International Translation Day: On the same page
New Indian ExpressHowever, to the outside world, these translators garner not just praise but, to a great extent, criticism. Even after all these years, the infamous phrase ‘lost in translation’ crops up quite frequently in conversations almost as if to question whether the essence of the original text is ever retained when translated. “When visiting Varanasi, we take a bottle of water from the river Tungabhadra and pour it in the river Ganga and when coming back we take a bottle of water from the Ganga to pour into the Tungabhadra. Since both places represent Lord Shiva, we do this so that the Ganga can taste the sweet water of the Tungabhadra and its holiness can be transferred into the Tungabhadra,” says Vasudhendra, author of the Kannada book The Unforgiving City and Other Stories, translated in English by Mysore Nataraja and published by Penguin Random House India. A native of Hampi, Karnataka, he believes that this transference of the two rivers’ waters perfectly resonate the intricate art of translating a literary work.
History of this topic
International Translation Day | The power of community for India’s young translators with mentors, peer resources, grants and scholarships
The Hindu
In India, English translation is undergoing a renaissance
The Hindu
Gained in translation
Deccan Chronicle
Lost in translation
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