In its annual convention in St Louis, Missouri, on July 2-3, the Sindhi Association of North America (SANA) proved that it is the only authentic community organisation of expatriate Pakistanis in the US and Canada. Though smaller in size than other dominant Pakistani ethnic groups living in North America, SANA delivers a genuine community gathering for all ages and genders to those whose roots are/were in the Sindhi homeland, culture and language. Being a rare secular Pakistani organisation, SANA is also unique in catering to Hindu Sindhis who live all across India as well. This way it provides a real platform for person-to-person contacts between two brothers, India and Pakistan, who have chosen to remain at odds for real or imaginary mutual fears. In one of its main sessions on the current political conditions in Pakistan it was shown, maybe for the first time, that if people of different nationalities are encouraged and enabled to communicate in their own mother tongues, they come closer faster. On the contrary, if unity is sought through an enforced artificially created concept of a nation, based on religion and a national language spoken by a tiny minority, hostility, misunderstandings and mutual hatred develops. This particular session, like the rest, was coordinated by Mr Aziz Narejo, ex-president of SANA, in the Sindhi language. Mr Jami Chandio, a writer and intellectual from Sindh and Mr Khalid Hashmani, a seasoned activist and community leader, laid down the present socio-political landscape of Sindh. Sitting on the stage besides yours truly was Mr Kamran Shafi, columnist of Dawn, wondering which language would be appropriate for non-Sindhi people like himself and Dr Mohammad Taqi, columnist Daily Times. But when I, like many previous years, spoke in Punjabi and supported the Sindhis’ right to self-determination, Dr Taqi spoke in Hindko, his mother tongue, and Mr Shafi in Punjabi. This had a profound impact on the audience and everyone loved it and felt that people of different nationalities were talking to each other from the heart. Maybe sincere and honest lovers of a people’s Pakistan should learn something from it: teach the national languages in other provinces as soon as possible. Sindhi and Punjabi are sister languages and their teaching in both provinces will further the cause of unity. There was a similar affinity between Sindhis and Punjabis as highlighted in the opening session of the convention discussing Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai (1689-1752). The session was moderated by Dr Mithal Vakassi and Jami Chandio spoke very profoundly on the subject. Dr Vakassi has been and is a devotee of Shah Abdul Latif since his childhood and is working on a plan to introduce the beauty and the message of Sindhi poetry to the world community. In the question and answer session it was highlighted that Sindh’s most revered poets like Bhittai and Sachal Sarmast were contemporaries of Punjabi icons like Bulleh Shah and Waris Shah and shared their philosophical outlook. The second literary session, moderated by Irshad Kazi, was meant to pay tributes to Dr Nabi Bux Baloch, Tajul Bevas, Hassan Dars, and other Sindhi heroes of Sindhi literature. Besides a vibrant programme for youth and fund raising activities for flood relief, a lively session on women’s participation was moderated by Mrs Noornisa Ghanghro. Ms Nazia Junejo, Zeb Agha, Almas Abbasi, Samina Kazi, Azzadi Fateh, Sadia Shah, Asma Lakho and others presented their candid views on women’s participation in the socio-political problems of Sindh. This session proved how stereotyping was misplaced about Sindhi women and how they were struggling for equal rights like their enlightened counterparts in the rest of the country. In the medical seminar, Dr Sattar Shaikh of Michigan with presentations on Dr Khalida Qalbani, Dr Fareed Shaikh and Dr Shama Tareen was also very informative. I was very fortunate to meet Dr Nisar Siddique, Director of Institute of Business Administration (IBA), located in the city of Sukkur in Sindh, Pakistan. I was told that he was such an honest and competent bureaucrat before taking over IBA that people of Tharparkar pray for rain and the return of Dr Siddique as their deputy commissioner. He made a presentation on ‘The State of Education in Sindh — Challenges, Problems and Suggestions’. The presentation was based on a recent study of the state of six districts in Sindh. Ms Azzadi Fateh gave an interesting presentation on ‘Media Literacy’ in the same session. This year SANA invited three distinguished Sindhi academicians from India, Dr Baldev Matlani, Ashok Motwani, and Dr Prem Mutlani. Dr Baldev Matlani and Dr Prem Matlani presented their scholarly papers on the Sindhi language, religion and the monster of religious extremism. It was enlightening and a pleasure to share ideas with these guests during late night informal gatherings. On the final day of the convention there was a ‘sumptuous banquet’ with visiting guests and high achievers from the community being presented traditional ajraks. SANA’s first president Mr Khalid Hashmani was declared the recipient of the year for the Lifetime Achievement Award. A wonderful youth show arranged and choreographed by Ms Asha and Nand Kodwani was followed by musical entertainment of famous singer Ms Kajal along with Stephan Dewan. Of course this every successful convention was made possible by the hard work of its president Valeed Sheikh, other organisers like Dr Shabbir Sheikh, Dr Maqbool Halepota, Aijaz Haque Memon and many others. I have been attending SANA conventions for many years now and my eyes always look for Dr Aijaz Turk, Sunny Panwar, Sarfraz Memon and Dr Mazhar Lakhio who, for me, represent the silent spirit of SANA. Luckily they were all there this time. The writer can be reached at manzurejaz@yahoo.com