Before Independence, especially during the forties, the romantic and progressive trends were dominant in Sindhi literature. After migration to India as a result of the partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947, the Sindhi writers carried forward these trends in literature. Therefore, the Sindhi literature of the post-Independence decades often makes reference to the human suffering that resulted from the uprooting of Sindhis from their soil and the consequent circumstances. Some stories and novels as also the poems point to the utter futility of the division of the two communities on religious basis, and the violence that ensued in the wake of this division. This was the period when the wounds of the people were raw and bleeding after migration from Pakistan almost empty handed. This was also the period when progressive literature was in full bloom and it flourished in all the genres of literature. But the progressives did not cater to the readers what they wanted and instead they produced works based on the Marxist ideology This did not wash and ended in the surfacing of a polemical situation sometime in 1957. The young, up-and-coming writers could not stand this kind of Marxist filth and rebelled against the inimical slogan-mongering attitude of the progressives and imported a new invigorating wind of change into the literary atmosphere, which grew into a veritable gale and cleared the dirt and rot that had gathered over the years. Now the communist ideology was put on the defensive. The pioneers of this new movement were Mohan Kalpana, Guno Samtaney and Lal Pushp. They injected a new philosophy into literature, and characters and plot were given a new dimension in Sindhi fiction. Neo-realistic in their approach, they set about probing the intricate emotional and psychological aspects of the human mind. Their psychoanalysis of characters brought out the manifold realities of human behaviour and set out the raisin d'etre of their actions.

At this stage the literature in Sindhi forked out in two directions. Writers continued to depict in their works the so-called social realism and the rebels gave way to their deep-rooted sexual starvation which became, as it were, a second-line motif of literature at this stage. Their touch was soft but sure, the approach was Freudian and the scapel was that of sarcasm. They tried to fathom the depth of feminine fulfilment. There was yet a third line of writers whose works betrayed a nostalgic mood about good old days, but equally often, some of them got pensive and melancholy in the face of the rapid annihilation of values.

Sundri Uttamchandani is the only progressive writer who carved out for herself a niche in progressive literature. Her gift is the ability to create characters so vital that they seem to spring alive from the pages. She would have been a marvel of a creative writer - there is nothing that can escape her lynx-like eyes - but for her forced commitment to ideology, which sets her to writing fiction often, whimpering slogans. We give here one of her finest short stories, This City. The other staunch devotees and pioneers of the progressive trend are A. I. Uttam, Gobind Malhi and Kirat Babani.

Mohan Kalpana was a romantic and individualistic writer as will appear from the story; The Crisis, given in this volume as an example. There has always been something that grips the reader and runs shudders through his spine when he reads Kalpana's fiction even when it is at its controlled pitch and least melodramatic. It is not the authors unvarying overburdening of emotions on all his characters and situations. The sense of monstrousness that arises from his fiction seems to have its source in an unbridgeable chasm between the highly rational and ordered intelligence of the writer and the chaos and hysteria of nearly everything he writes about.

Guno Samtaney comes under the neo-classic label. In his fiction, especially short stories, Samtaney goes into the minutest details to create a peculiar atmosphere with visual, auditory and tactile details as is apparent from his short story The Ruins, given here. The author relies on subtle, minute expressions of mood, scene, situation and the vivid unravelling of the psychological strands with a sure touch. He is regarded by some to have salvaged his heritage distorted by the progressives and boldly faced cultural gangsterism. However, his much heightened realism works because it is faithful to specific locales, customs, attitudes and speech-patterns. But his characters become prisoners of their own personalities.

Lal Pushp was the most successful among the new writers of the time in depicting 'stream of consciousness' in his fiction. Many of his stories in as many as nine collections and a few novels, reflecting one or the other Freudian complex reach logical conclusion. There are a few stories like Hika Sard Diwar (A Cold Wall) and his novel Huna Je atam jo maut (Death of His 'Self') which rise above these complexes and reflect to an extent a post-modern sensibility His story, Time of Ennui, is given here.

