Wednesday, April 9, 2014

(Story of) Learning Urdu and Blogging


Story of learning Urdu and my blog:

Like everyone else around me, growing up in tier 2 cities had its own values. As teenagers, we believed that gazals and Urdu poetry was the music of class. It was definitely more values than popular film music and even, Gulzar’s poetry, which we didn’t understand. We heard the likes of Jagjit Singh, Gulam Ali, Mehadi Hasan (Mehandi Hasan for few) and some of us, later graduated to Begum Akhtar and Farida Khanum.  I won’t think everyone of us enjoyed or understood the poetry, most of us were hooked to the gazals because of Jagjit Singh’s (singer’s)  voice and hype attached with Urdu poetry (There were no rewards, Girls didn’t  care for us ; It was just a self-satisfaction of  developing a higher taste)

I continued reading the poetry and then it was just an academic interest in the language. It was also because I found that most of Muslim friends around me didn’t know the language and hence I felt elevated. Altogether it was a mixture of love of language, understanding the poetry and romanticism attached with the poetry were the reasons for me to continue the learning.

I learnt the language with the help of a Rs. 10 book of “Daag ki Shayary” which one can find at any of the railway station in India and an Urdu-Marathi dictionary. The book had verses written in Urdu on one side and in devnagari on the opposite with explanation of difficult words. The dictionary had Urdu alphabets and their explanation in Marathi. Those were the times of being unemployed and so I had lots of time to spend. I picked up the alphabets, learnt how they connected while writing or reading and also started subscribing to an Urdu newspaper called “Inquilab”. Lack of formal education may still reflect in my posts and I am thankful to blog readers who patiently write back for correction.

I also started an NGO and thought I could start doing something useful for the language, spread its usage (which is very nicely being done by Mumbai based duo- urduwallahs- Visit - http://urduwallahs.wordpress.com/) but I didn’t have enough passion to pursue. After 5-7 years of working, I started finding “something else” to do and stumbled upon blog writing.

This blog has gone through lot of changes and it’s not in good shape with reference to links. It has also gone through the inherited confusion (common spread in people from cow belt) of choosing the medium as Hindi or English. It went through the writer’s dilemma, confusion, inability, ignorance, insensitivity and also through sudden pangs of love, sense of responsibility and ownership.

In the end, I realized, it is something valuable for me and hence I decide now, to continue the habit of writing this blog.      

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

saqi

"Saqi"  (أردو - ساقي ) (हिंदी - साक़ी )  means the one who serves the liquor, the one who makes one inebriate or intoxicated, someone who gives love, a lover.

I'll be quoting following couplet from Faiz Ahmed Faiz to elobarate the usage of this word.
Faiz says:

ज़हर से धो लिए हैं होंठ अपने
लुत्फ़-ए -साक़ी  ने जब कमी की है.

it means that

I qunched my thirst with poison
whenever my lover wasn't generous with wine of her love

The word uses (हिंदी - सीन, أردو - س )  and also pronunciation is q insted of k (हिंदी -क़ , أردو - ق )
which is kaaf with a q pronunciation.
Here is how you write Saqi in urdu:

س+ا+ق+ي = ساقي 
 

Saturday, February 1, 2014

maqbool

"Maqbool" means popular,the one who's been accepted.
Its also title of a hindi movie directed by Vishal Bhardwaj in 2003. The movie is an adaptation of the play Macbeth by Shakespeare .


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maqbool


The word can be written in following way:
The letter "ق "  is "क़ाफ़ "  and is written  and pronounced as  "क़ "  and not kaaf as "क " or "ك "


م +ق +ب +و +ل=مقبول 

"Maqbool" is widely being used as a first name viz. Maqbool fida hussain , the famous painter of Indian origin.


 

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

sayyad

صياد  : أردو

س +يا +د

Sayyad (हिंदी : सय्याद ) Means a hunter or a bird catcher , one who uses a net to catch birds.
The word has been used prolifically in popular hindi (bolliwood) songs and in urdu poetry as well. 

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Buniyaad kuchh to ho


Ku-e-sitam ki khamoshi aabad kuchh to ho
kuchh to kaho sitam kashon, Fariyaad kuchh to ho.

Bedad gar se shikwa, Bedad kuchh to ho,
bolo to , shor-e-hashr ki , aijad kuchh to ho.


Marane chale to satwat-e-qatil ka khouf kya,
Itna to hoke bandhne paye na dast-o-pa

Maqtal main kuchh to rang jame jashn-e-raqs ka
rang-e-lahoo se panjaa-e-sayyad kuchh to ho

Khoon par gawah daman-e-jallad kuchh to ho
jab khoon baha , talab karen, buniyaad kuchh to ho. 

Gar tan nahin, Zubaan sahi, Aazad kuchh to ho
Dushnaam naala ha o hu, Fariyaad kuchh to ho.

