CultureTalk India Video Transcripts: http://langmedia.fivecolleges.edu Urdu Poetry: A Modern Movie and Classical Poets
Hindi transcript:
- ि ी ि ? - , ि ी ि ी ि ी ि ी ि ि ि ी - ... ि ी ी , actually ... , ि ी ... ी , ी ी , ि ी , ि ी ि ी ी , ि ी similarities ि ी , ... ी ि ी ी ी ... ... , ी ी , ी ी ी , ... ि , ि ि ... , Islamic architecture , ... , create ि - - ... ी ? ि ी ी ? - ी , ी , ी ी ी translate ी , , ी , ी ी ी ी ... ी ी , ी ी ी ि ी ि interesting ि ... ी ी , ि ी ी , ... ी ! ी ... ी ि ि - - ि , , ि - - , , , ,
English translation:
Interviewer: So do you get to see Hindi movies etc. here? (Speaker should have said .)
Amit: Yes, one does get to see Hindi movies. Here in the US there are now so many Indians that these facilities have become available now. For instance, recently – I think about two weeks back – I saw a movie – Muhafiz . This is in Hindi-Urdu. This was directed by … Ismail Merchant. It is a movie on Urdu poetry, actually. Therefore I …I wanted to see [it] because I am very interested in Urdu poetry. In my free time I like to try to read and understand it. As you probably know, Urdu is regarded as a different language from Hindi, that is, its script is different. Just as Hindi is written in Devanagari, Urdu is written in Nastaliq. But both languages have many similarities in the way they are spoken. So I grew up speaking Hindi, Urdu … I don’t know Urdu very well. But these days, quite a lot of Urdu poetry has become available in Devanagari. So that, too … you can read it as well. If you do not know to read Nastaliq … Urdu, then you can read this (i.e., Urdu poetry in Devanagari script). So since I usually read a lot of poetry, I also wanted to see this movie. Well, I did not like the movie all that much, that is, Bhopal is shown in it, Bhopal is shown in a very beautiful way. If you see … you can see (the movie) for that, the Islamic architecture of Bhopal and the … the environment has been created well.
Interviewer: And what poetry … what kind of poetry do you read? Which writer’s poetry do you read?
Amit: I guess that [anyone] who reads Urdu poetry would definitely like Ghalib. He is the most reputed Urdu poet, he is very famous. His poetry has also been translated into quite a few other languages. So, well, I like Ghalib. But there are other poets as well, for instance perhaps three names, you might say, are very famous. They are Mir, Ghalib and Faiz. Mir is from the eighteenth century, Ghalib from the nineteenth and Faiz is a poet of the twentieth century. So if you are reading the poetry of those three … well, I haven’t really read all that much, I have read more of Ghalib. But you will notice quite a lot of difference in them. And these differences are also very interesting – [you can see] how [the language and content] of their poetry changes, in these three hundred years during which a great many changes took place in India. Before the British rule and after the British rule. So Ghalib is a favorite poet of mine. And what can be said about him! (I.e., whatever one says is inadequate.) It would be better to use his own words [to describe him]. He has said that: (recites a couplet). This means that there are many great poets in the world, good poets, but the style of Ghalib’s poetry is something else. That is, his style of describing things, his style of writing, his way of thinking, is unique, is different.
About CultureTalk: CultureTalk is produced by the Five College Center for the Study of World Languages and housed on the LangMedia Website. The project provides students of language and culture with samples of people talking about their lives in the languages they use everyday. The participants in CultureTalk interviews and discussions are of many different ages and walks of life. They are free to express themselves as they wish. The ideas and opinions presented here are those of the participants. Inclusion in CultureTalk does not represent endorsement of these ideas or opinions by the Five College Center for the Study of World Languages, Five Colleges, Incorporated, or any of its member institutions: Amherst College, Hampshire College, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
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