Urdunama

The Urdu language has a very sweet word for 'sweet', Shireen. Tune into this week's Urdunama with Fabeha, and add some sweetness to your life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aasman meaning sky stands for hopes and possibilities, in Urdu poetry. Sometimes it is also used in the context of heartaches and tragedies. Tune in to know the many meanings and other contexts of the sky which is limitless.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Halloween is around the corner. So we thought, let's get spooky on this week's Urdunama. Fabeha talks about how evil spirits and the paranormal found its way in Urdu poetry. Listen till the end, warna bhoot aa jaaega!   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

India will be playing against Pakistan in the much-anticipated match of T20 World Cup 2022 which will be held at Melbourne Cricket Ground on 23 October. Since all the India-Pak matches are nothing short of a carnival, this match is also all set to celebrate these neighbors' coming together. To celebrate this spirit of this In this episode of Urdunama we look at some of the ways alliances and frien...

Ranjish meaning displeasure, or grief, is a powerful emotion. If used wisely, it can open wounds to healing, and strengthen us to the core enabling us to carry our love and grief. Tune in as we explore through the works of Ahmad Faraz, Sheikh Ibrahim Zauq, Akhtar Shirani, and others.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

They say Law of Attraction works when you work toward your dreams. But what it is that makes you realise and get you started in the first place? Courage, to come face to face or ‘ru-ba-ru’ with the elephant in the room. After all, its the things that we feel are impossible, hold the most possibilities for us.  Tune in, as we get closer and ‘ru ba ru’ the idea of facing the ‘self’ and finding the u...

1 October is observed as the International Day For the Older People. So, we decided to explore buzurgi, meaning wisdom of an old person. Tune in as we, through the works of poets like Firaq Gorakhpuri, Ismail Merathi, among others, look at what it means to be a 'buzurg'. Tune in! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Experts and film historians nod in agreement every time they remember Dev Anand and his love for Urdu. One of the stars of the DilipKumar-Raj Kapoor-Dev Anand triumvirate, Dev was known to enjoy his dialogues and songs written in Urdu. In this special episode of Urdunama we celebrate the legend's love for the language and what could possibly be attributed to his initial training in the language. ...

The longest reigning British Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II passed away on 8th September at the age of 96. Her funeral ceremony is set to be held on Monday, 19th September in Westminster Abbey. Hundreds of foreign royals and heads of state are expected to attend the funeral, and the event is said to be the biggest diplomatic gathering in decades. The British people are mourning the death of their que...

Every single death by suicide is a public health concern. So, to create awareness,10th September is observed as World Suicide Prevention Day. In this episode, we explore the theme of 'zindagi' meaning life through Urdu poetry. Tune in.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There is no pleasure without pain, anxiety, uncertainties, insecurities, sadness, grief, and a whole bunch of other emotions. It's only when we are stricken with one or more of these unpleasant feelings that we long for emotions that are happy and can bring joy to our hearts. Once we are able to achieve these most cherished feelings is when we can experience pleasure. In Urdu, the word 'lutf' deno...

Legendary Pakistani singer Nayyara Noor passed away on 20 August in Karachi. She'll be remembered for her genteel nature and her simplicity that made her stand apart from her peers. As her fans across the globe mourn this huge loss, we take a look at her journey from Guwahati to Karachi, and how she became the voice for some of Faiz's iconic nazms. Tune in! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...

Lord Krishna's Bhakti surpasses geographical, social, and religious realms. While almost all languages in India have their own odes to Lord Krishna, perhaps such Urdu literature is lesser known. This Janmashtami, we look at how one can find the gems of Krishna Bhakti written by some of the prominent Urdu poets such as Maulana Hasrat Mohani, Nazeer Akbarabadi, and Hafeez Jalandhari. Tune in! Learn...

To understand the idea of secularism, going back to books is often considered a better way. Yet, those who love poetry swear by some of the gems written in Urdu and revere them as antidotes to hatred or any socio-cultural chaos.   So, to prove the point that poetry can cure most ills, we turn to poets like Mir Taqi Mir and Mirza Ghalib in this special episode of Urdunama with Fabeha Syed. Tune in...

From detecting evidence of clouds on a planet for the first time to being able to see Jupiter with its moon in a 'new light', the $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope is hailed as the most powerful space science telescope ever built. This will enable the scientists to study even the distant galaxies with the help of not only the images but also the detailed data. The telescope is engineered for...

Bhupinder Singh, the man with a velvet voice that could tend to a broken heart or reassure an anxious mind, passed away on 18 July 2022. Apart from being a celebrated singer, he was also a talented guitarist. From Madan Mohan to RD Burman, his beautiful partnerships gave the music industry some gems that it would continue to cherish for years to come. But if it wasn't for Pancham, we would not hav...

Naqaab, meaning a veil or parda, has often been the source of poets' anxieties and ecstasies, both. Why? Because behind that veil is their lover who is so beautiful that the idea of witnessing the beauty is overwhelming and that is what makes them write about the mystery that hides behind the naqaab. In this episode, Fabeha Syed reads some of the ashaar by poets like Chakbast Brij Narayan, Shakeel...

As understood by this famous quote by Lord Byron, "wives in their husbands' absences grow subtler, and daughters sometimes run off with the butler", any form of disloyalty, or bewafai comes from absence. Urdu poet Ahmad Faraz also once wrote that because the separation was intense, the poet had to resort to doing the act of disloyalty, probably for the first time. Is qadar musalsal thin shiddatein...

'Baarish' is a Persian word that means rain, downpour, or something that is in abundance. It symbolises many different things, depending on the context. It could be a union, longing, suffering, or just life in general. It is in the way that 'barsaat' affects us that we decide what it means to us. Poets also have their own interpretations of 'baarish'. In other words, rain fuels an artist's creativ...

"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." “The only good human being is a dead one." "Man serves the interests of no creature except himself." “If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear." These are some of the lines of British essayist, journalist, and novelist George Orwell's famous satirical novella Animal Farm....

Shakespeare's play Twelfth Night begins with Duke Orsino saying, "If music be the food of love, play on." It's perhaps a famous reminder of how important music is in our lives – be it to express love, to deal with a painful heartbreak, living in a moment of euphoria, or even protesting against oppression – music helps in communicating every emotion in any language. On this World Music Day, we list...

'Masoomiyat' means innocence, and the word has often been associated with something pure and free of blemishes. Sometimes, poets have described their lovers as 'masoom' to praise the beauty of their childlike innocence, while at other times, the word has been used to refer to a lost childhood. On the occasion of World Day Against Child Labour, we chose the theme of innocence to remind ourselves th...

Indian playback singer Krishnakumar Kunnath's passing has left his fans across the globe with a deep sense of loss. The musician, whose soundtracks encapsulate the very essence of our college lives, died of a heart attack hours after he delivered his final performance in Kolkata. KK, who started his career as a sales executive, has over 3,000 jingles to his credit. The first taste of success for h...

Taj Mahal, a symbol of love, is recognised worldwide and is marvelled at for its architectural genius. This 17th-century heritage building reminds us of a love that prompted a Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan, to build a mausoleum for his wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who had died in childbirth. This architectural expression of love, Taj Mahal, has also been the subject of a perennial debate that it was built on...

A heat wave is sweeping through northern parts of India as the temperatures are hitting news records almost every other day.  This summer season is testing us and the scorching heat has sent most of us in a frenzy. In the true spirit of the old adage "necessity is the mother of all invention", a lot of us have also devised innovative ways to keep ourselves cool. But in poetry, sultriness is but a...