Born into a Punjabi family in the northeastern Indian state of Bihar and raised in Toronto, the vocalist Kiran Ahluwalia brings Malian influences into her music for a hypnotic, cross-pollinated sound.

Language Log From love songs to kurta ads, Urdu is popular with Indians. Why do Hindutva backers hate it so much? How long will the nineteenth-century politics of Hindi versus Urdu continue?

Discover the significance of Urdu in expressing the seven stages of love - Dilkashi, uns, ishq, aqidat, ibadat, junoon, and maut. Explore how Urdu, once the language of the royal courts, has ...