Fading Literature: Delhi’s Famous Urdu Bazaar is on its last legs

In the bustling heart of Old Delhi, Indian bookseller Mohammed Mahfuz Alam sits alone in his quiet shop, among the last few selling literature in the language beloved by poets for centuries.

Urdu, spoken by many millions today, has a rich past that reflects how cultures have merged to create India’s complex history.

But its literature has come under the influence of Hindi’s cultural dominance, combating the misconception that its elegant Perso-Arabic script makes it a foreign import and the language of Muslims in a Hindu-majority country.

“There was a time when we saw 100 books published in a year,” said Alam, 52, lamenting the loss of the language and its readership.

The narrow streets of the Urdu bazaar, located in the shadow of the 400-year-old Jama Masjid, were once the center of the city’s Urdu literary community, a center of printing, publishing and writing.

Today, streets once lined with Urdu bookstores full of scholars discussing literature are now permeated with the aroma of sizzling kebabs from the restaurants that replaced them.

There are only half a dozen bookstores left.

“Now there are no takers,” Alam said, pointing to the streets outside. “Now it’s a food market.”

Dying “day by day”

Urdu, one of the 22 languages ​​enshrined in the Indian constitution, is the mother tongue of at least 50 million people. People in the most populous country in the world. It is spoken by millions more people as well as in neighboring Pakistan.

But although Urdu is mostly understood by speakers of India’s most popular language, Hindi, their script is completely different.

Alam says he sees Urdu literature dying “day by day”.

The Maktaba Jamia bookstore he runs opened a century ago. Alam took over its management this year, driven by his love for the language.

“I’ve been sitting here since this morning, and barely four people have come,” he said gloomily. “And even these were children attending college or school who want their study books.”

Urdu, which has Hindi roots and mixed with words from Persian and Arabic, emerged as a hybrid speech of those who came to India through trade and conquest, and the people among whom they settled.

However, Urdu faced problems related to Islamic culture. This popular sentiment has intensified since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in 2014.

Far-right Hindu nationalists seeking to diminish Islam’s place in Indian history oppose its use: over the past decade, protests have ranged from the use of Urdu in clothing advertisements to even graffiti.

“Urdu is associated with Muslims and this is reflected in the language,” Alam said.

“But that’s not true. Everyone speaks Urdu. You go to villages, people speak Urdu. It’s a very pleasant language. There is peace in it.”

“Feel the beauty”

For centuries, Urdu has been the key language of government.

Vendors first set up shop in the Urdu bazaar in the 1920s, selling stacks of books ranging from literature to religion. policy and history, as well as texts in Arabic and Persian.

By the 1980s, more profitable fast food restaurants gradually emerged, but over the last decade trade has fallen sharply and more than a dozen bookshops have closed.

“With the advent of the Internet, everything has become easily accessible on a mobile phone,” said Sikander Mirza Changizi, who co-founded a library in 1993 to promote Urdu in Old Delhi.

“People started to think there was no point in buying books, and that hit booksellers and publishers’ incomes, and they moved on to other businesses.”

The Hazrat Shah Waliullah Public Library, which Changzi helped establish, houses thousands of books, including rare manuscripts and dictionaries.

It aims to promote the Urdu language.

Student Adiba Tanveer, 27, who has a master’s degree in Urdu, said the library provided space for those who wanted to study.

“The love for Urdu is gradually returning,” Tanveer told AFP, adding that her non-Muslim friends were also keen to learn.

“It’s such a beautiful language,” she said. “You feel the beauty when you say it.”

Source: AFP