While our favorite drama serials are littered with heart-warming Urdu dialogues that we can’t help but memorize; and while we believe Urdu to have a glorious past and a bright future, we might be wrong about the latter.
Urdu, as we know it, is a language that has survived alongside the Muslim resistance in colonial India. The “Urdu Movement” started back as early as the fall of the Mughul Empire, when the language was at the risk of falling into disuse because of foreign rule. Championed by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan in its initial stages, it became one of the focal points of Muslim identity and the struggle to keep it alive was only second to the struggle for independence.
So, where did our language come from?
This is how much a layperson knows about the importance of thi language. If we trace our steps back, we come to know that the language has evolved from the Apabhraṃśa register of the preceding Shauraseni language, a Middle Indo-Aryan language that is also the ancestor of other modern Indo-Aryan languages. (Parekh, 2011). If we wish to go back even further, we find that it is also one of the modern languages which evolved from the Indo-European language group, which is turn is the predecessor of P.I.E (Proto-Indo European).
But while it is relatively easy to understand where our beloved language came from, the current situation of Urdu– be it in literature, education or everyday speech– makes us question what path is the language on presently? And how will it affect its future?
The Future of Urdu
Recently, we shared a post on Daastan’s Facebook page about bilingualism. It explained how being a bilingual could affect how we use our languages. On particular commenter, in a long and informative comment, presented counter-arguments about the utility of bilingualism. He went on to say how, as a trilingual himself, he had experienced difficulty learning Urdu, as compared to the other three languages he knew. This he attributed to the fact that Urdu was a language with “no utility” and would “die out miserably” along with Pushto. Have a look at the post here:
The #polyglot problems you won't understand.www.daastan.com
HEYO EVERYBODY! HERE’S A BIG LONG POINTLESS RANT WHICH ENDS WITH AN ANGRY SPITEFUL AND EMBITTERED TAKE ON URDU! YAY! NOBODY ASKED FOR IT, NOBODY WANTS TO READ IT, BUT EVERYONE SUFFERS BECAUSE OF IT! OH JOY!!!
1) As a trilingual heading to quadralingual, you are MORE likely to remember words in the language you speak most often because of its constant utility. Suppose a word doesn’t exist in Urdu (I mean, come on, with the last official grammar standardization done in 1898, that is the biggest understatement of the year), or it doesn’t exist in some regional language only 300,000 people speak. Supposing this, you have a choice: Submit the word for consideration in the dictionary of the language, assuming that it has a council which accepts words; just borrow words.
You know why English, Spanish, German, Persian, Arabic, French, Italian, Turkish, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and virtually all other languages except Urdu are an easier series of languages to learn but Urdu and Pushtu are going to die out miserably? Its because of deliberate psychological stunting done by pathologically hypocritical societies which – unlike English, Spanish, German, Persian, Arabic, French, Italian, Turkish, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and virtually every other language except Urdu and Pushtu – take ownership.
The Oxford English Dictionary became a standard BECAUSE EVERY SPEAKER OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE CONTRIBUTED TO IT. Punjabi grew as a language because of the Sikh community (it is not just their language of communication, but also their language of lithurgy). Urdu has a council which doesn’t do anything other than live on the dole, and the idiots constituting L1 speakers of Urdu are too caught up in their own shit to contribute to this language’s development.
And while we are on the topic, Urdu is a pygmy language that should fall under the Semitic language family, whereas English, Spanish, German, Turkish (post-1921 language reformation), and Italian are Latin rooted. Granted that Spanish and French are Romance languages, while English and German are Germanic, they still are written in the latin alphabet (whereas Urdu has become an example of Abjad scripts being Romanized and not being allowed to evolve properly).
You, are capable of finding the exact word you are looking for, if you use the same language family. And specifically in language family clusters which have been allowed to grow and groom.
2) Notes in multiple languages are actually a good thing. Why is this a problem? HOW is this a problem?
Oh wait… THIS was an overreaction, sorry about that.
