Interesting Websites in Hindi/Urdu

[James]

I thought it might be interesting if we create a list of interesting websites in Hindi and Urdu.  The website can be on any topic at all, whatever is your fancy.

I myself am woefully unaware of the Hindi web world, and am largely reading very boring news websites.

To start the list, there is the ever useful BBC's Hindi news portal:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/hindi/

(I read in particular the entertainment section:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/hindi/entertainment/  It's interesting how Bollywood news that makes it to here often doesn't show up on the main website)

Then, of course, there is the Webdunia website which is apparently Hindi's first web portal.  To be honest, I'm not very fond of it.  I don't like the look & layout.

http://www.webdunia.com/

Sify also has a webportal:
http://sify.com/hindi/

The few websites I know of are in Hindi since I can read that, but I thought the rest of you who can read Urdu might want to add your favourite sites as well.  List away! 

[ber]

I think this a good idea to have such a topic, but to be efficient it should be made sticky.

A nice general news website is the site of the Navbharat Times. There are also a lot of news on Bollywood.

[zakhm-e-dil]

urdu sites

http://www.bbcurdu.com/ (khabar)
http://www.urduword.com/ (tarjuma)
http://www.apniurdu.com/ (tarjuma)
http://www.urdupoint.com/ (Khabar)
http://www.urdupoetry.com/ (shayari)
http://www.google.com/intl/ur/ (internet ki talash)
http://www.urdutimes.com/ (khabar)
http://www.jang.com.pk/ (khabar)
http://www.quranweb.com/urdu/ (quran)
http://www.urdustan.com/ (tamaam alameeeeeeen! almost.)
http://mehfil.urdustan.net/ (urdu mehfil)
http://forums.fkn1337.com/pakistan/index.php (unicode urdu forums)

[panjabigator]

Does anyone know of sites which define the "sarkaarii hindi/urdu"

Things that commonly show up in newspapers and other in both languages?

[zakhm-e-dil]

http://www.learningurdu.com/urdudictionary.asp

this dictionary is huge

[panjabigator]

http://www.learningurdu.com/urdudictionary.asp

this dictionary is huge

dhanyaavaad!

[panjabigator]

http://www.yourdictionary.com/languages/indoiran.html

[James]

Thanks again to insaniaity for this website on Ghalib (by a prof at Columbia University).

And of course, mention must be made of the Digital South Asia Library.

[AirForceAllie]

I am never doing my job at work, I am busy browsing these Urdu sites:

http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~navin/india/urdu.dictionary
http://biphost.spray.se/tracker/dict/

The first one isn't as user friendly as the other Urdu dictionaries used on this thread, but they are both pretty good!

[Daniel]

This one is incredible.... I never imagined it would exist, but here it is...an Urdu Spellchecker!

http://www.crulp.org/spellchecker/spellchecker.aspx


Also, a good forum on a website with a an admirable dedication to urdu:

http://www.urduweb.org/mehfil/

[Dil Bert]

Does a site like this exist for news in Hindi?  Hover over the characters to see the coolness.

[Daniel]

I know of this excellent one for Persian, but none for hindi/urdu.

[Dil Bert]

http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/003055.html

Dr. Brij Kothari had an idea. Instead of being satisfied with the thought that Bollywood films served their purpose as a cheap and effective way to entertain the masses, why not put them to work so that they could actually be useful. The result of his idea is Planet Read (thanks for the tip Kiran). Kothari describes his venture on Google’s Blog:

    My organization, PlanetRead, works in Mumbai and Pondicherry, India. We have developed a “Same-Language Subtitling” (SLS) methodology, which provides automatic reading practice to individuals who are excluded from the traditional educational system, or whose literacy needs are otherwise not being met.

[palacerani]

Daniel and Dil Bert I love those sites. The persian one can be heard too. Oh how I wish there was one for Hindi too. Is there a word for translating this way? So I can google it?

[chandranc]

One day if someone were doing this in hindi I would spend all my time there.

in honor of the vast number of non american english speakers that chimed in on that poll, I translated bollywhat's forum into cockney...

there are other settings too...explore.

http://rinkworks.com/dialect/dialectp.cgi?dialect=cockney&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbollywhat.com%2Fforum%2Findex.php

[D.t.]

I adore BCC's site "BBC languages". They have introduction lessons, Holiday blunders etc. And now they have done some short Guide to Urdu with key phrases and history of the language, klick here.

[Ashish]

Try this

http://www.anubhuti-hindi.org/

This is online Hindi magazine. Not only good for learning hindi but also for enjoying Hindi poetry and stories.

http://manaskriti.com/kaavyaalaya/

This one has huge collection of Hindi poems, many by renowned poets.

[panjabigator]

http://www.languageshome.com/
Flip around here...they try to teach different indian languages in other scripts.

[ber]

http://www.languageshome.com/
Flip around here...they try to teach different indian languages in other scripts.

The idea is interesting but there are a lot of mistakes in the "Hindi written in Gujarati" part. And Palacerani said it was the same for Tamil in Hindi so unfortunately it doesn't seem reliable.

[panjabigator]

http://forum.wordreference.com/

I stumbled upon this site where there are plenty of people from around the world learning each others languages in a forum type set up...there doesnt seem to be much representation from the South Asian side but I thought I would pass this along to you guys in case you're interested:)

[Daniel]

http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/urdutech/ghazalreader/

Looks like an awesome resource.  I cant exactly open it due to outdated internet cafe browsers, but it sounds fantastic.

Also, I saw the dev. subtitles on Doordarshan in Delhi the other day...I was the only one midly excited about it. 

