Monday, June 29, 2020

Urdu Podcast in India: Urdu Literature Radio brings excerpts from eminent Urdu authors in audio form to break script barrier, take text to more people


Podcast is fast emerging as a medium to communicate and connect with the audience.

The aim behind 'Urdu Literature Radio' is to present excerpts from major works of Urdu authors, poets, and litterateurs.

Firstly, the aim is that reading a few paragraphs from, may draw the attention of the reader and prompt him to read the book.

For example, if 5 pages are read out from a 500 page novel, it can be an introduction to the reader.

Once interest is generated, people make an effort to read the book, buy it. After the first episode itself, I got queries from people as to where they can get the book.

Hence, I like this idea. Besides, there is a need to focus on Urdu pronunciation. The podcasts can play an important role in this regard. Those who are not reading enough and have lost touch with the script, can again be brought back towards the 'rasm-ul-khat' [script]. Also, there is another angle.

People who speak Urdu but never learnt to read the script. For them, it can break this barrier. It is an amateur work. So initial episodes will have glitches. Later on, not just literature but I plan to read from books that focus on a particular era or contain information.

For example, if I read one page from a 500 page novel, it is just 0.2% of the book, and it rouses interest of a listener and he or she is drawn towards buying reading the book, it would be a service for language and literature.

The initial episodes are about Lucknow, the culture of Awadh, the battle against East India Companya and its aftermath, reading from Qurratul Ain Hyder's magnum opus, Aag Ka Darya. Hope, you will enjoy Urdu Literature Radio. If you like Urdu Literature Radio, do share the link with friends.and relatives who might be interested. 

INITIAL EPISODES OF URDU LITERATURE RADIO

1. Communalism, post-partition era in UP from Salahuddin Parvez' novel Identity Card. Listen
2. Dilemma of a Urdu loving Hindu man in Musharraf Alam Zauqi's novel Bayaan. Listen
3. POETRY. Hasan Abidi's verse on Baghdad, the city of Alif Laila and Marjeena. Listen
4. Charm of Lucknow, battle at British from Qurratul Ain Hyder's Aag Ka Darya. Listen
5. The Lanes of Lucknow, the transformation witnessed as Kolkata man arrives in Lucknow. Listen
6. POETRY. In memory of lynching victim Md Akhlaq who was killed in Dadri. Listen
7. Sirajuddaulah and East India Company's role from Qurratul Ain Hyder's novel. Listen
8. Boy carried Qazi's chilam, ran to keep it burning, became poet from MA Zauqi's novel. Listen

Check it here: URDU LITERATURE RADIO

[The podcast is now available at SpotifyGoogle PodcastsBreaker, Overcast, Radio Public, Pocket Casts and several other platforms] 
اردو لٹریچر ریڈیا کا مقصد یہ ہے کہ سیکڑوں صفحات پر محیط ناول کے ایک دو پیراگراف پڑھ کر، لوگوں میں تجسس پیدا کرنا اور انکو کتاب کی طرف راغب کرنا، جسسے وہ کتاب خریدیں اور پڑھیں۔