Urdu, written in a Perso-Arabic script, can be difficult to access for those who haven’t learned to read it. For many readers, this creates a gap between familiarity with the language and access to its literary canon, especially since transliterations in Devanagari and Roman scripts are often inconsistent or incomplete.About 13-14 years ago, entrepreneur and philanthropist Sanjiv Saraf encountered this problem. “I realised there were millions like me who couldn’t access this rich subcontinental heritage, and I wanted to bridge that gap by sharing selected works of great poets—like Mirza Ghalib, Mir Taqi Mir, Sheikh Ibrahim Zauq, and Bahadur Shah Zafar—in accessible scripts with word meanings. So, at 54, I decided to learn the script myself. That’s how it began in 2013.”There was no grand vision. “Just pure passion,” says Saraf.Today, along with author and filmmaker Huma Khalil, Saraf has built the Rekhta Foundation. What began as a digital archive has evolved into a larger ecosystem, using technology and programming to expand access to Urdu and other Indic languages. “What began as a small effort quickly grew with overwhelming demand. Today, we feature over 5,000 poets, more than 40,000 ghazals, and thousands of nazms,” Saraf tells The Indian Express.Urdu in IndiaFrom the 13th to the end of the 18th century, the language now called Urdu was largely known as Hindi. British administrator and linguist George Grierson described the language thus: “Hindōstānī is primarily the language of the Upper Gangetic Doab, and is also the lingua franca of India, capable of being written in both Persian and Dēvanāgarī characters… The name ‘Urdu’ can then be confined to that special variety of Hindōstānī in which Persian words are of frequent occurrence… and, similarly, ‘Hindi’ can be confined to the form… in which Sanskrit words abound.”In From Hindi to Urdu: A Social and Political History (2011), Tariq Rahman notes that the term Urdu is Turkish in origin and refers to a camp or military cantonment (Urdū-ē-Muallā). He links it to the idea that the language emerged in Mughal military camps in north India, where interaction between Muslims and Hindus was constant. Yet he cautions, “Such associations tend to disown at least four hundred years of the history of the language when it was called…Hindvi, Hindi, Dihlavi, Gujri, Dakani and Rekhtah.”This framing also risks reducing Urdu to a pidgin. “The definition of a pidgin,” Rahman notes, “is that it is a reduced language that results from extended contact between groups of people with no language in common.” But Urdu, he argues, is not a reduced language; its grammatical structure makes it a full language, not an ad hoc tool of communication.Story continues below this adRahman argues instead for a shared base language—“call it Hindi for convenience”—spoken in pre-Muslim India, which evolved as it came into contact with Persian and Arabic, absorbing vocabulary and linguistic features over time.Saraf adds that the language itself is a confluence of many regional languages. “Less than 30 per cent of Urdu is Persian, Arabic, or Turkish; the rest is rooted in local Indian languages, with its grammar and structure deeply drawn from here,” he says.The idea of Rekhta and its initiativesSaraf did not inherit Urdu. Born into a non-Urdu-speaking family, he discovered the language through poetry and music.Rekhta.org is today the world’s largest digital platform for Urdu literature, reaching over 30 million users annually. Designed for ease of access, it supports Urdu, Devanagari, and Roman scripts, and hosts 8,500+ poets, 80,000+ ghazals, along with a rich archive of shers, meanings, and videos.Story continues below this adReflecting on the journey, he says: “We later expanded into prose—covering classics and Partition-era writers such as Manto, Chughtai, Qurratulain Hyder, Premchand, Krishan Chander, and Rajinder Singh Bedi—the whole gamut. We also launched a preservation project, scanning over 300,000 books. It remains an ongoing journey, with new ideas and possibilities emerging every day, even if there’s only so much we can do.” Digitization at Rekhta FoundationThus, complementing this is a large-scale digitisation effort to preserve Urdu’s literary heritage. The Rekhta Dictionary, launched in 2021, further expands access, offering over 300,000 words with meanings in Urdu, Hindi, and English, alongside synonyms, antonyms, idioms, and proverbs—across all three scripts.Rekhta Learning extends this mission into education through flexible, self-paced online courses on the Urdu language, literature, and culture. Meanwhile, Rekhta Publications, established in 2017, curates and produces literary works in Urdu, Hindi, and English.At the cultural forefront is Jashn-e-Rekhta, launched in 2015 and now among the world’s largest language festivals. Celebrating