During the sixties, another literary controversy surfaced and the contemporary writers (term used for 'stream' trend followers) were challenged by writers of post-modern sensibility. The contemporaries were faced with two views about the stream of consciousness, which the other writers put forward: (1) Is it possible to describe an experience fully and (2) What is it that provides an experience? The views, no doubt, carried weight, but the quarrel was not limited only to the introduction of the stream of consciousness in Sindhi literature. There was the important question of determining the essence and the 'limit' of Sindhi fiction. In any case, the very concept of 'stream' was really very important and its introduction in fiction was necessary for its healthy growth. The contemporary writers insisted that the depiction of inner reality was the only thing that counted. Style and structure are the essence of a work and great ideas are hogwash

Now, before we dwell on the post-modern sensibility we go back to the romantic trend that ran side by side with other trends in Sindhi literature. Krishin Khatwani stands apart from other writers following this trend. None of his characters develops and arouses deep sympathy as portrayed in his earlier works. His quick-cut writing, however, sustains flagging interest, and some of his stories are really fascinating. But he has given us elegant pieces in his subsequent short stories compiled in Akeli. Though the stories are old-fashioned in style, they are virtually avant garde in their author's insistence on divorcing the worlds that fiction writers create from, what dull readers call, 'real life'. For them, Khatwani's romantic fiction is neither naturalistic nor realistic, nor evens an indictment of bourgeois values, but a prose poem, fantasy in so far as it reflects a unique world of a unique individual. However, his novel, Yaad Hika Pyara ji, treats with candour and sensibility some of the most disturbing problems of human relations.

And now, a new concept of romanticism is taking roots in fiction. It is 'boy-meets-girl' no doubt, but the boy is not a hip-dope-smoking, counter-culture type, who, having met his liberated chick, climbs into bed with her on their first date. They are the archetypal lovers in a new neo-romantic type of fiction. This may yet be another form of escape in a realism-weary world. One of the reasons for the onset of this new trend in literature may be that the readers are simply tired of believing in nothing. All it has got them is mental institutions and tranquilliser habit. The neo-romantic fiction is bereft of eroticism and sexual play, though a gentle hand might reach out occasionally to a discreetly clothed bosom.

Romantic poetry had its share in Sindhi literature during the post Independence period during which we had quite a few poets who wrote frank and uninhibited love poems reflecting abrasive animal love, giving vent to their emotions, who cried away the pangs of separation and depicted love-waits for their beloveds. Most of the romantic poets have now changed over to 'new' poetry But the trend was kept alive by Narayan Shyam, who is considered to be the most successful romantic poet, religiously following the philosophy of romanticism which has nothing to do with physical love. He excels in the description of nature in the raw. He tries to develop a new relationship between man and universe. In his poems, especially those in Maak Bhina Raabela (Jasmines Moist with Dew), he avoids daylight so that his imagination may play with the fading lights of the twilight. The 'new' trend in the sixties overshadowed romantic poetry .The new poets denounced romantic poetry and called it something that makes the soul of the poet putrid. Once again Sindhi poets turned to analysis through logic to solve the riddles of life.

The 'new' writers of the post-modern period naturally had a new awareness of contemporary reality and of the changing Indian scene. They accused the 'stream' writers of unnecessarily probing deep into the dark recesses of the human mind and producing in their works uncalled-for complexity. They believed that what was expected of an artist was to find out the 'total truth' about man and his situation. In fact, the modernists felt that the basis of contemporary Sindhi fiction was crumbling and a new approach was needed in conformity with the changes which had so rapidly taken place. They insisted that the writer has to keep away from the Freudian filth and Jungian abracadabra in order to produce clean and healthy fiction. Now, these modernists should be viewed instead, as a rare example of Sindhi achievement, as writers who were peculiarly responsive, especially in the mid-sixties, to modern complexity.

The pioneers of the new movement were Anand Khemani, Ishwar Chander and Vishnu Bhatia. They were followed by writers like K.S. Balani, Harish Vaswani, Shyam Jaisinghani, Prem Prakash and others. Khemani is a cult figure in so far as the new short story is concerned. In the collection of his short stories, November ji Aakhrin Raat, he depicts the consciousness of man exerting under the opposite forces of equal momentum which have to be changed -- the pulls as well as the direction. What is pleasing about Khemani is that he does not resort to fantasies or historical sketching.

Ishwar Chander, who has quite a few subjects up his sleeve, belongs to the same school. Of course, he has written too much, but many of his stories are modernist and representative. He has his own diction and tells the tale of his time. Ishwar had never had much patience with furtive symbolism. His fine fictional instrument is perfectly tuned to the dissonances of the times and that is why his characters always carry the burden of the pain of the world on their shoulders. In his stories he observes the situation with cold eye and captures the aimless, rootless and heartless situation of the lost generation. He does not take it upon himself to make statements over which he has no mental or emotional control. On the other hand, Vishnu Bhatia, in his stories, depicts erotic, naked and unabashed sex. Going through the bulk of his works one is confronted with the pernicious flare-ups and romantic freaks. He explores the dark side of animal lust and the suppressed sex instinct in men and women. His fiction exhibits the elements of sex-credo, liquefying Freudian psychology for his subject-matter. In many of his stories he has painted women in different shades and colours. Bhatia is known for having broken all taboos in fiction and for portraying women naked, sex-starved, lesbian and perverted. He does not desist even from mentioning their periods.

