Partition Stories from the Province of Sindh

Ishwari Hassaram Idnani (married name: Maya Lekhraj Nebhani) was born on 29th April 1933 in Hyderabad, Sindh, British India.

Her family’s journey out of post-Partition Pakistan was long and arduous. Yet, Ishwari is grateful for everything she has today.

Today, Ishwari calls Mumbai, India home and this is her story.

Ishwari’s memories of Hyderabad, Sindh are sweet. When telling her story, she paints a picture of a loving, caring and close-knit community in Hyderabad.

Ishwari completed six grades of Sindhi in Tikam Das Nanikram Girls School, and three grades in English.

“We used to walk home from school with friends – there was no auto, cars or buses. Everyone walked everywhere all the time,” said Ishwari, recounting similar experiences to others who have shared their story here (see Bhagwan Sadhwani’s story). “Even when we were going to visit relatives, we would just walk over to their houses.”

“I still remember Sindh now and then,” she says fondly

“We would do this often, visiting relatives – it was a community filled with love that we lived in,” Ishwari reminisces.

The community that Ishwari talks about is a stark contrast to how it would become post-partition. “We lived in fear of what would happen,” she said. “And this is why we left.”

The long, arduous journey out of post-partition Pakistan began with her family taking a train from Hyderabad to Marwar Junction. They only packed all the important things but left everything else behind. A full eight days later, they boarded a bus to Ahmedabad where they lived at the station until the next leg of their journey. At the station, they were provided with food and water daily. Later, the Congress House chartered a bus and took those living at the station to a hall – there were about 15-20 families altogether staying there. Here too, they were provided with food and water rations by the government.

The long, arduous journey out of post-partition Pakistan began with her family taking a train from Hyderabad to Marwar Junction

The hall was to become home to Ishwari and her family for a full three months – until buses were chartered again and the family were moved to the Kalyan Camp (Kalyan is today known as Ulhas Nagar). This camp was essentially a set of military barracks, with 6-7 families living in each barrack. Slowly, the camp started filling up with more people coming over from different parts of Sindh such as Larkana, Shikarpur, Dadu, Tando, Hyderabad and Karachi. Ishwari’s family knew that they needed to start rebuilding their lives again so her mother started stitching clothes, and about a year and a half after that, Ishwari too started learning how to stitch clothes to earn a living. As they were earning their own income and were self-reliant, government rations were stopped after one to two years of being distributed to them.

Today, Ishwari – who goes by her married name, Maya Lekhraj Nebhani – lives in Bombay (Mumbai), India, where she has been living since she got married. Although she calls India home, she still feels a sense of nostalgia for Sindh. “I still remember Sindh now and then,” she says fondly. “But God has been great to us – we have been blessed with everything, and we’re happy.”

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Courtesy: Stories of Sindh (Posted on June 8, 2021)

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Partition Stories from the Province of Sindh

Sunita Ram Binwani (maiden name: Mohini Balani) was born on 2nd June 1941 in Hyderabad, Sindh, British India.

The youngest child in a family of five siblings, Sunita’s family moved to Madras (Chennai), India following Partition.

Today, Sunita calls Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia home and this is her story.

Sunita recounts living a good and comfortable life in Hyderabad, Sindh pre-Partition. She was used to being surrounded by a big family. Her immediate family – her parents Gopaldas and Sati Balani, together with her three older brothers and one sister, who was the eldest – lived in a large joint family with their grandparents, three chachas (uncles), chachis (aunts) and cousins. The family always had a smooth and friendly relationship with their neighbors.

Sunita studied in a Sindhi all girls’ kindergarten for one year while her brothers and sister studied in an all boys’ and all girls’ school respectively.

At the time of Partition, Sunita was around six years old. She recalls a building in their area known as Pishori Paro being set on fire. People were being given sweets laced with poison and kidnappings were rampant.

The family made their way to the Hyderabad train station, where they had to spend the night sleeping at the station’s platform as the train departing Hyderabad was full

However, the one event that is clearly etched in her memory is when a house opposite her family’s was set on fire and razed to the ground. That event struck Sunita’s family with terror and panic – and was the deciding factor for their family to leave Hyderabad for the safety of their lives. They knew they could not live there anymore.

The family packed up their personal belongings, carrying whatever they could and what was necessary. Only a few personal belongings were taken along – Sunita remembers wearing five to six frocks on top of the other. The rest of their belongings, land and other properties were left behind.

The family made their way to the Hyderabad train station, where they had to spend the night sleeping at the station’s platform as the train departing Hyderabad was full. The family was going to make their way to Madras (now known as Chennai) as the firm her father was employed in, Kishinchand Chellaram, had arranged accommodation for the family.

Sunita knows how lucky they were – having the support of her father’s established job as an export manager, they were able to start life afresh in Madras and in comfort.

However, there is a sad side to this story as Sunita says that they had to split with their joint family at the Hyderabad station. Her grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins were going on to start life anew in Bangalore instead.

In Madras, Sunita completed 11 years of primary and secondary education in English in St. Anthony’s School in Pudupet, Madras, followed by two years of high school in the Commerce stream. She also took private Hindi lessons on the side.

