Urdu Language Opportunities in Dallas

Urdu Language Opportunities | Website: www.UrduHindi.net 

There was a time when High School kids took German, French or Latin as an optional language to learn, then Spanish became popular, and with the amount of business we do in China, a lot of people went for Chinese. My own daughter took German, which is lost as it is not practiced by her in her daily life. I wish Urdu was an option then, she and my son could have talked with me  and my family in Urdu and enjoyed the Bollywood films without straining to read the text at the bottom.

Now there is a new option emerging for schools, colleges and business field; Urdu.

Urdu-Hindi together is the 2^nd most understood and spoken language in the world.  I would call it Urdu or Hindi to mean both, the entire Hindi or Urdu Vocabulary is embedded in each other’s dictionary. Many a poetry books carry a poem in 3 scripts; English (called Roman), Devanagari (Sanskrit) and Urdu (Farsi) to make it easy for those who don’t know the two indigenous scripts. Nearly a Billion people speak Urdu-Hindi. 

 

If you or your kids have to take an optional language, consider Urdu. Good efforts were made by communities and Hindi is being taught in many schools and colleges now. As India will become the 3rd largest economy, and still retains its 2nd spot in population, and in collaboration with Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, it will become 2nd largest economy within a few decades. It is time to lay the foundation and get our kids and us ready to see a day when Urdu-Hindi will become a language of necessity to conduct business, a large amount of business and communications.

Thanks to the Bollywood films, many in South East Asia, Middle East, Europe and Africa are learning the words and phrases. The other day a Guatemalan Taxi driver surprised me on my way to Love Field, he was playing Fun Asia Radio, and was throwing many phrases at me, that was impressive. My late wife watched Lagaan in a hotel in Costa Rica, and one of my Algerian friends started humming  "Mera tujh se hai pehle ka naata koi" she said that the film ran for a full month and they had to stand in the line to get the ticket. 

The Chief Editor for Saudi Gazette writes quite a lot about India and Pakistan, he went to school in Karachi and speaks Urdu fluently. There is a Jewish business man in Fort Worth, he speaks broken Urdu.  The owner of a Thai Restaurant sings and explains the whole meaning of Baharo Phool Barsao, Mera Mehboob Aaya hai." We walked into New York Deli on Frankford, owned by a Russian, the moment he saw my wife in Sari, he started Raj Kapooring,  "mera Joota hai Japani and repeating Lal topi Roosi, Lal topi Roosi, Lal topi Roosi...". Some one from Ghana has seen Gunga Jumna 10 times! 

In Cancun a road side grill sells Tandoori Chicken as Tandoori Chicken, he was calling me, "Aao, Aao, Tandoori Chicken Khao"  Ah, get this, my daughter in laws father is Malaysian in oil business, he tell me he was in Siberia, the lonely deserted cold place - there was an Indian Restaurant among some five others, that's right, one in five people on the earth are Desi's. This language Urdu-Hindi has great potential for our kids and grand kids. If you have experienced some such things, please write in the comments section below. 


Additionally, if you learn the Urdu Script, it would be easy to learn Arabic Language with so much business we conduct, and will conduct,  this would be an asset to our kids or even ourselves.

There was yet another time, just some 30 years ago, we did not have a direct flight from Dallas to any one of the South Asian Nations, today we have plenty of airlines flying to those destinations everyday, and it will continue to increase. This language Urdu will take a prominent spot on the world stage, and it is time that we the Americans of Native and Desi heritage not miss the boat.

Indeed, almost all of the Bollywood films carry the common language understood by a vast majority of the people of Subcontinent. However politics creeps in and reduces the language’s reach. It particularly happens  when the news segment hits the airwaves, Hindi gets heavily Sanskritized or Urdu gets Farsi-ized reducing the number of people who can understand either in full. Even me, who has a good working knowledge (writing, reading and speaking) in both the scripts, find it difficult to watch the Sanskritized Hindi or Farsi-ized Urdu. News is not a big part of our lives, just skip the news part and you will be fine, and connect with anyone and any where in the subcontinent. 

You can go to India or Pakistan and even cities in Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka and speak the generic language, the language of the Bollywood Films, and you will be able to communicate to a larger segment of the population anywhere in the world.

If you sing Hindi songs professionally you have to learn pronouncing the words properly and almost all of the singers and actors in Bollywood (world's largest film industry) learn the language of Urdu. 

If you have the option to choose a foreign language in the school, Urdu  is an attractive choice and a good business asset. Urdu will make a big come back.

The leaders who are taking this initiative forward are: Mr. Amin Tirmizi, Mrs. Talmeez Fatima Burni, Mr. Like Ali Khan, Dr. Akbar Haider and Dr. Amer Suleman.  I have taken the tiny responsibility of administrative support.     

I am developing this article as a survey to see how many kids and adults have an interest in joining the Urdu classes. A lot of benefits are offered right now as an incentive for kids.

