Language, history, religion and their intertwined stories.

The inimitable, amazing Javed Akhtar, Firaq Gorakhpuri. And Shamsur Rehman Faruqi.

Plus the true meaning of 'triveni' sangam and 'butparasti' :)

First a simple short line exploring the way Persian, Turkish, Arabic, Gujarati, Portuguese, English, Sanskrit and other languages are intertwined to form what we know as Hindustani/ Hindavi/Urdu/Hindi.

And now the detailed conversation, where he talks about the nature of languages, scripts, history and the ethos of Hindavi/Rekhta/Urdu language. Also, how the notion of linguistic 'purity' is absurd.

Always a delight to listen, this clip of Javed sahab is taken from the Jashn-e-Rekhta festival organized by Rekhta.org team in Delhi.

And now for the legend himself : Raghupati Sahay aka Firaq Gorakhpuri. Exploring similar themes in this rare time capsule of the 60s Doordarshan.

                                  

And lastly, this amazing lecture by Shamsur Faruqi sahab, one of our greatest living intellectual. Here he speaks about languages, literary traditions, metaphors as reality, history of our land from Abhinav Gupta to Khusro and so much more! All in in his inimitable style.

Bonus : We learn the true meaning of 'Triveni sangam' and 'Butparasti' :)