Historically, has it always been Lucknow that has been considered the intellectual, if elite, home of Urdu’s birth?
i was reading this book of shayris (both in Farsi and Urdu) and in it, one reviewer * made a comment about Kolkata/Calcutta and Urdu… Urdu poets from there were not considered as distinguished as Urdu poets from Lucknow or Delhi. If i can find the page, i’ll try to scan Iqbal’s review - it was really interesting.
Old article but interesting:
**Urdu is fast losing ground in its homeland**, Times of India, Ikram Ali, 14 December 2003
Lucknow: The above couplet rightly depicts the plight of Urdu which was born and nurtured here and eventually became a symbol of country’s composite culture.
The language which gave us slogans Inquilab Zindabad, and patriotic songs like Sare Jahan Se Achcha Hindostan Hamara and Sarfaroshi Ki Tamanna Ab Hamare Dil Mein Hai during the freedom struggle, became alien in its own land after independence as it became the official language of Pakistan , our sworn enemy.
Unfortunately, vested interests dubbed it as the language of Muslims only, conveniently forgetting the contributions of Brij Narain ‘Chakbast’, Daya Shankar ‘Naseem’, Prem Chand, Ratan Nath ‘Sarshar’, Raghupati Sahai ‘Firaq’ Gorakhpuri, Anand Narain ‘Mulla’, Krishna Bihari ‘Noor’, Gopi Chand Narang and hundreds of other non-Muslim poets and writers.
The plight of Urdu in the state capital, once considered the biggest centre of the language after Delhi and having the likes of Mir Anees, Dabeer, Aatish, Aziz, Nasiri, Aarzoo, Asar and others, has come to such a pass that even Quranic instructions and other religious rituals are given in Hindi as the young generation is wary of this sweet language.
Banners , ‘salaam’, ‘nauha’ and religious pamphlets, all written in Hindi, are now a common sight and well accepted by Muslims, who are not inclined to impart Urdu education to their wards as the language is fast losing its societal acceptability despite the fact that Urdu is second official language of the state.
“Society has discarded Urdu,” says Inayatullah Khan, principal of Mumtaz Inter College , where Urdu is compulsory taught up to class VIII. “People look down at parents as ‘backward’ who want their children to study Urdu,” he adds.
“We have no feedback from society,” claims Syed Abdul Mannan, principal of Islamia Inter College where Urdu-reading is also compulsory up to class VIII.
“In fact we are the ones to be blamed for Urdu’s plight. No parents, including those who occupy plum posts in Urdu institutions, are not keen on sending their children to Urdu-teaching institutions since the language is no more considered job-oriented,” he says.
Talat Fatima, vice-incharge of Shia Inter College (girls section), blames parents for Urdu’s decline. “We have stopped speaking Urdu at home because of poor education of parents, particularly mothers with whom the child interacts the most,” she says.
Urdu-reading also suffered as books in professional courses are not available in this language in Uttar Pradesh, she adds. “Some so-called Urdu institutions are also to be blamed for Urdu’s falling standard,” says Shakeel Ahmad, principal of Sunni Inter College , narrating an interesting incident: "We advertised for a junior teacher’s job. Some who applied were highly-qualified. The management was in a fix. Ultimately it was decided to ask applicants to write an application in Urdu.
To our surprise no one could write a correct application. The one that was found good was that of a boy from Bihar , who was driving a tempo in the city. The management had no choice but to take him.‘’ For their survival, these institutions are distributing degrees but compromising on quality, he adds.
Sunni Inter College , Islamia, Mumtaz, Shia College (both boys and girls), Karamat and Talimgah-e-Niswan are the Muslim institutions where Urdu is compulsoy taught up to class VIII.
In Aminabad Inter College , Hussainabad and Jubilee College , the language is taught but not as a compulsory subject. The total strength of Urdu-learning students in these institutions is around 5000-6000. The figure drastically drops, by 75 per cent, the moment Urdu becomes optional from class IX as students opt for science or commerce streams. More students leave it at intermediate and graduate levels.
In B A classes their strength is around 1200. At post-graduate level, the strength is around 100 and only 10 to 15 opt for PhD, says an LU lecturer. At present Karamat, Islamia, Mumtaz, Shia, Khun Khunji, Mahila Vidyalaya, Bright Career , Eram, Vidyant and Lucknow University are imparting degree-level teaching in Urdu. When asked about the steady decline of Urdu, born and nurtured in this country and produced such literary giants as Mirza Ghalib, Mir Taqi Mir, Allama Iqbal and Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Sunni College principal says: “The language has lost demand in practical life.”*