Indian Budget provides for Urdu Primary Education

Kudos to India for putting money away for Urdu education at the primary level. Primary education in Urdu will help in creating the new generation of Urdu speakers, readers and consumers.

"Central assistance will be provided for recruitment and posting of Urdu language teachers in primary and upper primary schools servicing a population where one-fourth of the people are Urdu-speaking."

http://www.hindu.com/2005/03/01/stories/2005030102761200.htm

Urdu in Indian Parliament

yes the script is devnaagri but the language is Urdu. According to Javed Akhtar 90% of urdu poetry quoted in Indian Parliament is Urdu; latest addition by the President of India Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. The text above was read by Dr. Kalam in his presidential address which is available here.

http://presidentofindia.nic.in/scripts/eventslatest1.jsp?id=833

Learn Urdu in Lucknow

Berkeley Urdu Language Fellowship Program 2005-06

Berkeley Urdu Language Fellowship Program 2005-06 The Center for South Asia Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, invites applications for a fellowship program to study Urdu language at the American Institute for Indian Studies (AIIS) Urdu program in Lucknow, India. Up to twelve awards will be made on a competitive basis, and will include tuition, a maintenance allowance and roundtrip airfare.

Program funding is subject to US Department of Education approval, says an email message received from the Center of Asia Studies, Berkeley. The message adds: For over 30 years, the University of California, Berkeley, has run an Urdu language program in Lahore, Pakistan. Recent US Department of State imposed travel warnings have restricted travel to Pakistan. Because of this, students have not been able to attend BULPIP (Berkeley Urdu Language Program in Pakistan) for the past two years. With no immediate sign of change in current conditions, the Center for South Asia Studies (CSAS) at Berkeley remains committed to
encouraging students to seek out advanced training in Urdu. CSAS has resolved to change the location of the program until such time as the travel warning is lifted. Up to twelve students will be funded annually to study Urdu in Lucknow, India, at the AIIS Urdu program.

Key Dates: Application deadline: Monday, March 28, 2005 (5 PM PST)
Notification: Monday, April 25, 2005
Program duration: September 2005-April 2006

Eligibility:
-Graduate students and undergraduate students at the junior or senior level at institutions of higher learning in the US
-Teachers in area studies
-US citizens or permanent residents of the US
-Applicants must have a minimum of two years, or 240 class hours of classroom instruction, in Urdu before starting the program
-Applicants who have had one year language training at the time of application will be considered if they successfully complete an intensive second
-year summer language program before their enrollment in the program
-Applicants with a minimum of two years experience in Hindi are eligible for an award if they familiarize themselves with the Urdu script prior to entering the program
-All qualified students, regardless of race, sex, color, creed, age, handicap, sexual orientation or national origin, are welcome

The Program:
The 2005-06 program will begin in September of 2005.
Instruction will be offered at the AIIS Language Center in Lucknow and the program will be administered in India by AIIS staff. This is an intensive language program that provides four hours of classroom instruction five days a week.

Classes are small and individual tutorials are provided. There will be regular assignments outside of class and there is special emphasis on connecting with the local speech community and self-management of learning. Participants are encouraged to identify and prioritize their needs and keep track of their language development. Participants must take part in all program events, such as attending films, plays and other cultural activities. They are also encouraged to stay with local host families.

This is not a research program; participants are expected to devote all their energies to activities that will increase their competence in all areas of language skills speaking, listening, reading and writing.

Participants will have ample opportunity to study their research-related materials in the target language during personal tutorials. For more information about AIIS language programs, visit .
http://www.ias.berkeley.edu/southasia/bulpip.html

Applications can be downloaded here:
http://www.ias.berkeley.edu/southasia/bulpip_app.pdf

For email enquiries, write to us at bulpip@berkeley.edu

All applications must be received at the following address by Monday, March 28, 2005 (5 PM PST), along with a check for the application fee of $50 made payable to "UC Regents":

Center for South Asia Studies
10 Stephens Hall, #2310
University of California Berkeley, CA 94720-2310
(510) 642-3608 (phone)
(510) 643-5793 (fax)

Mushfiq Khwaja

Mushfiq Khwaja was an important research scholar of Urdu.

KARACHI, Feb 21: Noted research scholar Mushfiq Khwaja, whose monumental work on Urdu manuscripts earned him a permanent place in the world of literature, died of renal failure on Monday night. He was 70.

Born on Dec 19, 1935, in Lahore, Mushfiq Khwaja (Khwaja Abdul Hai) did his matric in 1952. He obtained a Master's degree in Urdu literature from Karachi University in 1958. He teamed up with Ibne Insha to bring out Karachi University's first magazine. His father, Khwaja Abdul Waheed, was a well-known scholar on Islamiyat and Iqbaliyat.

