Christ university chapter for a bba student ( language in context)

1. A Homeless Sindhi Woman
Popati Hiranandani

2. A Homeless Sindhi Woman
This poem was originally written in
Sindhi by Popati Hiranandani.
This poem was translated into English
by Anju Makhija and Menka Shivdasani,
with Arjan Shad.

3. About Popati Hiranandani
● She is known as a revolutionary Sindhi writer.
● She was born in 1924 in Karachi, Pakistan and migrated to India during the time of
partition. She passed away in 2005.
● She had go through several hardships on account of her father’s untimely death when
she was only twelve years old.
● On a personal front, she took a revolutionary step to stay single; decided to remain
unmarried because of dowry system.
● She has written more than 60 books and she won the Sahitya Academy award for her
contribution.
● Her writing styles belongs to the genre of people who call a spade a spade.

5. A Homeless Sindhi Woman
- Popati juxtaposes two incidents in
history.
- One, Anarkali who was buried
alive is compared to Delhi in turn
also compared to herself.
- The land (its people) and herself
effected by the brutality of partition.
- By comparing herself to the injustice
metted out by Akbar who buried
Anarkali alive, Popati highlights the
statelessness of her existence and
her identity as a woman.

6. About partition and subsequent migration:
“As riots broke out after partition and when things at Karachi looked like getting out of control, we
went to Hyderabad. From Hyderabad we (me, mother, my sisters, children), 50 women and children
altogether boarded a bus to Mirpur Khas. From there we boarded a train on our way to Jodhpur. We
had booked two full compartments, one for people while the other for grain, thanks to the efforts of a
Sindhi philanthropist and known member. But the religious conflicts led to the members of the other
community holding back the compartment with grains. We reached Jodhpur with empty bellies and
no food. We found shelter in this one old Rajasthani bungalow. The very first night posed the
prospect of sleeping with scorpions. The children were getting restless, and it was due to the efforts of
a Rajput neighbour that provided the children with food. It was a torturous period of nearly 12 days. I
remember at times hunger got the better of me, and I used to snatch a ½ roti from one and another ½
from another. Some people, who had the good fortune of getting some money back, arranged for
some food too.”

7. About partition and subsequent migration:
“Our situation was so bad, that we didn’t have extra clothes to wear the next day. Hence,
each day we used to wash any one garment. Soon after partition, my brother went to Delhi
and he got a job. He sent us utensils, dal and cereals. In that structure we arranged five
kitchens and temporary curtains were created as partition. But, I clearly remember despite
all the pains and traumas, we generally had a good time in the nights, as we got together
and shared jokes, riddles and generally had a laugh. Soon, my mother and me had to sell
away all our jewellery, but we somehow managed to get over the situation. From Jodhpur I
went to Baroda, where I met and lived with Bhai Pratap for six months and later on
knowing of a vacancy to teach Sindhi in Sindh Model School, I moved to Bombay.”

8. About men in the context of marriage:
Talking about the grooms her family arranged for her to meet, she says:
“There were young men willing to abnegate the practice of dowry but they
were either bald, or followers of Gandhi, or Arya Samajis. There are many
people in India who strive to attain their goals by pretending to be idealistic
and reformists”

9. State of homelessness:
A quote from one of her more cherished poems titled ‘Who is Anarkali’
“I am a homeless woman, I belong to Mohan-jo-Daro which was famous for home-
building, but what to do, even Anarkali, the queen of beauty was buried alive, because she
was Anarkali. I am also Anarkali because I cannot be a citizen of India or a citizen of a
State. I am homeless, I am Stateless.”
These above lines of the poem would best describe Popati’s feelings for her community
and her statelessness. She was in deep anguish ever since she was driven out of her
homeland, and made to take shelter in India.