E-Paper
Give US Urdu!
Sitting in the Barista cafe, three young Americans are busy reading sher-o-shayari and other literature in Urdu. They help each other polish zubaan, lafz-alfaaz and talaffuz. They are a group of 15 young American boys and girls who have dropped anchor in Lucknow since the last couple of months to learn Urdu.
Sitting in the Barista café, three young Americans are busy reading sher-o-shayari and other literature in Urdu. They help each other polish zubaan, lafz-alfaaz and talaffuz. They are a group of 15 young American boys and girls who have dropped anchor in Lucknow since the last couple of months to learn Urdu.
But Urdu is not all that they are learning. They are also taking tips on Indian cooking. Shamz is learning how to play the tabla and Julie is learning to fly kite.
And yes, they are crazy about masala Bollywood flicks too.
They are studying Urdu because they like the language and want to do something in life that would help them put their knowledge of the language to use. Shamz says, “I want to work with NGOs working for development of the society and this language would help me in that aim. But anyway, Urdu is such a beautiful language to learn.” Students who want to pursue journalism and work in the Urdu-speaking regions are keen to learn the language so that they could get better understanding of the region and interact with the locals.
Lucknow is like home to them. They are staying in paying guest accommodation in the Dalibagh locality and most of them cook. Says Rachel, “I can make aloo-gobhi, aloo-baigan, palak paneer and aloo-chola.” Most of them reside.
They are studying the language in an institute situated in Hazratganj locality.
The institute is stocked with books in Urdu on all subjects ranging from grammar, literature, films, vocabulary and poetry. “The curriculum followed by the institute is comprehensive as well interactive. Students are attend separate classes for language, diction, speech, vocabulary and reading. They are shown Bollywood oldies that made extensive use of Urdu. This way student pick finer points of the language. Along with this, students opt for tutorial classes in the subject that they feel they need to polish,” said Zeba, a faculty member.
Rachel, who is here since September, is crazy about Hindi films and Shahrukh Khan. Subah is learning Kathak, while Peter loves Shammi Kebab. Max is browsing shops for Raj Kapoor’s films. All of them also pay frequent trips to Hazratganj, Aminabad and Chowk to eat and to shop. Mughalai cuisine tops their favourites chart.
During vacations they waste no time and book themselves to various exotic destinations in India. Recently, one of the students took a leisurely trip to Khajuraho to explore Indian art and culture. In fact, Shamz and Sadaf are even observing Roza in Ramzan.
