Namma India: The Many Worlds in Our Words- A conversation between Banu Mushtaq and Arfa Khanum.

• There is a front yard and back yard in humans’ lives, Banu Mushtaq added an inner courtyard to the same through her writings.

Banu Mushtaq-

• Patriarchy and politics borrow their powers from religion in order to exploit relations.

• During 1970-80s, there were groups including dalits, women, adivasis, muslims who were emerged and registered their voices through literature as writing became one such medium for them.

• I consider following reasons behind people loving these stories and my writings in particular:

-       Emphasis given on my personal experiences.

-       Gender.

-       Incorporation of socio-cultural context.

-       Inculcating my own language in other script as I used vernacular terminologies.

• There was a conscious attempt to divide people in religious lines but I would like to pose a question for Muslims elites that how much they have tried to fill these gaps between these two sections.

Banu Mushtaq is an Indian Kannada-language writer and won the International Booker Prize in 2025 for her book Heart Lamp, a collection of stories translated by Deepa Bhasthi.

Arfa Khanum Sherwani is an Indian journalist and the senior editor of The Wire.

The program was conducted by The Wire in collaboration with the Midland Books on 19-07-2025.

केसव सुनहु प्रबीन: मुगलकालीन हिंदी साहित्यिक परिवेश—लोकार्पण

PROF. TANUJA KOTHIYAL

• In the 1980s-90s, the idea of region and regionalism started emerging in the history-writing, and such historiographical trends emerged and became prominent in CHS (Centre for Historical Studies), JNU, then as well. However, until then also, regions were considered as sub-categories of the empire. And we were encountering ourselves with such questions as what builds regions actually—is it area or is it language?

• Regional sources were not even considered as a source to write Empire Histories. And there were assumptions that the empire reaches regions, but regions don’t reach the empire, and in this approach lies a methodological problem.

• 15-18वीं शताब्दी का दौर वह दौर है जब कला और साहित्य को दरबारों से आश्रय मिल रहा था। इस समय ब्रजभाषा अपने चरमोत्कर्ष पर थी बावजूद इसके कि यह ज़बान दरबारी ज़बान नहीं थी। ब्रजभाषा में लिखित साहित्य सिर्फ सौंदर्य तक अपने को सीमित नहीं रखता। इसमें लिखा साहित्य ना प्रशंसा का साहित्य है, ना विरोध का; हर प्रकार के रजिस्टर में ब्रजभाषा ख़ुद को ढाल लेती थी। ब्रज को हम कहीं भी बना सकते थे, है।

• Regional archival sources change our perspective with regard to the historiography. Recently, we have seen among the scholars a shift in taking a central point of history writing, moving from "empire centric" to "regional centric." Such changes in the historical trends bring to light the fact that things need to be seen with respect to the relationship between region and empire, apart from judging them only through religious binaries. Empires appear distinct when viewed through the lens of regional archives. Such approaches offer new tools and methods along with adding new perspectives to look at systems.

PROF. SUDHISH PACHAURI

• 16-18वीं शताब्दी के रीतिकाल को मांपने की मेथोडॉलॉजी पश्चिम में इजात हुई जिसके सौंदर्यबोध को पश्चिमी मॉडल, रोमांटिसिज़म (जो पश्चिम में उभरा ही यहाँ के संसाधनों को लूटने के बाद), और विक्टोरिया एस्थेटिक्स के आधार पर पीटा गया। इसी के संदर्भ में दलपत जी हमारे समक्ष यह सवाल रखते है कि उन्हीं मापदंडों का इस्तेमाल कर हम उस साहित्य को पढ़ते है; तो किन कारणों के चलते वे सभी मापदंड यहाँ की भूमि पर नहीं तैयार हो पाए? और यह सवाल यहाँ के अकादमिक जगत और बुद्धिजीवियों के लिए भी है।

• एलिसन बुश का काम हमारे लिए और खासतौर से हिंदी जगत के लिए बहुत बड़ा एहसान है। उनका आग्रह ही इस बात पर था कि रीतिकाल को उसके ही उपादानों से समझा जाएं ना कि रोमांटिसिज़म और विक्टोरिया एस्थेटिक्स से निकले हुए मॉडल्स के आधार पर, जिस बात को समझने में हमने बहुत देरी कर दी। साथ ही साथ यह पुस्तक इस ओर भी इशारा करती है कि इतिहास के प्रति हमारा नज़रिया क्या और कैसा होना चाहिए।

