Urdu

Authorities in Pakistan want to clamp down on unsolicited mobile phone text messages. But as Fahad Desmukh reports from Karachi, the order — and the list of words — have become a target of both ridicule and criticism.

For hundreds of years, musicians from India and Pakistan have taken the poetry called ghazal and set it to music. The songs project such deep longing that you don’t need to know Urdu to feel the pain. Produced by Rob Weisberg.

Our partner the BBC has offered a radio service called ‘Lifeline’ that is trying to help reach Pakistanis, offering a call-in for people who need important aid information, and also giving them a forum for telling their own story during the disaster.

Guest: Mira Kamdar, Bernard Schwartz Fellow at the Asia Society and the author of ‘Planet India: The Turbulent Rise of the Largest Democracy and the Future of Our World,’ and Shazeb Jillani, Editor, BBC’s Urdu service

Pakistan’s national language Urdu is in danger of disappearing. That’s because more of the country’s younger generation is using English phrases in their daily speak. The World’s Aaron Schachter tells us more.