Why Do People Look At Me Weird When I Say Urdu Is My Mother Tongue?

Urdu is seen as a foreign language by many Indians when in fact, it originated in India and has millions of speakers in the country.

When I say Urdu is my mother tongue, I get a “blink blink” in return. You may also find it hard to believe that my parents have a Pathan lineage and go by the surname Khan. While I usually get the blank look followed by an accusation of being a liar, I learnt to handle it with cool, perhaps years of going through a struggle for acceptance.

So, you must have figured out by now what this write up is about. The recent hate-mongering for Jashn-e-Diwali and Jash-e-Riwaz had me thinking about why there is a sudden surge in hatred against a particular minority community.

The whole point of writing this is not to glorify one or denigrate another, but to make people see the fine line that connects these languages and to make them realise how these languages are living proof of our beautiful ethnic diversity of the past.

To begin with, the funny part is when people ask me if I am a Pakistani or Afghani, to which I laugh my ears out. Just because I speak Urdu, people assume that I belong to a Muslim country.

Urdu is a language that originated on Indian soil; the inventor being the grandmaster himself — Amir Khusaru. It was initially developed as a courtesan language. Only the Delhi Durbars closest aides were allowed to use it to dispense justice. Gradually the masses were allowed to adopt and live with the same.

The highlight here is that it is an amalgamation of Persian and Hindustani culture. A gem that is living proof of secularism that thrived even before a written constitution existed. So, let’s make it clear that it is not a Muslim language or Hindu language. It is as much my language as it is every other Indian’s.

“Jo ye hindostāñ nahīñ hotā, to ye urdu zabāñ nahīñ hoti (If India didn’t exist, Urdu wouldn’t have existed).” – Abdul Salam Bengluri (dil ki haalat bayan nahin hoti)

How Urdu Influenced Other Languages

Hindi is regarded as the closest sister with a similar vocabulary and dialect to Urdu but a different script (Urdu uses a Nasthaliq style). Gradually differences arose owing to changing political and social factors.

E.g., when the Delhi Sultans annexed Hyderabad, a variant string of Urdu formed with a Deccani base. Similarly, the native languages of the South influenced Urdu in such a way that several new words were assimilated into it. That is how civilisations and cultures thrive, evolving and adapting with time. Mind you; time plays the key role here.

The Assimilation And Adaptation Of Cultures

Coming to the recent controversy that erupted over the “abrahamisation” of Hindu festivals, it’s ugly politics to score brownie points. The main agenda is to create a sense of insecurity over how minorities will rule the majority. The greater the degree of insecurity, the greater is the vote count to political hegemon’s.

Religious separatism sowed by the British still continues to be used for political gains. With the rate of illiteracy and the malicious circle of poverty, people fail to see through the antics deployed to create a rift in the fabric of secularism for political goals. Eventually, they go to the extent of lynching and murder in broad daylight.

People have to understand that there is no meaning in the so-called “Abrahamisation of religion”. No religion has remained the same in absolute terms since its origin. There are Buddhist elements in Hinduism today, just as there are Hindu elements in Islam today.

Assimilation and adaptation. Anthropologically speaking, that is how we managed to survive biologically and culturally. That is the essence of Hindustan.

Musalman aur Hindu ki jaan
Kahan hai mera Hindostan?
Main uss ko dhundh raha huun.

(The life of Hindus and Muslims alike
Where is my Hindustan?
I am searching for it). – Ajmal Sultanpuri (kahan hai mera hindostan).

So learn to find that fine line that connects us all amidst the diversity.

Coming to how an Urdu speaking family like mine survived in a state where people prefer to speak a native language, we applied the simple logic of learning it. The language barrier was a problem in kindergarten, but I survived. We embraced the native language just as it embraced us.

The culture is part and parcel of our lives, to the extent that we celebrate all festivals without holding back.

But the problem I encountered was how a small section of people was averse to learning new languages. The attitude of disdain towards a Tamil Speaking or Telugu speaking native was not something that I could comprehend. Further, I witnessed them getting bullied for not knowing the “native” language.

Apart from a few people who were genuinely interested in embracing other native languages, most have the attitude “I know one language and I don’t find it necessary to learn another”. The whole idea is laughable.

All I have to say is that we are living in an ethnically diverse country where hundreds of languages languish. There are folk songs, dances and a culture related to every language. In the process of glorification of native languages, we are missing out on the larger part of learning beautiful classical cultures, which have thrived for thousands of years in our county and cultures that are slowly fading into the dark.

So the next time you meet someone who belongs to another state or speaks a different language, think of the fine line I talked about. Don’t poke fun or stare. That person is your fellow brethren and they deserve the same respect as you do.

Sabhi ke deep sundar hain; hamare kya tumhare kya
Ujala har taraf hai, iss kinare uss kinare kya.

(Everyone’s lamps are pretty; not just yours or ours
The light is everywhere, not just on this shore or that). – Hafeez Banarasi.