Day 37

"Badi ye", baṛī ye /baɽiː je/ (बड़ी ये) is used mainly for vowels. Also, it is used only in the final or isolated position. Here's an example:  لڑکے laɽke, (लड़के/boys). It is also combined with the hamza to represent izaafat. But I shall be discussing that in a separate post.
Here is how it is written in various positions: 

This is my attempt at writing the harf ''badi ye" and a word which contains it ''aisa'' (thus...).

Then I noticed a coat-hanger lying about. Reminded me of a "badi ye"! 

Et enfin, I stumbled across a Bashir Badr ghazal, rendered superbly by Chitra Singh which begins with the lafz "aisa":
Aisa lagta hai zindagi tum ho
ajanabi jaise ajanabi tum ho.

  

Day 36

"Choti yeh'' (छोटी ये) is one of those rare letters which serves both as a consonant and also as a vowel. Here is how it is written in different positions. 

Choti yeh works as a consonant (in the initial or medial position) with words such as "yaar" (friend) یار   or "dayaar" (place) دیار . It is also used as an initial or medial vowel: as in "ek" (one)  ایک or in "kaisa" (how) کیسا    

Placed below is my attempt at writing the letter Choti yeh, and a harf which contains today's lafz: "bayaan" which means "statement" or "narration". 

Today's sher? By Aga Hashr:
Tum aur fareb khaao bayaan-e-raquib se
tum se to kam gilaa hai ziyaada naseeb se.

Here's a marvellous rendition of the ghazal by the incomparable Farida Khanum:

Day 35

This harf, or letter, jostles ''Chhoti hay'' to occupy the position of my favourite letter: ''Do chashmi hay". It is an aspiration marker and used to create aspirated letters composed of two characters such as بھ bʰe  which is bey + do chashmi hay , پھ pʰe which is pey + do chashmi hay, or تھ tʰe, which is tey + do chashmi hay.
Here is how chhoti hay is written in various positions: 

This is my attempt at writing the harf and the lafz of the day "phool", which means "flower":

And this, friends, is an image I saw on someone's facebook wall! It reminded me of the do chashmi hay! 

Today's sher, composed by Ahmed Faraz, comes courtesy my friend Akber:
Jis tarah dhun^d mein liptey huey phool
aik aik naqsh tera yaad aaya...

Day 34

"Choti hay" (छोटी हे) is the 34th letter of the Urdu alphabet. It is a consonant: choṭī he ʧʰoʈiː he. In Urdu words, it is used with words which end in /a:/, but with a sound that's softer than the ''ah'' of Alif. Here is how it appears in various positions: 

I am biased towards this harf because it reminds me of one my favourite sweet: modak (मोदक)!

And this is my attempt at writing the harf ''Chhoti hay" and a lafz whih contains "Chhoti hay" in the final position. The lafz is ''ghuncha" (which means flower bud).

  

Here's a song I rather like "Ghuncha koii mere naam kar diya"...... 

Day 33

Today is it the turn of the harf, the letter ''Wao'' (वाओ in Devnaagri). vāū vɑːuːThis harf is used both as a consonant as well as a vowel.  So, it could form a word as a consonant, say, as in "waalid" (वालिद) :  والد or as a vowel as "log" (लोग):  لوگ 
Here is how it is written in various positions: 

This is my attempt at writingthe harf, and today's lafz: ''watan'', which means "country":

And here is the piece of verse I picked which includes the word "watan": a song from a favourite film, "Kabuliwala". "Aye mere pyaare watan, aye mere bichchade chaman / tujhpe dil qurbaan". A very touching and sentimental song about being far from your motherland. 

 

Day 32

Back after a hiatus. Why must life interrupt fun, I will never know. Still, here we are. On day 32, and on the harf "Noon".
Or नून as it would be written in Devnaagri script. This is a consonant: nūn / nuːn. 

Here is how it is written in different positions: by itself, intial, medial and final (right to left, of course!):

And here is my attempt at writing the letter "Noon" and a word, a lafz beginning with "Noon": "Janaab" (An honorific, if you will). 

Placed below is a sh'er or couplet which illustrates the use of the word "Janaab". Written by the incomparable Faiz Ahmed 'Faiz': 

sach hai.n hamii.n ko aap ke shikave bajaa na the
beshak sitam janaab ke sab dostaanaa the

[shikave=complaints; bajaa=befitting; sitam=oppression]