Every morning, the white desert sands of Achhro Thar in Sanghar district greet the scorching sun. The desert is famous for its saltwater and sweetwater lakes, its bleak landscapes and its quicksands. In the British era, the desert was a battlefield for the Hurs — the disciples of Pir Pagara who rebelled against the British. The Hurs couldn’t defeat the British army despite fighting fiercely for independence but, even today, the Hurs inhabit certain rural areas of Sanghar district.

Achhro Thar is the second largest desert zone of Sindh, where the inhabitants are dependent on rainfall for water. Since most of the desert areas are deprived of sweetwater, people fetch water from wells and store rainwater in tanks. Most of the wells produce water for a certain period, after which the water turns brackish and new wells have to be dug for freshwater. In such an area, where there is a scarcity of drinking water and where the sand in the air can make your eyes itch, the last thing one would expect to find is a museum.

But located near Khipro city in Sanghar disrict, the village of Banko Chanhio attracts visitors from all over because of a unique museum, established in 2009. In this private museum, curated by Atta Chanhio, an eclectic collection of antiques and other valuables are displayed, along with artefacts belonging to ancient cultures and civilisations.

Chanhio is an antique lover. How did he get the idea for setting up a personal museum in such a remote desert area? “This museum is the realisation of my dream,” he says. “For quite some time, I frequently dreamt that I was wandering in an ancient building that housed unique and beautiful artefacts. So since 2003, I started collecting antiques such as small statues and gramophones. Most of these were pieces I bought to adorn my room, but gradually my collection began to grow.”

The first piece that Chanhio bought was a gramophone, since he is fond of music. Now there are several gramophones in the museum along with Chanhio’s collection of five thousand vinyl LPs of Sindhi, Urdu, English and Balochi music by various singers from all over the world. Chanhio likes listening to these old records in his leisure time. He bought his vinyl collection from different cities of Pakistan and has been organising a record mela (fair) every February for the last five years, which brings together LP lovers from all over Pakistan to listen to their old favourites.

An antique lover’s dream materialised into a museum in the middle of the Achhro desert, housing artefacts that boast of Sindh’s rich history and heritage

The museum was not established overnight; it was not an easy task to set up a museum in a desert. But as Chanhio started working on his museum, his friends appreciated his efforts, and soon he became known all over Achhro Thar for his collection of interesting objects, on display for anyone to view.

The museum, which is open all day for visitors, has radios, arrows, telephones, old weapons, various musical instruments, pistols, swords, knives, guns of the Hurs, typewriters, a miniature cart inside and a bigger one outside the museum, ancient agricultural instruments and some indoor games such as chopaar. Chanhio has established the museum in his own two-roomed baithak. As his collection grows, he will need more space to accommodate all the pieces that he keeps adding to the museum.

“I want to make this museum bigger and need another room for objects that have to be displayed,” says Chanhio. “I hope in the near future, I am able to create more space for more unique objects.”

Chanhio has also purchased items for the museum during his travels to other countries. He often visits antique shops in Karachi, Lahore and other cities and sometimes also gets precious pieces off random people selling them in markets and bazaars.

Chanhio knows the history of every item in his museum. When he is buying an antique for his museum, he doesn’t care about the price it is being sold at, he says. He once purchased a small icebox from the British era for 40,000 rupees. “Even if the price of the artefact is high, I feel good that it is going to be a part of my museum,” he says. “Once I bought a shield for 200,000 rupees but, unfortunately, it is not displayed in the museum anymore, as I gifted it to a friend.”

In the beginning, Chanhio would go searching for different antiques in forts and other ruins of Sindh. But now people come to Achhro Thar to offer him different items for his museum. “There are quite a few objects which I have found in stuff that people dumped or discarded,” Chanhio says. “Many people do not know the worth of these things so they throw them away.” The old guns used by the Hurs were found broken, but Chanhio had them repaired and these are now in working condition.

What annoys Chanhio is when people don’t realise the value of his antique pieces and sometimes they touch and damage the valuable objects on display.

“I love it when people come to visit my museum but they should have respect for these old and ancient pieces,” he says. “I have established the museum with my heart and soul and I would not allow anyone to mistreat anything in this museum, because acquiring these pieces has not been easy.”

Chanhio has visited many countries to observe how the history and culture of other nations has been preserved. He does not want any support from the government, but does want to see his museum grow bigger. Presently, because of Chanhio’s museum, a trend to display the heritage and culture of Sindh has picked up. Chanhio helped some young people to set up cafés called Cafe Thar near Mithi city and Cafe Sindh in Mirpurkhas to promote Sindhi culture.

As do most people in Sindh, Chanhio also has a great fondness for Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai’s poetry, which he has been researching since 2017. Every morning, he pays homage to the poet by reciting his poetry as part of his daily routine. “Shah Abdul Latif is our mentor and my soul feels peace and harmony while reciting his verses,” says Chanhio. “His poetry gives me the strength and power to deal with life,” he adds.

After meeting Atta Chanhio, one realises that dreams can come true even in harsh and bleak environments too. After all, stars are clearer in the desert.

The writer is a Sindhi fiction writer, blogger and journalist

Published in Dawn, EOS, Octoberr 25th, 2020