Hindu Sindhis across world gather in Singapore

Singapore, July 29 (UNI) More than 800 Hindu Sindhis from 35 countries gathered in Singapore this weekend in one of the biggest samelans and networkings by the community that was uprooted from Sindh province following the 1947 partition of India and Pakistan.

But the community, which had amidst them former Deputy Prime Minister and Lok Sabha Opposition leader Mr L K Advani, pledged to rebuild roots and relationships among themselves.

The 14th International Sindhi Samelan attendees included millionaires with businesses across the world including the London-based Hinduja group.

The organisers have reported millions of dollars worth of business deals done during the samelan.

Twenty-five per cent of the attendees were eligible young people in their 20s and 30s seeking out marriage partners from within the Sindhi community, according to Mr Deepak Gurnani, the samelan organizer and president of the Singapore Sindhi Association.

The association's vice president Divya Advani conceded that it was hard to find a partner for the young looking for marrying within the community but the samelan had a discreet matrimonial suite for meetings between families, some of whom came from the world apart as far as China and Sweden.

''Sometimes matches are harder; I had one guy who was 32, but the girl was only 24 and her family thought of him too old,'' lamented Mrs Advani, a 60-year old matchmaker appointed by the Samelan organisers.

''And sometimes the women are so highly qualified that finding a match is hard. But I guess what we can do is make the introduction,'' the Sunday Times quoted her as saying.

UNI