Shankar’s “Chowringhee” would have remained restricted to Bengalis and Manto’s work would have been imbibed only by Urdu readers if these works were not translated. In the past few years, translations in Indian literature have evolved with their own identity – reaching out to a wider audience.

English, being adopted as primary language, has opened up the doors for translators to escalate the works of vernacular writers. Yet, there persists a void, which the translators at times fail to fill.

“Translations do fail to carry the same emotions at times. Sometimes, it is quite difficult to actually understand and communicate the same emotion effectively in another language,” said Prashant Pethe, 38, who translated into English the popular Marathi book “Aiwa Maru”, originally written by Anant Samant, told IANS.

A similar thought was echoed by Snehal Shingavi, who translated into English “Angaaray”, a collection of short stories in Urdu by Sajjad Zaheer, Ahmed Ali, Rashid Jahan and Mahmud-uz-Zafar.

“One almost always fails but must try. Otherwise it means giving in to parochialism and particularism in a world that is in desperate need of more understanding,” Shingavi, 39, told IANS.

Talking about the difficulties and complexities faced while translating their works, the authors emphasised on how crucial it becomes to play with words to avoid repetition.

“Word play is a challenge, but it is something that all translators have to do. Certain concepts can be very flexible in one language and rigid in another, but one tries to make sure that the sense of the original is retained. Sometimes you have to be creative in making that work,” said Shingavi, an assistant professor of English at the University of Texas, Austin. More.

See: Webindia123.com

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