THE%20SINDH%20STORY

Sadhu Vaswani specially appealed to women, whom he initiated into simplicity
and spirituality. Today his work is being ably carried on by his nephew, Dada
Jashan Vaswani.
An unusual movement in Sindh that hit the headlines in India --- and even in
Japan --- in the late nineteen-thirties was Om Mandali, now well known as the
“Brahma Kumaris” organization. It was a socio-religious organization started by
Dada Lekhraj Kripalani (1876--1969), who had been a jeweller in Calcutta.
The Om Mandali attracted mostly women --- and that too only those belonging
to the Bhaibund business community of Hyderabad. The unmarried among them
refused to marry; and the married ones gave it in writing to their husbands that
the latter were free to re-marry. Meanwhile many stories --- ranging from
mesmerism to merriment --- spread about the Om Mandali. Public organisations
such as the Congress and the Arya Samaj denounced the Om Mandali as
disturber of family peace. And Dada Lekhraj in turn denounced the Congress as
“Kansa”. Under pressure of Hindu public opinion, the Sindh government
reluctantly banned the Om Mandali, which went to court and had the ban order
quashed.
Time has proved the Om Mandali as a genuine socio-religious movement.
Obviously the Bhaibund ladies were particularly drawn to it because of their
greater religiousity. Another factor in the situation was the fact that their
menfolk spent six months in Hyderabad and the following three years abroad,
anywhere from Hong Kong round the world to Honolulu. The Om Mandali
filled a vacuum in their lives.
Sindh now was a regular garden with many singing birds. The Brahmos sang
their melodies in their sylvan Mandirs. The theosophists discoursed on the
“Masters in Tibet”. The Arya Samajists rekindled the Yagna fires after centuries
of blood and ashes. Sadhu Vaswani led the Mira movement, initiating once
fashionable girls into Khadi, vegetarianism and Bhakti-bhava. Sant Kanwar Ram
danced as he sang “O nallay Alakh Jay bero taar munhijo” (“Oh Lord, keep my
boat afloat”) Vishnu Digambar enchanted the people with “Raghupati Raghava
Raja Ram” during his yearly visits. Nimano Faqir spread Sachal’s message of
love and benediction: “Rakhien munhja Dholana aiba no pholana; nangra
nimaniya ja, jeeven teeven palna” (“Oh my Lord, you are my protector, you will
uphold me, whatever my faults”). And Ram Punjwani enchanted his audiences
on the “Matka” from college halls to Sufi Durgahs.
However, the movement that took Sindh literally by storm was the Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh. It was introduced in Sindh by Rajpal Puri (1917-77) of
Sialkot, who came to be lovingly called “Shriji”. Before RSS, the words “Sangh”,
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