Language no bar: Urdu, English, Hindu corners at fest draw most book lovers

Lucknow: The literary corners dedicated to English, Hindi, and Urdu are drawing admiration from literature lovers visiting the ongoing Gomti Book Festival in Lucknow University.Shelves are filling fast as visitors revisit old classics while also embracing bold, contemporary voices. In the English section, timeless names such as William Shakespeare's Hamlet and Macbeth, Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility, and George Orwell's 1984 and Animal Farm remain perennial favourites. Alongside them, modern authors like Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things, Jhumpa Lahiri's Interpreter of Maladies, and Ruskin Bond's The Room on the Roof continue to capture the imagination of both young and seasoned readers. "I picked up Interpreter of Maladies because Lahiri's stories speak to the experiences of modern Indian families in a global world, classics like Orwell are great, but contemporary writers connect with reality," said Amna Iqbal, an English literature student. The Hindi shelves resonate with classics from Munshi Premchand's Godaan and Nirmala, Mahadevi Verma's Yama and Smriti ki Rekhayein, and Harivansh Rai Bachchan's Madhushala. Adding to these are powerful works of modern storytellers such as Nirmal Verma's Ve Din, Uday Prakash's Peelee Chhatri Wali Ladki, and others who mirror contemporary realities in relatable narratives. "I always return to Madhushala because Bachchan's poetry feels timeless but discovering Uday Prakash makes me feel that Hindi literature is alive and evolving," said Sandeep Yadav, a Hindi literature student. The Urdu collection continues to enchant visitors with the poetry of Mirza Ghalib's Diwan-e-Ghalib, Faiz Ahmed Faiz's Dast-e-Saba, Naqsh-e-Faryadi, and Allama Iqbal's Bang-e-Dra, Asrar-e-Khudi. The prose section glows with works of Ismat Chughtai's Lihaaf, Saadat Hasan Manto's Toba Tek Singh and Khol Do, and other writers who brought depth to Urdu literature. Readers are also picking up books on ghazals, nazms and short stories. "There's something magical about reading Ghalib or Manto in the original Urdu, the rhythm of the language itself is poetry" said Asim Khan, a research scholar in Urdu. Booksellers too are noticing the trend. "What excites us is that readers are not restricting themselves to one language, they are buying Shakespeare with Lahiri, Premchand with Uday Prakash, and Faiz with Manto. It shows that literature across languages continues to inspire equally," said Anil Gupta, a bookseller at the fair.