The delegation that accompanied President Zardari is sure to have returned with some stories that they narrate over giggles.
Asif Ali Zardari isn’t the only foreigner who might have been struck by Delhi’s oddities. Before him, there was Syed Ejaz Hussain Shah a few years ago. Head of German Radio’s Urdu service, Shah was in for a rude surprise when he approached Max Mueller Road. After Urdu and Punjabi were declared the second official languages by the Delhi government, it became imperative for them to be included in street signs and signage. When making sense of the Urdu script, here’s what Shah read — “Sexmullar”.
Shah might have been forgiving, but institutions like the United Nations, World Bank and the India Islamic Cultural Centre may not have been very amused. The error was corrected. But while this minor scandal has been buried, it does little to take away from the fact that Urdu as a language is being mauled in New Delhi, a city that boasts of a legacy left by the likes of Mirza Ghalib and Ibrahim Zauq and has an Urdu speaking population of over 14 lakh. The worst culprit is its NDMC portions, the capital area.
The delegation that accompanied President Zardari is sure to have returned with some stories that they narrate over giggles. While driving to Dr Manmohan Singh’s official residence last week, they would have found an Urdu road sign of Mustafa Kamal Ata Turk Marg. The text in itself is written in a baby hand, but what makes the signage even more puzzling is the fact that when written in Urdu, the word ‘Mustafa’ remains illegible.
Some of the errors are perhaps incidental while some are just plain unfortunate. Near the Taj Palace Hotel, Razal Road has now been given a new moniker in Urdu, and is known as the Dajal or Demon Road. Vice President Hamid Ansari lives on Maulana Azad Road, but had to probably reassess his coordinates when a signage pointed to the street and called it the Maulana Azurd (sad, pessimistic) Marg. The Poorana Qila Road even became the Poorana Kela (banana) Road, adding an altogether different twist.
The list goes on. The text of several road signage is either incorrect or has been erased. Delhi government officials pass the buck to NDMC, which comes directly under the Ministry of Home Affairs. Recently acting on a complaint filed by a journalist, chief minister Sheila Dixit had asked NDMC to correct signage of the Maulana Azad Road near the vice president’s residence. “They obliged to correct it near the VP’s residence, but continued with the old signage at other places. The road which starts at Vigyan Bhavan continues to depict Azurd Marg,” an official in the CM’s office told DNA. When contacted, NDMC officials refused to comment and dismissed all questions.
Expressing shock at such a callous attitude towards Urdu within the central government’s very precincts, Rajya Sabha MP and Congress leader Saifuddin Soz says that instead of making Urdu a second official language in the country due to its cultural legacy, such signs and signage almost tantamount raping the language. He insisted that the Human Resource Development Ministry must take notice of what is happening on the ground.
“There are 1100 central schools in the country and not in one of these schools is Urdu being taught as no teacher has been posted. So, Urdu teachers need to be appointed for these schools on the pattern that has been adopted by UP and Delhi,” he said. “Urdu lovers in the country felt shocked recently to know that the Rs 100 crores that was earmarked for promotion of Urdu had been allowed to lapse because the CEO of Prasar Bharti did not take measures to organise programmes for promotion of Urdu,” he added.
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