Since Urdu was recognized as a language, people have been claiming that Urdu is dead or going to die very soon. This trend still continues even though now we have more Urdu speakers than ever before.
Prophets of doom may predict the date when Urdu is supposed to be finished but all indications are that it will continue to survive and may be even flourish if it is allowed to grow.
Urdu Book Review is a bi-monthly magazine published by Arif Iqbal. People like him and journals like UBR give hope that Urdu can not only survive but achieve its full potential.
there are spaces and opportunities that we need to make use of’. ‘Ultimately’, he says, ‘it is up to lovers of Urdu to save, protect and promote the language’. And by publishing his magazine against heavy odds for over a decade now, Iqbal shows what a major difference a single individual can make in this regard.
To see what heavy odds that people like him or Urdu is facing, you just have to read this news item.
“The trend of supplying question papers in a language other than that of medium of instruction for the sake of administrative convenience is bound to seal the fate of not only Urdu medium schools but also the very language itself,” said Jayant Parmar, Urdu poet of national repute, who was conferred national award last year by HRD Ministry for his outstanding poetry in Urdu which is not his mother tongue.
Need we say more?
Now instead of crying about what government is doing or not doing. How about we help those who are doing something about it.
How interesting that I happened to watch the movie “In Custody” (Muhafiz) a couple of weeks ago, which was about a (fictional) famous Urdu poet Nur and the attempts of a college teacher (who loves Urdu poetry ) to protect his legacy. It’s directed by Ishmael Merchant.
It’s wonderful that people like Arif Iqbal are doing their best to not let this language die out. I guess in some ways, it’s similar to the attempts to revive Sanskrit in India as a spoken language and not let it disappear.
I’ve only read a few of Mirza Ghalib’s poems, but one of my uncles absolutely loved his poems, and even bought a thick Urdu-Hindi dictionary to understand the difficult words. He bought all the audio tapes when they were released on the heels of the TV series on Ghalib with Naseeruddin Shah playing the lead role.
kashif, would you know if Urdu is in better condition in Pakistan, or is it the same fate there too?
Not to generalize, but I also think that part of the responsibility lies with our parents who don’t encourage us (when we are growing up and when it is easier) to learn languages like Urdu, Sanskrit, Punjabi or other Indian languages. Speaking from my experience, my grandfather knows how to read & write in Urdu, but his sons don’t. My parents speak excellent Punjabi, whereas my knowledge of it is much less. Even some of my Sikh friends don’t speak Punjabi very well. But I have hope as I also see many people making attempts to learn these languages as they discover beauty in them.
-Amit
[quote post="311"]Since Urdu was recognized as a language, people have been claiming that Urdu is dead or going to die very soon. This trend still continues even though now we have more Urdu speakers than ever before.[/quote]
I do not know on what basis you claim that today we have more urdu speakers than earlier. In my experience use of urdu has come to an all point low in India.
It has now become a cliche to say this but I really find it ironic that urdu has become a “muslim” issue today. Among Indian languages I can understand Tamil, Hindi and Urdu and I think that neither Tamil nor Hindi literature comes anywhere close to capture that quintessential Indian ethos that is permeated in and through urdu literature. Tamil has a very rich literary heritage but if you look at the Tamil literature, ethos of national identity is missing. Partly because substantial part of tamil literature was written when we indeed did not have any national identity.
In my opinion, the strength as well as weakness of urdu language is that you need a certain level of sophistication to enjoy it. An uneducated person will not be able to appreciate the beauty of urdu language even if it were his mother tongue. Given the generally low education level in India and particularly low education level in muslim communities, it is no wonder that urdu is losing ground very fast. I have seen a few urdu writings in dev nagari script (such as weekly newspaper “jadeed markaz” from Lucknow), but I am not sure if it is enough.
Shukriya Amit sahib,
“muhafiz” was great movie and what I got from this movie is that if Urdu is to survive in India then dedicated people who are not Muslims to take this heritage as their heritage too.
I would say it has happened to a certain extent and I think after English, Urdu will be the most popular language in terms of attracting non-native speakers to its fold.
In Pakistan, it is a bit better for Urdu but Pakistan’s obession with English has not let Urdu develop to it’s full potential. While India has done a better job in developing Hindi to suit the needs of rapidly changing world but Hindi is yet to become a complete national language. Pakistan on the other hand did a better job and all of pakistan accepts Urdu as the national language as the official language even though they have kept their regional language alive.
Literature wise, both India and Pakistani adeeb are doing great work.
Yes, a generation before us can be blamed for lot of things wrong with this world but now it is our responsibility to make it a better world for us and our children.
Ghalib is amazing and he has so many levels that anyone can easily understand and relate to his poetry.
aate haiN ghaib se ye mazaameeN khayaal meN
Ghalib sareer-e-khaamaa navaa-e-sarosh hai
rough translation:
from Heavens these topics descend
Ghalib, these sounds that the pen makes
are voice of angels
[quote comment="22741"]
I do not know on what basis you claim that today we have more urdu speakers than earlier. In my experience use of urdu has come to an all point low in India.
[/quote]
please see this link to see number of Urdu speakers grow from 1961 to 1971.
http://education.nic.in/cd50years/u/47/3Y/473Y0305.htm
[quote comment="22741"]
In my opinion, the strength as well as weakness of urdu language is that you need a certain level of sophistication to enjoy it. An uneducated person will not be able to appreciate the beauty of urdu language even if it were his mother tongue. Given the generally low education level in India and particularly low education level in muslim communities, it is no wonder that urdu is losing ground very fast. I have seen a few urdu writings in dev nagari script (such as weekly newspaper “jadeed markaz” from Lucknow), but I am not sure if it is enough.[/quote]
I agree that Urdu requires some understanding of literature to really enjoy its beauty but loss of Urdu is not because of low education level but rather elites who used to patronize it have abandoned Urdu in favour of English.
Now without government support and not implemented as one of the languages of the three-language formula is putting the pressure on this language.
The interesting trend is that even Muslims seems to be abandoning it in favour of Urdu. Lot of Muslims of UP now say that their mother tongue is Hindi and lot of Islamic books are being published in devnagri. These books earlier used to have Urdu written in devnagri script but they have started using actual Hindi.
khair, Urdu has overcome many challenges before so I am sure it will overcome this one too. In fact, once it get disassociated with Muslims, it may be better for this language of ganga-jamni tehzeeb.
Assalam-o-alaikum Wa Rehmatullah.
I hope you are absolutely fine by the grace of Almighty Allah.
I am Farhan Wilayat from Lahore, Pakistan. I am basically working in a commercial bank but I often write for local newspapers and magazines.
I would be grateful, if you please guide me about some Indian magazines (their web-urls for cotnact details), as I am very interested to send my Urdu essays and articles to Indian Urdu magazines.
Regards,
Farhan Wilayat