Maulana Azad chair created at IIT-Gandhinagar to "promote" Urdu

By A Representative
A Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Chair at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Gandhinagar, has been created in order to encourage Urdu in Gujarat, where not even a single Urdu daily is published. This has been made possible, says Firoz Bakht Ahmed, Chancellor, Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU) because of efforts by Prof Hamida Banu Chopra of the Berkeley University, California, and Prof Sudhir K Jain, director, IIT Gandhinagar.
Ahmed, speaking on the occasion, said that, even today, Urdu happens to be the language of the heart firmly cementing the bonds of culture among people from all cultures and backgrounds. He added, Azad was the symbol of interfaith bonding between all the communities fighting for freedom from the clutches of the British.
Prof Akhtar-ul-Wasey, an Urdu celebrity, said, ironically, the language has been kept alive by Hindi cinema, FM radio, madrassas and the occasional recitation of couplets from Ghalib, Iqbal and Faiz in the Parliament. A language does not prosper through such methods alone but through people who love it with sincerity that's rather more important. He added, all languages are beautiful and have their own charm and distinct persona. Urdu, in particular, is sweet and poetic and at the same time, very adaptable.
Saeeda Hameed, former Planning Commission member and a scholar on Maulana Azad opined that languages become worst, suffer most and die mercilessly when they are politicized. This is because politics create hurdles and problems and destroy the shape, tone and taste of the languages. She cherished the efforts of Prof Jain that he had left no stone unturned to give Urdu a kiss of life at the IIT.
Prof Chopra too recites a ghazal that truly touched the inner chords of the people in the auditorium. Prof Jain lauded the efforts of students and professors who created an ambience of mushaira, where students came up to the stage and recited Urdu poems and ghazals.

Neville Cardus: The man who turned cricket writing into poetry

By Harsh Thakor* Neville Cardus was one of the most remarkable literary figures of the twentieth century. A prolific English writer and critic, he achieved distinction in two vastly different fields: cricket and classical music. Entirely self-taught, Cardus rose from humble beginnings to become both the cricket correspondent and chief music critic of The Manchester Guardian . His achievements in these contrasting disciplines earned him widespread acclaim and established him as one of the foremost critics of his generation. In February 2025, the cricketing and literary world marked the fiftieth anniversary of his death, which occurred in February 1975.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

The politics of dreaming: Savita Singh's feminist imagination

By Ravi Ranjan* In contemporary Hindi poetry, few voices have explored the philosophical and creative possibilities of women's experience as powerfully as Savita Singh. Across collections such as "Svapna Samay" (Dream Time), Aapne Jaisa Jeevan, and "Prem Bhi Ek Yatana" Hai, she has developed a poetic world in which woman is not merely a subject of suffering or social commentary but a creator of knowledge, meaning, and alternative realities.

Counterview

Search This Blog