Urdu and Hindustani culture through poetry, music, and performance, the three-day event draws over 3,00,000 visitors annually and has expanded beyond Delhi to London and Dubai.Story continues below this adKhalil, here, says, “Preservation must go hand in hand with reinvention. There’s little point in preserving something if it becomes obsolete and loses relevance. At Rekhta, the idea is to reimagine the language through multiple mediums. The most effective way to promote Urdu, in my view, is to integrate it into lived cultural experiences—both digital and physical, through events, platforms, literature, music, and the many art forms it naturally supports. To keep the language alive, it has to be experienced in everyday life.”Moving beyond UrduAs part of its expansion into Indic languages, the foundation has built parallel platforms to extend its access-driven model beyond Urdu. Hindwi (Hindi) is its dedicated digital platform for Hindi literature and culture, attracting over 10 million users annually. It hosts hundreds of e-books and 10,000+ poems, organised by form, period, and theme for easy discovery. The initiative is supported by on-ground and digital programs such as Hindwi Utsav, Campus Kavita, and Sangat, a YouTube video podcast documenting the journeys of Hindi writers. Moreover, the Hindwi Dictionary is a trilingual digital resource with over 500,000 entries, covering Hindi and 13 dialects—including Awadhi, Bhojpuri, Maithili, and Braj. Rekhta FoundationRekhta Gujarati, launched in 2024, focuses on preserving and promoting Gujarati literature and culture, with 1.5 million annual users and literary festivals held across Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Mumbai, and Bhavnagar. Similarly, Anjas (Rajasthani) is dedicated to documenting Rajasthan’s literary and oral traditions.Finally, Sufinama serves as the world’s largest digital archive of Sufi traditions, bringing together Sufi and Bhakti writings for a global audience. The platform attracts over 2,50,000 monthly users and has published 20 authoritative titles.Story continues below this adThe age of AI and other challengesAI, for a project of this nature, can be both a boon and a bane, the founders explain. Khalil says, “AI is a very good editor—it speeds things up, but it isn’t a creator in itself. The concept still has to come from you. It can replace parts of production—for instance, turning a concept into visual content with AI-generated imagery while using your own voiceover.”She explains that earlier, pronunciation was a major limitation, especially with Urdu; AI would default to Hindi-like pronunciation and struggle with poetic or complex Urdu words, so human voiceovers were necessary. “That has changed in the last few months. AI voice quality has improved significantly, and Urdu pronunciation has become much more accurate,” she adds, sounding relieved. Rekhta FoundationHowever, Saraf says that this was a much later challenge. “In the beginning,” he recalls, “the biggest hurdle was technical: there was no real platform to handle Urdu online. We had to build our own software and systems, manage a right-to-left script, convert it into multiple scripts, and enable features like click-based word meanings. It took time, and we’re still learning and improving.” Today, with a large team, the foundation faces ongoing demands for infrastructure, salaries, and operations.Yet, Rekhta is combating issues. Among the measures, Khalil notes that the focus is also strongly on digital media. “At Rekhta, we are investing heavily in creating digital content and amplifying material from our festivals. Even if a live event reaches a lakh people, the same content can be taken to a far wider audience quickly and effectively through digital platforms.”Story continues below this adUrdu: a culture“What we call Hindi cinema is, in many ways, Urdu cinema; the dialogues and songs are all Hindustani. The divide between Hindi and Urdu is often overstated; it’s one language in different scripts,” remarks Saraf.When presented well, he says, Urdu has an unmatched appeal. It lends itself beautifully to a wide range of art forms—films and dialogues, ghazal singing, qawwali, dastangoi, theatre, and short stories. “Few languages in the subcontinent have enriched so many artistic and performance traditions in the same way.”According to the founders, Urdu isn’t just a language; it’s a culture in itself. “It brings a certain grace to everyday life,” says Saraf, smiling, “the habit of saying aap, the warmth of tashreev rakhiye—small expressions that make interactions gentler and more respectful. Even difficult things can be said without causing hurt.” “And then there’s its poetic power,” he adds. “You can express so much in just two lines. Like a couplet or a doha: the first line sets the thought, the second delivers the impact.”