Social media brings Urdu closer to masses: Poets, Writers

Facebook, Twitter and other social media websites have helped the common man to understand the Urdu language better, say leading Urdu poets and writers.
"Social networking websites give poets a chance to present their poems to a large gathering directly," says Fahmida Riaz, a Karachi-based Progressive writer, poet and feminist.
The Pakistani poet was here recently to participate in the 16th edition of 'Jashn-e-Bahar', an Urdu poetry symposium attended by poets from India, Pakistan and Japan, among other countries.
According to Riaz the beauty of Urdu has helped in increasing its popularity across the world, where people are now extensively studying the language.

"Urdu has a tremendous future ahead and it is doing exceptionally well. We see the use of Urdu everywhere, even in our day-to-day language," she says.
Riaz is amongst the most prominent female Urdu poets in Pakistan and has authored "Godaavari", "Khatt-e Marmuz", and "Khana e Aab O Gil", the first translation of the Masnavi of Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi from Persian into Urdu.

The author, whose oeuvre comprises translating works of Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai and Shaikh Ayaz from Sindhi to Urdu is active on Facebook and has around 830 followers on Twitter.
Riaz's Indian counterpart, Gulzar Dehlvi, agrees with her about the importance of social media.

"The common perception that social media has lowered the standard of Urdu is not true. In fact it has made Urdu more popular," says the the 89-year-old Padma Shree awardee.
Dehlvi also points to the changing face of Urdu with time.
"There was a time when we used to recite long complex poems, but now even poets have simplified their poetry so as to improve its understanding among common people," says the veteran poet.