I urge my Urdu-Hindi friends to write a sentence or a few words to be quoted in the article that we will publish in a News paper. Let it be no more than 50 words.

On my part, my tiny contribution to the vast Urdu-Hindi literature would be through a brand new stream of poetry that focuses on Pluralism, and we have already conducted several Mushaera-Sammelans on the topic and hope to continue them.

Last year, Dr. Amer Suleman of the Urdu Ghar fame experimented with his kids,  on Father's Day, he asked them to speak to him in Urdu and learn at least 25 words as his Father's Day gift, and they did, and my son did it too. We had sent that note to all the Desis' on my lists.

Through America Together Foundation, we are hoping to see the need for starting classes in Urdu language affiliated with established schools and colleges, and if we have enough members of the community wanting it, we can start soon.  Are you ready?

At America Together Foundation, our Mission is to educate, entertain and invoke critical thinking in creating a cohesive environment to work, socialize and function effectively.  

Please write your notes and interest in the comment section or click this link to write your comment - http://urduhindinet.blogspot.com/2015/03/urdu-language-opportunities.html#comment-form

Thanks to Milton Roy for sharing this information

Urdu Couplets are elixir for brain, learning prevent dementia

You don't have to believe this, but it is research done by Doctor Uttam Kumar. Urdu Couplets are elixir for brain; learning the language helps prevent dementia.

A recent study by the Center for Bio-Medical Researches (CBMR), Lucknow, suggests that reading Urdu passages helps in brain development. Learning Urdu also has a role in delaying the onset of dementia, besides helping children with learning disabilities. The work, which has made it to the recent edition of international journal 'Neuroscience Letters'.

Urdu is the deepest language and therefore reading it involves more areas of the brain, which is good for mental health," said Kumar adding, "Urdu has two more advantages over others — visual complexity of letters and direction of writing."

Full article at times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/Urdu-couplets-are-elixir-for-brain-learning-the-language-helps-prevent-dementia/articleshow/46424531.cms

Please read the business opportunities for Urdu - Mike Ghouse

Thank you.

Mike Ghouse
www.UrduHindi.net 

email: UrduHindinet@gmail.com  

Goddess Saraswati and President Obama

Goddess Saraswati and Obama Symbolize Relationship Between Indonesia and the U.S.

First, as an Indian American, I welcome this gesture by the Indonesian Embassy and congratulate them. They have indeed honored India, my motherland by honoring her Iconic figure; Goddess Saraswati. Bhupen Ganatra and Amol Mukherjee, the Indian leaders in Dallas add, "That this is great gift of highest level... awesome gesture by Indonesia expressing the best of religious harmony and importance of education by a Muslim nation offering a statue of Hindu Goddess to a mostly Christian nation. For this, Indonesia should be recognized by all nations... all religions."

Devi Saraswathi, an icon of learning and Obama at her feet.

As an Indian American Muslim, I am proud of Indonesia for following the principles taught by Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) that each one of us is responsible for the well being of our neighbors, communities, nations and our world. We all came from a single couple and are made into different tribes, communities and nations and the best ones among us, God says in Quran are the ones who learn, understand and respect the others. Dr. Akbar Ahmed, who heads the ibn-Khaldun chair at the American University and a leading Muslim in America adds, "These symbolic gestures build upon each other in building peaceful societies."


To promote pluralism, I would encourage you to click LIKE and Share on Twitter and Facebook from the following link - a comment would be encouraging. Thank you.

Full story -
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/goddess-saraswati-statue-_b_3460615.html

. . . . .

Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, peace, Islam, Israel, India, interfaith, and cohesion at work place. He is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at www.TheGhousediary.com. He believes in Standing up for others and has done that throughout his life as an activist. Mike has a presence on national and local TV, Radio and Print Media. He is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News; fortnightly at Huffington post; and several other periodicals across the world. His personal site www.MikeGhouse.net indexes all his work through many links.

Urdu | Memorial Day

The following video documentary on Handwritten Urdu Newspaper in Chennai is simply mesmerizing! The only handwritten Newspaper in the world! And today is Memorial day, a day dedicated to honor the loved ones who are no more.  I am dedicating this write up to Najma, my late wife on this Memorial Day.

I love writing Urdu and there is not a day that I don't scribble something or the other in Urdu. It was a good feeling to see this down-to-the-earth documentary. It was a pleasure to hear about the prevalent secular ethos in that news paper office.

In the early sixties we had three Urdu Newspapers in Bangalore; Pasban, Jumhoor, Azad and Salaar, there are many more now and I forgot the weekend news papers we had.  

