Reality is more recalcitrant than we perceive, even if it pertains to cognitive capacity. A distinct and easy-to-understand script is usually described as the quintessence of a particular language and it is widely believed that the cultural ethos of the language owes its existence to the script. Can a language, even endangered one, break the tyranny of the script with a view to making itself more tangible and popular? The answer “yes”, seems to be at odds with the popular perception, lies at the heart of the development of a language Khasi that adopted a new script which augured well for it. The UNESCO has withdrawn Khasi from its Atlas of the “World’s Languages in Danger”. It has been made known to Urdu knowing people by the latest issue of “Naya Daur”, a reputed Urdu monthly published from Lucknow through a well- documented article that focuses attention on a language and its folk tales which are hardly accessible to the majority of Indians.
The editor of the monthly, Suhail Wahid, a promising author, makes it a point to carry such articles that deflate the myth that Urdu is a language that betrays an amorous longing for unavailing love, metaphysical dreaminess and rhetorical flourish. It looks incredible on the part of the editor of a monthly, not entirely literary in true sense, published by the Government of Uttar Pradesh, harps on producing an alternative strand of narrative in Urdu to explore an array of subjects which hardly get talked about. A sustained attempt not to pay heed to familiar subjects is resulted in obtaining an assortment of highly readable articles and it forms the latest issue of the journal that zeroes in on Hindi, Marathi and Khasi literature. Further a separate section on Kazuo Ishiguaro, the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature for 2017 is also included.
Cover of Naya Daur
Noted Urdu author and poet Fay Seen Ejaz, in his astutely written article, “Khasi language and its famous folk tales” traced the history of Khasi language. Khasi, spoken by a substantial number of people living in Meghalaya, Assam and Bengal, was started with Bangla script and its many important books including the famous book “Ka Niyiom Jong Ka Khasi” (The Religion of Khasi) were written in Bengali script but a Welsh Missionary Thomas Jones got the majority of Khasis converted into Christianity and he relentlessly pursued Roman script for Khasi. His efforts bore fruits and now Bengali script has become a thing of past and Khasi spoken by 1.6 million is usually written in Roman script.
Dismissing Adam and Eve
According to Khasi mythology, Adam and Eve were not the first occupants it was seven families that were put on the earth by God. They are known as “Children of Seven Huts’ and this intriguing tale is competently rendered into Urdu by Fay Seen Ejaz. The story goes on to say that god initially created sixteen families and seven were sent to the earth and people were provided with a ladder that hang around Lum Sofet Bnem mountain so that one could go to the sky for worshipping. There also existed an eternal tree but people razed it to ground inviting divine wrath and the ladder was withdrawn forever and since then the world is full of miseries. National Academy of Letters – Sahitya Akademi organised a nation workshop that folk tales were translated into Urdu and Naya Daur carries six stories rendered into Urdu by Fay Seen Ejaz.
The editorial raises a pertinent question pertaining to norms and criterion prescribed for the award of the Nobel Prize for Literature. Suhail Wahid, editor, finds it quite unfathomable that only languages spoken in the developed countries are invariably chosen. In the chequered history of the Nobel Prize in literature, four German writers bagged the award though the language is spoken by 60 million and in India the speakers of Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi and Urdu are much more.
Interactive media and social sites have made several Indian authors and poets hugely popular but to no effect. When will they get recognition from the Nobel Committee? This question needs immediate answer, the editorial concludes.
It is perhaps the first literary periodical that put premium on publishing the translations of what is appearing in Indian languages and no zeroing in on English and other European languages. Not much is known about Hameed Dalvai (1932-1977), a noted Marathi author and social activist in Urdu and for the last six months, Naya Daur has been publishing the translation of his famous novel “Eindhan” (Fuel).
The magazine makes it a point to showcase the literary and cultural legacy of Lucknow and this issue too carries an article by a well known expert on Oudh, Mirza Jafar Hussain.
Naya Daur hardly pays attention to run-of-the mill short stories and it publishes stories that depict the burning issues in more nuanced way. ‘Potable Water’ has become the most important issue and in one of its earlier issues, the Naya Daur carried a story “Tishna Labi” (Thirst) that poignantly portrays the life of a young man who sells water purifier. Rajeev Prakash Shahi, a promising short story writer, through the protagonist raises a pertinent question – “Everything is available in the city. Spectacles for eyes, pacemaker for heart, mask for air and purifier for pure water but why there is nothing that can keep our minds clean”.
The journal creates a sense of resonance of multiple voices and explores the nuanced legacy of human existence that is being threatened and for this it deserves appreciation from all quarters.
