Seizing A Linguistic ‘Orphan’ Out Of The Jaws Of Religiosity

‘उर्दू है मिरा नाम मैं 'ख़ुसरव' की पहेली

क्यूँ मुझ को बनाते हो तअस्सुब का निशाना

मैं ने तो कभी ख़ुद को मुसलमाँ नहीं माना

देखा था कभी मैं ने भी ख़ुशियों का ज़माना

अपने ही वतन में हूँ मगर आज अकेली

उर्दू है मिरा नाम मैं 'ख़ुसरव' की पहेली

Iqbal Asshar

April 16th was the Day of Judgment- not in determining the salvation or damnation of the dead coming back to life, but in the passing of a landmark judgment that prevented a ‘language’ from dying.

A plea was recently filed by an ex-councillor, opposing the use of Urdu on a signboard in Akola. But the bench that consisted of intellectuals thankfully believed in the ‘Ganga Jamuna tehzeeb, as opposed to those that consulted ‘God’ before passing any judgment. So they criticized this prejudice against languages, calling such bias as a ‘threat to India’s cultural strength’.

In fact, Justice Dhulia started his judgment with a famous quote by Mouloud Benzadi: ‘When you learn a language, you don’t just learn to speak and write a new language. You also learn to be open-minded, liberal, tolerant, kind and considerate towards all mankind’. Wah! j

The Supreme Court then spread its judicious arms to a broader cultural embrace when it urged everyone to ‘make friends with Urdu and every language’.

It went on further to broaden the outlook of closed minds by clearing the concept that ‘a language belongs to a community, to a region, to people. It does not represent a religion. It is but a medium for exchange of ideas that brings people holding diverse views and beliefs closer. Therefore it should not become a cause of their division’.

The Indian judicial language itself is a delicious blend of English, Hindi and Urdu. ‘Charge Sheet’ is called ‘Charge Sheet’ and when there is chaos in the courtroom it is brought to order by ‘Order! Order! Order! In Hindi ‘Adhiniyam’ is ‘Statute’; ‘Dand’ is ‘punishment’; ‘Dosh’ is ‘fault '; ‘Pramaan’ is ‘proof’ and so on.

But there are a few Urdu derived words being commonly used in legal contexts. ‘Darkhwast’ is ‘petition’; ‘Gawahi’ is ‘testimony’; Halaf Naama is ‘Affidavit’; ‘Vakalat Naama’ is ‘legal document’; ‘Peshi’ is ‘hearing’ and who hasn’t heard of ‘Tareekh pe Tareekh pe Tareekh’ which translates to a ‘date of hearing.

So when a potential ‘Language Jihad’ was nipped in the bud by a creatively historic ruling, it felt like music to the Indian ears, which were slowly getting used to the string of Islamophobic nonsensical conspiracies. Therefore, it isn’t wrong to say that this wasn’t just an artistic deliverance, but a literal form of ‘Poetic Justice’.

Urdu is the finest specimen of Hindustani culture that developed in the 12th Century from the regional Apabhramsa of Northwestern Indai. It was plucked out from a middle Indo Aryan language. It’s first poet was Amir Khosrow, who in this newly formed speech called Hindvi, composed ‘dohas’ (couplets), folk songs and riddles. Even the ‘Hindi’ that we speak today is not chaste but liberally sprinkled with a whole lot of ‘Urdu’ in it.

India is a diverse nation, blessed with so many languages that learning any new dialect is never easy. Apart from the regional colloquial language; the mother tongue we speak at home; and the bookish knowledge we learnt from school; to learn any new language is tricky. It takes constant interaction with someone and that is where movies step in.

Apart from reforming the social fabric of modern day India, films are also responsible for bringing us all together. But to learn a language like ‘Hindi’, we depend on Bollywood, because this is the only ‘wood’ that provides the whole country with a common platform. It is only here that there is a one way interaction to get familiar with the language alien to most Indians who are not from the Hindi belt.

In the early days of Hindi cinema, Urdu was more prevalent and prominent, often used in films for both dialogue and songs. Since it had a rich literary tradition it was seen as a language of art and refinement. It’s usage in many artistic expressions including music and poetry, always added a layer of sophistication.

However in recent years, its use has declined with Hindi becoming more dominant in modern Bollywood films.

Contemporary lyricists are more inclined towards Hindi. Even the modern playback singers prefer its phonetic forms because they probably find the complexities of Urdu pronunciation and diction a bit challenging. That being said, Bollywood on the whole is now moving towards an Anglicised- Indian-Persian language with more and more English words making it to the top.

However, speaking ‘pure’ Hindi is not that simple. The Hindi that we speak in our daily routine is heavily flavoured with Urdu words too. And Bollywood delivery would have been less impactful without it. Just imagine how these iconic dialogues would sound if spoken in chaste Hindi:

• Kitney Aadmi the?
• Kitney Vyakti the?
• ‘Don ko pakadna, Mushkil hi nahin, Namumkin hai-
• Don ko pakadna Kathin hi nahi, Asambhav hai!
• Mugambo Khush hua!
• Mugambo Prassanna hua!
• Rishtey mein to hum tumhare Baap lagte hain. Naam hai Shehanshah!
• Sambandh me to hum tumhare Pita lagte hain. Naam hai Samraat!

Don’t get me wrong, Hindi is indeed a beautiful language, but we have to accept the fact that without the delightful punch of ‘Urdu’ in it, Bollywood movies would sound like a mythological serial.

Either way, when wars are fought for a complex web of reasons that include, territorial disputes, economic interests, political ideologies and the desire for power and influence, believe me, wars are never going to be fought over language very soon. At least I hope not.

Therefore, let us believe that languages can only unite and not divide our society. Let us choose our version of it and move ahead. And lastly, let us all thank the Milords for stepping in at the right moment to pronounce a sound judgment. Thus rescuing a linguistic ‘orphan’ from dying on the streets of a New age Bharat!

Nargis Natarajan is a writer. The views expressed here are her own.