Hindi-Urdu: A Subconscious Tale of Unity

hindi urdu

We’re consciously and continuously fighting over belief systems, color, caste, creed, race, etc. but seldom have we realized that there’s a third side to all of the rage — language. Our daily bunch of words that we use share so much of brotherhood, unity, or togetherness. How you ever even thought about it?

Maybe we’re divided by a million differences but when it comes to daily communication, we are united. The biggest similarity between the two is, both use the same grammatical structure which is derived from Sanskrit including verbs. Hence, both of the languages, be it Hindi and Urdu originated indirectly from Sanskrit. For example:

वो काम करता है? Does he work? काम comes from कर्म from Sanskrit.

Many don’t realize this fact because they’ve been conditioned by popular media such as films. Those films are labeled as Hindi films but a mixture of Hindi and Urdu. Many films as well as media such as daily soaps, magazines, etc. are using more and more words from Urdu without even realizing it. for example:

दिल, दोस्त, वक़्त, औरत, आज़ादी, दिन, खूब, हालत, दरवाज़ा, and many more.

Urdu was made — from Hindi, Persian, and Arabic — and promoted for the Islamic courts just like British rule favored the use of English from the 18th century onward.

There’re some striking differences between Hindi and Urdu. First, Hindi uses the Devanagari script which is used by Sanskrit while Urdu uses the script from Persian. Second, Hindi uses more words derived from Sanskrit and lesser words which are loaned from Urdu while Urdu uses more words that are derived from Arabic, Turkish, and Persian.

It’s glad to see we’re united, even though subconsciously, when it comes to daily communication. Nowadays, English is also an important part of our regular language as certain words are best spoken in English. The beauty of mindfulness is in observing these tiny details. They bring awe and surprise that add a little spice, and hope, to our life.

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