Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad   

A rare translator

Tarangini Sriraman

HYDERABAD: Is translation an art or science? Are translations read at all?

These are questions that trouble even translators. And they have other dilemmas as well. Shantha Dutt, originally a Tamil short-story writer, who devotes all her free time to translation of Telugu works into Tamil speaks of these dilemmas.

While translators from a regional language to English or vice versa are common, they are not so common across regional languages. Does this mean that translation from a regional language to English is easier? Ms. Shantha Dutt is quick to reply, "Not necessarily. In fact, translating from an Indian language into English poses problems of a cultural kind that are easily solved while translating from one Indian language to another."

Interpersonal nuances

For instance, she says interpersonal nuances conveyed in Telugu pronouns like `nuvvu,' `meeru,' `vaadu' and `vaaru' are easily rendered into a language like Tamil (where they are `nee,' `neenga,' `avan' and `avar'). These pronouns are simply reduced to you and he in English. At other times, because cultural traditions are built around a word, equivalents cannot be found. Though a translator may be proficient in both languages, it still takes a conscious effort to remain true to the text. Where the rendering of proverbs and dialect forms is concerned, the best way to translate is to rely on an already existing proverb, which conveys a similar message.

For instance, the Tamil proverb, Ikkaraiku akkarai pacchai (the grass is always greener on the other side) is best rendered in Telugu as `poriginti pulla koora ruchi'. She has translated the works of N. Gopi, C. Narayana Reddy, G. Seeta Devi, Abburi Chaya Devi, Gunturu Seshendra Sharma, Vasa Prabhavatiand Bhupal Reddy. She has won many awards, including one from Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers Association.

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