Gulzar, the recipient of the Jnanpith Award, expresses optimism about the future of Urdu. He believes that despite the decline of the Urdu script, the language itself is alive and thriving, with Urdu ...

In 2012, Sanya* joined an institute to learn MS Office. When the teacher was delivering a lecture, she noticed the girl sitting next to her was writing furiously. Her pen danced across the page like ...

In the bustling heart of Old Delhi, Indian bookseller Mohammed Mahfooz Alam sits forlorn in his quiet store, among the last few selling literature in a language beloved by poets for centuries. Urdu, ...

A few weeks ago, in a class on Urdu poetry in translation, I was asked a disconcerting question about the status of Urdu as a language. In light of the frequent controversies generated around the ...

The audience cheered and clapped entreating the poets for an encore. At the 56th edition of Bazm-e-Mushaira in the national capital last month, the energy and the evocation of emotions did well to ...

The term ‘Urdu novel’ refers to fictional works that have emerged over the past one and a half centuries. Research published in literary magazine Adbiyaat’s special issue on the Urdu novel indicates ...

Writer, translator and literary historian Rakhshanda Jalil’s critical work on Urdu progressives and other writers is well-recognised as are her translations from Urdu. In her latest book, Love in the ...

“One day he was crossing the sea on a voyage to trade silks from faraway lands. His ship suddenly ran into a storm. While the rest of the sailors raised their hands in prayer, he tried to buy his life ...

That the two founding figures of Indian and Pakistani independence were united by a shared love of Urdu speaks eloquently of the language’s rich history. From left, Pandit Jawarharlal Nehru, Vice ...

Nestled in Chandni Chowk, one of the city’s oldest and busiest markets, the Urdu Bazaar seems like a fading relic of Delhi’s rich cultural heritage. The bazaar dedicated to Urdu literature, which once ...