Cheekhe hai dard-e-dil-e-barbaad kuchh to ho
Bolo to shor-e-hashra ki ijaad kuchh to ho.

Bolo ki roz-e-adal ki buniyaad kuchh to ho.

 

"Buniyad kuchh to ho"- written by Faiz ahmed Faiz. 

Aitbar

तेरे  वादे पर जिए हम तो ये जान झूठ जानां
के ख़ुशी से मर न जाते , अगर ऐतबार होता

  I remembered this couplet from Ghalib, out of blue and i thought of his wonderful poetry.
I first heard Mirza Ghalib through Jagjeet Singh and we sang him like crazy, day and night, and it was not because i could understand the poetry but only because of the compositions.
Now after 20 years when i am 37 years of age and have been through some of the bad and good phases of life, i realize the poetry and understand it.As  the great Leonard Cohen says "One has to close himself to world sometime. The heart , it opens and closes and opens again, one can't trust his or her heart" and i know that my heart did closed and opened many times in so many years and it keeps doing the same everyday.
The loss of love,friendship and aspirations, the daily grind , made me understand the beauty of poetry and now i smile like everyone else when he realizes that "Yes, I have felt that way".

Lets learn how to write Eitbaar (हिंदी- ऐतबार ): أردو

أعتبر 

اي+ ت +ب  ا +ر





 

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Faiz



Subah footi to Aasman pe tere,
Rag-e-rukhsaar ki fuhaar giri
Raat chhai to ru-e-alam par,
teri zulfon ki aabshar giri.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Urdu Alphabet- The three elementary wovels 1





दरअसल उर्दू में संकृत की तरह ही तीन मुख्य (Elementary ) स्वर या वोवेल्स होते हैं:

There are three main or elementary wovels in urdu:

Alif- (ا)
wav- (و)
Ye, Ya, Ya-e-mahroof- (ی)

Alif-ul-madd which is a derivative of Alif, is used for pronunciation of "aa"
For example, Lets consider the way we write "Aarzu" which means wish. Its a noun .


aa+r+z+u=آرزو


Ain is  (ع) a consonent which is used along with a wovel and it changes the form of that letter.This is the way its written. (عـ)
Lets consider a word

Ashar- اشر

Ashar means bad or wicked, however there's another way ashar is written

Ashar-عشر

This means tenth part.










Tuesday, September 8, 2009

urdu alphabet- P and CH Group

There isn't much difference between the way "P" and "CH" are written in urdu.  The words in "CH" group turn in the begaining whereas the words in  "P" group do not turn.
The letters are in the following order:


P group

P
PH
B
BH
M

and CH Group

CH
CHH
JA
JH
N

P=پ پـ
CH=چ چـ

PH=پھ
CHH=چـھ

B=
ب بـJ=ج جـ
Now , lets look at the difference between these two. For example , a word like "Jala" which means to remove, to abdicate. There is another word which is "Bala" which means difficulty, trouble .

Bala-بلا
Jala-جلا

BH=بھ
JH=جھ

M=مN=ن

विसाल- Visaal

visaal :


و+ص+ا+ل=وصال

"Visaal" means to meet, to unite. 

नौ'अ (noua)

NOU


ن+و+ع=نوع

"Nou a" means-class, sect or type. 

Anawan

ANWAN
 
 Anwan means many or different types, Its plural for earlier mentioned word "Nou-a"

ا+ن+و+ا+ع=منواع

Qafila or kafila

QAFILA(KAFILA)

Qafila means group,caravan, procession or collectve travel.

ق+ا+ف+ي+ل+ہ=قافيلہ

 

Sehra or sahara

 (SEHRA ) :Forest or Dessart

‎ص+ح+ر+ا=صحرا

Kurbat

Kurbat means pain




ک+ر+ب+ت=کربت

 

Qurbat



Quarbat means vicinity, nearness, association,closeness.

ق+ر+ب+ت=قربت

 

Maanzi or Maazi

Maazi means past:

م+ا+ض+ي=ماضي


कभी कभी याद में उभरते हैं- फ़ैज़

कभी कभी याद में उभरते हैं नक़्श-ए-माज़ी
मिटे मिटे से
वो आज़माइश दिल-ओ-नज़र की, वो कुर्बतें सी, वो फासले से

कभी कभी आरजू के सेहरा में,आ के रुकते हैं क़ाफ़िले से

वो सारी बातें लगाव की सी, वो सारे अन्वां विसाल के से

निगाह-ओ-दिल को क़रार कैसा , निशात-ओ-ग़म में कमी कहाँ की

वो जब मिले हैं तो उन से, हर बार की है उल्फ़त नए सिरे से

बहुत गिरां है ये ऐश-ए-तन्हाई , कहीं सबक तर , कहीं गवारा

वो दर्द-ए-पिन्हाँ के सारी दुनिया रफ़ीक़ थी वास्ते से

तुम्ही कहो रिंद-ओ-महतसब में है आज सब को न फ़र्क़ ऐसा

ये आ के बैठे हैं मैकदे में , वो उठ के आए हैं मैकदे से .