• रीतिकाल का अवमूल्यन इसके साहित्य को लेकर पश्चिमी समझ का परिणाम था। सही समझ को विकसित कर पाना तभी मुमकिन है जब इस काल की कविता और कवियों द्वारा गढ़ें गए मानकों के ज़रिए ही इस साहित्य का पाठ किया जाएं।

• केशवदास द्वारा रचित "जहांगीर जस चंद्रिका" केवल जहांगीर के यश का गुणगान ही नहीं करती बल्कि इसका एक महत्वपूर्ण पहलू यह भी है कि यह कृति पुरुषार्थ और भाग्याधीनता के बीच गहरी बहस को रेखांकित भी करती है जिसमें जहांगीर पुरुषार्थ का प्रतीक है और शासित जनता भाग्याधीनता का।

केशवदास उन कवियों में से है जो चुनौतियों को स्वीकार करना पसंद करते थे। अगर तत्कालीन समाज व्यंजना में अपनी बात कहता था तो यह इसके बिल्कुल उलट अभिधा में कहते थे।

PROF. DALPAT RAJPUROHIT

• मुझे याद है शैल्डन पोलॉक ने यह कहा था कि decolonisation तब तक नहीं हो सकता है जब तक हम यह नहीं जानेंगे कि औपनिवेशिक काल से पहले भारतीय साहित्यिक और चिंतन मीमांसा क्या थी।

Also, what we should not forget that the western literary culture was developed after having interactions and dialogues with other literary cultures including Japanese, Russian, Italian, French and so on like Keshavadasa interacted with Sanskrit.

• एलिसन बुश अपनी किताब के ज़रिए यही बताती है कि रीतिकाल को पढ़ने के लिए शब्दावली, मानदंड और अवधारणाएं क्या होनी चाहिए।

PROF. PURUSHOTTAM AGRAWAL

• एलिसन बुश भारतीय चिंतन परंपराओं और गैर भारतीय चिंतन परंपराओं से डायलॉग करती है (engage करती है), उसे डिस्मिस नहीं करती।

• एक बार उन्होंने IIC में व्याख्यान दिया था, जो बाद में IIC Journal में भी छपा जिसका एक उद्धरण मैं आज तक नहीं भूला पाया हूँ जब वे यह कहती है—

"Hindus were also writing histories but they were doing in Hindi."

 

इस संदर्भ में लाल कवि द्वारा रचित "छत्रप्रकाश" इसका जीता जागता उदाहरण है जो सिर्फ़ साहित्यिक कृति ही नहीं बल्कि एक इतिहास का ग्रन्थ भी है।

• एलिसन बुश का हवाला देते हुए प्रो. अग्रवाल एक प्रश्न को रेखांकित करते है कि ऐसी क्या ऐतिहासिक परिस्थितियां होती है कि कुछ संस्कृतियां अपनी साहित्यिक परंपरा सहेज कर रखती है और कुछ भुला देती है।

गायत्री स्पीवाक ने एक जगह लिखा है कि—

Post-colonial intellectuals only respond. और उनका यह उद्धरण एक हद तक बिल्कुल सही है। लेकिन इसी संदर्भ में साथ ही हमें ये हरगिज़ नहीं भूलना चाहिए that India, Africa including other colonies have suffered colonization which Britain did not.