3) Truth be told, this is a lie. And here’s why:
POINT NUMBER 1. And furthermore:
ISO 639 Check: International Language Standards. And while we are on the topic: Persian has existed as a living language in its spoken form for at least three thousand years. In its written form, it has had three scripts. Arabic had a script form BEFORE it became an Abjad which is of significant importance for multiple reasons. What does Urdu have in its favor? Read: A Critique of Languages
Coming back to the first point I made in this big long rant. I am fluent in English. It is my primary language. My secondary language is German. And my tertiary language (which I am learning) is Spanish. And I hope to become quatralingual by learning French. I do not count myself as a fluent speaker (even though I have read Naseem Hijazi, I have read Ya Khuda by Qudrutullah Shahab to completion.Every time. Because it has no utility, and unless we as the people of the country of Pakistan, decide that this language will simply become extinct and be beaten like a dead horse by every single snob and shithead of the country.
The sixth most published language in the world, by sheer volume of publications, is German. And these include scientific and academic works. In point of fact, Spanish, French, Chinese, Arabic, English, and Russian all have more publications in all sorts and structures.
The UN languages of the world are Arabic, Chinese, French, English, Spanish and Russian.there.
Publications, prior to 2000 in this language do not have ISBN numbers. Furthermore, publications made in the late 90s (even reprints from as late as 2019) still use the handwritten scripts submitted to include in the publication. I wouldn’t be surprised if the author’s script was literally just tossed in as is rather than being typewritten. And it could have been, because InPage did not come into being until 1998, and typewriters specially developed with Urdu had entered the market and still are in use. I know, because I own one.
People still read in the country… to what end? It is a national language, NOT an official language. dramas and radio and all these medium only count if you are referring to people who do not have access to Netflix. And even these are exceedingly, almost neurotically, formal.
National Book Foundation, the government publisher which is open to all members of the public as a source for anyone to get their stuff put on paper, does not publish poetry anymore. Nor does it publish in English. You know why? it is a sunk cost, and with it, it is also a loss maker. They do not get a return for what they publish. I know this, because I went there myself to see if I could publish my own book. And for what it is worth, I’ll just get it self-published rather than go through the dilemma of publishers generally.
If anyone would like to go ahead and prove me otherwise, please, go for it. The fact is that Urdu does not have any intrinsic value to the people of Pakistan, and when you have elite assholes who do not WANT it to have any value, I do not see why I should give a shit about it. I have a documented history of German (which is unbelievably awesome in its own right), and the same for English (which is fascinating), Spanish, Persian (the language is so much more satisfying than Urdu, which might as well be the bastard child which Persian is better off forgetting), Arabic (the more I read about Arabic, and its origins and how it developed, the more I come to realize how important it is as a language), heck the same is the case for Swahili and Afrikaans, which have lesser speakers than Urdu yet have more development and standardization than it. And with all these, I think it just makes more sense to highlight Urdu as a failure of a language, that I can’t relate with. And if anyone wants to relate with it, more power to them.
Shehroze Ameen’s comment on our Facebook Post
While we understand the frustration of a linguist with the limitations of Urdu, we cannot form an opinion or understanding of the matter without first reviewing some key facts about Urdu. Only then, can we be sure of what we say.
About The Language
Urdu language is an amalgamation of a number of languages including Persian, Arabic, Turkish and Hindi. Itenjoyed its development in the 14th and 15th century under the Mughal rulers. It was, however, not the official court language of the mughals. Famous poetry and prose was written during this time. One might think why during this golden period of Urdu literature, had there been no formal documentation of the language. It is perhaps because this langugae had no history of its own. It borrowed whatever traditions, from its parent languages that are Persian, Turkish and Arabic mainly. Since there was no method of compiling a history in these parent languages, Urdu too, remained so.
Development of Urdu under the British Rule
Urdu flourished significantly during the British rule, perhaps as a force of rebellion. Anjuman Taraqq-e-Hind was found in Aligarh in 1903 by Nawab Mohsin-ul-mulk. It was the center for promoting and developing Urdu language in the sub-continent through publications. Even after partition, the Indian government and the Bureau for the promotion of Urdu have largely contributed to the codification and standardization of Urdu language. A 100 000 technical terms have been created in Urdu language and around 600 books published on academic subjects. After independence, Abdul Haq established Anjuman Taraqqi e urdu‘s office in Karachi.
