About us
We provide Hindi-Urdu speakers and learners a chance to use and study Hindi-Urdu in varied settings. Native and non-native speakers and learners are welcome.
Most of our events are designed for the intermediate to advanced level and for people with a serious interest in learning and using Urdu-Hindi. We avoid the use of English during our events whenever possible.
While many of our members have made new friends and some have even married via our group (!), this is not a dating group, and if your primary aim is meeting people, our group will not be the best fit for you.
Upcoming events
1
Ghalib - Yeh Na Thi Hamari Qismat
·OnlineOnlineAt this event we will learn about and discuss Ghalib’s famous ghazal Yeh Na Thi Hamari Qismat (Alas, it was not my fate).
You can switch between the Roman, Hindi and Urdu texts of the complete ghazal, via the preceding link, by selecting the desired option from the dropdown menu at the top of the Rekhta page. Glossaries in Roman, Hindi, and Urdu will be helpful too. And you can listen to Suraiya, Chitra Singh, and Abida Parveen singing the ghazal in their very individual and contrasting styles.
We are very grateful to Mariyam who will lead this event, place Ghalib in a historical and cultural context, read and explain the poem, and steer the discussion. Mariyam has hosted such events for the Boston Hindi-Urdu group and in addition to providing the glossaries, has also provided the following description.
We'll go over the literal meanings of the difficult words and cultural references in each sher (couplet), and also make our own personal meaning of each sher. Meaning can be literary / intellectual, experiential / emotional, historical, cultural, etc. We hope each attendee will have a personal experience of the poem and its meaning.
As always, we’ll have an open discussion and you are encouraged to share what you know of Ghalib and his ghazals.
About the poet: Mirza Asad Ullah Khan Ghalib (1797 - 1869), arguably the greatest Urdu poet of all time, is as beloved by speakers of Hindu and Urdu today as he was in his own time. Many, including Mariyam, attribute their enduring love for Urdu poetry to being introduced to Ghalib's work at a formative age. Some devotees explain their love for Ghalib thus: 'Ghalib articulates what I think and feel, but cannot put into words.'
The young and frighteningly talented Ghalib wanted to be recognised as a great Farsi poet rather than an Urdu one, Farsi being the more high brow of the two languages. His early Urdu poetry used so many complex references and Farsi words that a contemporary composed these famous satirical couplets as a critique.
Ghalib only ever got modest recognition for his Farsi work, and instead ended up as the greatest Urdu poet ever, despite having written about 80 percent of his poetry by the age of 25. He wrote a total of about 20,000 shers, but ended up discarding the majority as not good enough--only 2,000 passed his exacting standards and make up his final, official anthology. The discarded poetry is stellar by any but Ghalib's standards, and continues to be published today.
Ghalib's other major contribution to Urdu literature are letters to friends, many of whom were also literary giants of the time. The backdrop for these was Delhi, during and after the First War of Indian Independence (1857), a time of great violence and turmoil.
Ghalib and his poetry continue to live in the imaginations of Hindi and Urdu speakers around the world, and many of his turns of phrase have become Urdu idioms. His ghazals are read and sung by leading singers of each era, movies and TV series based on his life are made in India and Pakistan; the two most famous being the 1954 movie starring Bharat Bhushan, and the 1988 TV series starring Naseeruddin Shah.
About us: Our online meetings are held every Monday at 1pm EST and last for 1 hour. We have participants joining from several places ranging from California to Boston, New York, England, Paris, Sweden and Egypt.
We work at creating a safe and informal space for friendly conversation.
Join on https://meet.google.com/qpr-xfcd-qve
It’s free!
See you online!
Ashok
bolechaal@gmail.com10 attendees
Past events
316