[Meredith]

http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/urdutech/ghazalreader/

Looks like an awesome resource.  I cant exactly open it due to outdated internet cafe browsers, but it sounds fantastic.

I want to add my vote to the Urdu reader Daniel linked to above.  It's brilliant, comes with an in-built glossary and everything.  Alas it's not nastaleeq script; I find the Arabic nashq style much harder to understand because that wasn't the script in which I was taught to read Urdu.  Also, nastaleeq is so beautiful -- and stretches out the letters in such an easy-on-the-eyes way.  So, that takes some getting used to.

[moonstruk]

This is a personal favorite site Its so funny:

http://shayari.sr-ultimate.com/

http://shayari.sr-ultimate.com/shayari/funny-shayari/shayari-sms-and-hindi-jokes.html

[James]

There seems to be a rather large collection of short stories in Hindi on this website.  Probably too simple for fluent speakers, but useful for learners.

[mustaqbal]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C70QYju0ZnE

Here is a cool video to watch. It's in hardcore Pakistani Urdu.

This is the entire engilsh translation:

Jamia Uloom-ul-Islamia, Binori Town, Karachi.

My companions spoke about this topic yesterday and today I will attempt to briefly talk about it in light of those comments.

There is no doubt that our biggest predicament is the lack of unity and oneness of thought, but the question is, why does this deficiency still exist after 58 years have passed. The reason for this is that confusions have been introduced concerning the basic platform of "Pakistan ka matlab kya, La ilaha illallah" (What is the meaning of Pakistan? There is no God, but Allah) that was given to us. According to a systematic plan, it is still being asked on what basis Pakistan was founded and what the Quaid's (founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah's) vision was.

Isn't it all clear? Can you or I answer this question or will it be answered by that generation that built the foundations of Pakistan with their blood? This is an insult to their souls... This is an insult to their souls. This is an insult to their sacrifices. To say that "You sacrificed your lives, but we can't understand what your issue was".

Our second biggest problem is the current law and order situation. And unfortunately, Islam is often held responsible for this. On the contrary, study of the Quran shows that peace and harmony is given utmost importance. Just look at the Prophet Abraham (A.S.)'s prayer. He prays about the economy later, first he asks about peace. He says, "rabbij-a'l haaz'al balada aamina", "O Lord, make this place the cradle of peace". Then he says, "warzuq ahlahu minas samaraat", "And rebuild/develop the economy for those who dwell here". When Allah recounts His rewards, he says to Abraham, "Wa iz ja'alnal baita masabata lin naasi wa amn'a", "We put you where you people may come and go as you wish and which We made into a center of peace and harmony".

This is very clear. The question is why were our peace and solace compromised? How did our youth become a tool for the terrorists? And why day by day, we are sinking into the quick sand of lawlessness? Mr. President, this is a point to be noted. This lesson was not taught to them through any religion. This lesson was not taught to them through any faith. This division of classes, exploitative governance, disregard of talent, hollow education system, unlimited corruption and misuse of authority are those terrifying problems that have pushed the youth to this stage. Solve these problems. Solve these problems and then see if this youth is a terrorist or a peace-loving person.

Our third biggest problem, which is of utmost importance at this moment, is the disregard for democratic customs. Still we have been unsuccessful in implementing a truly democratic culture and respect for the public mandate. Unstable assemblies, rigging of elections, and Mr. President, the custom of bypassing the parliament in important national issues has taken away the public's faith in the current political system.

For this, we must learn a lesson from our neighboring country which Mr. Mushahid recently visited and you Mr. President are about to visit in the near future. Their time of independence and ours is one. We and they have had the same amount of time. Yet they have strengthened their democratic institutions such that no matter what happens, no matter what disaster occurs, the armed forces do not leave the barracks and take over the running of the country.

Similarly, .... Mr. President, I believe that this picture of the Quaid that is hanging in this hall (points towards the large photo on the wall) and that you are standing in front of, is asking you, "General, you are the keeper of the borders. Who has shown you the path to the corridors of power/government?".

Our third biggest problem, is "elite-class economy". Your number wizards are stating that the economy is growing, our reserves are increasing, debts have been reduced, kashkol (begging instrument) is broken. Again and again you state that in the past, we used to go to beg. Now we go to give.

And the public is astonished that while the economy is improving, the poor man's fire is dying out, while foreign exchange reserves are increasing, petrol prices are sky-rocketing. Look at what point the Rupee has devalued to.

One more thing after this. You stated that there is nothing wrong in celebrating Basant (kite-flying festival often chided for being excessively lavish). Islam doesn't forbid sports and actually encourages healthy pastimes. But for God's sake, don't dance on the tombs of the poor and the downtrodden.

Look at what Islam says. If within a house .... it is a strange feeling .... (cutoff by applause.) If you fly a kite on an individual level, nobody will forbid you from it. But when a poor man sees that he is starving while his president is flying a kite, he gets the impression that there is some sort of gap between them. The poor man thinks, .... It feels as if there has been a death in your neighbor's home and you are drumming away (celebrating) next door saying, "I'm free, the loss is yours, not mine". Every faith will tell you to sympathize with him, to be kind and to mourn with him.

In addition, Mr. President, an important thing that we feel is that many problems are made worse by the tone of your voice. You say to the people of Balochistan, "We will strike you from where you won't even know what hit you". These things... You are the elder of this nation. You should speak to us in the same way that you speak to your son Bilal.

.... Mr. President, ... My sister (probably a reference to a previous speaker) talked about the uniform. You yourself said that you will take off the uniform on the 31st October, yet for the "greater good of the people", you broke your promise?

(Just before applause from the audience, Mr. Mushahid states that "Your time is up")