• हिंदुस्तान के अतीत और वर्तमान को तब तक नहीं समझ सकते है जब तक आप गैर संस्कृत, अंग्रेज़ी बोलने लिखने वालो को ध्यान और इज़्ज़त से नहीं सुनेंगे।

रामचंद्र शुक्ल और अन्य विद्वानों के प्रति डिस्मिसिव व्यवहार को रेखांकित करते हुए प्रो. अग्रवाल व्यंग्य करते हुए कहते है कि आजकल ब्राह्मणवादी कहे बिना आप प्रगतिशील का तमगा पा नहीं सकते। ज़रूरी है कि अपने पुरखों के काम को सीधे तौर पर खारिज करने के बजाए उनके प्रति आदर का भाव रख भी उनके काम का मूल्यांकन किया जाना चाहिए।

• वर्नाकुलर की बात सभी करते है लेकिन हमारा वर्नाकुलर के प्रति रवैया आज भी कैसा है? जो स्थिति पहले थी, वही अभी भी बनी हुई है।

• नामवर सिंह द्वारा रचित "कविता के नए प्रतिमान" सिर्फ़ नई कविता को स्थापित करने के लिए ही नहीं लिखी गई बल्कि यह पुस्तक बीसवीं सदी में चल रही साहित्यिक, सांस्कृतिक बहसों की किताब है। लेकिन ऐसी पुस्तकों को हम संज्ञान में नहीं लेते।

• Colonial intellectuals की समस्या यह रही कि भारतीय समाज और इतिहास के संदर्भ में जो धारणाएं वो गढ़ रहे थे, वे सभी व्याख्याएं यहां मौजूद ज्ञान के अनुकूल नहीं थी। इस बात को हम इस उदाहरण से समझ सकते है कि पूर्व ब्रिटिश काल में भारत का किसी भी तरह के अखिल भारतीय बोध को औपनिवेशिक काल में स्वीकार नहीं किया जा रहा था जबकि संस्कृत, अन्य लोकभाषाओं के साहित्य और लोकस्मृति में राजनैतिक एकता की परिकल्पना भले न हो लेकिन विभिन्न क्षेत्रों के बीच संवाद और संघर्ष की स्मृतियां ज़रूर मौजूद थी। यह सब संवेदना विच्छेद और किसी समाज की sensibilities को न समझ पाने की स्थिति का परिणाम था।

साथ ही साथ इस बात का भी ख्याल रखा जाना चाहिए कि राष्ट्र की जो अवधारणा यूरोप में विकसित हुई जो एक धर्म, एक भाषा, एक नस्ल पर आधारित था, उसे भारतीय संदर्भ में नहीं देखा जा सकता, जहां अनुभव के आधार पर यहां के नेतृत्व ने इस अवधारणा का अनोखे तरीके से विस्तार किया। बौद्धिकों से ले कर राजनेताओं ने ऐसे भारतीय राष्ट्र की कल्पना की जो अनेक भाषाओं, धर्मों, संस्कृतियों के सह-अस्तित्व और संवाद पर आधारित हो (Imagining the Nation).

• Prof. Agrawal ended his talk with these words— इतिहास से मुक्ति असंभव है। We must have a sense of history.

Vani Prakashan has published the Hindi translation of "Poetry of Kings" under the title "केसव सुनहु प्रबीन: मुगलकालीन हिंदी साहित्यिक परिवेश." The book originally written in English by Allison Busch. Reyazul Haque has done the Hindi translation, and Dalpat Rajpurohit has written its introduction.

This inaugural program of the book launch of "केसव सुनहु प्रबीन: मुगलकालीन हिंदी साहित्यिक परिवेश" was conducted by Vani Prakashan at the India International Centre on 30-07-2025.

हिंदवी उत्सव 2025—प्रो. कृष्ण कुमार

• वाणी सत्ता से जितना दूरी बनाएं रखेगी, यह वाणी के लिए ही उतना अच्छा है।

• अवधी, ब्रज भाषा—ये सब हिंदी की बोली, बहनें, या बेटियां नहीं है। ये सभी भाषाएँ हैं।

• दुनिया का इतिहास हमें यह सिखलाता है कि किसी भी देश में पूरी तरीके से दमन तब तक नहीं किया जा सकता है, जब तक वहाँ के कवि, लेखक व्यंजना में अपनी अभिव्यक्ति करते रहेंगे।

—Prof. Krishna Kumar

This event was a part of annual festival of Hindwi conducted 27.07.2025

 

शाम-ए-वैद— रज़ा फाउंडेशन

• "बाहरी दुनिया जो कुछ अर्थों में "वास्तविकता" है, उससे वैद दूर होते चले जाते है।"

