ISLAMABAD: Despite the fact that there are over eight billion web pages on the Internet, very few of them deal with Urdu literature. However, a newly launched website eurdubazaar.com tries to tackle the issue, as it catalogues the 100 most important books of the Urdu language. Starting from Wali Dakhni to current authors, the site covers almost 350 years of Urdu and over 2,000 pages of meticulously selected excerpts, representative works and the greatest ghazals, poems, short stories and humor ever written in Urdu.

The site comes along the visual grandeur of Mir, Ghalib and Iqbal's poetry, as captured by some of the greatest painters of Pakistan, such as Sadeqain and Aslam Kamal. It is not all about reading; a literature lover can also enjoy listening to one's beloved poets in their own voices titled Kalam-e-Shaair, Ba Zuban-e-Shaair. Listen to selected ghazals and poems sung by celebrated singers both from Pakistan and India. For the first time on the net, read some of Ghalib's ghazals in his own handwriting, titled Kalam-e-Shaair, and Ba Khat-e-Shaair. There are also some of the oldest samples of Urdu literature: poetry of Amir Khusro, ghazals of Quli Qutub Shah, the first Sahib-e-Deewan Urdu poet, excerpts from the first important book of Urdu prose Sab Ras.

The two young enthusiasts, website developer and designer Mustafa Sarfraz and literature lover Zafar Iqbal Syed, dared all odds to accomplish this challenging task. At the website's launching ceremony, Mustafa said: "When Zafar came to me with the idea of developing a web portal meant only for the dissemination of Urdu literature, I was never apprehensive about the actual technical development of the site." Mustafa had reservations about the financial viability and the cultural acceptance of the project. He found that the local market of around half a million Internet users didn't seem appealing. However, upon realizing that they would be catering to an audience scattered all around the globe through the seamless worldwide web, "we called it a go."

Mustafa and Zafar were pleased to know that the expatriates really wanted a site on Urdu literature. Mustafa said: “To my surprise, the first donation and the only one so far for the site came from an IMF [International Monetary Fund] director from Malta who had a profound interest in Ghalib!"  Zafar Iqbal and Mustafa believe they had “developed this website for a cause, and that is none other than to reinvent the spirit of mughal courts, the times of Ghalib and Meer or even Iqbal and Faiz to tell the world about our splendid cultural heritage, the magnificence of our arts and the richness of our civilization."

"When we take into consideration the renaissance period or the digital revolution, arts and technology have flourished because people embraced them with open arms. But if we see the current situation in our country, there is no appreciation for the arts and as for technology we hardly seem prepared to embrace this new culture," Mustafa regretted. They disclosed that their next project would be to author a series of books in Urdu language in a concise, lucent and visually-enhanced style so that the real diffusion of the IT culture to the man-on-the-street could take place. "This will be especially helpful for those who don't have the financial resources or the time to join an institute for IT education," the two young professionals asserted. [Source: Pakistan Link]