Digitizing Pahari literature: Mir Ubaid starts his ‘dream project’
Karnah
December 17, 2022.
With an aim to promote and preserve the Pahari
language, a 35-year-old youth from Kashmir has started his ‘dream project’ to
digitize the Pahari literature.
Mir Ubaid Ayoob has recently launched a
website with the purpose to preserve and promote Pahari literature and so far, 50
plus long essays of noted writers and poets of Pahari language have been uploaded
on it.
Hailing from Karnah tehsil of north Kashmir's
Kupwara district, Ubaid after completing his MBA from UPTU, Uttar Pradesh
worked for multiple companies for several years and returning back to Kashmir.
He left his job with an aim to promote and preserve the Pahari language and
culture.
Ubaid told Rising Kashmir that there was no
platform where Pahari literature was available online or in digital
format. The literature was only restricted to Jammu and Kashmir Academy of
Art, Culture and Languages (JKAACL) in books format and had no access to the
global audience, he said.
"There were only a handful of singers in
the field who sang in Pahari. I decided to make this language one of the
powerful languages as it has its rich culture and literature,” Ubaid said.
Earlier Ubaid used to upload content including
songs in Pahari language on his social media platforms and that was also
getting popular across the Line of control (LoC).
His YouTube Channel ‘UA Club’ has 75k Subscribers
and on Facebook, ‘UA Club’ has 1.8lak followers.
He said there was a gap of rich literature
which was available only in books. Now it is my dream to make it in digital
format to provide free access to Pahari language lovers across the world.
"Presently we are only choosing some of
the important topics, popular novels, poems and stories for the website. We are
working on other things as well to make content interactive on the site, "Ubaid
said.
Some of the poets whose literature has been
digitized includes Ghulam Haider Nadeem, Abdul Rashid Qureshi, Raja Nazar
Banyari, Nazir Masoodi, Noor Ahmed Qureshi, Mohammad Azim Khan, Dr Farooq Anwar
Mirza, KD Mani, Dr Jahangir Danish, Sheikh Shabir Ahmed, Mohammad Ayoob Nayeem
and others.
Ubaid says although it is the initial stage of
his project, he is getting positive response and appreciation from the
people.
He says although, there are minimal benefits
for him in doing this work but in future it will be the biggest contribution
for the Pahari language. He is committed to take the language to the next
level.
Apart from this website, Ubaid is a stage Artist,
Producer, Photo & videographer and cultural activist. He is also working
with the team of Kashmir’s famous singer Waqar Khan.
He has also produced some short films in
Pahari language including 'Madad' (Horror Pahari Film), Toba (Film on Drugs),
Yarru Da Bayha (Comedy Film) and Sanjha Dard (Film on brotherhood).
Ubaid says mother tongue has a deep-rooted
connection with their unique identity. It is the language of our heart and there
is more comfortable expression in it, he said.
"The role of civil societies and local
media in advocating the preservation of mother tongues is important. In
reality, very few institutions have been working towards saving the Pahari
language,” he said.
