairman
For-Singapore Sindhi Sammelan 2007
C/o The Singapore Sindhi Association,
"Sindhu House", 795 Mountbatten Road, Singapore 437795
Tel: (65) 6345 5664 - Fax: (65) 6345 4417
Email: contact@singaporesammelan.com
Website: www.singaporesammelan.com
Private Reply to Rajan Bhavnani | | Aug 26, 2007 7:27 am | | re: For those who could not attend the Sindhi Sammelan in S'pore - A report | # | 
Pushpa Moorjani | | Thank you Rajan for the detail report.
"It was interesting to see that many Sindhis across the world shook hands and/or embraced each other as if they were meeting "their own" after long time. Many stuck new friendship and others renewed old with vows to keep in touch.
Important point to note is that in such a large 3-day event not a single untoward incident occurred, and every one seemed relaxed and happy.
All speakers were given traditional Sindhi greetings and presented with typical Sindhi shawl called "Ajrak"."
As told to me.......by some one who attended the event
:)
Private Reply to Pushpa Moorjani | | |
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