It is my pleasure to read it in The Times of India today morning that Savarkar was also handy with Urdu and had written poems in the language. It comes as a surprise, not to me, but to those who always considered Savarkar as a Hindu nationalist. Maybe this is the reason the Times of India puts this news into its front page. Many believed that Savarkar was Hindutva leader and classified his patriotism that was not in the interest of the country. It was this stance that his patriotism was never recognized, except during the NDA rule when BJP was in power. The reason was obvious.
The two poems, written in Urdu, have been unearthed by a Dadar-based institute. It is believed he had written these ghazals (poems) during his 11 years of imprisonment in the Andaman Cellular Jail. The Newspaper writes that ghazals are patriotic in character which are a part of a notebook Savarkar kept in prison. "And there is much surprise that he wrote in fluent Urdu, since Urdu is a language considered unlikely for the champion of political Hindutva" the newspaper writes. The institute has put the notebook on display at the Smarakopposite Shivaji Park maidan.
While the poems have surfaced, many should get a lesson that a language doesn't confine to a religion. If a person speaks or writes in Hindi, it does not mean he preaches Hinduism. Also it doesn't divide us into regions. More than the religion, India has suffered with the language syndrome. Many Southern states are averse to Hindi. So are Hindi speaking people to Southern languages. It's a country divided into many languages. We often find it below our dignity to speak any other language. But when it comes to English, we are open to embrace it without any argument. A poet or an artist needs to express a story, a poem through words written in whatever language.
The two poems, written in Urdu, have been unearthed by a Dadar-based institute. It is believed he had written these ghazals (poems) during his 11 years of imprisonment in the Andaman Cellular Jail. The Newspaper writes that ghazals are patriotic in character which are a part of a notebook Savarkar kept in prison. "And there is much surprise that he wrote in fluent Urdu, since Urdu is a language considered unlikely for the champion of political Hindutva" the newspaper writes. The institute has put the notebook on display at the Smarakopposite Shivaji Park maidan.
While the poems have surfaced, many should get a lesson that a language doesn't confine to a religion. If a person speaks or writes in Hindi, it does not mean he preaches Hinduism. Also it doesn't divide us into regions. More than the religion, India has suffered with the language syndrome. Many Southern states are averse to Hindi. So are Hindi speaking people to Southern languages. It's a country divided into many languages. We often find it below our dignity to speak any other language. But when it comes to English, we are open to embrace it without any argument. A poet or an artist needs to express a story, a poem through words written in whatever language.
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