In 1963, Sunita married Ram Binwani and the following year, she moved to Penang, Malaysia where her husband had a textile business.

The couple were blessed with two daughters, who today have professional careers – one is an accountant and the other is a lawyer.

In 2013, Sunita and her husband left Penang for good to live in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where one of their daughters lives. In Sunita’s own words, “with age catching up”, she wanted to be closer to her family and to care for their grandchildren. Today, Sunita and her husband continue to reside in Kuala Lumpur.

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Courtesy: Stories of Sindh (Posted on July 31, 2021)

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Partition Stories from the Province of Sindh

Neena Hashumal Nandwani (maiden name: Premi Bhagwandas Wadhwani) was born on 15th July 1932 in Karachi, Sindh, British India.

Following Partition, her family left for India because there were riots and disturbances, and they were becoming more frequent by the day.

Neena currently lives in Singapore and this is her story.

Neena Hashumal Nandwani is the eldest of three sisters and one brother born to Bhagwandas and Rukmini Wadhwani. Her brother was born in 1949, when her family had resettled in post-Partition India.

Neena’s father worked in Manila, the Philippines, and only came back to visit his family once every three years. This was called a ‘Sindhwork’ contract, where Sindhi men were employed by other Sindhis to work in their overseas shops. A contract was typically for three years and they were not allowed to take their wives or families with them. At the time of Partition, Neena’s father was still in Manila and would only be reunited with his family in post-Partition India.

Pre-Partition, Neena and her family stayed with their Nana and Nani (maternal grandparents). Their house was located in a Hindu paro (neighborhood) and Neena recalls that their house was opposite a Hindu temple and a tea shop. Their house was also conveniently located near a market, quirkily named Mitho Dhar (loosely translated as ‘Sweet Door’ or ‘Sweet Gateway / Entrance’). Her neighborhood was mostly made up of Sindhis and it was a well-to-do community.

Neena completed six grades in Sindhi in the Bherumal School, and she used to walk to school. Just before her school was a Gurdwara and on special days, such as Guru Nanak’s birthday, she would go to the Gurdwara to read the Sukhmani Sahib. By the age of 15, Neena had studied at two Sindhi colleges – but all that changed when Partition happened.

Neena was 15 years old when Partition happened.

She recalls constantly hearing noises coming from the sky, but till today, she does not know what it was. Whenever she heard shouting or disturbances, she would step out onto the balcony to see what was happening. Often times, it would be riots. However, she never witnessed them for long as any time she went out onto the balcony, her grandparents would immediately pull her in. There had been numerous accounts of Hindu girls being abducted and in a family of three daughters, these abductions had left the whole family frightened.

They packed their bags, which consisted of steel trunks with clothes and money and left Karachi by the ship called ‘Ekma’ to Bombay

These incidents also spurred the family to leave Sindh for safer pastures. So, they packed their bags, which consisted of steel trunks with clothes and money and left Karachi by the ship called ‘Ekma’ to Bombay (now Mumbai). Neena doesn’t recall much about the journey except that the ship was full and crowded.

Once they reached Bombay, they took an open-aired van to military barracks located in Mulund Colony, which were allocated for the housing of displaced communities. Each family was given a space of their own. Neena recounts the horrible conditions at these barracks, especially so for the women, as the showers were open-aired, and the toilets were a distance away and had no locks on the doors. Neena says that the authorities would dole out chappatis to them as if they were beggars. In Neena’s words, they had seen really ‘takleef’ (tough) days.

The family stayed at the barracks for two years. Neena’s father was finally able to travel to India and join them at the barracks in 1948. Her Nana and Nani, thankfully, were able to move out of the barracks earlier and left for Pune.

Finally, in 1949, things started to settle down. In Mulund Colony, a Sindhi school was opened and Neena was employed as a teacher at this school. Her position as a teacher and her educational background were regarded highly. So, when permanent accommodations were being built in Mulund Colony itself to house the displaced communities, her family was one of the first few to be allocated a house.

​For ten years, Neena taught at that school and till this day, when she returns to Bombay, her former students remember and address her as Dadi Premi (‘Dadi’ is a respectful salutation used for older women).

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Neena also recounts how she met her husband. Her Mami (maternal aunt) from Pune brought a proposal for her for a relative who was working in Singapore. So, she travelled to Pune to meet her prospective husband. In 1959, Neena got married in Pune.

Following the wedding, her husband returned to Singapore to resume his work at a Sindhi shop called Deluxe but Neena would remain in India and only move to Singapore in October 1963 – when her eldest son was six months old.

​​One day, her cousin brother who was visiting Singapore, advised her to spend her time fruitfully, in addition to taking care of her family. Taking that advice into account, Neena’s husband got her a shop on rent on Singapore’s famous Orchard Road. The shop sold clothing such as t-shirts and kaftans, and was hugely popular among the British who were living in Singapore. The shop was such a success that her husband came in after 7pm, after he had finished his work, to help out. Their business continued to prosper and they were able to expand the business to offer tailoring services. The shop, Ehkay Corner Tailors, continues to run till this day on Orchard Road.

​Today, Neena continues to live in Singapore. She has three sons, who are all married, eight grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

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Courtesy: Stories of Sindh (Posted on 12/19/2021)

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