Introduction
Anita Desai is an important women novelist in the firmament of Indian fiction in English. She unfolds lot of complex things for example, struggles of innocents, problems of human relationship and decay of Urdu language in her novels. This paper tries to depict how a college lecturer Deven tries to save Urdu language and associates with the age old great Urdu poet Nur. The aim of the two characters is to save great Urdu language in the postcolonial era but both of them have experienced in a negative way. The novelist linked the middle class rural Hindi lecturer and the yesteryear famous poet Nur in connection with the love of Urdu language.
Life of Deve and Urdu Langauge Deven Sharma is a Hindi lecturer in a college at Mirapore, a small town. He is the central character of the novel. He is from middle class family. His father was a school teacher and also lover of Urdu language. Due to the influence of his father, he learned Urdu language. Deven married to Sarla who is simple and away from her husband’s literary taste and caliber. He is very much interested in reading Urdu poems written by the famous Urdu poet Nur’s and also fan of him. He considered Nur as a great hero and Sovereign of Urdu language. He was very much impressed by Nur’s verses. As a teacher, Deven is not a capable person in handling the classes. Anita Desai portrays “a boring teacher, who could not command attention, let alone the regard of his unruly class” (In Custody., 13). Deven leads mediocre life. His marriage is matchless and as a husband, he does not fulfill the family desires. He is very much interested in establishing the endangered language Urdu instead of living present life with his wife and son Manu.