Episodios

  • Junoon in Urdu Poetry: Meaning, Madness, and Purpose

    Junoon in Urdu Poetry: Meaning, Madness, and Purpose
    Jan 24 2026
    Junoon is often translated as passion or madness, but in Urdu poetry it carries layered, sometimes conflicting meanings. For poets like Mirza Ghalib, junoon is dangerous if exposed or fully unpacked. It then becomes a force so raw that it can undo the self. If Ghalob's junoon is intense, self-aware, and often destructive, poets like Ahmad Faraz and Ameer Qazalbash later engage with the same intensity differently. Where Ghalib is wary of junoon’s excess, they explore what happens when that intensity is held with awareness and direction when madness becomes purposeful rather than consuming.This episode traces that shift in from junoon, from a volatile force that must remain partially veiled, to junoon as a creative energy that can transform darkness into light. Junoon, in the end, is not one thing. It is a risk and sometimes, a possibility. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    16 m
  • When Hard Work Isn’t Enough: Mehnat in Everyday Life and Poetry

    When Hard Work Isn’t Enough: Mehnat in Everyday Life and Poetry
    Jan 11 2026
    In this episode, we sit with the Urdu word 'mehnat' which is usually translated as 'hard work', but carrying far more tiredness, repetition, and lived experience.Moving between everyday life and Urdu poetry, the episode pushes back against the idea that hard work always guarantees success. From the comforting language of motivational culture to the kind of labour that happens quietly, without visibility or reward, 'mehnat' here is effort that continues even when energy runs low and outcomes remain uncertain.At the centre of the episode is Kaifi Azmi’s nazm Makan, which speaks directly to inequality, to those who build homes, palaces, and comfort for others, while having no place of rest themselves.This is not a motivational talk. It’s a conversation about work that doesn’t shine, effort that isn’t applauded, and the kind of labour that changes life gradually, over time, rather than all at once. Tune in. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    14 m
  • Dua as Faith, Action and Inheritance: Reading Ghalib, Munawwar Rana and Kaifi Azmi

    Dua as Faith, Action and Inheritance: Reading Ghalib, Munawwar Rana and Kaifi Azmi
    Jan 4 2026
    In Urdu poetry, dua is never just prayer but it is a reflection of how a poet relates to hope, faith, and control.For Ghalib, dua is too uncertain. He chooses action over waiting, offering his entire self instead of trusting outcomes.For Munawwar Rana, dua is absolute assurance, a mother's prayer that walks beside him like protection, unquestioned and complete.And for Kaifi Azmi, dua becomes the final gift that a father offers when strength, means, and time have run out, leaving only blessing and trust in the child’s choice.Three poets. One word.And three very different ways of believing in what prayer can do. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    14 m
  • Reading Ghalib's 'Koi Umeed Bar Nahin Aati': Ego and Self Awareness Without Apology

    Reading Ghalib's 'Koi Umeed Bar Nahin Aati': Ego and Self Awareness Without Apology
    Dec 27 2025
    Reading Ghalib's 'Koi Umeed Bar Nahin Aati': Ego and Self Awareness Without ApologyDescription: Mirza Asadullah Beg Khan, known to the world as Mirza Ghalib, remains a towering figure in Urdu poetry for his rare ability to capture complex emotions with striking simplicity. In this episode, we step into Ghalib’s world through one of his most well-known ghazals, 'Koi Umeed Bar Nahin Aati.' The reading reveals a poet who is deeply human and full of flaws and contradictions, and yet remarkably alert to his own shortcomings. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    16 m
  • Falsafa in Life: Understanding Iqbal’s Philosophy of Grief

    Falsafa in Life: Understanding Iqbal’s Philosophy of Grief
    Dec 20 2025
    What is Falsafa? It’s the philosophy that pushes us to explore ideas with wisdom, and with a humility in which every certainty melts away. We explore this week's theme, 'falsafa' through Iqbal’s 'Falsafa-e-Gham'. He shows that grief isn’t just pain but it’s the light inside the heart, the silent music and the rouge for the soul that beautifies it. He goes on that loss and sorrow awaken us, polish the spirit, and reveal life’s deeper truths, depth and beauty we might otherwise miss. tune in. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    18 m
  • Zehn and Jazbātiyat: Heart vs Mind in Urdu Poetry

    Zehn and Jazbātiyat: Heart vs Mind in Urdu Poetry
    Dec 13 2025
    This week in UIrdunama, we explore poems that live inside our zehn, meaning our mind. But this internal world of the zehn keeps colliding with the one that belongs to the heart and its jazbātiyat (emotion driven clarity) that won’t be silenced. From Barelvi’s guiding light in confusion, to Jazib’s heart triumphing over intellect, to Javed Akhtar’s inner world in flames where only one surviving corner remains, these ashaar show how thoughts and feelings collide, break, and endure in every human experience. Tune in. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    12 m
  • Kya Sochte Ho? : Exploring 'Soch' Through Urdu Poetry

    Kya Sochte Ho? : Exploring 'Soch' Through Urdu Poetry
    Dec 6 2025
    In this week's Urdunama, we speak about 'Soch', meaning a personal lens through which we look at everything.With the intensity of Mohsin Naqvi, the softness of Bashir Badr, the sharp pain of heartbreak from rejectioon in Parveen Shakir's ghazal, and the mature understanding of boundaries in intimacy in Ahmad Faraz's nazm 'bhali si ek shakl thi', Fabeha Syed unpacks how thoughts shape love, loss, and the stories we tell ourselves.Because real life isn’t just about what happens to us, it’s about hum kis soch mein mubtala hain? (what kind of thinking are we caught up in?) tune in. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    18 m
  • Dharmendra - Pur Kashish, Shaista Mizaaj Fankar

    Dharmendra - Pur Kashish, Shaista Mizaaj Fankar
    Nov 29 2025
    In this week’s Urdunama, we remember Dharmendra not only as Bollywood's "Greek-God" hero but essentially as a man defined by two qualities - Pur-kashish (full of charm) and Shaista-mizaaj (gentle in nature). From humble beginnings in Punjab to a stunning, record 300 plus film-career, he was a man in love with Urdu zabaan. Join us for a brief tribute to a star whose charm and grace remain unforgettable. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    12 m