• Dr. V.V.B. Rama Rao

  Author

India that is Bharat too has been a land of linguistic diversity. Under this diversity is a strong
cultural and literary unity. The different languages of India underscore the implicit oneness of
our glorious literary heritage. “Indian literature is one although written in many languages,” said
Dr. Radhakrishnan. This idea of literary unity in the midst of linguistic multiplicity is reinforced
whenever we read literature produced in various languages of India.
It is an important task to bring to the notice of a larger audience works in contemporary literature
in different languages. For effective transmission, the Pan-Indian medium is English. The
advantage of an English translation is that it can go beyond our national borders too. This
international exposure to our literature is also beneficial.
Translation has been a valuable device for centuries to convey the best literature of one culture to
people outside that culture. The Ramayana, The Mahabharata, Iliad, Aeneid, and countless other
classics have traveled across cultural and temporal space through translations. In a multi-lingual
and multi-cultural society such as ours, the need for translations cannot be overemphasized.
They contribute to emotive cohesion. Further they bring together the diverse strands of our
culture and strengthen national integration.
In this context, I recall my meeting, several years ago, the Tamil writer, Ms Sivashankari, who
worked hard for producing, “Knit India through Literature.” She worked on eighteen languages
of the VIII Schedule of the Indian Constitution and produced four volumes covering the
literatures of the East, West, North, and South. She found many similarities in our literatures and
a few dissimilarities also. For instance, the impact of partition is more pronounced in Panjabi,
Sindhi and Urdu literatures than in other literatures.
Literary Translation of Regional Languages in India is neither ‘literary criticism,’ nor ’literary
assessment’ of any work of fiction. Rather, he calls his selections ‘pre-reads’ or ’appetisers,’ in
the manner of previews of films. These are sure to whet our appetite for more Indian literature.
If “good samples of regional fiction” are made available through English translation to a wider
reading public, a greater understanding and hence a deeper appreciation of our literatures can be
achieved.

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