Toone bhi mere bhai chhoda pyaara vatan
Laat maari hai aish par
Jab main ab Awadh mein jaaonga is bhai bin
Kya kahunga, mar gaya Lanka mein bhai bekafan?
You too, my brother, left your beloved homeland to go into exile
You sacrificed all the comforts and luxuries
When I go back to Awadh without my brother
What will I say, that my brother died in Lanka, without a shroud?
Ramlila is usually enacted in Sanskritized Hindi as a way of recreating the ancient past. But a couple of Ramlilas in this industrial town tell the tale differently. As is clear from the above lines — where Ram fears the worst as Laxman lies injured in the battlefield — Ram’s legend here (in Faridabad) is told in Urdu.
This interesting article appeared in today’s newspaper, about Ramlila being enactedin Faridabad, with couplets spoken in Urdu. Some excerpts from the article are shared here. The entire article can be accessed at the link below: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/In-Faridabad-Ram-spouts-Urdu-couplets/articleshow/43463704.cms:
At the enactments of Shri Sharaddha Ramlila Committee at sector 15 and the Vijay Ramlila Committee, the tradition of Urdu poetry and the legend of Ram come together to form a unique blend.
Urdu entered the scene when refugees settled here from Pakistan. “Our script was penned in 1976 by Nand Lal Batra, who had come from Lahore and wrote in Urdu,” says Chawla.
Another place where Urdu couplets and poetry have replaced Hindi is the enactment by Vijay Ramlila Committee. The chairman of this committee, Vishwa Sharma, a singer and musician, is well-versed in Urdu. “I learnt music from Naushad sahib in Mumbai,” he says
Here, Faridabad mayor Ashok Arora plays either Dashrath or Hanuman. The background score, being used for the past 45 years, was given by one Habib bhai. “Use of Urdu is the unique selling point of this Ramlila. Most of old Faridabad residents were refugees and their language is Urdu-Punjabi,” says Sharma.
urduwallahs 