The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Academy's diploma course to promote Urdu

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Aug 08, 2006

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Academy's diploma course to promote Urdu

Special Correspondent

Each class has 25 students, and classes are being held on Sundays

Bangalore: Urdu is a language born and nurtured in India though it is the official language of a neighbouring nation. In many Indian States, it is used in administration.

It is a language with a literature and tradition of its own.

One-year course

The Karnataka Urdu Academy is offering a one-year diploma course in Urdu.

The academy is headed by Mohammed Nooruddin Sayeed, scholar.

People attending the course are from different socio-economic background and religious persuasions.

American student

One among them is an American. One has the option of being taught in English, Kannada or Hindi.

An Urdu professor at Maharani's College, Fouzia Chowdhari coordinates the classes. Classes are held on Sundays. Urdu being a language of subtle phonetics, pronunciation is given a lot of importance.

A subtle difference can change the meaning of a word.

Lucid manner

Since Dr. Fouzia can teach in English, Kannada or Hindi, she is able to explain things in a lucid manner, students say.

The differences between classical or literary Urdu with more Persian words and the contemporary spoken language are pointed out by her.

The diploma course has been designed in collaboration with the new Delhi-based National Council for Promotion of Urdu under the Union Ministry for Human Resources Development.

The course fee is Rs. 200, and each class has 25 students.

Awareness

According to Dr. Sayeed, Urdu awareness programmes have been conducted in Bangalore, Belgaum, Bhatkal and Davanagere districts.

In the Hyderabad-Karnataka region, Urdu or its "Dkahni" variation is widely spoken.

This variation has spawned its own literary genre.

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