Translation Is Key For Access To Different Indian Languages: International Booker Winner Geetanjali Shree

In the wee hours of May 27, or around 10 pm London time last night, Hindi made history when author Geetanjali Shree’s book Ret Samadhi’s English translation (Tomb of Sand) won the prestigious International Booker Prize 2022.

This is the first time that any South Asian language has won the prize that was instituted as a biennial in 2005, turning annual in 2015. A counterpart of the prestigious Booker Prize, the International Booker is awarded to a book in any international language published in English translation in the UK and Ireland.

The prize, carrying a cash component of £50,000, was awarded jointly to Geetanjali Shree and the English translator of the book, Daisy Rockwell, an American artist, writer and translator.

Published in 2018 by Rajkamal Prakashan, Ret Samadhi or Tomb of Sand has been at the centre of literary buzz in India ever since its English translation made it to the longlist in March. New Delhi-based Shree was overwhelmed at the significance of the longlist when it was announced, as she was last night at the awards ceremony when she called her win a “bolt from the blue”. She added in her acceptance speech: “I am amazed, delighted, honoured and humbled… The Booker will surely take it to many more people than it would have done otherwise.” 

In a conversation with this writer in March after she was selected in the International Booker long list, the author of well-known Hindi novels such as Mai, Hamara Shahar Uss Baras, Tirohit and Khali Jagah, had said: “I humbly accept the realisation that it’s not a small thing. Initially, I was viewing it with a strange detachment as it is so much outside the purview of my world, but a few of my friends scolded me and asked me not to trivialise it.”

 On Translation

Apart from the euphoria that any such victory must initiate, the significance of the award lies in the impact it will have on the translation scene in the country and the fillip it would give to the translation of superlative works of Indian languages into English to reach a far wider readership. Shree’s books have been translated into other languages such as French, German, English, Serbian, etc., and her writings have been part of the curriculum in universities abroad as well.

The author had said in March: “Of course, the International Booker longlist does bring focus on various things, such as the vibrant Hindi literature scene, and of other Indian languages such as Malayalam, Marathi, Kannada, Bengali, that have a rich literary culture… but things do not change in one dramatic moment. Translation remains the key for dialogue between and access to different Indian languages. We have to accept, without any prejudice, that English, indeed, is the link language in our country and in much of the world. There is a need to develop the whole scene of translation, not just into English but from one Indian language to another as well.”

It’s interesting that Daisy Rockwell, who turned Ret Samadhi into Tomb of Sand, has some seminal Hindi translations to her credit, including the works of Upendranath Ashk and Krishna Sobti, among others.

 On Hindi literature

Geetanjali Shree, who has been writing for three decades, shared that often people had felt surprised that she was a Hindi author, especially since she was educated in English — daughter of an IAS officer of the UP cadre, Shree was born in Mainpuri in Uttar Pradesh and studied in English convents in different cities, following it up with a bachelor’s from Lady Shri Ram College, New Delhi, and master’s in history from JNU.

It was around this time that she started veering towards Hindi literature. “I found the academic bridge between history and Hindi in my PhD, which was on Prem Chand, not as a literary person but as a part of the nationalist intelligentsia in the independence movement,” she shared. She enrolled at the M.S. University, Baroda, for her PhD, and alongside, took up teaching at Jamia Millia Islamia and Zakir Hussain College in New Delhi. By the time she completed her PhD in the early 1980s, she had decided to leave history for good. Her first novel, Mai, published in 1993, has also been translated into other languages.

“Hindi has such a rich lineage that even Hindiwallahs don’t know about it. Khariboli and the so-called other dialects of Hindi are so rich to be full-fledged languages in their own right,” she said, adding that people had been going away from the language due to several complex factors at work. “The language should give them their livelihood and not poverty, which has not happened with Hindi at several places, for several years.”

She said that Hindi would really thrive if it would “naturally be a part of our daily lives on various registers. But there again, it is an uneven scene in the Hindi belt. However, it is not a completely hopeless scene as increasingly people — in theatre, art, films, and elsewhere — are realising its influence and vibrant nature. One cannot deny that it is part of our living, breathing existence.”

 (The writer is a New Delhi-based journalist, editor and arts consultant. She blogs at archanakhareghose.com)