• "जो भाषा में ना कहा जा सके, उसकी ओर संकेत ध्वनि करती है। वैद ने अर्थों की ध्वनि पर ध्यान न देकर, शब्दों की ध्वनि पर ध्यान दिया।"

—उदयन वाजपेयी 

• "वैद के यहां भाषा धीरे-धीरे सामूहिक चेतना से दूर होती चली जाती है और कॉस्मिक लैंग्वेज बनने की कोशिश करती है।"

• "जो लोग वैद के लिखे को उस संस्कृति का हिस्सा नहीं होने देते जिसे वे साहित्य की संज्ञा देते है। ये वही लोग है जो मरने से डरते है, क्योंकि उन्हें जीना नहीं आया।"

—प्रो. खालिद जावेद

 

Buddhism, Secular Humanism and Another Way of Being: Some thoughts on Ambedkar’s Conversion in 1956— Prof. Uma Chakravarti

• I was born in the year 1941, six years before the partition (1947). And I can't think out of the box as the contemporary conditions shaped me. I was 15 when Ambedkar took on Buddhism; it was a public event organized in Nagpur in the year 1956. I remember it was the same year when the 'Department of Pali' was established at the University of Delhi. Buddhism interested me at that time also, I learnt Pali for my research and wrote my thesis which later came out in the form of a book titled "The Social Dimensions of Early Buddhism."

• I would look at the given theme as a multiplicity of tradition rather than syncretic traditions. Think!

• If you look at historical conditions prevailing in the 6th century BCE, you will find that it was the age of questioning not in India but all over the world we know. It was the time period of Confucius and Zoroaster (Zarathustra), and the reflections of the contemporary ideas of these philosophers can be seen in Buddhism as well. They were questioning each and everything under the sun. They were observers of renunciate existence. 

• Those times were very interesting, covering the spectrum of varied ideas, a lot of changes witnessed by the society, new kingdoms were emerging, institutions churning, and various philosophies, including Chārvaka, were there. Those were the times of changes. 

• What then survived pre-dominantly were ideas of Jainism and Buddhism and their cultures. There was contestation with the Ajīvikās, who didn't rely upon the actions (karma) upon which the Buddha relied.

• In Buddhism, there is a centrality of dúkkha, the existential condition that you can't escape. Also, dúkkha is something that can be created through social conditions, etc. Considering the social dimensions of Buddhism, the Buddha was among the people who considered that there is dúkkha because of 'ceaseless desire.'

Dúkkha is central: suffering is inevitable, which can be ceased by reaching a stage, i.e., desireless. And the practical side is to follow Madhyamamārga, the middle path—a path of compromise and reconciliation that avoids the extremities.

• At that time a lot of rituals were happening simultaneously that Upanishadic traditions critiqued, and it is the meaninglessness of those rituals that became Buddha's central critique as well, which he substituted with 'Ethics' that were central to Buddha's teachings.

• Karuna (compassion) and Maītri (good fellow relationship, good friendship) are the core ideas through which dúkkha can be countered. Buddha didn't involve himself in pondering over questions related to the existence or non-existence of God. There was a list comprising ten futile questions. For him, what is important is how you live your life.

• I want to cite two stories containing the element of generosity that was influenced from Buddhism:

One is from the Vessantara Jātaka, in which Prince Vessantara gives away dāna and everything he had, displaying the virtue of perfect generosity. It is also known as the Great Birth Sermon.

Second is from Maṇimēkalai (one of the Five Great Epics of Tamil Literature), in which Manimekalai, the daughter of Kovalan and Madhavi and also a Buddhist nun, articulated this philosophy. In the story, she used the magic bowl to give alms to prisoners and the poor who had no food to eat.

• In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, there were waves of revivalism of Buddhism; people tried to get re-access to Buddhism. We have Rahul Sankrityayan, Acharya Narendra Dev, Dharmananda Damodar Kosmbi (D.D. Kosambi's father), P. Lakshmi Narasu, and B.R. Ambedkar under this category.

• Ambedkar emphasized looking for solutions within the traditions. He got himself involved in movements related to temple entry, the Mahad Satyagraha. What then we need to ask is what the relation is with ideas of reason and rationality here. These were the moments of deriving dignity.

