Amour over animosity
In India, Urdu is an Eighth Schedule language, the status and cultural heritage of which are recognised by its Constitution. It also has an official status in several Indian states. The language has been described as a Persianised register of the Hindustani language. Both Urdu and Hindi share a common Sanskrit- and Prakrit-derived vocabulary base, phonology, syntax, and grammar, making them mutually intelligible during colloquial communication.
“Urdu is the language of whoever steps forward and claims it as their own. We need to acknowledge its disengagement with religion. It belongs to no state or geographical area. Unlike Marathi that belongs to Maharashtra, Bengali to Bengal, Kannada to Karnataka and so on, Urdu is confined to no single state. There are pockets of Urdu all across India. These are facts; they need to be seen as such,” quoted eminent writer-translator Rakshanda Jalil.
Jalil runs an organisation called Hindustani Awaaz, devoted to the popularisation of Hindi-Urdu literature and culture and is now out with a book titled – ‘Love In The Time Of Hate’ by Simon and Schuster India. The book is about love—love for o ne’s country and for all that goes to make it one we can be proud to belong to. Jalil uses Urdu poetry to look at how the social fabric of India is changing. She has to her credit many award-winning works to date.
I here join the dots with Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s first-ever web series on Netflix – ‘Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar’. It drops at a very dramatic time in the nation just like Jalil’s book. But this is Bhansali. He comes with his magic wand and we see a sharp spike in women buying Anarkali and Lehenga and making reels of Gaja Gamini walk, trying to imitate the ‘Adab/mannerism’. They are all speaking the language with poise or at least attempting.
“My grandparents were from Sialkot, Pakistan, before the Partition. I learnt Urdu from my grandfather and Gurbani from my mother. It is part of my lineage. Often people ask me if I am a Muslim as I read and write Urdu, but it is my language till death do us apart. When we were deciding on the dialogues of the series, there were suggestions to make it sound more Punjabi as it is based in Lahore. But Bhansali sir insisted on making it sound more Hindi and Urdu. It is sad that the most beautiful language is now being treated as something that doesn’t belong to us. It absolutely does,” shared Vibhu Puri Dehalvi who has co-written/co-directed Heeramandi.
Puri has been assisting Sanjay Leela Bhansali for a very long time ever since he graduated from FTII. He co-wrote Saawariya (2007) and Guzaarish (2010), and made his feature film directorial debut with Hawaizaada (2015). Next in his kitty is ‘Ul Jalool Ishq’, starring Naseeruddin Shah and Vijay Verma, which again is full of Urdu and
portrays Shah as an Urdu poet, a perfect déjà vu from his previous act as Ghalib.
Though there has been backlash on the pronunciation of Urdu in the magnum opus series, Puri defends it by saying, “We have made Urdu part of popular culture with this series. When was the last time you heard the public speak it with such fondness? We should also note that all the actors do not come from an Urdu-speaking family. Of course there were language coaches. But there has been a slip here and there. As a matter of fact, I couldn’t be on the set on all days. It took 350+ long days of shoot to make it happen after all.”
The ambition of weaving words has brought to notice the nuances of writing at large. And the excessive use of abusive language in today’s scripts is troubling. Hence, if it is a scriptwriter in hand, addressing this is a must.
“The world is attracted to what is negative very easily. So, if the story lacks what it takes to gain attention or work, they add this factor. But even the expression of anger and disgust is phonetically beautiful in Urdu. We had to literally work around the language and its expression as the screenplay progressed,” shared Puri.
Like Javed Akhtar Shab said in one of his interviews, “They form words in Urdu based on phonetics. It has been hundreds of years of work. What doesn’t sound good to the ear is removed from the vocabulary.”
Then how do we, the lovers of language and the rest, make this country and the world a better place?
“Now that’s a tough one. But if I was to look for one word that can contain immense possibilities for future regenerations and heal the rift, it is: empathy. If we empathise with those who live differently, speak differently, eat differently, dress differently, we might be able to co-exist with harmony and the discord and stridency that mars much of our lives
today might diminish. Living together separately, as I like to call it, with all our differences intact,” said Jalil.
As a matter of fact, the lines are very fine and we are very similar. Urdu is like a mother or aunt. It isn’t a step-mother, as put rightly by Puri.
The writer is a Creative Writer in DD News.
Views expressed are personal
