NEW DELHI: Half-time musician Aniruddha Pratim was at all times all for studying Urdu, believing that it was key to raised perceive the vary of music from the subcontinent.
For the previous few weeks, the Delhi-based advisor has been spending his free time and low breaks glued to an app referred to as Humzaaban, which permits him to be taught the language that was for hundreds of years used prominently in Indian tradition and poetry.
“I’ve at all times been a little bit eager about Urdu, I really feel prefer it sounds very poetic, sounds very soulful,” Pratim advised Arab Information.
“I open (the app) every time I get an opportunity to … It’s got a really interactive consumer interface with a whole lot of audio visible cues and all the things, so it’s a enjoyable app to make use of,” he stated. “Perhaps sometime I can write a poem of my very own in Urdu.”
Humzaaban is the brainchild of Tausif and Tanzil Rahman, who got down to protect and promote the language they grew up with at a time when curiosity in talking Urdu was waning amongst individuals in India.
Regardless of Urdu’s distinguished position all through Indian historical past, the language has been going through a number of threats from communal politics and the search for financial prosperity in newer a long time.
Urdu has been stigmatized as international, the language of India’s archrival Pakistan, whereas households more and more select to enroll their kids in colleges that educate English or different Indian languages to raised equip them for the job market.
Whereas hundreds of thousands nonetheless converse Urdu at the moment, they make up lower than 5 % of India’s 1.4 billion inhabitants. The language can be not taught within the majority of colleges throughout the nation.
“There was a constant decline in Urdu post-independence of India and in addition should you take a look at the you understand (how) English is having all of the financial worth and it’s you understand thriving on this planet,” Tausif advised Arab Information.
“Urdu has misplaced its financial worth, not one of the enterprise transactions are being completed in Urdu language and due to the identical causes there usually are not sufficient jobs accessible, persons are not selecting Urdu as a language.”
But the language nonetheless holds a particular place for many individuals throughout India, the broader subcontinent and within the diaspora, who grew up buzzing songs from Bollywood musicals that draw closely on Urdu poetry.
For Tausif, the motivation to create an app devoted for studying Urdu stemmed out of his personal ardour for Urdu poetries.
“We converse Urdu at dwelling and we had been discussing about the way forward for Urdu in India and out of doors India,” he stated.
“We determined to create a gorgeous studying app which can allow you to learn and write Urdu, which can allow you to grasp what is going on within the Urdu world, what are the developments which might be happening, and with this concept and with this imaginative and prescient we began our journey.”
After 5 years of analysis, trial and error, the brothers whose day jobs are within the company world launched Humzaaban in October to succeed in a wider viewers.
Tanzil stated curiosity in Urdu transcended generations, as he noticed numerous participation at an offline Urdu studying program he teaches on the weekends.
“This system participation from throughout generations, communities and professions gave us confidence that there’s a craving to discover this language that’s born out of a protracted means of fusion and but is actually Indian,” he stated.
The Rahman brothers imagine that Urdu has a possible to flourish, and made a devoted app that they declare is extra complete than others available in the market.
With round 3,000 Humzaaban customers and counting, many stated they had been drawn to the app due to its interactive options and user-friendly design.
“There are only a few platforms that target Urdu studying … however after wanting into Humzaaban app I’m very a lot impressed that somebody is taking the hassle to extend the supply of Urdu from finish to finish and (via a) step-by-step journey,” Mohd. Azam, a Delhi-based advertising and marketing skilled, advised Arab Information.
“I’m very a lot all for poetry and all, (and) Urdu has very stunning phrases … which encourage me lots so I need to be taught from this app and perhaps write some poetry.”
For Sahar Rizvi, who relies in London, the app has been a bridge to reconnect together with her roots. After studying Urdu as a baby, she misplaced contact with the language whereas rising up and had forgotten the fundamentals.
“My father talked about concerning the Humzaaban app and it has been superior to catch up once more. It teaches proper from the start! I typically mess around with it throughout my time on the prepare,” Rizvi stated.
“I’m re-learning to learn Urdu … It’s a gorgeous language and I do need to incorporate it in my every day utilization.”