Monday, September 7, 2009

हंगाम

हंगाम (HANGAAM,HANGAM)का अर्थ है समय, काल।

ھ+ن+گ+ا+م=ھنگام

अय्याम

अय्याम (AYYAM)का अर्थ है अनेक दिन , यह यूम का बहु वचन है।

ا+يـ+ّ+ا+م=ايـّام

मुद्दई

मुद्दई का अर्थ है दुश्मन,शत्रु।

م+د+ّ+‏ع+ي=مدّعي

उल्फत

उल्फत याने प्यार,प्रेम।

ا+ل+ف+ت=الفت

इकराम

इकराम का अर्थ है इनाम,सम्मान,प्रतिष्ठा ।

ا+ک+ر+ا+م=اکرام

याद रखिये, urdu में अ,इ,उ, ऐ के लिए (ا) का ही इस्तेमाल होता है.कभी कभी इ को स्पष्ट करने के लिए
(ا) के नीचे हलन्तलगा दिया जाता है और उ के लिए (ا) के ऊपर (و) लगा दिया जाता है।

दुष्नाम

दुश्नाम का अर्थ है गाली , अपशब्द।

د+ش+ن+ا+م=دشنام

दुश्नाम-तराजी: गाली देना।-دشنامطرازي
दुश्नाम-तराशी: गाली बनाना।-دشنامتراشي
दुश्नाम दिही: गालीदेना। -دشنامدھي

Urdu Alphabet- The difference between च and प

च और प के बीच भी आप confuse होंगे क्योंकि दोनों ही अक्षरों के नीचे तीन बिन्दु होते हैं:

च = چ چـ
प=پ پـ


तीन बिन्दुओं की बात निकली है तो श भी मत भूलियेगा , लेकिंग श को लिखते हैं स की तरह और तीन बिन्दु होते हैं , नीचे के बजाय , अक्षर के ऊपर ।

=ش

अब आप लिखते हैं ,

चपल= چپل
चप्पल=چپّل
पचवाक (इसका अर्थ होता है अनुवाद) : پچواک

एक और बात चप्पल शब्द में प के ऊपर आपने (ّ) देखा,दरसल urdu में अक्षर को दोबारा लिखने के बजाय उसके ऊपर यह(ّ) orthographical mark लगा दिया जाता है,इसे कहा जाता है तशदीद ।
किसी भी अक्षर के ऊपर तशदीद लगा देने पर उस अक्षर का उच्चारण दो बार हो जाता है।

लि'आन (Annonimus के लिए)

जब मैंने "ज़ियाँ" का अर्थ बताया , तो एक सज्जन ने annonimus पोस्ट लिखा और पूछा के "लिया" का क्या अर्थ है?
उर्दू में, "लिया " तो कोई शब्द नहीं है , हाँ मगर लि'आन है , जिसका अर्थ है
१एक दूसरे का धिक्कार करना
२ पति द्वारा पत्नी पर व्यभिचार का आरोप लगाकर तलाक़ ले लेना।

ل+ع+ا+ن=لعان

फ़ैज़

फ़ैज़ याने यश,उपकार,दानशीलता।

ف+ي+ض=فيض

कुछ इश्क़ किया कुछ काम किया-फ़ैज़

वो लोग बहोत खुश किस्मत थे
जो इश्क़ को काम समझते थे
या काम से आशिकी करते थे
हम जीते जी मसरूफ रहे
कुछ इश्क़ किया
कुछ काम किया
काम , इश्क़ के आड़े आता रहा
और इश्क़ काम से उलझता रहा
फिर आख़िर तंग आकर हमने
दोनों को अधूरा छोड़ दिया।

Thursday, September 3, 2009

ज़ियाँ

ज़ियाँ का अर्थ है नुकसान, हानि,अनिष्ट,अशुभ

ز+ي+ا+ں=زياں

नवा

नवा का अर्थ है सुर

ن+و+ا=نوا

जवाज़

जवाज़ का अर्थ है परमिट या औचित्य

ج+و+ا+ز=جواز

फ़क़ीह

फ़क़ीह का अर्थ है धर्मशास्त्र्ग्यमुस्लिम धर्म का पारंगत ।

ف+ق+ي+ہ=فقيہ

फ़ैज़ ने कहा है :
फ़क़ीह-ऐ-शहर से मय का जवाज़ क्या पूछें,
के चांदनी को भी हज़रतहराम कहते हैं "

फ़ाम

फ़ाम याने रंग का , लाल फ़ाम याने लाल रंग का,सियह्फ़ामयाने काले रंग का,
गुलफ़ामयाने फूल के रंग का :

ف+ا+م=فام