During the Pakistan movement, Urdu became a symbol of Islam, uniting muslims across the sub-continent. When Urdu came into being, its central role was communication amongst people belonging to different cultures, regions and religions. With the Pakistan movement, Urdu became an identity. Once Pakistan came into being, Urdu was shaped into a political agenda; claiming precedence over the Bengali speaking Pakistanis. When Urdu was declared as the national language of Pakistan, a natural split emerged between the various ethnicities within Pakistan.
Urdu’s journey from pride to shame
As Bangladesh came into being and Urdu won its status as the national language, attitude towards Urdu also changed. Urdu speakers became English-enthusiasts and education in English began to be promoted. There was nothing else to be conquered, hence, Urdu fell from being the agent of change, to a glory of the past.
To think of Urdu as a dying language would be too radical a statement since even today, it is spoken as a first language by almost 70 million people and by a 100 million more as a second language. However, Urdu lacks modernization which has perhaps been one of the reasons for the lowered interest in the language. Unfortunately, western education system has further created a class consciousness in the people, associating fluency in English language as the benchmark for being well-educated and belonging to the upper-class. A loss of connection to Urdu with the rest of the world is also apparent in the fact that fewer books are being translated in this language and vice versa.
Is There A Conclusion To This Endless Debate?
It is thus, a sad truth that Urdu lacks significantly as compared to many foreign languages. There is no denying in the fact that interest in the language is falling greatly today. But despite this, Urdu is surviving and doing so with dignity. Millions of Urdu speakers, readers and writers not only enjoy the language but also take immense pride in it. To call Urdu a dying language as of yet, is rather harsh, but it is indeed, in a gradual decline. It is now in our hands to save the grace of this language by promoting and encouraging writers to keep breathing air into this beautiful language. We here at Daastan, work for this very purpose and so can you by becoming a part of our struggle simply by signing up with us at Daastan.
Tolerance is the best characteristic in any society. Every month, we at Daastan follow a theme for our content. For this past month of February, we followed a theme of – wait, you guessed it right! Tolerance on Valentine’s Day. In a campaign #KissKiStory, we surprised our followers with a unique and interesting tale. If you missed the video, have a look at it here:
#KissKiStory
Tolerance And Kiss-Ki-Story
A lot of you went curious over #KissKiStory teasers till we finally released the video on our YouTube Channel. The video featured Daastan’s founder Mr. Ommer Amer, who narrated a story on the 14th of February. The main idea behind this story was to talk about the importance of Tolerance and consent in social relationships and how valentine’s day has become a taboo in our country. We claim our religiosity but forget one of the basic principles on which our religion stands; Tolerance. If we fail to tolerate love, how can we possibly tolerate differences or conflicts? In addition, we believe that expressing love should never be silenced or looked down upon.
Our society moreover, has perhaps been conditioned to feel above those who are different from us. We do not respect the values that others hold dear. This attitude develops an extremist behaviour and is the root cause of most problems in our society. Through a controversial hashtag of #KissKiStory, we wanted to deconstruct the existing notion of shame attached to any expression of love or intimacy. Our loud and clear message to eliminate extremism and be more accepting towards others, stood out all through the campaign.
Fortunately, we received a warm response from our followers who enjoyed watching our out-of-the-box video. We aim to keep bringing diverse and unique content for you all each month. Share your own creative ideas with us at merasawal@daastan.com and sign up with us at Daastan to engage in similar discussions on our forums.
It is sad how hundreds of stories are not published because of a lack of confidence or funds. The labour that goes into creating and nurturing a story is unmatched. Although there are numerous challenges a writer faces while publishing their book, it is yet priceless, to finally hold your own book and see people reading it all across the globe. South-Asian writers in particular, have to deal with both, the limited options available while publishing their work, and a lack of funds available. The inadequate laws regarding plagiarism and intellectual theft are further barrier. Many countries have weak law enforcement which is why plagiarism is common. Despite these drawbacks, to publish your own book is not an alien idea anymore. If you are a budding writer shying away from taking the first big step, here is a guide to help you start off.
