Sita Under the Crescent Moon

323 Pages·2019·2.617 MB·English

by  Annie Ali Khan

S I T A
UNDER THE CRESCENT MOON
A Woman’s Search for Faith in Pakistan
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ANNIE ALI KHAN
London • New York • Sydney • Toronto • New Delhi
A CBS COMPANY
First published in India by Simon & Schuster India, 2019
A CBS company
Copyright © Saeeda Ali Khan, 2019
The right of Annie Ali Khan to be identified as author of
this work has been asserted by her in accordance with
Section 57 of the Copyright Act 1957.
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
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A special thank you to Manan Ahmed Asif for showing me the
way of the satiyan.
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Dedicated to Qurratulain Hyder
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I bow down before the mosque of the great Pir at Naupara
And the mosque of Hirmai to the left
For the great saint once passed through these tracts
Now I proceed onwards and arrive at Sita Ghat
Where I worshipfully bow before the ideal of womanly virtues, Sita Devi
— River of Fire, Qurratulain Hyder
[After partition] The Muslims created a Pir, the same way Hindus
created a Devi or a Devta for everything. There is a Pir for raag, a Pir
for clay utensils, a Pir for pingoray. All of Sindh became the land of
Pirs. Even when the jogis chanting the mantars for the sacred naag,
became Muslim, they still belonged to the tribe of Shiv and followed
Gorakhnath. Similarly, the Hindus began to consider Ramzan the month
to purify and offered taweez and nazar during the month of fasting
— Translated from Sita Haran, Qurratulain Hyder
In my childhood, we used to go to the mandir. There were countless
Shivalay in Tando Adam, known as the Kashi of the province of Sindh.
In HeemKot, there is a mandir of Maha Dev. I went there once with my
aunt. I used to visit the mandir at Clifton beach in Karachi, for Shivratri
with my mother. My grandmother was a follower of Kali. There is a roop
of Kali we call ‘Thar-mai’ meaning the Devi of the Thar desert
— Translated from Sita Haran, Qurratulain Hyder
All is momentary, all is pain. Sarvam Dukham
— River of Fire, Qurratulain Hyder
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CONTENTS
W
Foreword 1
The Road to Durga 11
Serpent Moon 27
Karachi Waali Sita 71
9 Moons 153
3 Moharram 191
Sita Sati 267
Pink Doll 294
Epilogue 306
Acknowledgments 311