Dear ALUPers,

I have taken the liberty of copying the original monthly
"FAQ and REMINDER" authored by janaab Khursheed
Ahmed saahib and editing its contents for additional
clarity and elaboration. In particular, a detailed section
on the 'charter' of this newsgroup has now been added
to the FAQ.

The result of my edits is placed below (following this
'tamheed'). I request all of you to please treat this as
the first draft of the "ALUP FAQ 2.0". Please review
the contents with a critical eye and point out any errors
or omissions either on ALUP itself, or by sending me
email at contact DOT uvr AT gmail DOT com.

(ALUPers pressed for time may please focus on the
'charter' section alone. I also think we can replace the
answer to the last question in the FAQ with a pointer to
the Wikipedia page on Urdu
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urdu (Who's computer is this?)
What do you think?)

PLEASE RESPOND BY FRIDAY, MAY 9, 2008. I will
collect all your responses and update the FAQ as
necessary.

-UVR.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)
alt.language.urdu.poetry


USENET hierarchy: alt.language.urdu.poetry
Newsgroup nickname: ALUP
Description: Newsgroup for Poetry in the Indic Urdu language
Type: Unmoderated
Creator: Syed Zafar Kazmi
Creation Date: May 5, 1994


Q. What is alt.language.urdu.poetry (ALUP)?

A. alt.language.urdu.poetry, ALUP, is an unmoderated group
established for the discussion, promotion and exchange of
ideas on all aspects of Urdu poetry. ALUP was created on
May 5, 1994 by Syed Zafar Kazmi.

Q. What are the objectives of alt.language.urdu.poetry newsgroup?

A. The main objectives of ALUP are:
* to provide a worldwide Internet forum to share Urdu poetry
* to promote discussion about Urdu language and its poetry
* to share information about events related to Urdu poetry
* to raise questions and provide answers about Urdu resources
(e.g. books, magazines, Urdu dictionaries, word-processors,
web sites, educational programs, etc.)

Q. What kind of discussions are within the charter of ALUP?
What kind of discussions are NOT within the charter?

A. ALUP encourages discussions on all aspects of Urdu poetry.
Interpreting or critiquing poetry of others, sharing and
publishing netters' own poetry, discussing matters of Urdu
prosody, posting any type of Urdu poetry (nazm, Ghazal, rubaa'i,
qit'a, ...): all these are within the scope of this newsgroup.
Discussions about the Urdu language, including its grammar,
vocabulary and idiom are also considered acceptable, as long as
they are derived from a discussion on Urdu poetry or are related
to the understanding or interpretation of poetry. Discussions
related to Urdu prose are welcome too, as long as they are
connected to Urdu poetry in some manner (for example, a critique
of or commentary on the works of a poet). Posts discussing the
Urdu language for its own sake, or talking about Urdu prose
purely on its own merit, or discussions which otherwise bear
only a tenuous link to Urdu poetry are strongly discouraged.
For instance, discussing Ghazals sung by a particular singer is
OK, discussing a Ghazal singer's life is certainly NOT OK, and
focussing only on the musical aspect of a Ghazal (its tune,
its raag or orchestration) should be avoided. For discussions
of the last mentioned type, please see the newsgroup RMIM
[rec.music.indian.misc].

ALUP is *NOT* a place for posting poetry written in English or
other languages. While such poetry may certainly be quoted as
part of discussions on Urdu poetry, posting or discussing poetry
in non-Urdu languages all by itself falls outside the scope of
this newsgroup.

Q. Who can participate in ALUP? What are the rules of engagement?

A. Everyone can participate on ALUP! Anyone wishing to discuss or
share anything about Urdu poetry or to learn about Urdu poetry
is welcome.

ALUP is an open and _unmoderated_ group. Comments and queries
about Urdu language or poetry are always welcome. Newcomers
should not hesitate to ask questions about anything they wish
to know about Urdu or Urdu poetry.

While Urdu has its own script (similar to that of Persian
[Farsi]), this discussion group uses Roman characters to write
Urdu. This has the added advantage of making Urdu available to
a number of Urdu lovers who can understand and speak Urdu, but
cannot read or write the Urdu script.

Messages on ALUP may be either entirely in Roman Urdu or in
English, or a mixture of both. Messages in other languages
(e.g., French) or scripts (e.g., Devanagari) are ONLY acceptable
when accompanied by an English language translation or a Roman
Urdu transliteration, but not otherwise.

An important condition for participating in ALUP is to always
use polite language, to interact respectfully with others and
to maintain a dignified decorum on the newsgroup. It is OK and
natural to have differences of opinion, but it is NOT OK to let
differences of opinion become an excuse for making insulting
remarks, for indulging in abusive behaior or for passing
unseemly comments against others.

The use of rude and vulgar language is not tolerated on ALUP.
Netters in doubt about what could be rude and vulgar are advised
to err on the side of caution. Or ask.

In general, it is better to "observe" ALUP for a few weeks
before posting your first message; use the time to familiarize
yourself with the way ALUPers interact with each other.

Q. How can I access ALUP postings?

A. Many Internet Services Providers provide access to USENET
newsgroups. Please contact your ISP to determine how to
access "alt.language.urdu.poetry".

You can also access ALUP via the Web using Google groups.
Go to Google groups (http://groups.google.com/ (Who's computer is this?) ) and look for
"alt.language.urdu.poetry".

For those interested in historical matters, Google has also
archived almost all messages posted since ALUP's inception.

Q. What is Urdu and where is this language spoken?

A. Urdu is a South Asian language spoken by nearly 250 million
persons in India, Pakistan and other countries. Urdu is the
national language of Pakistan, and one of the official languages
of India.

Q. Tell me more about Urdu.

A. The word Urdu is of Turkish origin, and means 'camp'. Urdu
emerged in northern India about one thousand years ago out
of a mixture of Hindi and other local languages, and the Persian
language spoken by armies and merchants from Persia which
also included many words from Arabic and Turkish. Today,
Urdu borrows words from many languages including English.
Urdu's appeal as a poetic language is enhanced by the presence
of all these words.

Urdu has a rich poetic tradition. Urdu poetry is focussed on
expressing human feelings and emotions, on the passion of
love and beauty, on Nature and Life, with all its trials and
tribulations, and on almost every other aspect of human
endeavor. Urdu poets are known both for their serious side
as well as their frivolous, for their light-hearted humour as
well as for their scathing and caustic wit. But above all,
Urdu poetry (and the culture it derives from) is known for
its refined, polished, elegant and respectful manner.

The first known Urdu poets came from Deccan (Hyderabad,
Andhra Pradesh) area. Delhi and Lucknow subsequently
gained prominence as major "schools" of Urdu poetic thought.
Today, expert and knowledgeable practitioners of Urdu poetry
not only hail from India and Pakistan, but with many Urdu-
speakers migrating to other parts of the world, Urdu is no
longer confined to the Indian subcontinent. There are Urdu
societies and academic programs in many major cities
around the world, and Urdu poetry recitals (Mushaa'iras)
are particularly popular and delightful events.


(Originally written by Khursheed Ahmed, with the help of several
ALUPers. Updated by U.V. Ravindra. Last updated May 2008.)