The eternal charm of Urdu
The language, which has fascinated people for centuries, may be on the verge of dilution and loss.
As a language, Urdu has fascinated us for centuries, bringing out the hidden shaayar on occasion. With its tone of opulence and its tendency to lend itself to verse, the charm of the language is best explained by poet and lyricist Gulzar when he says, “Badi aristocracy hai zabaan mai, fakeeri mai nawaabi ka maza deti hai Urdu.”
Masters
When thinking of masters of Urdu, a few names that come to mind are Mirza Ghalib, Mir Taqi Mir, Nazeer Akbarabadi, and Khwaja Mir Dard, who played a major role in introducing the noble language to the world. The second cohort of authorities on the subject consists of lyricists such as Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Firaq Gorakhpuri, Nida Fazli, Sahir Ludhianvi, Gulzar, and Jawed Akhtar.
As the new generation embraces the language as a means to propagate thoughts, Urdu practitioners are wary of it witnessing decay.
Challenges and risks
“Language is used for communication and the transfer and construction of knowledge. Languages grow by merging with other languages. As far as Urdu is concerned, it has been restricted to one stratum of society because of the way it has grown, similar to Sanskrit,” explains Abhishek Goswami, teacher of drama in education, Azim Premji Foundation.
Talking about the change in the use of the language, young poet Shikha Singh says, “Writers pick an Urdu word and visualise their thoughts based on it. While writing, the process should be the other way around. Most writers don’t actually understand the depth of Urdu words. Translation does major harm to the language — it retains the right words, but their essence and magic are lost.”
However, she does believe that there is a need for Urdu to be delivered to the masses. “Urdu is treated like a premium language – almost like it belongs to a different class, which is not right. It should reach the masses,” Shikha says.
Poet Ajaz Ul Haq echoes the same thought, saying, “Urdu has been restricted to one group of people. Others don’t want to learn the script, and so the literature does not reach everyone. Interest, too, is limited to those who want to write and those practising an art.”
Popularisation
Danish Husain, an Urdu poet and storyteller from Mumbai, passionately dismisses the notion that the use of Urdu is confined to a single community. “Language doesn’t work in one dimension; it is multidimensional. Urdu is so deeply ingrained in our culture that we speak a simplified form of it without realising it. But the language is getting attention now. The Urdu festivals organised in non-Urdu-speaking countries bear testimony to that,” says Danish.
He adds that though the language remains popular, the script is in danger of being lost, and he blames the authorities for this state of affairs. “The state has neglected the language, considering it to be the lingo of the enemy. And so there is a lack of opportunity to earn a livelihood through its use,” he says.
On the other hand, Bhavya Soni, a poet from Jaipur, says, “Urdu as a language is very prominent, however, the script is in danger because it is not reaching to the people.”
Kunal Jhawar from Mumbai is of the opinion that what makes Urdu special is its rarity and its old-world charm. “The quest to learn a global language has overpowered us. Yet, Urdu holds a strong place in culture, and it is very special. We are in the midst of a wave of change. Poets want to use Urdu words to make their content stronger, and to produce good poetry,” he says.
Conclusion
The problem is that Urdu is trapped in an aristocratic context. However, it has not been abandoned, and perhaps will never be. A potpourri of languages, Urdu features aspects of Persian and Sanskrit, and hence it has collective authorship.
Again, as Gulzar sahab beautifully phrases it, “Ajab hai ye zabaan Urdu, kabhi yunhi safar karte agar koi musaafir sher pad de Mir-Ghalib ka, vo chahe ajnabi ho, yahi lagta hai vo mere vatan ka hai.”