By Alice Albinia-Mathers The ancient Sanskrits calle it Sindhu: the Persians changed it to Hindu and the dropped the 'h', spinning tales of indomitable Indika. Jinnah demanded the new nation be called 'Bharat' in the belief that the old British term appropriated the empire to Nehru. In Sindh, the river is called Purali, meaning capricious. They also know it as 'Samudur'or ocean, for its vastness. For Pashtuns it is 'Nilab', blue-water, or Sher Darya, the LionRiver. From the deserts of Sindh to the mountains of Tibet, the Indus is worshipped by peasants; more than priests and politicians, it is the Indus they revere.
