English writer Anthony Burgess said, “Translation is not a matter
of words only: it is a matter of making intelligible a whole culture.”
Translation is important to take the literature from a small state to the world
and Kolkata-based Vidya Pai has been doing it for three decades. Her recent
English translation of Uday Bhembre’s ‘Vhodlem Ghar’ into ‘Faith on Fire’ makes
this her eighth translated book.
Based in Kolkata and miles away from Goa, Vidya humbly says that
she is not an academic and has no training in translation. She entered the
world of translation through a competition and fell in love with the literary
art. “I was a Konkani housewife in Kolkata back in 1993 when I chanced upon an
advertisement in the local newspaper for the Katha Translation Contest to be
organised by the publishing house, Katha and the British Council. I applied for
an entry form, not because of any literary pretensions, but because I was
intrigued to see Konkani in the list of languages offered. I received the award
in the Konkani segment from the Vice President of India, KR Narayanan, in 1994,
attended the translation workshop organised for the award winners and stumbled
into the field of literary translation, purely by accident,” says Vidya reminiscing
of her early days in the world of literature.
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Since then, Vidya has
been in love with Konkani literature but it was not a smooth sailing. “I was an
urban housewife who spoke the Konkani spoken in Hindu homes around Mangalore
and in southern Karnataka, but I couldn’t read the Kannada script, so I
couldn’t access the Konkani literature written in those parts even though the
life portrayed might have been familiar to me. I was familiar with the Devnagri
script in which Konkani was written in much of Goa but the tone and idiom of
Goan Konkani and the life and experiences depicted in Goan writing were very
difficult to comprehend in those early years,” she says.
She further adds, “I
learnt on the job. It’s been almost three decades now and with more than sixty
short stories published in various anthologies and magazines/newspapers and
eight translated novels published by leading publishing houses, the journey
continues.”
Speaking about the
importance of translation especially focusing on Konkani, Vidya elaborates,
“Konkani is spoken in Goa and in pockets along the western coast of India. It
is written in five different scripts. Many of the native speakers speak Konkani
but are unable to read the language or comprehend the Konkani spoken in other
parts. They can only access Konkani writing through translations.”
“Translation into
English is often the first step after which the literary work can be translated
to other languages. A writer may be a very prominent personality on the Konkani
scene. It is only when his work is translated and viewed in comparison with the
literary output in other regional languages that his true worth can be judged,”
she adds.
She has translated
eight Konkani novels which include Pundalik Naik’s ‘Acchev’ into ‘The
Upheaval’, Mahabaleshwar Sail’s ‘Kali Ganga’ into ‘Kali Ganga’ Damodar Mauzo’s
‘Karmelin’ into ‘Karmelin’, Mahabaleshwar Sail’s ‘Havthan’ into ‘The Kiln’,
Mahabaleshwar Sail’s ‘Aranyakand’ into ‘Forest Saga’, Mahabaleshwar Sail’s ‘Yug
Sanvar’ into ‘Age of Frenzy’ and Meena Kakodkar’s ‘Vaastu’ into ‘Abode of Joy’.
Her latest book is Uday Bhembre’s ‘Vhodlem Ghar’ which was translated into
‘Faith on Fire’ for Qurate Books Pvt. Ltd.
Vidya was
commissioned to work on translations of Konkani books by noted authors by
different associations. “Sahitya Akademi publishes translations of the books it
awards, so I was offered the chance to translate Damodar Mauzo’s ‘Karmelin’ in
2004. Mahabaleshwar Sail’s ‘Kali Ganga’ published in 2003 was commissioned by
National Book Trust under the Aadan Pradaan scheme. The Konkani Language and
Cultural Foundation, Mangaluru, commissioned ‘The Kiln’ in 2011 after
Mahabaleshwar Sail’s ‘Havthan’ received the Best Konkani Book award; Meena
Kakodkar’s ‘Vaastu’ received the award and I got the chance to translate it as
‘Abode of Joy’ in 2021.
The job of the
translator is not only to carry the essence of the book from one language to
another. It also depends on how it is accepted by a different readership.
“Getting the other translations published has been a very difficult task since
most national publishers know very little about Konkani. There are no Konkani
people working in these publishing houses who might direct the attention of
commissioning editors towards notable Konkani works that might merit translation.
Most Konkani writers are not well-connected or articulate enough to showcase
their work and draw national attention. Getting Pundalik Naik’s ‘Acchev’
published by Oxford University Press as ‘The Upheaval’ in 2002 was very
rewarding because it was the first Konkani novel translated into English and
published in book form. Another very rewarding experience was Harper
Perennial’s publication of ‘Age of Frenzy’ in 2017, my translation of
Mahabaleshwar Sail’s Konkani novel ‘Yug Sanvar’, though the whole process took
almost a decade,” she says.
Throwing light on her
latest translation, Vidya was comfortable working with Uday Bhembre as she had
translated his short story in the past. She says, “Uday Bhembre’s novel
‘Vhodlem Ghar’ deals with the Inquisition and a very difficult period in Goa’s
history. He requested me to translate it even before the Konkani novel was
published in 2021. He sent me the final proofs along with a copy of AK
Priolkar’s ‘The Goa Inquisition’ on which it is based. I had translated Uday’s
short story ‘Prasada Phool’ for the Manohar Shetty-edited ‘Ferry Crossing’ –
short stories from Goa for Penguin in 1998, and so I agreed at once. He has
been very supportive with explanations and information right through the
translation process.”
Vidya received the
Katha translation award at the Translation contest organised by Katha and the
British Council in 1994 and now more recently she was awarded the Dr P
Dayananda Pai Vishwa Konkani Anuvad Puraskar 2022 in February 2023.
What
are the next works that will make their way from the Konkani world to English,
“I have a few translated stories written by Prakash Parienkar about life in
Sattari on the banks of the Mhadei River which are awaiting publication. There
are two plays by Pundalik Naik which need to be published. I am working on a
novel by Prakash Parienkar,” concludes Vidya.
