Note From Founder

This couplet succinctly translates the tenor of life. One does not know
where it will take them, nor do we know where it shall stop.

My romance with Urdu was more or less shaped in the same manner. Urdu and poetry have been a significant part of my life for as long as I can remember. My father would, with sincere devotion, listen to ghazals by legends like Mehdi Hassan, Iqbal Bano, and Begum Akhtar, and it subconsciously developed a longing, a love for Urdu poetry in my heart.

Urdu would incessantly/constantly knock on my heart. It felt like my beloved calling me to her. I couldn’t resist the longing anymore, and it would eventually take the shape of the Rekhta Foundation.

A consequential memory from my childhood had bloomed and taken shape, but there still was a long road ahead. After learning this language of love, I realized the lack of collated resources of the language that originated in our country. As a nation, I was afraid we might be losing out on our legacy, which compelled me to strive towards establishing a resource database that would collate, preserve, promote, and spread the Urdu language with an expansive reach. Rekhta.org was the first step of the long and arduous journey of establishing this database and spreading the language I and many others love so passionately.

This journey on the path of love may have been challenging so far, but I’ve loved and lived each part of it and hope to do so as long as I’m allowed by my creator. I’ve had to play many a role throughout my life, but Rekhta has been the most satisfying part of my life so far. I am thankful to all those who have been my companions on this path, without whose support it wouldn’t be this successful.

-Sanjiv Saraf