This session was a part of a seminar on "The Syncretic Traditions in the Subcontinent over the Ages: Contemporary Challenges," conducted by the India International Centre and the Dara Shikoh Centre for the Arts on 26th November, 2024.

Uma Chakravarti is a historian, retired professor of University of Delhi and filmmaker whose body of work has focused on history of Buddhism and that of ancient and 19th century India.

Syncretic Potentials in Urdu Poetry— Prof. Salil Misra

Click an image to view it at full size.

• We need to think upon the fact that what and how ‘Urdu’ does look like to an outsider? It is an unusual name, a name that is not derived from territory, a community, and a geography or environment. Usually, speech of communities gradually converts into a language, which is a standard trajectory (a form of evolution), but it doesn’t happen in the case of Urdu.

• Urdu is like a created language, somewhat frozen, which has no specified area or a territory of its own; it did not emerge before the 18th century. It is a modern, literary, created language. Urdu is an unusual, atypical, and distinctive language.

• Sanskrit is a language of religion; Urdu is a language of heresy.

• In the 18th century, Urdu had an open-ended and eclectic character, depending on other languages like Persian, Sanskrit, etc. Neither tendency goes away or becomes dominant. With the passing of time, in the 19th century, it became more Persianized.

• Initially, Urdu was a language of poetry, and not so much prose was written till the second half of the 19th century.

• Urdu Ghazals are like 'oriental pearls' sung together in which each couplet is independent of the other and tells a story.

• For two centuries, Urdu produced innovative (innovatory) images with few pieces of equipment and finite (and the same) characters.

• Urdu has finite words, finite characters, finite images, social neutrality, and insularity. All these are used in innovative and different ways.

• Writers of Urdu, Hindi, and English do more associate themselves with Mir, Ghalib, and Iqbal, respectively.

• Writings of Mir created a paradigm; later it became unaltered foundations/structures. Mir is the Newton of Urdu literature and there is no Einstein. 

• Let's understand with an example: Urdu and literature written in the language is like a big house or building, and there are four or five rooms in the house. These are:-

1. Love

2. Progressivism

3. Transformative possibilities.

4. Heresy (heretical view towards religion)

5. Abstract philosophy of universalism.

6. Delhi

All these attributes of this language provide the substance for syncretic ideas.

• There are some evolving dimensions of Urdu literature that I want to highlight. These are:-

1) Nationalism

-Poems and commentaries were written revolving around this very idea, covering the sociology of the same, and these are not patriotic pieces. This can be seen in the writings of Iqbal.

-started with Iqbal's Tarana-e-Hindi that celebrates geographical spaces, people, the past, etc.

- There was some abstract poetry and commentaries on nationalism too.

2) Anti-British, Anti-Imperialism

-Akbar Allahabadi can be considered under this category. He critiqued British rule for its centralizing tendencies. Moreover, he celebrated Gandhi. 

3) National Unity

- Such ideas can be seen in the writings of 20th-century Indian Urdu poet Brij Narayan Chakbast.

4) Commentary on the limits of nationalism.

These are the dimensions of Urdu literature, ranging from nationalism ---Anti-Imperialism---Struggle of People---Limits of Nationalism; all generated from finite words.

• Urdu is not very secular, not very devotional, and a heretical language.

• Nazeer Akbarabadi was an 18th-century Indian Urdu poet, a contemporary of Mir. His writings desacralized religion (not heretical in nature) but at the same time celebrated the same. His approach towards religion was festive, and his perspective was celebratory in nature.

• There is one important value addition that the legacy of the Urdu language and its literature has given, i.e., Hindu-Muslim unity.

This session was a part of a seminar on "The Syncretic Traditions in the Subcontinent over the Ages: Contemporary Challenges," conducted by the India International Centre and the Dara Shikoh Centre for the Arts on 26th November, 2024.

Prof. Salil Misra is a Faculty Member of History at School of Liberal Studies, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar University, Delhi.

𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐈 —Aruna Roy

Aruna Roy started her lecture remembering Prof. G.N. Saibaba by reciting his poem and shared her reminiscences from older memories that she had spent half of her first salary and bought 100 Penguin books after becoming an IAS officer. Here are some of the points of her lecture:

• Literature (and poetry) of different genres is the strongest method of communication with different kinds of people.
• Folklore and folk literature are huge stores of knowledge that one gets out of them; you get a chance to connect with diverse people belonging to diverse cultures.
• Many writers including Virginia Woolf, Emily Dickinson, Shakespeare, James Joyce, Tolstoy, Arundhati Roy, Salman Rushdie, and many others have impacted me differently.

This is an image of the list of the writers whose work has impacted Aruna Roy. The same had been shared by her during the lecture.

Click an image to view it at full size.

• Writers like James Joyce and Virginia Woolf introduced me to “Stream of Consciousness,” explaining human minds’ tendencies of thinking at various levels at a time and human emotions involving so many complexities.
• We need to understand that women’s logic is different from that of men’s logic and vice versa.
• There is a need for Aristotelian rationality involving deliberation, thinking, and questioning.
• There is no linearity in my reading, understanding, and action. For me, learning is something that you can learn from anywhere.
• Thinking is not an easy job. Many times, thoughts come back to you and haunt you.
• Battle for women to occupy space in creative writing and intellectual arena is very tough.
• Literature of Gandhi, Marx, Ambedkar, and many others helped me to develop 'Lateral Thinking,' and this I got to know while practicing in my political praxis arena; literature does this to develop this kind of ability.
• Women have instincts of doing art more creatively; they have the potential to imagine and to convince. Mere confrontation leads you nowhere. You must possess the ability to convince others, and women have this ability. Women writers tell the truth in their own way, which also needs to be looked at and incorporated.
• Aesop’s Fables and stories of Panchtantra introduced me to the world of literature and reading about which its importance told by my father at a very young age. Also, my mother used to tell me stories at night.
• I feel that the older generation has a greater sense of plurality than the younger ones, and I have seen this, and they have chosen the mediums of literature, stories, music, etc. to impart and inculcate such senses. You used to listen and read what you liked and not liked, and the implication of the same could be seen in terms of the sense of plurality and multiculturalism that people possessed earlier, which is not the case in the times we live in. North Indians lack this, as they rarely try to understand South India. Interaction with diverse and contrasting views (like of Alvars and Nayanars; North Indian classics 'Ramayana' and 'Mahabharata' and Tamil classics ‘Silappadikaram’ and ‘Manimekalai’) generates tolerance and pluralism in a child's mind.

• Pride and Prejudice of Jane Austen has laid the foundation of feminism in me. Her literature helped me to develop the ability to see ridiculous; I would say the ability to see ridiculousness in the way people function (especially during my political career and when I was in Rajasthan).
• Charles Dickens is one of the greatest writers whose writings has the potential to let you know the social milieu of 19^th century England which you might not learn from a history textbook.
• Writers like Rabindranath Tagore taught me about ‘Bengal Renaissance,’ Sunil Gangopadhyay taught me about Brahmo Samaj, and Tolstoy’s War and Peace taught me about Napoleonic Wars so comprehensively that a single history textbook rarely does.
• Literature is not about knowing and learning a language only; it is about learning ideas also.
• Some emotions remain the same in most of the writings. In modern writings of writers like Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Salman Rushdie, and Arundhati Roy, we can relate with them in a sense that they do write about our ideas better than we do.
• The best way to enter into any community is through their culture, and the best way to know the culture of a community is through their literature. Not knowing about the local fables, laws, literature, and culture is what we lack in modern times.
• If you don't think with love, fear, emotions, and compassion, you will not become a good human being.

This inaugural lecture is part of a new series titled "Literature Matters" (a series in which non literary friends talk about the significance of literature in their lives through writers and literary texts) delivered by 𝐀𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐚 𝐑𝐨𝐲 (a social activist) and conducted by The Raza Foundation in collaboration with the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation on Tuesday, 5th November 2024, at the Jawahar Bhawan, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Road, opposite Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi.

Aruna Roy is an Indian social activist, professor, union organiser and former civil servant. She is the president of the National Federation of Indian Women and founder of the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan.

Click on this link to listen Aruna Roy reading a poem titled 'The Second Calling' written by William Butler Yeats.