महफ़िल · محفل

(I stopped organizing this group when I left CC in 2022. This page is no longer maintained.)

Overview

We’re an adabī aḍḍā of sorts — a gathering of people interested in Hindi-Urdu¹ linguistics, literature, music, film, etc. Everyone is welcome to participate: we span the spectrum from native speakers to learners. We also sometimes discuss works in other Southasian languages. If you’d like to be on the mailing list, let me know at !

Here’s an in-progress list of Urdu-Hindi resources that you might find useful. Resources specific to particular topics are listed in the calendar below.

Please feel free report any link rot.

Calendar

Date	Topic	Resources
5/10	Sāhir Ludhiyānvī, Parchhāiyāṇ	Text: Nagari, Urdu, Roman Recitations: Ranvir Singh, Sayema Rahman, Javed Akhtar, Manor Muntashir, … Discussions and partial translations: Surinder Deol, Ashutosh Sharma, …
3/29	Khwājā Ahmad Abbās, Ṭiḍḍī	Text: Nagari, Urdu Reading by Tasneef Haider
3/8	Sa’ādat Hasan Manṭo, Mirzā Naushā Aur Chaudhvīṇ	Text: Nagari, Urdu
2/8	Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Mujh Se Pahlī Sī Mohabbat	Text: Nagari, Urdu, Roman Recitation by Surekha Sikri Performance by Humera Channa and Nabeel Shaukat Performance by Noor Jahan
1/25	Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Intisāb	Text: Nagari, Urdu, Roman English translation by Shoaib Hashmi Performance by Rekha Bhardwaj Performance by Naseeruddin Shah Performance by Ammar Rashid
2021
12/14	Two unrelated songs by Sāhir Ludhiyānvī	Text 1: Nagari, Urdu, Roman Music video (Hemant Kumar) Music video (Sanam) Text 2: Nagari, Urdu, Roman Music video (Mohammad Rafi, Asha Bhosle)
11/30	Muktibodh, Maiṇ Tum Logoṇ Se Dūr Hūṇ	Text (Nagari and Urdu) Reading by Kavyanki Discussion and translation by Chanchal Chauhan (excerpt from “Ideological Content of Muktibodh’s Poetry”)
11/9	Jāved Akhtar, Banjārā	Text: Nagari, Urdu, Roman Recitations: Javed Akhtar, Amandeep Singh, Kena Shree
10/26	Alī Sardār Jāfrī, Dostī Kā Hāth	Text: Nagari, Urdu, Roman
10/12	Malkhān Singh, Suno Brāhman	Text (Nagari and Urdu) Translation by Pratik Kanjilal
9/28	Sa’ādat Hasan Manṭo, Saṛhe Tīn Āne	Text: Nagari, Urdu
9/14	Khwājā Ahmad Abbās, Zāfrān Ke Phūl	Text: Nagari, Urdu Origins of the Quit Kashmir Movement, 1931–1947
8/31	Jāved Akhtar, Merī Duā Hai	Text: Nagari, Urdu, Roman
5/11	Alī Sardār Jāfrī, Merā Safar	Text: Nagari, Urdu, Roman Excerpt from by Bakht and Jaeger’s An Anthology of Modern Urdu Poetry, Volume I (Urdu text, English translation) Reading by Abdul Ahad Saaz
5/4	Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Yād	Text: Nagari, Urdu, Roman Musical performance by Meesha Shafi (the closed captions on the YouTube video have Urdu and Roman lyrics and an English translation) Musical performance by Iqbal Bano
4/13	Alī Sardār Jāfri, Sar-e-Tūr	Rekhta (Nagari, Urdu, Roman), or here (Nagari) Excerpt from Baider and Jaeger’s An Anthology of Modern Urdu Poetry, Volume I (Urdu text and English translation)
3/16	Anitā Bhārtī, Krāntikāri Jaibhīm	Text (Nagari and Urdu) Background information: Wikipedia on the Mahāṛ Satyāgrah Ambeḍkar on women shedding markers of Dalithood
3/9	Kishwar Nāhīd, Ham Gunahgār Aurateṇ	Text: Nagari, Urdu, Roman Translation by Rukhsana Ahmad “We Sinful Women”: Transgressing Temporality and Poetic Form Aurat Ne Janam Diya Mardoṇ Ko (song: similar content, very different tone)
3/2	Rabindranath Tagore, “Where the mind is without fear”	Tagore’s poem Wikipedia entry (including the Bangla original and Tagore’s English translation) Reading by Playtime Entertainment (of the Bangla) Translation by Anwar Jalalpuri: Urdu (p. 63 of the e-reader), Nagari AR Rahman’s Jagāo Mere Des YouTube Lyrics (Roman)
