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Building bridges across languages: The Hindu
Chennai, Oct 13: FIVE MINUTES in to the conversation with him, it becomes clear that there are no two sides to Vairamuthu. There is no differentiating Vairamuthu the poet from Vairamuthu the person. Quite often, he starts quoting, either from his own poems or works that he has read and admired over the years.
Chennai, Oct 13: FIVE MINUTES in to the conversation with him, it becomes clear that there are no two sides to Vairamuthu. There is no differentiating Vairamuthu the poet from Vairamuthu the person. Quite often, he starts quoting, either from his own poems or works that he has read and admired over the years.
He begins the interview quoting Noam Chomsky's ideas about translation — "Translation is like squaring a circle and circling a square". The definition for translation that impressed him the most was however the one given by Otto Jesperson: "Translation is transferring a person from one cosmos to another".
Thirty one books and over 5,500 lyrics in a career spanning three decades and five national awards - still Vairamuthu spoke with the expectations of a debutant on "A drop in search of the ocean". "This is the first step I am taking towards reaching out to the global audience," he said. A pause followed. "The first step," he reiterated.
The idea to translate his poems in to English struck him several years ago when he brought out a compilation of translated work of some of the country's best-known poets in "Ella Nathigalilum En Odam" (translates to "My boat in all the rivers"). Concerted efforts began after the release of his selected works in the year 2000. "A selection committee comprising of the top literary personalities in Tamil selected 187 poems out of all the poems I had written. For the English translation we further culled out 58 poems," he said.
Canada-based Tamil scholar Balan Menon was selected not just on grounds of his literary prowess but also the "incredible love" for Vairamuthu's works.
"It was necessary to ensure that job was done with passion as well as dedication," Vairamuthu added.
The poet further insisted that Menon spend time with him, eat with him, observe his everyday grind, sit with him in the `thinnai' of a village home and fully understand his roots before embarking on the work.
Vairamuthu lauded Menon's deft touches in the work, which the translator himself contends `was anything but easy'. "As I sprang into it (doing the work), I realised that a straightforward prosaic translation would not do justice to his poetry for it demanded poetic elegance; and second, it could not be a free rendering but had to be faithful to be faithful to this remarkable poet's diction and imagery, his vision and emotional intensity," Menon says in his `Translator's Note'.
The poet narrated several instances of `mind blocks' where he and Menon struggled for the best possible word. For example, in the poem titled "Panegyric to the Tree", Vairamuthu compares the life of a man to that of a tree. The poem reads "the human life is but a tent pitched in a bubble".
"It originally read - a tent in a bubble. But then that did not carry the essence of the poem," Vairamuthu said.
"It is such simple nuances that have made the translation as close to original works as I would have liked".
Just before rounding off the conversation, just one last pertinent question. "Why English?"
"Tamil alone is not enough for propagating Tamil language. We must also look at translating the best works of Tamil literature to gain stature in the international arena." Bureau Report
Thirty one books and over 5,500 lyrics in a career spanning three decades and five national awards - still Vairamuthu spoke with the expectations of a debutant on "A drop in search of the ocean". "This is the first step I am taking towards reaching out to the global audience," he said. A pause followed. "The first step," he reiterated.
The idea to translate his poems in to English struck him several years ago when he brought out a compilation of translated work of some of the country's best-known poets in "Ella Nathigalilum En Odam" (translates to "My boat in all the rivers"). Concerted efforts began after the release of his selected works in the year 2000. "A selection committee comprising of the top literary personalities in Tamil selected 187 poems out of all the poems I had written. For the English translation we further culled out 58 poems," he said.
Canada-based Tamil scholar Balan Menon was selected not just on grounds of his literary prowess but also the "incredible love" for Vairamuthu's works.
"It was necessary to ensure that job was done with passion as well as dedication," Vairamuthu added.
The poet further insisted that Menon spend time with him, eat with him, observe his everyday grind, sit with him in the `thinnai' of a village home and fully understand his roots before embarking on the work.
Vairamuthu lauded Menon's deft touches in the work, which the translator himself contends `was anything but easy'. "As I sprang into it (doing the work), I realised that a straightforward prosaic translation would not do justice to his poetry for it demanded poetic elegance; and second, it could not be a free rendering but had to be faithful to be faithful to this remarkable poet's diction and imagery, his vision and emotional intensity," Menon says in his `Translator's Note'.
The poet narrated several instances of `mind blocks' where he and Menon struggled for the best possible word. For example, in the poem titled "Panegyric to the Tree", Vairamuthu compares the life of a man to that of a tree. The poem reads "the human life is but a tent pitched in a bubble".
"It originally read - a tent in a bubble. But then that did not carry the essence of the poem," Vairamuthu said.
"It is such simple nuances that have made the translation as close to original works as I would have liked".
Just before rounding off the conversation, just one last pertinent question. "Why English?"
"Tamil alone is not enough for propagating Tamil language. We must also look at translating the best works of Tamil literature to gain stature in the international arena." Bureau Report