Winning the approbation of Baba-i-Urdu Maulvi Abdul Haq, Mr Khwaja joined the Anjuman Taraqui Urdu in 1957 where he worked till 1973. At the Anjuman, Mr Khwaja edited the quarterly 'Urdu' and monthly 'Qaumi Zuban'. He also headed the departments tasked to compile an encyclopaedia of publications. He supervised research activities and brought out books.

He edited two volumes of Tazkira-i-Khush Marka-i-Zaiba by Saadat Khan Nasir. The books were published by Majlis-i-Taraqui Adab, Lahore, in 1970 and 1972. In 1978, came out Mr Khwaja's anthology of poems titled 'Abiyat'.

He brought out the Unesco-sponsored survey of Urdu manuscripts in 1979. The painstakingly researched catalogue, containing 1,248 pages, was called 'Jaiza-i-Makhtutat-i-Urdu'.

Mr Khwaja also edited 'Iqbal' by Ahmed Deen. The book, which raised many hackles when it was first published, came out in 1979. In 1981, Mr Khwaja wrote a book on 'Ghalib and Safir Bilgrami'. Ten years later, his research articles came out in book form. The book was titled 'Tehqeeqnama'.

In 2003, Mr Khwaja pulled off a great feat of erudition by writing a book on Yaas Yagana Changezi and editing his poetic works. Mr Khwaja, who did not have children, is survived by his wife Amina Mushfiq.

http://www.dawn.com/2005/02/22/top10.htm

Read about the work of Mushfiq on Yagana :
http://www.dawn.com/2003/03/05/fea.htm#2

Sahitya Akademi Translation Awards 2004

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, FEB. 15. The Executive Board of the Sahitya Akademi today approved the selection of 22 books for the Translation Prize 2004. Translations of one book — Parva in Kannada by S.L. Bhyrappa — have bagged awards in Tamil and Telugu. While Pavannan bagged the award in Tamil for his translation Paruvam, Gangisetty Lakshminarayana got the top honours for Parva in Telugu.

Popularised by the television serial, Bhishma Sahni's Tamas has picked up an award in translation with Rafiq Masoodi walking away with the prize in Kashmiri. In Assamese, the award was bagged by Preeti Barua for the translation of Sripad Narayan Pendse's Marathi work Rathachakra, and in Bengali the award has gone to Sujit Choudhuri for a translation of Nirmalprabha Bardoloi's poems. The Dogri award went to Jithendra Sharma for Laio Phi Suno — a translation of Surendra Prakash's Urdu work Baaz Goyee.

The award in English was bagged by M. Asaduddin for Lifting the Veil: Selected Writings of Ismat Chughtai and the Gujarati award went to Agni Ane Varsad — Mahesh Champaklal's translation of Girish Karnad's Kannada work Agni Mattu Male. The Hindi award has been picked up by Ramshankar Dwivedi for Jhansi Ki Rani — a translation of Mahasweta Devi's Bengali work Jhansir Rani.

Chandrakanta Pokale has been awarded the prize in Kannada for his translation of Viswas Patil's Marathi work Mahanayak and Madhav Borcar the Konkani award for Ekshe Ek Kavita — a translation of Rabindranath Tagore's collection in Bengali. In Maithili, the award has been bagged by Prafulla Kumar Singh Maun for Premchand Chayanit Katha-I — a translation of a Premchand collection.

Puthussery Ramachandran has bagged the Malayalam prize for Kulasekhara Alvarude Perumal Thirumozhi — a translation of Kulasekhar Alvar's Tamil work Perumal Thirumozhi. In Manipuri, the prize has gone to Nongthombam Kunjamohan Singh for Gora — a translation of Tagore's work in Bengali by the same title. Mrinal Gadkari has bagged the award in Marathi for Devdas — a translation of Saratchandra Chattopadhyay's work in Bengali.

The Oriya award has gone to Hemakanta Mishra for Barabula Debaduta — a translation of Vishnu Prabhakar's Hindi work Awara Masiha. In Punjabi, the award has been bagged by Jagbir Singh for Sanrachnavad Uttar Saranchnavad Ate Poorvi Kav Shastar — a translation of the Akademi president, Gopi Chand Narang's Urdu work Sakhtiyat, Pas-Sakhtiyat Aur Mashriqi Sheriyat. The Rajasthani award has gone to Kundan Mali for Gosthi — a translation of Umashankar Joshi's Gujarati work by the same name.