2/16	Two poems against war: Ai Sharīf Insānoṇ and Sipāhī Kā Marsiyā	Sāhir Ludhiyānvī, Ai Sharīf Insānoṇ Text: Nagari, Urdu, Roman Partial translation by Kanupriya Dhingra Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Sipāhī Kā Marsiyā Text: Nagari, Urdu, Roman (note: there are some typos on Rekhta²) Performance by Nayyara Noor Wikipedia on the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 (which was the historical backdrop for both of these poems)
2/9	Two songs of women’s liberation: Rupaiyā and Maiṇ Irādā	Sona Mohapatra’s Rupaiyā YouTube Lyrics (Nagari and Urdu) Lyrics (Roman and English translation, but I think these are not entirely accurate³) Haniya Aslam’s Maiṇ Irādā YouTube Lyrics (Urdu, Roman, and English translation; note that the translation is a little “loose” sometimes)
2020
12/8	Bimal Roy, Do Bīghā Zamīn	YouTube Inspired by: “Two Bighas of Land” (দুই বিঘা জমি) by Rabindranath Tagore (রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর) English translation by Fakrul Alam Wikipedia on Do Bīghā Zamīn Wikipedia on Bimal Roy
12/1	Mīrājī, Poe, and Po	Jhīl: Text: Urdu (p. 1013 of the e-reader), Nagari Translation of: “The Lake” by Edgar Allan Poe Chānd, Maiṇ, Aur Merā Sāyā Text: Urdu (p. 907 of the e-reader), Nagari Translation of: “Drinking Alone Under the Moon” (月下獨酌) by Li Po (李白) English translation of the original Chinese by Arthur Waley
10/27	Khwājā Ahmad Abbās, Khaddar Kā Kafan	Text: Nagari, Urdu
10/20	Sa’ādat Hasan Manṭo, Hindī Aur Urdū	Text: Nagari, Urdu Translation by Muhammad Umar Memon
10/6	Mrināl Sen, Bhuvan Shome	YouTube Information: Commentary by Srivastava Bannerjee Wikipedia on Bhuvan Shome Wikipedia on Mrinal Sen
9/22, 9/29	Ismat Chuġtāī, Lihāf	Text: Nagari, Urdu Translations: Syeda Hameed and Tahira Naqvi (translation starts with “In the depth of winter…” M Asaduddin Surjit Singh Dulai and Carlo Coppola Audio/Video: Reading by Tasneef Haider Reading by Rani Ketki Radio Adaptation by Pankhuri Singh (ie, a slightly abridged reading) Stage Adaptation by Sukhmanch Theatre
9/8	Mīrājī, Klark Kā Naġmā-e-Mohabbat	Text: Nagari, Urdu, Roman Performances: Tasneef Haider A translation by Geeta Patel (scroll down, or search for “Clerk’s Love Song”), and another one by her Other things about the poem
9/1	Faiz, Ham Dekhenge	Text: Nagari, Urdu, Roman Performances: Faiz, Iqbal Bano, Coke Studio, … Essay and translation “Singing the Revolution” by Jennifer Dubrow “Stumbling over Faiz’s ‘Ahl-i-Hikam’” by Syed Nomanul Haq An older Tarānā by Faiz, some phrases of which are reused in Ham Dekhenge: Nagari, Urdu, Roman Faiz resources

Naming this language is a conundrum which vexes me. On this page, I alternate between Hindi-Urdu and Urdu-Hindi as the name of the language (other names for the same language include Hindustani, Khari Boli, etc). This language is traditionally written in two scripts. I have used the name Nagari to refer one script that is used to write this language (another name for this script is Devanagari), and Urdu to refer to the other script (other names for this script include Nastaliq, Perso-Arabic, etc). I sometimes also use the word Hindi as shorthand for “the Urdu-Hindi language written in the Nagari script” and Urdu as a shorthand for “the Hindi-Urdu language written in the Urdu script.”↩︎
Line 4 should be तुमरी सेज सजावन कारन / تمری سیج سجاون کارن / tumrī sej sajaawan kāran (“in order to decorate your bed”). Then, in line 5, रैन / رین / rain means “night,” not “rain!” ↩︎
In the third verse of this transcription, this website says jiskī fitrat meṇ hairat samāī nahīṇ, but hairat (“surprise”) makes very little sense on context. It’s most likely ġairat (“shame”). It might also be jiskī fitrat meṇ hai rat samāī nahīṇ (with rat meaning “love,” roughly), as some internet transcriptions say.

Also, one line of the transcription begins do rasmoṇ but I think the singer might sing to rasmoṇ.↩︎