Vaqaar: Urdu Poetry on Dignity, Grace, and Knowing Your Worth | Urdunama
This week, we turn to 'vaqaar', meaning dignity, grace, and knowing your own worth. Through the poetry of Qateel Shifai, Jaun Elia, and Bash...
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Bollywood tunes make compulsive hummers out of us. But wait, do you know the meaning of every word you hum? Especially the ones in Urdu? Urdunama, with @FabehaSyed, takes one word at a time...
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Bisaat: Knowing Your Place in the Game | Urdunama
From the chessboard of life to the conversation between a mountain and a squirrel, we explore bisaat, a word that speaks to capacity, capabi...
What Is Mizaaj? Exploring Temperament, Personality and Khudi
What does mizaaj tell us about who we are? In this episode of Urdunama, we explore the Urdu word for temperament and disposition, and its co...
Wujood: What Does It Mean to Be? | Urdunama
What does it mean to exist? Is wujood simply about being or does it also include the presence, influence and meaning that come with being?In...
Bhagat Singh, Urdu and Revolution: Understanding His Multilingual World
Ahead of Bhagat Singh’s 119th birth anniversary, Urdunama explores a lesser-known aspect of the revolutionary’s intellectual life: his relat...
Gheebat: Gossip, Backbiting and the Art of Gheebat
We all say we hate gossip, but somehow, someone else’s business is always a little too interesting. In this episode of Urdunama, Fabeha Syed...
Tasleem: The Meaning of Acceptance, Surrender and Letting Go in Urdu Poetry
What does it mean to tasleem something? More than simply accepting what is, tasleem can mean shades of acknowledgement, surrender, respect a...
Ghutan: The Meaning of Suffocation in Urdu Poetry, From Kaifi Azmi to Gulzar
What does ghutan truly mean? Is it physical suffocation, an eerie silence, or the weight of deep loneliness? Or is it that heavy feeling of...
Firaq Gorakhpuri: The Poet of Love, Longing and Pain in Urdu Poetry
Firaq Gorakhpuri was born on 28 August 1896 as Raghupati Sahaay Firaq. On his birth anniversary, we return to a poet who changed how love co...
Marz: A Word for Guilt, Longing, Pain and More
In Urdu poetry, “marz” does not always mean an illness. It can be the weight of guilt, a restless heart, someone else’s manipulation, or eve...
Khud-Mukhtaar: What Does It Really Mean to Be Independent?
What does it mean to be khud-mukhtaar? In this Independence Day episode of Urdunama, Fabeha Syed looks at the Urdu word for being independen...
Gumraah: Urdu Poetry on Being Lost, Misled and Finding the Way
We usually think of gumraah as someone who has been led astray. But is that all the word means? In this episode of Urdunama, we unpack the w...
Gumshuda: When What's Lost Isn't Just a Person
Most of us hear the word 'gumshuda' and think of a missing person. Urdu poetry has other ideas.In this episode of Urdunama, we explore how t...
Gumnaam: The Urdu Word That Means More Than ‘Anonymous’
What does it really mean to be gumnaam?Often translated as "anonymous" or "unknown," the Urdu word carries a much deeper meaning. In this ep...
'Gum': The Urdu Word That Isn't Just About Being Lost
We usually translate gum as "lost". But that's only half the story.In Urdu, gum isn't always about something disappearing. Sometimes it's a...
Fouzia Dastango on Guru Dutt: The Melancholy, the Masterpieces, and the Man
Guru Dutt's films continue to resonate decades after they were made, but what was the man behind the camera really like? In this episode of...
What Does 'Naseeb' Really Mean? Urdu Poetry on Fate, Destiny and the Things We Can't Explain
Why do two equally qualified people end up with completely different careers? Why does one marriage survive while another falls apart? Why d...
Why We Fall for Fareb? Urdu Poetry on Deception, Trust and Hope
A salesperson can sell you a dream. Social media can sell you a lifestyle. Sometimes, your own heart sells you hope. That's fareb. Often tra...
From Monsoon Daghaa to Human Betrayal: The Many Meanings of Broken Trust in Shayari
Mumbai is halfway through June and still waiting for the monsoon. Every few days the forecast promises rain, and every few days the clouds s...
From Fever to Fire: Exploring Haraarat in Urdu Poetry
As another summer pushes temperatures to record highs, darja-e-haraarat , meaning 'degree of heat', has become part of our daily vocabulary....