Languages are getting digitised, much like the humans that speak them.
And so, when shayari, the ‘single malt’ of poetry makes an appearance on a platform that allows just 140 characters, patrons are expected to be at a loss for words – pun intended.
But around this character-crunch a poetry subculture has blossomed.
The hashtag shair was started on Twitter by Rana Safvi, an Urdu lover. Another, rekhta was initiated by Rekhta.org. On both these hashtags, one is welcomed by soulful couplets.
These shers are ready-made to compete with the robustness of the digital world. Most automatically fit well under 140 words, making them easily tweetable.
Sanjiv Saraf, the founder of Rekhta.org brought together techies and Urdu scholars to create a website where one can find the meaning of Urdu words in Roman or Hindi script. The Word of the Day today, for instance, is Dozakh, or hell.
Mirza Ghalib may not have lived to see these times, but that hasn’t dented his online popularity in any way. Even Allama Iqbal has some 18,000 followers on Twitter.
Faiz Ahmad Faiz, too, has an account on Twitter, with 46,000 followers, no less. Incidentally, even Amitabh Bachchan follows Rekhta on Twitter.
The hashtag OurShair allows tweeters to submit their own shayari.
Meanwhile, the hashtag shairoftheday, initiated by Rekhta shares curated couplets everyday on a pre-set theme.
Kunal Maithani, 29, a poetry enthusiast and amateur poet, shared with us why he follows the Twitter trend.
Interestingly, 60% of Rekhta’s followers are under 35. The organisation’s self initiated surveys have also found that the bastions of Urdu have moved from the dreamy towns of UP to the busy cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune and Hyderabad.
A clarion call for an online mehfil, sometime?
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