But khatati or the fine art of Urdu calligraphy is in danger of dying out in India, because there’s little work for more than 30,000 calligraphers.

Despite the challenges, calligraphy survives in Hyderabad. City historian Sajjad Shahid says: “During the late 1800s and early 1900s, Urdu began losing its status as a government language up north.

An online session on ‘The Art of Calligraphy’ in Arabic, Persian and Urdu’ was presented by Jawahar Kala Kendra.