June 9, 2002

HE is a poet, storyteller, journalist, researcher, painter, sculptor, archaeologist, lexicographer, (former) political activist and a sufi. Will the real Badar Abro please stand up? With the smile of a saint, which seems to be present on his face even when it isn’t, he says, “If you ask this absurd question from the Earth, which part of it do you expect to stand up. There is unity in diversity.”

And then he goes on with a subtle mystic discourse. I remind him of his early youth when he used to be a Marxist. He says that despite having become a believer, he still does not reject Marxism and considers it to be a part of the ultimate truth. “Matter and idea are not two separate things, they are two sides of the same coin and the universe is a combination of both, a marriage of (apparent) contradictions.”

However in the past he thought that Marxism was everything but now he thinks that it fails to provide answers to many questions. What caused this metamorphosis in him? In order to know that, we will have to go through his life history.

Born into a learned family of Sindh, Abro inherited love for the printed word from his home. He is the maternal grandson of Mian Shamsuddin Qureshi, author of Aino qadeem Sindh, and paternal grandson of Ali Khan Abro, Sindh’s first Muslim post-graduate. (According to another opinion, this distinction goes to Allama Dr Umar bin Mohammad Daudpoto). His father Jamal Abro is considered to be one of the pioneers of Sindhi short story.

Badar recalls that his reading habit began with the study of the children’s magazine, Gul phul, the issues of which the senior Abro used to drop in his and his siblings’ rooms. Through the treasure of Sindhi folklore, compiled in many volumes by Dr Nabi Bakhsh Baloch, he came to read short stories and poetry written for adults.

At the age of 20 when he was studying at college, he started trying his hand at short story writing. After a few years he also turned to sculpture and spent a couple of years in giving life to stone. His bust of Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai, like Mohammad Ali Bhatti’s painting, is considered to be the best portrayal of the eighteenth century bard. His earliest stories and verses were published by the monthly literary magazine Sojhro — which, with its contemporary, Suhni, and predecessor, Rooh Rihan — acted like an institution for the promotion of Sindhi literature. Another institution which helped him groom his talents was the Sindhi Adabi Sangat.

Remembering that golden age of the Sangat, which was one of the world’s largest (branches-wise) and most active literary organization then, Badar recalls that in those days the Sangat was a training school for the budding talent.

Its regular gatherings of critics attended by senior progressives, nationalists, existentialists and those belonging to other schools of thought, were like classes which produced prominent writers such as Anwar Pirzado, Faqeer Mohammad Lashari, Abdur Rehman Naqqash, Kehar Shoukat, Hidayat Baloch and many more.

In August 1980, he was arrested and imprisoned for taking part in the progressive and democratic movement against Gen Zia’s martial law. The secluded prison life was no problem for him. In fact it was a boon for the solitude-loving Badar as it provided him time to read, write and contemplate. And he wanted to take advantage of every moment.

That would explain why he pasted this warning on the wall of his cell: “If you have come to contribute a bit of knowledge, you are welcome, otherwise..........” Professor Jamal Naqvi was one of the few guests he happily welcomed. “Whenever he entered my cell, he offered a quotation from a world classic and then added: Now I think I have the right to sit here for a while.”

His first book,Tanqeed nigari, a comprehensive history and analytical study of the genre, came from the prison cell. It was followed by Jail jee diary the second edition of which was retitled Aaheraian jee akh mein. While in prison, He also penned short stories, some of which were included in Riasat jungle jee aakhani, and verses which he does not like to publish though “Saami’s pitcher has been filled”, a reference to Saami, the third most important Sindhi poet after Shah Latif and Sachal Sarmast, who used to write poetry on pieces of paper while running a grocery shop and dropped each verse in a pitcher to collect them later.

After his release from jail, he took up journalism as profession by joining daily Hilal-i-Pakistan as a sub-editor. Later he worked in the capacity of an editor for Sach, Barsat and Pukar. In the meantime Badar also devoted time to his archaeological pursuits and research work which resulted in the publication of a couple of books. Among them Ranikot is a historical and geographical study of the largest mud fort in Pakistan and Hinglaj aeen Lahoot a historical and mythological study of the two ancient sites and Mother goddess cult in Sindh and other parts of the world.

Recipient of the Hijra Award by the Academy of Letters, Sindhu jo safar is based on research and observation made during the Indus expedition conducted on rubber boats from the River Kabul up to Port Qasim. Manhoon (The Man) traces the relics of the Stone Age in Sindh and Sindh jo Shah beside describing the life, works and the philosophy of Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai, debates on whether the characters immortalized by him were real or imaginary. A compilation of newspapers’ columns, in the form of mystic dialogues on basic questions of life in the universe, published under the pen name of Adesi are waiting to be published. On the other hand, he has also written about 250 pages of a supposedly 1000- page book on the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy, containing first hand experiences of the activists of the historical movement.

Nowadays he is working on a dictionary for a publishing firm and also on an electronic encyclopaedia on Sindh. The latter is designed to contain basic information on every thing under the sun in the province, including its wildlife, flora and fauna, archaeology, cities/towns, tribes/families etc. The work is so massive and multidimensional that it seems almost impossible that any individual can accomplish the job and that too by spending money from his pocket on the field work. Here the government institutions such as the Sindhi Adabi Board, the Institute of Sindhology and the Sindhi Language Authority could play a helpful role.

When I insisted on him to offer a comment on the performance of these institutions, the polite Badar, after a meaningful silence, pointed out that the performance of these institutions is marred by their centralized decision-making and the lack of the aptitude to and methodology of work.

“In the private publishing houses, a project with its budget is assigned to an individual who completes it with the assistance of a team of freelancers. Whereas in their government counterparts, the whole institution works on a single project,” he observes. Badar believes that these institutions should publish serious research works not only on Sindh but also on different branches of science, economics, agriculture, and other disciplines.

However, support or no support, due recognition or under- estimation, born writers like Badar keep on working to fulfil the commitment they have with themselves. And he does keep on working till sleep conquers him. Even then you will never find any glimpse of tiredness on his face or a minute suggestion of any complain in his talk. A true sufi, isn’t he?

Badar Abro: profile

Born in 1953 in Larkana

Educational qualifications: BCom, Certificate courses in painting/sculpture and archeology

Fields of work: literature, journalism, history,archaeology, culture, tourism

Contributions: Tanqeed Nigari (1985), Ranikot (1996), Sindhu jo safar (1994),

Hanglaj aeen Lahoot (1991), Manhoon (1998), Sindhu jo Shah (2000), Riyasat jungle jee Aakhani (1992), Aaherain jee Akh mein (1980), Nepal Bhagwanan ji bhoon, hundreds of newspaper editorials/articles/ columns, several research articles on archaeology awaiting publication, Pehi jaan panr main (discourse in mysticism)

Work in hand: Oxford Concise English-Sindhi Dictionary; Sehwan through centuries, History and role of Sufis, Electronics Encyclopaedia Sindhika (25 volumes) and a book on the MRD movement

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