The text I chose for a translation project for a course is ‘Wildflower’ by Amrita Pritam. Amrita Pritam is an Indian short story writer who writes in both Hindi and Punjabi. She has some of the most acclaimed awards such as the Sahitya Akademi Award for Punjabi Writers (1956), the Padma Shri (1969), and the Padma Vibhushan (2004), to name a few. Wildflower is a short story in Hindi that references a legend in a small village about a plant that acts as a love potion. I was interested in translating this text because I wanted to read more works by female Indian authors like Amrita Pritam. They were known for their feminist writing, which was considered bold and scandalous during their time. I chose to translate a Hindi text because it is the regional language I'm most comfortable with in terms of comprehension, reading, and writing. I decided to take it as my Second Language in school for a few years in primary and middle school, due to which it took a significant amount of time to translate the first two pages. However, since it is one of the languages I combine with others when I speak to my family, I eventually got into the groove of translating, which became smoother sailing after that.
Throughout this project, I made a few observations on my process of translating the text and the challenges I faced. One of the main issues I faced was being unable to translate some words. The Hindi I am familiar with is colloquial, so it was difficult for me to understand what some of the ‘pure’ or formal words meant in a conversational style. Additionally, as the story was placed in a village (assumably in Punjab), there were certain inflections that I did not recognise and words that seemed like Punjabi-Hindi. I attempted to fill the gaps in my knowledge by either using Hindi word-search engines or asking my brother, who is familiar with Punjabi slang.
I decided to omit some words and small sentences in my translation partly because I did not find what they meant. Often, I used context cues and my understanding of the main characters to get a better idea of the conversation taking place. But another reason for the omission was that some of the sentences seemed too complicated and unnecessary when translated. These sentences were an easier read when simplified.
Since the general process is to read a sentence and then translate it, I noticed that I had a tendency to do literal translations. When I read it out to proofread it, I realised that I was writing in Indian English. One of the reasons for this is that I arranged the English words in the same or similar order as the Hindi ones. When I attempted to phrase it closer to how I usually frame my sentences, I was unhappy with how odd it sounded to have the characters speak that way. I also decided to retain some words, dialogues, and lyrics in the original language. I felt that the text lacked character when I tried to replace words like ‘chai,’ which sounds warm and inviting to me, with ‘tea’ which does not elicit any feelings in me. I wanted to maintain a certain authenticity because I felt like no translation could do justice to the words and what they mean. Therefore, I attempted to retain a lot of the ‘Indian-ness’ in the text.
I also noted that some of the concepts or events casually mentioned in the stories would not make any sense to the average non-Indian reader. For example, there was a scene where a custom was mentioned. In it, the father wrings out the cloth on his shoulder during a funeral. He does it to offer his daughter as a new bride for the widower. The original text on this was very brief and written like it is a universally known concept. It led me to question whether I should explain what the custom is so that non-Indian readers could discern the significance of these events. It pushed me to further question and appreciate the delicate balance between maintaining authenticity to the text and going that extra step to ensure that the readers grasp the concept. I became more cognizant of the time, effort, and passion required for a translator to do justice to the text.
One of the things I liked about this short story was that I did not know where the story was going until the very end. I noticed this style with a lot of Indian short stories that I have read, including the ‘Yellow is the Colour of Longing’ by K.R. Meera studied in the course. I am unsure if this is one of the characteristics of Indian short stories, so I want to read and explore it more. I enjoy the relatability of reading Indian works. I am so accustomed to reading Western texts that it also becomes a default setting while writing. I remember attempting to write a story when I was 11-years old. I gave all my characters a typically ‘white’ name and tried to set the story in a park I had never seen and only read. I find the language and familiarity of Indian English comforting, and it allows me to immerse myself in the story better. Before the discussions about translation, I must have been able to count on my fingers the number of times I thought about the concept of translation and the role of the translator. Now, I have a greater admiration for this form of art.