‘Aghaaz’ — A confluence of Hindi and Urdu poetry

Amritsar, July 3

His love for the language and to certain extent, regionalisation, has always nurtured the poet in him. Recently, Devinderpal Singh, a scholar and poet, released a compilation of Urdu and Hindi poetry that he has penned down over the years.

Originating from his experiences and his understanding of Urdu, Persian and Arabic literature, the poetry book has nazm (non-ghazal poetry) and nagma (ghazal-based poetry) in Urdu Nasta?liq script and Hindi Devnagri script.

“I deliberately wrote the book in these two languages as a reminder of the country’s Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb (culture). If you read the book, you have confluence of these two amazingly rich languages that define our cultural and historical legacy. The title of the book is Aghaaz and I was deeply moved that the launch was done by Shabana Azmi, daughter of legendary Kaifi Azmi. I was glad that she liked my book and even complimented me,” said Devinderpal.

His love for the language began at the age of 13 and his father was his teacher as well as mentor. “I first learnt the language from him as he was a great endorser and lover of Urdu. I believe that not many youngsters today know that a lot of words in the Punjabi language have been influenced by Urdu and that it was once a primary language spoken and written in Punjab,” he added.

Through his book, he wants to promote the language and revive it to its former glory. “Unfortunately, the language has been limited to certain labels these days and it is tragic that Punjab, the land that was once a confluence of all these rich languages, has lost the flair for them,” he said.— TNS