Lakhadino Kalal dedicated himself to shaping Sindhi literary culture while championing progressive ideals through decades of teaching, organizing, and writing
By Muhammad Habib Sanai
Lakhadino Kalal was a voracious poet, tireless translator, outspoken columnist, and steadfast political activist whose life bridged literature and struggle. He dedicated himself to shaping Sindhi literary culture while championing progressive ideals through decades of teaching, organizing, and writing. This tribute surveys his devotion to words, his mentorship of younger writers, and the enduring impact of his poetry and activism in Sindh and beyond.
Renowned poet, translator, columnist, and political activist Lakhadino Kalal was born on 9 September 1948 in village Karam Khan Nizamani, Hala, District, Matiari. After completing primary schooling in his native town, he enrolled at Madarsa School Mansoora Depar, where he passed the matriculation examination in 1965. After passing his Intermediate examination from Sarwari Islamia College, Hala, he began his career as a School Teacher in the Sindh Education Department. However, after a few years, he left that position and fully dedicated himself to literature and political activism.
To earn his livelihood, he took on various odd jobs, including working as a peasant. Alongside these struggles, he pursued higher education, eventually earning an MA in Sindhi and an LLB from the University of Sindh.
Literary and Political Activism
Since the late 1960s, Kalal was deeply involved in both literature and politics, affiliating with nationalist and leftist movements. After the dismantling of the USSR, the process of depoliticization began in Sindh, which also dampened his political zeal. Though he became somewhat religious, he continued to remain active in literary pursuits and maintained a democratic and progressive outlook.
He carried within him an extraordinary memory for poetry. He could recite verses by Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, Shaikh Ayaz, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Sahir Ludhianvi, and other Sindhi and Urdu poets with remarkable ease.
Renowned writer, political activist, and development professional, Dr. Khataumal terms him his mentor. He recalls meeting Kalal in the late 1970s through classmates Atta Muhammad Nizamani and Ali Nawaz Nizamani, during his days at Sarwari Islamia College, Hala. He credits Kalal with awakening his own passion for literature and left-leaning politics. During the Zia era, Dr. Khataumal, together with Dr. Hyder Nizamani, Kalal, and Ali Nawaz Nizamani, launched a lecture series at Hyder Nizamani’s residence. Distinguished scholars, including Dr. Mubarak Ali, Professor Fareedudin Shaikh, and Professor Zubed Ahmed Firdousi, delivered talks that were attended by university students as well as leading political and literary figures from Hyderabad and its surrounding areas.
Ali Nawaz Nizamani, President of the Sindh Chapter of the Awami Workers Progressive Party, remembers Kalal as his political mentor. Their friendship began in the early 1970s and endured until Kalal’s last days. At the time, Kalal was a schoolteacher but remained deeply engaged in politics. According to Nizamani, he was the first organizer of Jeay Sindh Mahaz in District Sanghar. In 1979, both men left the Jeay Sindh Tahreek to join the PNP, before later moving on to other leftist parties.
Kalal played an active role in the MRD movement and even offered himself for voluntary arrest. Another dimension of his activism, Nizamani recalls, was the establishment of a Coaching Centre. It was designed to help school dropouts prepare privately for the Matriculation examination. Many youths from Karam Khan Nizamani and Baqar Khan Nizamani villages benefited from this initiative and later became political activists. Among them were the noted writer and journalist Jan Khaskheli and the committed political activist Ghulam Hussain Doongar Sindhi, both of whom studied under Kalal’s guidance.
In his memoir, poet Sahir Rahu recalls a cold November night in 1989 at the village of Karam Khan Nizamani. Around 11 p.m., he sat with Kalal in a modest room furnished with charpoys, chairs, and a small table. As others drifted into sleep, Kalal kept talking—about literature, history, aesthetics, culture, and society—with a passion that drew Rahu deeper into his world.
After a brief absence, Kalal returned carrying a jug of wine and two glasses. Placing them on the table, he filled both and said affectionately, “Abdul Rahman, take this.” Rahu declined, reminding him he did not drink. Kalal smiled faintly, took a sip himself, and reflected:
“Never let any intoxication—whether of wine, wealth, beauty, fame, power, or youth—overtake you. Intoxication strips human beings of virtue. I lost my parents young, and when a child is orphaned, society’s vices and cruelties become his dowry. Remember, true dignity lies in sobriety.”
Kalal admired Rahu’s refusal, adding that while some believe a creator must be intoxicated, as Shaikh Ayaz said, “Poetry itself is an intoxication, a state of ecstasy.”
As the night deepened, Kalal recited verses with passion from Saindad Saand’s ghazal:
اڄ تو الائي ڪنهن کان، گهريا گلاب هوندا،
ايندا جي خواب هوندا، ڪيڏا عذاب هوندا
He explained that while anyone can offer roses, the act of asking for roses holds deeper meaning. Then, gazing upward, he softly quoted Ahmad Faraz:
توں خدا ہے نہ میرا عشق فرشتوں جیسا،
دونوں انساں ہیں تو کیوں اتنے حجابوں میں ملیں
Later, he recited Nasir Kazmi with a heavy heart:
ہمارے گھر کی دیواروں پے ناصر،
اداسی بال کہولے سو رہی ہے
And finally, with weary eyes fixed on the lines of his palms, he whispered Parveen Shakir’s couplet:
تو بدلتا ہے تو بے ساختہ میری آنکھوں،
اپنے ہاتھوں کی لکیروں سے الجھے جاتی ہیں
After finishing the verse, Kalal stood up, picked up the jug and glasses, and in his characteristic style remarked, “Abdul Rahman, before the intoxication rises, I should leave now.” With heavy steps, he walked away into the fading night.
That night and especially that couplet of Parveen became etched in his memory —a reminder that pain knows no language, border, or culture, but belongs to the shared heart of humanity.
Writing Career
According to Encyclopedia Sindhiana, Kalal began his literary journey as an essayist before turning to poetry and translation. In his later years, he also contributed regular columns to Sindhi newspapers, becoming a respected voice of reflection and critique.
Published Works
- Bhalaree Bhoon (1995): Translation of The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck, co-translated with Rashid Bhatti.
- Paacha Munjhe Paand Mein (Shadows in My Hem, 1998): His first poetry collection, published by Sachai Ishaat Ghar, Daro.
- Danshiswar jo Khakho (2021): Translation of Edward W. Said’s Representations of the Intellectual, based on the Reith Lectures of 1993, published by Progressive Publishers, Karachi.
- Waiser Jee Yadgree (2024): Translation of Mahmoud Darwish’s Memory for Forgetfulness (1995), published Roshni Publications, Hyderabad/Kandiyaro.
Lakhadino Kalal passed away on 19 August 2023 in Hyderabad. He was laid to rest in his ancestral graveyard at Karam Khan Nizamani, leaving behind a legacy of resistance, creativity, and humility that continues to inspire all those whose lives were touched by him.
Read: Valiram Wallab: The Translational Genius
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Muhammad Habib Sanai is based in Hala town of Sindh. He is a freelance writer and contributes his research-based articles to various newspapers and other publications.
