Ali Nawaz Rahimoo | Umerkot

The beautiful land of Sindh has given birth to many talented individuals and Juman Darbadar was one of them.

In a small village near the dunes of Rohal Vai, close to Amrano in Thar, a child was born on May 12, 1944 in Saand family, who was named as Muhammad Juman. He would later be known across Sindh and India as Juman Darbadar, The Wanderer, which truly reflects his real life. He was also lovingly called Mama Juman Darbadar.

Juman completed his primary education locally and then passed his matriculation from the high school in Mirpur Khas. When he traveled to Mirpur Khas for the first time for his matriculation exam, his elder brother gave him three rupees for expenses. With those three rupees, Juman had to manage his travel, accommodation, and food. He took a bus to Mirpur Khas, where his classmates rented rooms in a hotel, but Juman had to spend his nights hungry and sleeping in a park.

Despite these hardships, Juman passed his matriculation exam with distinction. He was offered a primary teaching job, but a feudal lord suggested to his father that Juman should work as a clerk in the local government office instead of becoming a teacher. Later, persuaded by the feudal lord, Juman’s father handed him over to the feudal lord, who assigned him work at his bungalow. During his time there, an elderly man advised him to escape, warning him that feudal lords were cruel and oppressive. This awakening turned Juman into a rebel, instilling a deep hatred for feudalism and capitalism.

He returned to his village and later moved to Mirpur Khas, where he worked at a hotel. He also drove a tanga (horse-drawn carriage) in Hyderabad for eight months. During this time, the anti-One Unit movement was gaining momentum in Sindh, and Hyderabad became the center of these movements. Juman joined the movement and heard a speech by his school friend Abdul Wahid Arisar at Annie Besant Hall in Hyderabad. After reconnecting with Arisar, Juman abandoned his tanga business and moved to Umerkot, where he became actively involved in the Communist Party’s study circles.

Juman eventually became a nationalist and joined revolutionary movements. Along the way, he completed a six-month agriculture course in Mirpur Khas and a diploma in agriculture from Sakrand. He also developed an unrequited love for a woman, which inspired poetry that was later lost during the 1971 war. He dedicated his life to Sindh’s liberation and joined the Jeay Sindh Mahaz (JSM), traveling across villages and singing revolutionary songs to awaken people. His voice became a source of inspiration and joy for the masses.

Juman’s life took a significant turn when he performed his iconic poem ‘Wathi Har Har Janam Warbo’ (We will reborn again and again…) at the birthday celebration of nationalist leader G.M. Syed at his native village Sann. Moved to tears, G.M. Syed embraced Juman and praised his work, saying that such poetry assured him that Sindh’s youth would bring about its freedom and prosperity. For Juman, this recognition was more valuable than any prize.

Juman continued his struggle, participating in national movements and performing revolutionary songs in villages and towns. Despite his widespread popularity, he lived a humble life, often traveling on foot. His dedication to Sindh and G.M. Syed’s vision was unwavering. Even after G.M. Syed’s passing, Juman remained committed to the cause, writing and performing poetry that reflected his grief and love for his mentor.

Juman’s contribution to the nationalist movement included his unwavering efforts to unite the various factions of the Jeay Sindh movement. He never sought personal gain or positions of power, choosing instead to remain a humble and devoted worker for Sindh’s cause.

Due to cardiac arrest, he died on 20 October 2022. He was laid to rest in Ruhal Vai village Umerkot.

Read: Ustad Bukhari’s poetry inspires to continue fight for the rights of Sindh

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The writer is based in Umerkot district of Sindh

The post Juman Darbadar – The Wanderer first appeared on Sindh Courier.

Giuliana Donzello, an eminent poet from Italy, shares her poetry

GIULIANA DONZELLO was born in Venice, where she graduated in literature and later completed her specialization at the University of Florence. Since very beginning of the career, she has combined in her work her activity as a lecturer and researcher, collaborating whit the Department of History and Criticism of Contemporary Art at the University of Venice and with the Visual Arts of the Venice Biennale.

She has written and published several essays on art. Since 2008, she has devoted herself to fiction and poetry and has been the winner of major awards, including the international Literary Prize Dickens Book, the “Salvatore Quasimodo” Prize, the international Literary Prize “Maria Cumani Quasimodo, and the Astrolabio Prize”, the “Margherita Hack 2023”, the “Jacopo Da Ponte 2024” Prize; “Arte Biennale”, Prize, Venezia 2024. Many of her texts are included in anthologies, magazines and dictionaries of contemporary writers and poets contemporanei (La stagione delle cicale”, “Fiori di sale”, “Il tre periodico”, “L’Ostatismo ultima impronta del Novecento”, “L’accusa del tempo”, “Chrysalises” and “Topografie di memorie”).

THE WANDERER

Let those who have turned their hearts

To blue distant valleys continue their journey;

The restless path gives them pleasure

Exalting and mastering their mind:

A migrant never rests.

Human sounds don’t reach his ears and brains;

Grown in the long, silent sequence

Of a story written by his quiet footsteps,

A gentle smile in his face and

A strong, tenacious arm and heart

Faithful to a straw mattress,

Scanty but quiet and peaceful.

Poet in love both with the dim twilight

And the rosy dawn

In the golden radiance of a first ray

Enfolding the lonely pool,

He lets emotions flow

In circles of light, vivid dreams

On the horizons of the night

To the sound of dusky footsteps.

He never stops his journey.

A real traveler doesn’t obey to time,

Because he doesn’t have a story.

***

CHRYSALISES

I° S e c t i o n

And what will dawn

Will mark of novelty

Every day of the new Man.

(From “Farewell”)

***

THE POET ’S WORDS

Sweet melodies of verses

Imprisoned in the dungeons

Of the heart.

Voices unheard,

Insults,

Mute mouths

In the immortal days

Of a clattering

Innocent

Green time.

Past days,

Dripped

Like honey

In the precious bowl

Of existence.

Between grassy river sides

And golden light,

In a late morning

Finally released,

Pale flowers

Ready to blossom

When to the tired eyes

Heavy of sleep,

Life frets and runs away.

***

YOUNG AGE

(To Marino)

Something had induced me to return,

The old shores,

The scent of dips

In the memory of a restaurant that no longer exists;

A lullaby carried away by the wind.

i was searching for our years, made of

Innocence and suffering.

The city of water, pensive and silent,

Watched us playing in corners where

The old still lived, and the strangers

Came back to keep on dreaming.

What pushed me to return

Was the desire to kick again

A last tongue of sea; waves submerging

Our castles in a green embrace.

Souls flying in a light whirl,

Sailing ships carried forward in the reflection

Of tenuous shadows swallowed by water.

We dreamed of the sea, the green shades

Of its horizon cuddling us,

Spurning us, and taking our age,

Totally encompassing bodies in the sun,

Spits of salt, shells and sadness.

II° S e ct i o n

There, where you will be,

You will breathe me as a tangible presence

(From “Distance”)

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Read: Spring Flower… – A Bouquet of Poems from Italy

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