Shyam Jaisinghani has a live-coal sensibility, which keeps throbbing in his long as well as short fiction. He has developed his own style. Some of his stories will even defy time. Prem Prakash is also a fiction-writer of the new sensibility. In one of his stories, Paarun (The Roots), his characters are face to face with the hopeless situation destiny casts them into, and wage their lone war through labyrinthine paths. The efforts fail and they are resigned to fate and bear with the curse.

The most important development of this period is that the writers imparted aesthetic pleasure through their works. They depicted the most-insignificant, the ugliest and the dirtiest aspects of life in their narratives. They were responsible for bringing a whiff of fresh air into the stuffy world of conventional morals and Platonic love, the world of make believe - the utopia. They indulged in free and frank portrayal of the libido, the inner-self of a woman, the change from the orthodox prude to the awakened modern woman. The new story in Sindhi is really sweeping in range. It is not philosophical in content though it has all the compulsions of philosophy about it. Talented writers keep popping up in the few magazines that still publish fiction. The technical level is high and the values that make a good story - compression, subtle tone and micro-surgical eye - strike many readers of high standard. The new wave has also its share of tale-bearers who unusually attract a wide audience for short-story writers. Reading their works is like taking an unblinking look through the files of a psychiatrist social worker.

The first Sindhi 'new' novel imbibing the new sensibility, entitled Hika Shakhsa ji Vasna (Lust of a Man) was by Anand Khemani. The novel is a Gothic Passion Play with animalistic overtones. But then it turns out to be a powerful, haunting tale. The author explores sex and erotica to convey ideas which he probably thinks can no longer be conveyed through conventional style. This is the first and the most powerful new novel in Sindhi and excerpts from it have been included in this volume.

The second new novel was that of Lal Pushp, entitled Huna Je Atam Jo Maut (Death of His 'Self'). Rejecting the conventional form, the author has portrayed an anti-hero, who goes deep inside himself to find a reason for his peculiar behaviour, of which he is not aware. The author has administered psychological overdoses in certain situations and made the passages incomprehensible. It is, however, one of the finest stream of consciousness novels. There are other new novels that were brought out during the period, one of them being Khahi-a je Chautaraf (Around an Abyss) by Shyam Jaisinghani. The work depicts the anti-sentiment of a character who is deeply involved in life, so much so that his detachment and coldness are a refusal to recognise any priority among objects and events. He clings to his 'self', seeks refuge in the self-created shell to keep away from the pressures of sentiments caused by the social milieu he is forced to live in. The book is a graceful meditation on survival, both in its harsh and cruel external milieu and in the scarier terrain of 'self.'

A collection of anti-poems, Beemar Pidhi (Sick Generation) was brought out by Anand Khemani. While some critics denounced the poems as filth, others pronounced them as the first real new poetry published in Sindhi. Moving restlessly through his poems, Khemani tells us the tale of our times, a pitiful tale and depressing, too. Some of the poems are shocking indeed and rebel against the well-established attitudes of thought and culture. Through stray thoughts, which the poet calls poems, he talks of today only, of no tomorrows and yesterdays but today which is restless and daring.

Khemani's collection of poems was followed by Tazad (Contradiction, 1975), a collection of new poems by Vasdev Mohi. Tazad is the most appreciated collection of poems by a single author. Hard 1) any adverse comment by the critics appeared. It seems that Beemar Pedhi acted as a shock-absorber and smothered the ire of the traditionalist and paved the way for the acceptance of new poetry Mohi's poems are pure psychic automations which express the way human being really think and feel. The poems bypass reason. In fact, Mohi's poems do not know any reason and express only feeling. They associate object and men wide apart in space, time, or both.

In fact, Harish Vaswani is known for having introduced new poetry to Sindhi literature in the early sixties. The collection of hi5 poems, 40 - 76, hit the news-stands much later, in 1976. Vaswani use5 symbols for expression to achieve vibration and energy in his poems Many of his poems are individualistic both in essence and expression A few of his poems have been included in this volume.

