Multilingual Scholars

[Narayan R.Joshi]

> From this list today I came to know a multilingual scholar Dr.(Mrs.)
Noorjahan Begum. I congratulate her on her multilingual qualifications. The
Indology list needs to know many scholars like her from India. I personally
request multilingual scholars from India participate in Indology list and
make constructive contribution so that all us enjoy the multilingual rich
heritage of India.My mother tongue is not Urdu. I watch and enjoy Pakistani
family dramas in Urdu having almost 80% Sanskrit related words. I made a
list of about 300 words I did not understand from about 300 dramas I
watched from 1990. I asked meanings of those words to my Pakistani
students. These were mostly Persian words. Once I knew their meanings, it
was also became interesting hobby for me to trace the related Sanskrit word
by using Grimm's rule and similar devices.I equally enjoyed the Qawali
program of Shamshad Bano who sang in Urdu as well as in Telugu at Tahzeeb-i-
Deccan Program in Houston in Nov 1999.However One thing I did not
understand. If Urdu spread from the camp of Mahamood of Gazna from
Afghanistan, then why does Urdu have 80% Sanskrit related words? Does this
mean that people from Afghanistan in 1100 AD have Sanskrit related words in
their language? Mahamood of Gazna was Turkish and not Mongolian. His mother
tongue (I guess) was Turkish.Turkish language belonged to Altaic group
while Persian-FArasi-Sanskrit belonged to Indo-Iranian-Aryan languages
group. Why Urdu was promoted by Turkish kings instead of promoting their
own different Turkish language? Muslim Arabs introduced Arabic script
(around 800 AD) to Aryan lands of Iran and Afghanistan where Turkish people
also came to know that script. Before 800 AD, what was the language of
Afghan people and what script was used by them? And what was the script
used by Turkish people from Turkmenistan before 800 AD when they got
acquainted with Arabic script? What was the script used by Sassanian kings
just before Arabs attacked them in about 700 AD? One can learn to
appreciate our heritage from the ancient history of Asia.In the population
of 70 million people of Maharashta, even 5000 copies of Marathi book are
not sold. If Urdu is written simultaneouly in Arabic script and Devanagari
script, the writer of Urdu will enjoy bigger market within the
subcontinent. This market could be expanded to Afghanistan(birth place of
Urdu) and then even to Iran and Arabia. All middle east countries enjoy
good Indian movies from Bombay. They do not like Bollywood copying more
more from Hollywood.To expand Urdu/Hindi market is the constructive
activity. However it seems to me we lack this kind of constructive
thinking. In Marathi, there is proverb-"TulA nako, malA nako, ghAl
kutrAlA". It means-I do not want to eat. I will not allow you to eat. Let
us throw it to the dog. Are not we people from the Indian heritage doing
exactly the same in arguing about Urdu,Hindi and Sanskrit?May Allah change
our attitude and let us hope Urdu will spread all over the middle east from
Lebanon to Afghanistan!Amen! N.R.Joshi