Quiz A collection of interesting questions related to Urdu poetry, prose and literary history. Play Rekhta Quiz and check your knowledge about Urdu!
Compilation of top 20 hand-picked Urdu shayari on the most sought-after subjects and poets
Rekhta's online crossword puzzle - the world's first Urdu online crossword for free. Developed in collaboration with Amuse Labs, these puzzles are specially designed to improve your knowledge of Urdu language, literature, and culture. Challenge yourself with new crosswords and engage in playful learning.
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eḌiyāñ maar ke zaḳhmī bhī hue log magar
koī chashma nahīñ zarḳhez zamīñ se niklā
eDiyan mar ke zaKHmi bhi hue log magar
koi chashma nahin zarKHez zamin se nikla
from the Ghazal "be-yaqini ka talluq bhi yaqin se nikla" by Azlan shah
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Browse Rekhtabooks.comQuiz A collection of interesting questions related to Urdu poetry, prose and literary history. Play Rekhta Quiz and check your knowledge about Urdu!
Famous poet and lyricist Majrooh Sultanpuri’s father had enrolled him in the Yunani College, Lucknow, so he would become a Hakim. Majrooh did not like it there, and later enrolled in the music college there. When his father found out, he immediately commanded his name to be cut-off from there, and Majrooh had to leave the music college. Having reluctantly completed his Hikmat course, Majrooh returned to his native town of Sultanpur and even opened a humble clinic (Matab) in his neighborhood Paltan Bazar. But this practice was just for the sake of name. In the evening, he would go to the bank of Gomti river with some of his friends and sing his songs in his melodious voice. Two songs written by him became extremely popular, and when Majrooh turned up at Mushairas to recite his Ghazals, the audiences requested him to sing those songs. One of the songs read:
Tiile kii taraf charwaahe he sada halki halki
Hai shaam kii devii kii chunarii shaano.n se pare dhalkii dhalkii
Unsurprisingly, in 1965, when Majrooh was writing these lines for one of the songs in the movie Teen Deviyan:
“Jab Meri Chunariya Malmal kii, phir kyun na milun jhalke jhalke”
He was perhaps reminiscing his own old song.
Ever wondered what is ‘Gulabi Urdu’, and what is its connection with Mulla Ramuzi (1896-1952)? Well, it is noted as one of Urdu language’s standout prose works in which Mulla Ramuzi has parodied the difficult, word-to-word Urdu translations of the old times. Born Sadiq Irshad, Mulla Ramuzi, was a well-known journalist, satirist, and poet from Bhopal. So unique was his style of highlighting political and social issues in his Gulabi Urdu that the British government’s press act seldom caught hold of it in the newspapers, while Urdu knowers could wittily made sense of it. But in addition to this style, he also wrote satirical and humorous articles on common people's issues in simple language which became very popular. In Bhopal, the office of the Madhya Pradesh Urdu Academy is located in the building named, ‘Mulla Ramuzi Sanskriti Bhavan’. Nowadays, the term ‘Gulabi Urdu’ has also come to be known as the confluence of regional vocab and accents in the Urdu language.
The Hindustani tradition of celebrating the first roza (fast) of a child in the month of Ramadan is called Roza-Kushai. The word Kushaaii means to open, begin or to initiate.
When a child fasts for the first time in their life, it is honoured by inviting friends and family for iftar on that particular day. The Roza-Kushai event is celebrated by making new clothes for the child and friends and family present gifts and money to the child as well. Every child remembers this day for the rest of their lives.
From the very beginning, the preponderance of love has been very conspicuous in the writings of Nasir Kazmi (1923-1972). He has cited that, ‘Although love, poetry, and art have been in my blood since childhood, one or two beloveds have been quite instrumental in cultivation this taste’. Nasir fell in love for the first time at a mere age of 13 with a girl named Hamira and remembers his second love by the pseudonym Salma.
Nasir was born in Ambala but his parents had to move to Lahore due to partition where he eventually got a job in Radio Pakistan. Nasir was among the foremost who enlivened Lahore’s coffee house. There he was accompanied by literary figures such as Ahmad Mushtaq, Intizar Hussain, Jilani Kamran, etc. all of whom spent their time discussing the subtleties of Urdu language and literature.
The words that we use countless times in our everyday speech, they, too, show striking aspects about them when reflected maturely. Two such words are ‘Na’ and ‘Naa’.
guu.njtii hai tirii hasii.n aavaaz
jaise naadiida ko.ii bajtaa saaz
JAAN NISAR AKHTAR
“Naa-Diida” means that which can’t be seen, or invisible. Another word, on the same lines, is ‘Nadiida’, meaning a greedy person. Although it literally means one who has not seen- why? -because a greedy person looks at a thing in a manner as if he had never seen it before. The word ‘Naa’, when prefixed to nouns, functions as a pleonasm, and conveys negation. For example, ‘Naa-Laaiq’, ‘Naa-Khush”, etc.
Those who know the language, know it well enough as to where and how ‘Na’, ‘Naa’, and ‘Nahin’ are to be used.
Na suno gar buraa kahe koi
Na kaho gar bura kare koi
Interestingly, Javed Akhtar's famous film song "Kuchh Naa Kaho, Kuchh Bhi Naa Kaho", although written to the tune, never comes out as an oddity.
Let the purists say whatever they wish to!
In Urdu, ‘Naa’ is also used as an article of emphasis and affirmation. For instance:
Kisi buzurg ke bose ki ik nishaani hai
Humaare maathe pe thoDii sii raushnii hai naa
One of the most celebrated 19th century Lucknow poets, author of the renowned masnavi gulzaar-e-naseem
jab ho chukī sharāb to maiñ mast mar gayā
shīshe ke ḳhālī hote hī paimāna bhar gayā
jab ho chuki sharab to main mast mar gaya
shishe ke KHali hote hi paimana bhar gaya
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