a natural ally in our struggle," he told me For me there is nothing more exciting on the Urdu scene in Bangladesh than this possibility of symbiosis, cross-fertilization even, between the two languages.1 ^This article was wntten following a visit to Dhaka. The author is grateful to Farhad Mazhar, Gholam Mohammad, and Seen Meem Sapd for being so thought-provoking in their conversation; and to Dr. Kulsoom Abul Bashar, Seen Meem Sajid and Shamim Zamanvi for being so generous with their collection of books and magazines. However, they should not be considered to be in total agreement with the views expressed above which are the responsibility solely of the author Annual of Urdu Studies, #7 g7