Nature has bestowed on us life and environment. We have a
choice between two things: we either wander freely like other wild beasts in
search of food or make good use of the environment by applying our intelligence
to create better living conditions and thus make a happy social life for
ourselves.
For thousands of years, man too lived in wilderness like
other mute creatures on the earth and gradually developed his intelligence and
experience to live a settled life in groups, harnessed the hostile surroundings
and thereby collectively benefited from the environment.
In the process, the knowledge and experience gathered by
these societies formed the basis of their social practices. It was also
codified into rituals for the benefit of future generations. For example, our
ances...tors believed that shaving off the first hair of the new born babies
was good for the growth of the hair. This was later transformed into a ritual
or a ceremony popularly known as ‘mundan.’ In this manner, every society
developed many such social practices, rituals, customs, beliefs and they came
to be collectively called the culture of that particular society. The world
today is a result of the influence of the myriad cultures of various societies,
having a distinct way of living with a distinct identity, which has been
developed over thousands of years, based on intense knowledge, experience and
beliefs. This holds true for the Sindhi culture too, which is a result of the
accumulated wealth of knowledge and experience gathered by the Sindhi
community. This inheritance rightfully belongs to the new generation of Sindhis
also, just as a son would inherit legally the property of his father.
To deny this cultural heritage to the up coming generation
is a cultural folly, which is being done by us unwittingly. We should make
amends without delay, lest our future generations would curse us for having
committed such a cultural suicide.
Nevertheless, it is however, never too late.