How To Publish Your Book
Step 1 : Work on your Content
If you have a story ready, skip this step. If you’re starting from scratch, begin by drafting your story. Make a rough outline of the events that will take place at the beginning, middle and at the end of your story. Sketch out your characters and develop them beyond the premise of your story. Knowing your character well is one way of making sure that you’re presenting them in an authentic manner. When you start writing, maintain an undertone that will set a theme for your story. Stick to your theme, tone and style to engage the reader and allow them to familiarize themselves with your story. Keep writing and do not lose your will. Set a daily/weekly target and abide by it. And, you’re ready to go!
Self-publishing your book
Step 2 : Format the raw content
If you have hand-written your story, begin typing it. This will help you re-read and edit any mistakes. If you have your text typed already, choose a good font. It is best to go with basic fonts like Times New Roman, that are familiar to your readers. You can take help from an online manuscript format like William Shun’s. Check it out here. To get you started, set your font size to 12 points, leave margins on both sides and use a black color for text. Remember, do not make it fancy, let the reader focus solely on your story.
Step 3 : Proof-read and Edit
It goes without saying, proof-reading is an essential step on your way. Look for spelling/grammar mistakes. An easier and faster way to do this is using an app to check it for you. If nothing fancy, just put your text in Microsoft Word and fix the tiny errors. It is also important at this stage, to alter or edit any phrases you feel are repeated, unnecessary or cliché . Reading out loud also helps make sense of your expression. Try reading your manuscript to a friend or use an app that will narrate your text. Listening will help you pick mistakes easily. One common error that writers often make is using one word over and over again. Pick that word and try replacing it with another. Can you guess the next step? Publish!
Step 4 : Publish!
Step 4 is as challenging as it can get. We here at Daastan help you make it easier. From editing and formatting to designing your cover page and then launching and marketing the book, we have got you all covered. To have a detailed idea of our process, give a look at our blog ‘5 Ways Daastan can help you launch your dream book ‘ We aim to discover and channel all the hidden, untold stories of brilliant writers like you and promote local writers. So, take Step 5 and sign up with Daastan and Publish your book now!
For any budding writer, publishing their own book is ‘The Dream ‘. Most writers dream of publishing because they are also enthusiastic readers and know the value of a good book. The more books we read, the more we want to have. To own it is yet another privilege. Good readers eventually become good writers and the bigger this circle grows, the better informed a society becomes.
With the fast-paced life that we have all become a part of, it is very important that we emphasize on staying connected and rooted. Reading good literature is the easiest route to widening your horizons. It is the writer who enables a reader to leap into another universe simply by delving into the palm of their hands. Are you that writer who wants to share your universe with the world? Here are 5 ways we can help you publish your own book.
Steps To Launch Your Own Book
Step 1 : Composing the Book
Daastan aims at connecting readers and writers by publishing, digitizing,marketing and distributing books to promote a literary culture in our society. We start by helping you compose your book. Composition is the key to a success. Composition includes editing and formating the text, building the structure of the book and adjusting the tone and style of your writing according to the theme of your story.
Step 2 : Designing the Cover
Once the content is streamlined, we design the cover. For that, we work with the best designers to develop an attractive and catchy outlook of your book. Although it is politically incorrect to judge a book by its cover, it is unfortunately exactly what happens most of the times. Simultaneously, our editor works on the text by proof-reading and editing to ensure a faultless masterpiece.
Step 3 : Marketing your Book for Sales
When we are done with the Behind-the-scenes tasks, we approach yet another vital task: Marketing of the published books. Through our social media platforms, we market books to reach the maximum public. At this stage, we help you arrange a book launch and attract as many buyers as possible.
Self-publishing is not impossible!
Step 4 : Distribution of your Book
After marketing and building up customers for you, we distribute your books for sale in shops, and through the online book distribution services of Literati Choice. We make sure that you are kept aware of all your sales. We deliver the sold books to your customers and hand over the sales amount directly to you.
Step 5 : Let’s Get Started
The above-mentioned stages are very important while self-publishing your book. Publishing in Pakistan is challenging because there are limited channels and options available. Daastan helps in making this task fairly easy and successful. You alone cannot carry out all the essential stages of writing and publishing. For that, we here at Daastan make sure that the best editors, designers and marketing team is made available to you all under one roof.
