by ASGHAR VASANWALA
Dear friends,
Urdu uses Arabic script. However, Arabic has fewer alphabets. Urdu has many more alphabets for accommodating sounds of Indian languages such as th, dh, ph, etc. Urdu also is a calligraphic language that combines alphabets; shape of its many alphabet changes depending its position in a word. Shapes of an alphabet occurring in beginning of a word and in middle of a word are different. Urdu employed a huge cadre of calligraphers who hand wrote Quran, books, poems, and newspapers, magazines etc. When printing press was invented, those calligraphers called “kuttab” (Sing. katib) put resistance adopting typesetting. Urdu type setting was very difficult; also, typeset work looked ugly in comparison to handwritten work. Therefore, Urdu resorted to lithography while other languages adopted typeset. Lithography is a cumbersome process. It is difficult to correct spelling and other errors in lithography. With the advent of computer, Urdu writing got great boost. It allowed calligraphic writing without the problems of lithography. Yet, a book or newspaper written by a good katib and properly lithographed is very pleasing and beautiful; computer written Urdu is no match. Now a day, lithographic work has become very expensive and it is becoming obsolete; kuttab are becoming extinct. I find typing in Urdu on a computer very easy in comparison with Hindi or Gujarati; because in Urdu short vowels are not necessary which cuts down lot of typing. Again, computer program automatically changes shape of the alphabet according its position in a word.
In spite of all that, one newspaper in Chennai is still adhering to calligraphy and lithography.
Please click the following link and watch a 10-minute video how the newspaper is handwritten and printed. Thanks to dedication of one family.
This Is the Last Handwritten Newspaper
by SAM BIDDLE
Not only is The Musalman written by hand—at a time when printed newspapers are dying like sick lepers—it’s produced by a team of only four scribes. And it’s not just handwritten—it’s transcribed in calligraphy. These people work. Hard.
The Musalman has been operating in India since 1927, and has never had an employee quit—the only reason they leave the paper is because they’re dead. That is what you might call dedication—four Urdu calligraphers in an 800 square foot room, cranking out newspapers for very little pay. Do not expect an iPad edition.