سنڌي ورچوئل لائبرري

Sindhi is one of the oldest languages of the world. It has a treasure of folk lore having a history of thousands of years, which has survived through the ages, in oral traditions and folk wisdom, in the speech of the elderly wise people, in the form of idioms, proverbs and sayings. The people of Sindh especially the rustic folks of rural areas are the true custodians of this heritage. They cherish the beauty of the language and enjoy the subtlety of different genres of the folk lore, rendered in their traditional ‘kachahries’ held in their leisure time after the day’s hard work and toil in fields and farms. They gather at the ‘aatan’(آتڻ) (gathering place for women folks, where they spin and speak)  ‘otaque’ (اوطاق) )gathering place for men where they entertain guests and hold indoor kachahries) and also ‘padhar’  (پڌر)and ‘otaro’  (اوتارو)( where men gather to hold outdoor kachahries) in the villages in moonlit nights in summer or around bonefires in the winters.

These people, both men and women, speak a language which has a distinct vocabulary, beautiful diction full of quotable quotes having gems of wisdom.

The present book “A Hand Book of Sindhi Idioms” is a reprint of a rare book compiled by Mr. M.J. Shahani, for the benefit of those British officers, who had to learn Sindhi language before or during their posting in Sindh during the British rule.

This is an interesting collection of Sindhi idioms and proverbs with their equivalents in English language. I hope the readers will like the book as it presents a fascinating quality of our language, in the form of idioms and proverbs, which have been rendered in English for a wider audience.

Dr. Fahmida Hussain

        Chairperson