Sundri Uttamchandani’s 100 Sindhi Short Stories To Get Digital Revival Through Online Audio Repository In Mumbai

Mumbai: As the 103rd birthday of renowned writer Sundri Uttamchandani (1924–2013) approaches this month, her literary legacy is being preserved through a digital transformation. The 100 short stories of the Sahitya Akademi Award-winning author are being compiled into an online audio repository in Mumbai, aimed at engaging younger generations who understand the spoken language but find the script challenging.

The initiative, spearheaded by Uttamchandani's daughter Asha Chand, aims to make her work accessible to a broader audience through audio format.

Chand, who has been working on the project for over a decade, faces challenges in sourcing voice-over artists proficient in Sindhi language and diction. Uttamchandani, who penned novels, poetry, plays, essays, and translated works, sensitively explored themes like Partition, displacement, and women's lives. Her work earned her the Sahitya Akademi Award for the collection Vichhoro (Separation).

As the literary landscape in India shifts, with younger generations primarily using Devanagari script instead of the traditional Perso-Arabic script, the project aims to bridge this gap by making Uttamchandani's work available on digital platforms. Sindhi Sangat is also launching a national story reading competition for Class 10 to 12 students, encouraging youth engagement with Sindhi literature through audio recordings of Uttamchandani's stories.