I hope you’d love this video:

http://gizmodo.com/5804614/this-is-the-last-handwritten-newspaper

Indeed, I am infatuated with Urdu, interestingly it was Urdu that had pulled me towards my late wife Najma at a Mushaira in Richardson after which she had joined me on my TV and Radio shows as a co-host and a year later we married. She was superb in her diction and choice of words, people loved to hear her out on the radio; I would pull the car over and listen to her whole program. I can never forget Farida Jalal yielding her portion of emceeing to Najma in a Bollywood show, Lata Mangeshkar was enthralled and said "Najmaji aap ki awaaz bahut hi sunder hai aur aap bahut achchi Urdu bolti hain".

I am dedicating this write up to Najma to honor her memories on this memorial day.

About the Pluralism and Secularism in India, which I am a product of, I found those attitudes across the board. Even last year when I was in Bangalore and addressed the Muslim leadership gathering, the tone was same; co-existence and pluralism drawn from Islam and Hinduism at works.

I am pleased to quote my mother on this topic that I wrote on Mother’s day, "She was a pluralist. My youngest brother Farooq runs a real estate business in  Bangalore, and his manager had hung the picture of Lord Krishna in the office; he asked my Mother about it, she was blunt, "do you have your religious symbols hung on the wall? He said, yes, and she said, let him have his. Dear Mother, I salute you and I am going to brag about you." article at http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2011/05/mother-my-story-happy-mothers-day.html

I did not realize how much of Urdu runs through my veins, however I am yet to  give expression to it. I was writing to my mother until she was alive and kept writing  to my sister when she was in Rae Barielly and Secunderabad with my brother in Law who served in the Indian Army. However I used to write “Afsanay” short stories in Urdu and have written several Nazams and Ghazals in the  past, and have written a few Rubayee’s lately on Pluralism and social cohesion, they sound just like my mentor Sahir Ludhianavi. My sister writes for Salaar in Urdu and she has agreed to translate my work in Urdu for publication in Bangalore, my home town.

When I became single, I was looking for someone who does not have barriers between her and another human being. Religion, Race or Ethnicity was never an issue to me, so I talked with so many from literally every possible background …and I was joyous to know so many women from Muslim, Hindu, Parsee, Jain, Christian, Jewish, Sikh, Buddhist and different backgrounds were equally open about religion, race or ethnicity.  Most of them had described themselves as spiritual not religious.  

Then I realized, it wont’ be fair to her that I want to go to the Mushaera and she  will not enjoy it.  Grudgingly, I  was willing to miss seeing a woman in Saree or Shalwar Qamees, but Urdu was another thing. I see many of my friends in that boat here in Dallas and other cities, where the guys or the girls have to go-it-alone as their spouse does not speak Urdu. They cannot even enjoy listening to the songs without a timer for “my turn”. 

Thank God, I finally met Yasmeen, who was everything I was looking in a life partner and darn, she spoke Urdu!  God willing, we hope to host a few poetry sessions in Urdu and Hindi  next year. I’d rather attend the Public Mushaera when politics is cut out. We attended one in Louisville and it was fabulous. I had written a poem on Social cohesion and it was a cross between Iqbal and Sahir… I abandoned it, as I do not want to sound like I have copied them. Temptations to write it out again comes to my mind repeatedly, but I will be knowingly manipulating it not to sound like Sahir, then it will not be genuine poetry. Well, I will have to write another one and stop reading Iqbal and Sahir.

Happy Urdu and Reminiscent Memorial day

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Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker, futurist and a writer on the topics of Pluralism, Coexistence, interfaith, Islam, India and cohesive societies. He is committed to building cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day.  His work is indexed at http://www.mikeghouse.net/ 

Note to Desis – you do not wish a Happy Memorial day; it is a day of remembrance and not rejoice.

Sir Syed Day

Saturday, Oct 31, 2009
Sir Syed Day

It was a fabulous dinner Mushaira event at Eldorado country club organized by Khalid, Taiyab Kundawala, Akram Syed, and Naved Sayed.

NASIM Foundation
North American Society of Indian Muslims)
(A 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization)
with compliments of DFW Aligarh Alumni and Friends

Saturday, October 31, 2009
Proceeds to support "NASIM Foundation" for Education Venue:

1) Janab Waseem Barelvi (Bareli, India).
2) Janab Meraj Faizabadi (Lucknow, India).
3) Janab Abbas Tabish, (Lahore, Pakistan).
4) Janab Tahir Faraz (Rampur, India).
5) Other North American Shora

Zohra Chisti read the Aligarh's Tarana
and Nadir Durrani was the Muntazim of the Mushaira.
Several Dallas Poets participated as well.

Great Mushaera - Tahir Faraz's poem on mother called "mayee" brought tears in every one's eyes. Tahir's poetry flows like my essays, reflecting wisdom of different faiths in his case, he compared the devotion of Sita and Lakshman and Ram's banwas.

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Tuesday Nov 3rd.
Nadir Durrani invited the same shora (poets) at his home and we had one of the best mehfils of Urdu Poetry.

Mike Ghouse