In 1857, Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib, better known by his last name, sought refuge in the art of letter-writing to express the pain and sorrow he had witnessed during the first War of Independence. A 161 years later, University of Jammu organised a two-day all-India Urdu book fair earlier this month to keep the tradition of Urdu letter-writing alive at a time when the language is vanishing in the country.
Prof. Shohab Inayat Malik, Head of the Department of Urdu, University of Jammu, sees the revival of the art as a potent means of reclaiming Urdu from the onslaught of “political apathy” and the changes wrought by technology. The effects are particularly tragic on a language like Urdu whose bulwark is its beautiful calligraphy.
Still fresh
“No one writes letters any more. However, we have a rich tradition of letter-writing in India. It gives us a rare glimpse into the cultural, social and economical workings of bygone times. The letters of Ghalib vividly portray the scenes of ghadar (Mutiny) and recreate that time magically,” said Prof. Malik.
A 600-page book on letter-writing, titled Urdu Mein Khatoot Nigari: Riwayat Aur Tasasul Ke Imkanat, jointly compiled by Prof. Malik and Dr. Shahnaz Qadri, HoD of Urdu, Govt. MAM College, Jammu, was the pivot of the two-day fair. Over 50 specialists in Urdu from across the country read their papers on
letter-writing and reviewed the book, which reproduces the letters of the great Urdu names from India like Ghalib and Maulana Azad, who wrote 263 letters in his lifetime with a special focus on Islam, literature and Indian history. Prof. Saheb Ali, HoD of Urdu, University of Mumbai, who released the book along with the vice-chancellor of University of Jammu, Prof. Manoj K. Dhar, described it as an “essential literary work for students and scholars of Urdu”.
“Urdu is a civilised language. It’s one of the richest languages of the subcontinent, having precious treasure in terms of prose and poetry,” said Prof. Dhar, who has preserved the letters written by his grandfather when he was studying outside J&K. The letters and essays in the book are meant to make the new generation familiar with the tradition.
The use of Urdu, which became the official language of J&K during the reign of the Dogra King Pratap Singh in 1846, replacing Persian, has now largely been restricted to the writing of revenue records, land deeds and in courts.
While Urdu, like Hindi, is a form of Hindustani, during the reign of the Persian sultans, it absorbed a lot of Persian words. “The language may have been born in Delhi and its surroundings, but J&K provided it with a home to thrive in,” says Prof. Malik.
The future of Urdu may be bleak, with just 5% in the country, chiefly Muslims, being able to speak and write it. But there’s hope. The Educational Publishing House displayed 3,000 titles at the the fair. “It’s heartening that around 60,000 books were purchased by Urdu-lovers, both students and civil society members,” says Prof. Malik.
The poetry books were the chief attraction. The fair drew university students and Urdu aficionados from nearby towns and villages. “I bought books on poetry by Ghalib, Iqbal, Faiz Ahmad Faiz etc. Their verses still invigorate hearts. Ghalib’s poems on heartbreak can fill the void for someone who has loved and lost. It sounds fresh even now. Faiz’s poems still can groom a revolutionary’s heart,” said Adil Ahmad, an Urdu-lover from Rajouri.