In Sindhi, the award has been picked up by Yashodara Wadhwani for Sindhu Kanya — a translation of Shrinath S. Hasurkar's Sanskrit work by the same title. And, in Urdu, the award has gone to Karamat Ali Karamat for Lafzon ka Akash — a translation of Sitakant Mohapatra's Oriya work Sabdar Akash. The Translation Prize — Rs. 20,000 and an engraved copper plaque — will be presented in the Capital on August 23.

http://www.hindu.com/2005/02/16/stories/2005021608321100.htm

List of past winners in Urdu language is here :

http://www.iconofindia.com/sahitya-akademi/awa522.htm#urdu

UP govt reconstitutes Urdu Academy

[India News]: Lucknow, Feb 12 : The Uttar Pradesh government has reconstituted the state Urdu Academy appointing renowned poet Dr. Malikzada Manzoor Ahmad as its Chairman.

Besies Manzoor, Dr Maulana Yasin Usmani has been made the Chairman of the executive committee, an official release here said today.

The executive committee will comprise Nadim Haider, Humayun Qadir, Abdussalam Siddique, Shakil Ahmad, Ghulam Mohammad, Ubaidul Haq, Abdul Wahab, Udai Pratap Singh, SM Alsaya Rizvi, Harish Chandra Shrivastav and Nasim Nikhat, the release said.

The Principal Secretaries of language, finance, education, Director Urdu education, vice-president Hindi Sansthan and head of department of Urdu in AMU, Gorakhpur, Varanasi, Allahabad and Lucknow university have been made ex-officio members, the release added. PTI

http://news.newkerala.com/india-news/?action=fullnews&id=71353

Doyen of Urdu : Dr. Azad

Eminent Urdu litterateur, poet and scholar, Prof. Jagannath Azad died in Delhi on 24 July after a prolonged illness. The 85-year old doyen of Urdu is survived by wife, two sons and two daughters. He left behind a huge legacy of poetry and literature. He was one of the most respected names among Urdu literary circles, known for his intellectualism and refined manners.

Son of famous poet Tilok Chand Mahroom, Azad was born in Isa Khel town of West Punjab (now in Pakistan) on 15 December 1918. He did his BA from Garden College, Rawalpindi in 1937 and MA in Persian from Punjab University in Lahore in 1944.

Azad started his career with literary journalism and joined the editorial team of prominent Urdu monthly Adabi Dunya, published from Lahore. He was appointed assistant editor of Urdu daily Jai Hind in 1946. Few people know that Azad wrote Pakistan’s first national anthem which was sung for a few years.

After Partition, he migrated from Pakistan and settled with his father in India. Here he was assigned the job of assistant editor of Milap. Later he got the same post at Publications Division, Government of India. The journey did not stop there. He was appointed information officer at Press Information Bureau (PIB) during 1950s. The same post came to him in the ministry of food in 1964.

Prof. Azad was assistant editor of Aajkal from 1948 to 1953. The editorial team of the monthly at that time included Arsh Malsiani, Balwant Singh and Josh Malihabadi, the names that count a lot in the history of Urdu.

Azad kept on progressing. From information officer in the ministry of works and housing in 1966, he became deputy information officer at the PIB in January 1968. He was appointed director of Information Bureau in 1973.

But academic life waited Azad. From 1977 to 1980, he was professor and head of Urdu department of Jammu University and was appointed professor emeritus for life in 1988. He also remained president of Anjuman Taraqqi-e-Urdu Hind for 10 years.

About 15 poem collections and a dozen long nazms of Prof. Azad have been published. The number of his works in prose is about 20 while another dozen of his books were going through printing process when death came calling.

Prof. Azad also wrote a few books in English. Many research articles have been published on Azad in India and Pakistan. About five books have been written on his life and literary services.
In recognition of his literary contributions, Kashmir and Jammu universities conferred DLit degrees on him.

He delivered lectures on Allama Iqbal and other topics of Urdu literature in two dozen universities throughout the world. He attended hundreds of seminars and poetic symposia abroad. He was among the rarest of rare scholars of Urdu. His death has created a vacuum in the worldwide Urdu world.

Remembering his old colleague, Urdu critic Dr Abrar Rahmani said Azad was an intrepid person. He used to speak with open mind. And so did he write. He wrote several books including Muraqqa-e-Iqbal at a time when taking Iqbal’s name amounted to great sin in certain Indian circles which held Iqbal responsible for the creation of Pakistan. Azad’s study on Allama Iqbal was profound.

— Manzar Imam

http://www.milligazette.com/Archives/2004/16-31Aug04-Print-Edition/163108200407.htm

A Way with Words

Bollywood produces 500 films a year, about 10 of which are deemed commercial hits. Preceded by hit songs which actually help in making the film a success. Six or seven of such films have songs penned by Javed Akhtar.