It is then in the hands of the readers to help promote local writers and to develop the habit of reading as part of self-improvement. A well-read society has very little fear of failing and falling. Through reading, we not only explore unique ideas but also learn from the experiences of others which helps us improve our problem-solving skills. Even if you’re not interested in writing, reading nevertheless develops your communication skills. Good readers therefore, also become good listeners and good speakers!
If you are the writer we’re talking about, seeking to publish your Dream book, here is your best chance at Publishing your work. Sign up with Daastan and take the first step towards achieving your goal!
It is true that political, social or religious differences must be accommodated. Borders are drawn to avoid conflict and allow people to live in a peace. Geographical divisions may seem like a progressive idea today. However, decision makers do not and can not speak for all people. Amidst these divisions, ties of love, friendship and generational attachments have to be torn. These barbed wires that mark borders, scratch and wound those who have to cross them over.
We can’t possibly mend the 73 year old political enmity, but we can surely rise above these institutional differences and talk about our narrative. The narrative of the marginalized ones. Perhaps the most marginalized in the division of sub-continent were all those whocould not cease to love and feel for their lost comrades.
An Attempt at making Peace Across Borders
To establish and spread the narrative of the literati in both countries, Daastan from Pakistan and White Falcon Publishing from India, initiated a Letter writing movement. We invited writers to send in their letters to express their concerns for regional peace. Writers could write in prose or poetry. Daastan received letters in Urdu, English and Hindi, following the main theme: regional peace.
Our Contribution
We, atDaastan, received letters from all across Pakistan. We were amazed by the energetic response by the talent in our country. All these letters were extremely emotional and beautiful. Our team was deeply touched by the effort put in by the talented writers from all around Pakistan. The aim behind this movement was to simply acknowledge the fact that no matter how these divisions have shaped our history and geography, love and friendship can break all walls. These letters and their writers are legitimaterepresentatives of peace from both countries. The powerful voices that echo from our television screens, can not mute the narrative of peaceful co-existence.
Chitthi Sarhad Paar Sey
The best letters from the numerous entries were compiled in a book titled ‘Chitthi Sarhad Par Sey“ . It is available on MeraQissa. You can read the book here.
We aim to keep connecting readers and writers in an attempt to grow and engage in literary activities. If you share our love and passion of literature, sign up with us at Daastan and let us grow together!
Taking forward our theme of ‘The Art and the Artist – Writing a Book“, We are back with the Live session of Mused! The positive response that we received on the first episode was a great motivation for us to bring to you, more fun, informative and useful content that will help you with Book writing. This episode was divided in three sections. Our host, Summaiya Naveed, shared some practical tips on enhancing your writing skills. If you missed the live session, don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Keep reading this blog to get a summary of the entire session or just click here to watch it now!
Mused is Daaastan’s first Live Show, featuring Ms. Summaiya Naveed, Editor Daastan
What we discussed
In this Live session, there were three main concerns that Summaiya put forward. All of these issues highlight the difficulties faced by young authors in writing or publishing their books. The first segment dealt with:
1. Common Mistakes In Book Writing
In the first section of this episode, Summaiya talked about the common errors that most writers make while writing a book. First and foremost is the issue concerning tenses. While writing anything, we are usually taken aback by a stream of emotions. This diverts our attention from using proper tenses. Very often, you keep shifting from one tense to another which then affects the story. To avoid this, you must make a conscious attempt to keep proof-reading the story over and over again to alter any such errors.
The second mistake pointed out was regarding plot holes. Summaiya explained the concept of plot holes in detail. She defined them as any gaps that a story-line leaves which consequently fails to make sense of the story to the reader. This plot hole could be a hanging conclusion, a half-baked character or even introducing a new character mid-story and failing to weave them in with the rest of the story. Summaiya also highlighted that plot holes count as a weak story-line which again, leaves a bad impression on the reader. To keep your story strong, make your protagonist and each supporting character reach a conclusion. Any story-line left incomplete will weaken the weight of the plot of your story. To fix this mistake, she suggested we emphasize on important events in the story. Summaiya gave the example of the novel, ‘Hunger Games‘ in which, the ending of each chapter marks an important event. In this way the reader can predict an upcoming event and brace themselves for it.
