Thursday, June 07, 2007

Hyderabad, the last citadel of Urdu in India

What's different about this photograph?

The display boards in shops are in Urdu apart from English, like Akshay Jewellers as seen in photo. Such boards are seen only in Hyderabad, which in a way is the last citadel of Urdu in India.May be there are such hoardings and boards in Kashmir. But I haven't been there.

Few non-Muslims consider Urdu as their language and even in Cities like Lucknow it has become very rare to find billboards/display boards in Urdu.

This photo was taken near Char Minar. Of course, traders have their business considerations in mind and have no great love for any language. In Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena had recently started a campaign asking shop owners to write the shop names in Marathi.