Another new poet, Shyam Jaisinghani, in the collection of his poems, Vichhotiyun (The Crevices, 1980), takes the reader to a world where souls are gnarled and agony seems to be the only common measure of humanity. It is a twilight point between reality and its symbol, a compelling fusion of the economy of symbol with the essential sense-data from reality. At this point, Jaisinghani's poems unfold a world of silence, alienation and sombreness, a romantic desire to escape and a sense of waste that keeps peeping through the words. Many of his poems have surrealist strains. For example, "The Murder", which has been included in this volume.

Yet another poet, Harikant, specialises in weaving political satire in his new poems collected in four volumes. Most of the poems in these collections are set in the present time and imbued with a sense of dread of encroaching authoritarian rule. It may, however be said that for many writers who try to display incisive satire, nevertheless have their fun, and their fun is really funny. If their satire does not draw blood, it is perhaps because they seem to be writing benevolently with their noses pressed against the office windows, looking in. For good or ill, satire requires both savagery and familiarity The amiable authors have been away too long to give the Shiva a final twist.

There was yet another collection of new poems, entitled Jihad Joe Deck Et (On the Deck of a Ship) brought out by Mohan Kalpana in 1983. Since then many collections of new poems by poets like M. Kamal, Mahesh Nenwani, Khiman Mulani, Vimi Sadarangani and others have hit the news-stands.

There is a formidable corpus of one-act as well as full-length plays published in India after Independence and Gobind Malhi's contribution to this genre is the highest so far. Apart from the traditional one-act plays, he has given us a few experimental plays also. We have a few playwrights who have given us 'new' plays and Prem Prakash stands apart from them. The other playwrights, who have published new plays, are M. Kamal, Bhagwan Atlani and Meghraj Gurnani. These playwrights pose a challenge to the actors because of limited possibilities of action and the burden of an entire philosophy In their plays they combine a dilution of the complicated infrastructure of the 'new' drama with the all-popular phenomenon, speed, which makes the work of art seemingly an achievement in excellence. The plot, as hard-edged as a cartoon strip and as plausible as tomorrow's headlines, is the backbone of their plays.

After Independence many biographies and autobiographies have been published. Two powerful autobiographies that have been brought out are Bukha, Ishq ain Adab (Hunger, Love and Literature) by Mohan Kalpana and Adab and Adib (Literature and Writer) by Gobind Malhi. These are not ordinary autobiographies written in a traditional manner, for at many places in both the works fidelity to truth is in a way replaced by imaginative mode of narration. They bring the novel and the autobiography close to each other. The books read like creative autobiographies and they prove that this genre of literature is an art. It is not science. An excerpt from Mohan Kalpana's autobiography has been included in this volume to prove the point mentioned above.

The new criticism was introduced to Sindhi literature in the sixties. Since then a number of pieces relating to textual criticism and many compilations of evaluation of various works have been brought out by prominent critics like Harish Vaswani, Hero Shewkani, Anand Khemani, Satish Rohra and others. To pilot readers through the intellectual mines of literary criticism, it takes a personality with more than the survival kit of wide-ranging intelligence, authority, personal

charisma and an infectious enthusiasm for the subject. A cool and rational approach is essential, but an academic with no experience of the heat of the kitchen would be a mere word-spinner, and anyone who has maintained a stance of total detachment from the literary problems would be less than a critic. Sindhi critics have the vision and reach of a critic and they have done full justice to the works they have evaluated.

The genre of essay received the special attention of the essayists after Independence and a number of compilations of highly valued critical essays has been brought out since then. Here in this volume, we have included a sample by Satish Rohra.

We observe a sea-change in Sindhi literature published from the late seventies and eighties onwards. The inclination of the writers for returning to realism is palpable from their works. But it is a different kind of realism. Apart from the attitudinal manifestations of social awareness, the writers rediscover the importance of a well-structured narrative, plot, characterisation, etc. The works brought out during this period bear eloquent testimony to this trend. The plain narrative, however, continues to be a convenient vehicle for those who prefer a straight path.

What is pleasing about the writers who dominated the literary scene in the sixties and thereafter, is that they write about their times and do not resort to fantasies and historical sketching. Unlike the followers of trends other than modern sensibility they risk more and are willing to take responsibility for the consequences. Unlike writers of the older generation, they wield heavy sabres and do not depend on nimble footwork and less cumbersome weapons.