For the love of Urdu

Jashn-e-Rekhta celebrates the language in all its glory over two days in the capital

In the words of Mirza Ghalib, Delhi's last and most beloved poet of the Mughal era, "Jo kahe yeh ki rekhta kyun ke ho rashk-e-Farsi, gufta-e-Ghalib ek baar usse padh ke suna, ke yun! (To the one who says how can rekhta, or Urdu, be the envy of Persian, show him Ghalib's verse just once, and say like so). This defiant spirit of the Urdu language will be celebrated by Rekhta Foundation, a New Delhi-based non-profit, which is hosting Jashn-e-Rekhta, a two-day festival in the city. Organised in collaboration with India International Centre (IIC), the festival aims to showcase the language's lyrical beauty, rich history and its significant manifestations in present-day.

The Rekhta Foundation, which has curated the largest online anthology of Urdu poetry in the world, is bringing some eminent poets, authors and artistes not only from within the country but also from Pakistan, Canada and the United States for this event. They will converge on March 14 and 15 to showcase the various facets of Urdu through live performances, recitations, dastangoi, musical renditions (ghazals and qawwalis), mushaira, drama, panel discussions, film screenings and interactive sessions. A simultaneous outdoor fete will feature book exhibitions, calligraphic art and street plays. Artistes such as Javed Akhtar, Zia Mohyeddin, Rekha Bhardwaj, Ustad Hamid Ali Khan, Gopi Chand Narang, Ashok Vajpayee, Mahmood Farooqui, Shamsur Rahman Faruqi, Muzaffar Ali and Purushottam Agrawal will come together to commemorate Urdu's linguistic heritage.

Sanjiv Saraf, founder of Rekhta and the curator of the festival, says that the foundation's "aim is to reach out to both the Urdu-speaking and the non-Urdu-speaking audience, but the essential idea is to provide opportunities for people who aren't very conversant with Urdu to demystify the aura of 'difficulty' around the language." Don't speak Urdu? No need to fret, as you will soon realise that the mixed strains of the language can be fairly familiar. "A majority of youngsters don't even realise that a lot of the words spoken in daily life come from Urdu. The language is not lost or dying. However, the credit given to the language is," says Saraf.

Vocalist Vidya Shah and dastango Danish Husain will be performing Akhtari - a special tribute to Begum Akhtar on her birth centenary. Shah has trained under Akhtar's close disciple, Shanti Hiranand. "I wanted to pay a tribute to this legend, but I didn't just want to perform her songs, I wanted this performance to be innovative," says Shah. Akhtar was brought up in Lucknow and Faizabad, places where Urdu is a very important part of the culture, and it reflects in her singing. Thus, Shah decided to bring in a narrative with the musical offering, "not just biographical but anecdotal - there are so many aspects of her life that make her music 'romanchak'", she says. That's how the collaboration with Husain, the storyteller, happened. They travelled to Lucknow and met Akhtar's family and friends there, and hope to share the ghazal queen's music as well as her life with the audience.

Apart from cultural events that are the main draws, The foundation has ensured that there is also something for those who would like to engage with Urdu on a deeper level. One such event is a lively debate about the changing face of mushaira - it will feature current favourite Kumar Vishwas of the Aam Aadmi Party as well as Satyapal Anand and Munawwar Rana, with journalist Ravish Kumar. "The Word of Woman in Urdu Literature" is another such debate to be looked forward to; it will pit together Azra Abbas, Sukrita Paul Kumar and Tarannum Riyaz and will be moderated by Baran Farooqi. There is also a panel discussion for the social media-savvy fans of the language: "Urdu in the world of the Internet".

Jashn-e-Rekhta will be held at IIC, New Delhi on March 14-15. For the full schedule of events, visit www.jashnerekhta.org