For the Love of Language

This collection of Ralph Russell's essays is a reminder of the seminal role he played in rescuing Urdu scholarship from the burden of guilt

- Alok Rai

A LIFE IN URDU
Personal Encounters and Selected Essays on Urdu Literature
By Ralph Russell; edited by Marion Molteno
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

Ralph Russell came to India as a young soldier during World War II. He knew no Indian language, but he realised very quickly that both in respect of his duties as an officer, and his engagement with the life of this strange country in which he found himself, he would have to learn a local language. I suppose we have sundry posting accidents-first to Allahabad, and then to various north Indian locations-to thank for the fact that he chose Urdu to escape from the prison of sahibhood. As it happens, Russell picked up enough Urdu competency to undertake an academic career in Urdu post-war. He was a crucial player in the formative years of Urdu at SOAS, and maintained lifelong, fondly-remembered connections with the seats of Urdu learning in India, with Aligarh and Hyderabad and Lucknow. Marion Molteno's volume is a worthy introduction to this rich and productive life.