Lastly, summaiya talked about flat characters and a robotic tone. Both of these mistakes are almost the same, as they involve a lack of insight into the world of your story. A robotic tone, summaiya explained, is flat, factual writing. By stating events of a story or attributes of the character it is hard to keep the reader glued. The reader wants to know where exactly is the story coming from. Providing descriptions that a reader might relate to will help them connect with both, your story and the characters.
2. How to fight Writer’s Block?
Writer’s block is a temporary condition when an author loses the ability to produce creative content. Summaiya explained in detail, that writer’s block is not permanent and does not mean that you can never write again. A lot of writers do not talk about their writer’s block due to the stigma attached. This does not help them, rather adds to their stress and anxiety. Another reason for writer’s block is neurological disturbances. By sharing a recent research on writer’s block, Summaiya pointed out that stress, anxiety or other neurological problems trigger the writer’s block. To fight this situation, it is important to maintain your mental and physical health. Talking to friends, family or fellow writers at literary groups on social media will help you overcome this phase and resume writing.
It is also helpful, Summaiya suggests, to not be hard on yourself and take a break. During this time, explore another creative activity that you might find interesting. Writing freely, without any limitations or requirements may also help in this case. Sometimes, we are unable to write because we have to constantly follow guidelines. Writing for yourself, with no set rules or fear of criticism can help you fight a block. For some people, making changes to their surroundings can also be refreshing. Change your daily routine, fix your cupboard or just treat yourself with your favourite food!
A lot of people have this pre-conceived notion that writers are sad, depressed souls who have climbed an Everest of tragedies. Young authors thereby are particularly inclined to feel sad and unhappy in an attempt to become better writers. It is however, only a misconception that all good writers are unhappy people. Mental health is a very important factor in improving your writing skills and tackling a writer’s block.
3. Why do Books get rejected by Publishers?
Another problem faced by a lot of new writers is rejection by publishers. It is important to know why publishers reject your work and what are they looking for? Summaiya puts it in a very simple way for us to understand.
1. Predictability of your Story
Firstly, she talked about predictability of your plot/story. A very basic story is one where the upcoming events are quite obvious, everything goes smoothly and all characters reach a happy conclusion. Such stories become quite tedious and monotonous. A story has to have something that keeps your reader gripped, curious and connected.
2. Misuse of Punctuations
Secondly, bad punctuations is a big issue for editors. The first thing a publisher will notice about your book is technical errors. If you have a badly punctuated structure, you instantly leave a bad impression. To fix this problem, summaiya suggested we revise our punctuations and read as much as possible to learn.
3. Inconsistency and Lack of Innovation
Third and equally important, Summaiya discussed the problem of inconsistency and lack of innovation. She explained how as an editor herself, she comes across a lot of manuscripts that look very promising in the beginning but get de-tracked mid-way. Either the writer loses inspiration to write and just rush to the end of story, or they start dragging events by adding too much unneccesary details and the reader’s interest is lost. Furthermore, a lot of writers refrain from exploring new techniques or ideas and simply follow a pre-existing linear timeline. To explain this point Summaiya used the phrase “Old is not gold in writing”. By this, she meant that readers do not want to read about the same topics or stories over and over again. She also urged writers to write on relatable topics that are relevant today.
4. Plagiarism
Last, but definitely not the least, came the issue of Plagiarism. In countries like Pakistan, there are very weak rules and regulations regarding intellectual property. In such countries, intellectual theft and plagiarism are big drawbacks for writers. Plagiarism is basically stealing someone’s content and using it as your own. It is a crime to steal someone else’s work and also ethically incorrect to do so. While most of us do not directly steal ideas, we take inspiration from a work and fail to give credit to that particular person. It is thus important to provide a reference of whatever you’re taking inspiration from. Facts, data or information that you use in your own research should also be cited or quoted.
This wraps up our second Live session of Mused. We hope to keep bringing new, informative episodes to help you with writing. If you share our passion of writing and want to contribute in this mission to develop the literary Industry of Pakistan, sign up with us at Daastan. Stay tuned and catch the next Live session this week!