Consider the most popular numbers over the past few years — the title song from Kal Ho Naa Ho, Mitwa o mitwa (Lagaan), Yeh tara woh tara (Swades), Main aisa kyon hoon (Lakshya), Tere liye hum bhi jiye (Veer-Zaara), the qawwali in Main Hoon Na and the non-film chartbuster Breathless — and the man behind these immortal words is Javed Akhtar.

These lyrics are hummed and sung by millions of Indians everyday, an overwhelming fact testifying to the role of Hindi film songs in our lives. A staggering achievement compounded further by the fact that the lyricist is also a front-ranking Urdu poet and co-scriptwriter of classics like Sholay, Zanjeer, Deewar and lately Lakshya.

Song-writing happened in an unplanned fashion. Javed was writing his Urdu poetry in the 70s and sharing his poetry with friends. Yash Chopra had heard his poetry and when Silsila was planned he asked him to pen the lyrics.

Initially reluctant, Javed consented and after meeting Shiv Kumar Sharma and Hariprasad Chaurasia, wrote the first song by the end of the day: Dekha ek khwab to ye silsiley huey.

His position as a lyricist was consolidated after the partnership with RD Burman in 1942: A Love Story which resulted in the classic numbers Ek ladki ko dekha and Kuch na kaho. Ek ladki... is a series of 21 romantic metaphors and arrived at with startling freshness in its imagery.

“Almost all film songs are about love,” says Javed, “but the writing need not be cliched. There is always room for a new angle and a fresh metaphor.”

Consider his use of the moon as a symbol. An age-old romantic prop gets a quick makeover in Sapnay when he writes Chanda re chanda re kabhi to zameen pe aa, baithenge, baatein karengey.

Hindi film songs have been written by illustrious poets — Sahir Ludhianvi, Shailendra, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Kaifi Azmi and Jan Nissar Akhtar. They represented the golden era of the 50s when Javed feels the best film songs were written. “Poetry was superior and there were great partnerships with music composers like SD Burman. Those were the times when culture, decency and idealism prevailed. Those were the times of Jawaharlal Nehru. I still listen to the songs of the 50s and 60s, which remind me of more work to be done.”

When asked what the chief drive is behind such prolific song writing, Javed answers with characteristic humour, “the fear of deadlines”. It’s true that some of his songs have been written in the shortest time spans. What comes first, the tune or the words? More often, Javed works with tunes given to him. Sitting in his study he puts thoughts on paper and creates poetry that is soon hummed by the people.

With great facility for words and an almost childlike imagination, Javed spans several worlds at the same time. He could be penning lyrics, writing Urdu poetry, writing an article for Communalism Combat, translating Tagore to write the science anthem (Matrimandiro punya angana) and creating a moving poem for the tsunami disaster. I have often been witness to this phenomenal process of writing.

Film songs are transnational at both the stages of genesis and consumption. Javed’s songs are written literally around the world — in his study at six in the morning, in friends’ homes, in his car as he rushes for a meeting with the director, in my car as we drive through the streets of London, on flights as he zaps from one city to another. Sitting alone, he mulls over words, says them aloud over and over again, as if weighing the syllables and entering into a relationship with them.

His partnership with younger music makers like A. R. Rahman and Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy reflect his desire to be in touch with contemporary minds and tastes. Excited as a child over sports and science, sometimes wilful, certified by friends as the wittiest man in the country, Javed is a much-loved personality. The phenomenal turnout at his recent birthday bash was testimony to the enormous goodwill that the man enjoys in the industry where he has worked for 40 years.

Film songs are not all entertainment, they are extensions of centuries of oral history as well as Urdu Parsee Theatre traditions. Songs establish character (Main aisa kyon hoon from Lakshya), are dialogic (Agar main kahoon from Lakshya, Jaane kyun log pyaar karte hain in Dil Chahta Hai) or often philosophical (Har ghari badal rahi hai dhoop zindagi from Kal Ho Naa Ho).

Wife Shabana’s plan for a birthday present was a book on Javed’s songs. Talking Songs has been published by Oxford and starts off with a most informative and entertaining analysis of Hindi film songs. How the language in lyrics has moved from rural roots to urban, how moods are created through the magical weave of poetry, how idioms have changed through the generations, how distinct the old masters were.

The bonus is, of course, 60 selected songs translated in English — a book that will grab the attention of media students, musicians, historians and will prove a good read for all.

As Javed concludes: “The best songs are those that evoke moods, touch a chord and trigger memories in the heart of the listener.”

Sangeeta Datta is a film-maker and film-writer.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1050207/asp/calcutta/story_4339158.asp

Javed Akhtar's website : http://www.javedakhtar.com/