TRANSLATION
Old and new
ANJANA RAJAN
|
Two books that represent extreme points on the spectrum of Hindi literature.
|
The Second Wife; Premchand, Translated from Hindi by David Rubin, Orient Paperbacks, Rs.175.
To Each Her Own: An Anthology of Contemporary Hindi Short Stories; Compiled and translated by Vandana R. Singh, National Book Trust, India, Rs. 95.
IT is good to find that even as Indian writing in English makes a mark across the world, good translations of literature from Indian languages are also being brought out. At least, a glance at two recent publications of translated works by Hindi authors would make us think so.
The first is an Orient Paperback edition of Munshi Premchand's novel Nirmala, translated into English by David Rubin as The Second Wife. The other is a National Book Trust publication, To Each Her Own: An Anthology of Contemporary Hindi Short Stories, translated by Vandana R. Singh. Though different in nature, the two books give readers an idea of two points on the spectrum of Hindi literature.
Faithful to original
Rubin's translation brings out the tragedy of Premchand's classic as simply as the original. A scholar, novelist, and former Columbia University teacher, Rubin conveys his sensitivities as a translator when he writes that while he would like to be "as faithful, as literal as possible", some changes are inescapable, as the language of Premchand's characters "is highly elliptical, metaphorical and allusive" — qualities that would be rendered meaningless in a literal translation.
Yet some of the colour of ordinary Hindi comes through, as in the exchange between Pandit Moteram and Bhalachandra, when the latter says, "A man like him is one in a hundred thousand — two hundred thousand!" The meaning would have been clear had he said "one in a million", but the Indian concept of 1,00,000 (a lakh) is highlighted.
Similarly, the maid, Bhungi, characteristically says, "No, Bahuji, as a matter of fact I didn't. Why should I lie?"
It seems at first to suggest that Bahuji (Nirmala) is asking her to lie. But this is the literal translation of "main jhoot kyun bolun" whereby a person tries to convince the interlocutor of his/her sincerity. Such use of language gives readers a glimpse into the society in which the story is set, sometimes more effectively than anecdotes.
Contemporary society
The title of the novel, too, has a different feel when read with a Western sensibility. In traditional Indian society, to say a girl was to be a second wife was equivalent to saying she was being hurled into a well. The phrase hangs in the air like a warrant of doom. But it takes some understanding to catch those resonances.
To Each Her Own, a collection of short stories by modern Hindi writers, is based in an ethos far removed from that of Premchand. The writers, including Alka Saraogi, Mannu Bhandari, Rajee Seth, Krishna Sobti and others, present the contemporary urban India.
Many of the stories reflect the angst of a society in flux, where tradition is not a comfortable set of guidelines that smooth the way at every step, but a road full of thorns that have to be negotiated even as the protagonists search for a new path.
Some are slightly depressing. Take Chitra Mudgal's "To Each His Own" about wife swapping, or Geethanjali Shree's "Private Life" about an unmarried 30-year-old's thwarted attempt to live life on her own terms in her own flat, or "The Other" by the same author, with its unstated violence, lust and hypocrisy.
Range of experiences
The stories cover a range of experience and characters, from the housebound submissive woman to the NRI with mixed feelings about his two countries (Mridula Garg's "Alias Sam"). Vandana R. Singh has included two stories by each author.
Besides being an interesting read, the anthology offers an idea of the kind of subjects women are willing to write about that would not have found their way into respectable literature in a more `traditional' set-up.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Literary Review
