Mrs Paru Chawla was born on 19th July 1932 in Sindh. She was the eldest child born into a middle class family with her father Mr Deepchand Lalwani working in the railways. She was the most pampered child by virtue of being the 1st born and eldest in the family. Her unconditional love for her father is unmatchable and her personality went through a complete change after she lost her father suddenly in the year 1967 when he was just 50 plus,and Paru was in her mid-thirties then. Paru who was an atheist till then overnight turned towards God and Spirituality. That was the time she started reading the “Guru Granth Sahib” at home in the memory of her beloved father nd for 43 years nonstop (record breaking period). she has been doing Chownki and Bhogsahib on her father ‘s Death Anniversary.
Paru always maintains that the seed of hard work was sown into her by her loving mother and father taught her the lessons of honesty and always being busy. After completing her matriculation at the age of 17 years she started working to contribute towards the family income as her father was the sole earning member. Although Paru did not get an opportunity of attending formal college education ,she is a responsible member of the family took over the responsibility of education, jobs, marriage of her 6 siblings and as her father was no more. Paru played an equally important role in looking after Thakur’ s 3 brothers as soon as she got married to Thakur. Paru has sacrificed her youth in taking care of all her family members and ofcourse her own 3 children (2 daughters and 1 son)
This unique quality of selfless love to one and all has earned her the goodwill of everbody.
While she was busy doing her daily chores, she did not give up her passion of working for her sindhi language. Till today she is always ready and eager to teach Sindhi to anybody. She has been running sindhi classes for last 50 years and she believes that even if 1 person speaks Sindhi then there is no hope lost. Each one can reach one and teach one.
A chance meeting with Dada Panjwani was a turning point in her life as Dada treated her like a daughter and tapped the inner potential in her and introduced her to the world of “Sindhi Kalaams and Sufi Chownkis” and then there was no looking back for her. Inspite of not having any formal training in singing, she became a singer of the masses as she always sings from the bottom of her heart, full of emotion and vibrancy. Her voice has an uncanny resemblance to Reshma, famous Pakistani singer. Paru is the only singer who can quote “Shah Abdul Latif”, “Sachal Saaeen”, and “Sami Sahib” at one go without referring to any book or diary.
She is a poetess, writer and a singer all 3 rolled into one which is a very rare combination not found in any other artist. Alongwith singing this multifaceted lady continued writing sindhi poems and books. She has an inbuilt knack of knowing what the reader desires which resulted in her compiling the great works of many distinguished writers and presenting to the readers. “Jeeare Laij Zanjeer”, “Saahir Laij Sambhaar”, “Rakh Jhulan Te”, “Choond Sindhi Kalaam ain Dohira”.”Drishtant Drishtant”, “365 Deenhan:, Gaalih Mein Gaalih” and a book compiled on jokes too called “Khilo Khilo”. A special mention has to be made about 2 books which have created history:
1.”Satar Manka: (means seventy pearls) which was a gift from Paru to Thakur on his 70th birthday and it contains 70 couplets of “Shah”,”Sachal” and “Sami” with meanings in simple words.
2.”Sindhi boli roee dinho” is about how the language feels when it is neglected.
All that paru has learnt and presented is the outcome of her self study with a keen mind and intellect which is forever hungry for acquiring knowledge in any which way.
Paru is a perfect example of “Where there is a will, There is surely a way Paved by God”
Mr Thakur Chawla was born on 18th Feb, 1931 at Sindh. He takes great pride in saying that he belongs to Darazaa, the land of saints and fakirs. In contrast to Paru’s family Thakur belonged to a rich Zamindar family who rolled into money in those days. He lost both his parents in his early childhood, probably that is one of the reasons why he gives so much importance to family life and adores his children, grand children their families and his great grandchild. In Sindh, he owned a building which was named ”Thakur Niwas” where milk, honey and lassi flowed like water and many poor families were fed by his rich family every day.
He was a pampered child, pampered by the worldly riches surrounding him in those days he used to own 150 shirts and 25 pairs of shoes at any given time.
His formal education was up to matriculation only as in his youth he had to go through the trauma of the partition and had to flee from sindh in 1948 empty handed. He had never imagined that he would not go back there.It was a shock for him here, new place, new people, struggle on empty stomach. So gradually he started his life from scratch in India. During this period he married Paru(1954) who happened to be his lady luck (like King Midas) and who supported him through thick and thin in his frustrating, struggling years.
While Paru continued with her job in the railways, they laid the foundation of Thakurs’s business of manufacturing leather watch straps. But his love for Sindh, Sindhi language and Sindhi culture did not allow his creative side to remain inactive. He had an eye for beauty hence the 1st magazine that he edited in Sindhi was called ”Suhini”.
Over the years Thakur has become a renowned writer, mainly short stories but each one hard hitting which compel the reader to think.his stories are always based on day to day life or incidents which he observes and puts them into words and expressions in his beloved language. The titles of his books are worth mentioning because they create a curiosity in the reader to pick up and read.
Presently he is the editor of the famous Sindhi Magazine “Sipoon” which is well liked by all.
Thakur also like Paru was and still is a great admirer of Dada Panjwani and used to attend his Sufi Chownkis in dada’s house on every Monday for years together.
He was dada’s silent support system when Dada Panjwani conceived the idea of building a cultural centre for the Sindhis.Thakur helped dada Panjwani in realizing the dream of building such a centre ,”Seeta Sindhu Bhavan”. The foundation of Sindhi Kallams, Chownkis and Sangeet which was laid by dada Panjwani is being carried out by Thakur and Paru selflessly for last 20 years. every fortnight (Sunday) a Sindhi musical Program of Dance, Drama, Sangeet is held at SSB where artist from all over the world get a platform here to perform. Thakur is one of the trustees of
