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| Kavita Ezekiel Mendonca |
Jaya Choudhury a translator, poet and novelist, was born in Calcutta, India in 1971. She translates novels, poems, dramas, and short stories into Bengali from Spanish. So far, she has published 13 books, including originals and translations of novels, poems and prose of the Chilean Nobel Laureate poet, Gabriela Mistral, She has translated more than 100 Spanish poems. She writes poems and essays in Spanish and Bengali for many blogs, periodicals and magazines of India, Argentina, and Paraguay. She was awarded the prestigious Bangla Academi Lila Roy Award for contribution to Bengali translation literature, and a few other awards. Her passion is playing Sitar. Currently she teaches Spanish language in the Ramakrishna Mission School of Language, Golpark, and in the Sister Nivedita University, West Bengal.
KM: I find it unique and distinctive that you translate from Spanish into
Bengali. Tell us a bit about what motivated you to undertake this kind of
translation?
Jaya Choudhury
JC: From a very tender age, and like the
generation of my contemporaries, I used to read Bengali literature voraciously.
You might even call me ‘omnivorous,’ while describing my reading habit.
Starting from The Materia Medica (a homeopathy medicine repertoire), taken from
my father’s bookshelf, or travelogues by Umaprasad Mukhopadhyay to
Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay or Saradindu Bandyopadhyay, taken from my uncle’s
library to detective stories of Swapan Kumar from the school library or the
Illustrated Weekly, Ekkhan and other magazines from my cousin’s home, I used to
be a bookworm, and practically read anything and everything within my reach.
When I was in the second standard, I wrote a 4-liner for our school magazine,
‘AKASHE AJ KALO KALO/ MEGH KORECHE/ PAKHIRA SOB DOLE DOLE / BASAY FIRECHE’.
(There is cloud on the horizon, birds are coming home in flocks).
My older sister helped
me to correct those lines. A dream of becoming a writer began brewing. Then
from standard Seven, I started writing short stories which I continued up to
standard Nine. However one day I decided to stop writing, as in my opinion, I
felt that I was not creating anything worthwhile. I clearly remember during my
Spanish learning days, my habit was to practice translations. For that, I
frequently visited The Indo-Hispanic Library in Calcutta. There, I discovered
many original works by literati like Garc├нa Lorca, Antonio Machado, Camilo Jose Cela or Miguel Cervantes, and
others which I had never read before. And now my dream of becoming a writer
took on a different shape. I started dreaming of being a translator, to bring
the treasures of the Hispanic world to my native readers, and do justice to my
mother tongue.
KM: When did you first learn Spanish and what inspired you to learn the
language? What techniques do you use for verbal communication in Spanish in
Kolkata? What other languages do you know? French or Italian, perhaps?
Do you undertake translation work in those languages?
JC: After sixteen years of a disturbed marriage
my inner self was desperately searching for an opportunity to learn a foreign
language, and the choice was between French, Portuguese and Spanish. I chose
the last one.
I am from the country
of “Unity in diversity” where more than 19500 languages or dialects are spoken
as mother tongues. Being from a country, where Spanish is not officially
spoken, you may agree that learning this as a foreign language, was a
challenging decision. I didn’t have any job at that point, and moreover due to
a disturbed marriage, I didn’t have required money either, for learning the
language. Nevertheless, I enrolled for the Spanish course in the School of
Languages of the esteemed Ramakrishna Mission Golpark, Kolkata. The institution
is mainly a charitable institute, and considered to be one of the best
institutes for learning languages in Calcutta with nominal course fees. With a
curious mind, I grabbed every opportunity to learn the language, be it from
some teacher’s personal free coaching classes on ‘Preterite Indefinido,’ or
‘Preterite Imperfecto,’ or at home from my favourite teacher to clarify doubts
on ‘Imperfecto de subjuntivo’, or from any invitation of Spanish-related
programmes organised in Calcutta on a regular basis. One of my teachers used to
arrange frequent programmes from embassies, consulates, on various competitions
and photo exhibitions. I always tried to participate in them as and when given
the opportunity. During this journey, I got the opportunity to act in five
Spanish plays as the protagonist, under a few directors from Spain as well. I
worked very hard and diligently, used every moment in the day, until I went to
bed at night. In the initial days, I still recall that I used to practise
conversation in front of the mirror, and later I used to go to a famous cafe at
Sudder Street, Calcutta which foreigners frequent (mostly people from Hispanic
countries). I would meet with them, and try to converse with them in broken
Spanish. In this way, my journey began advancing step by step.
I do not know any other
foreign languages. I started learning Spanish at a late age and immediately
fell in love with this language. I was fascinated and mesmerized from the very
first day, and the fascination still continues to this day. I am able to
understand a certain level of Italian or Portuguese since they are very similar
to Spanish.
Sometimes, I also
translate from English. Recently, I translated a Maldivian story from English
to Bengali which is published in an important E-Magazine.
KM: Do you have a particular philosophy of translation and what are some of
the challenges you face while translating writing from Spanish into Bengali?
JC: Well, I have a simple philosophy while
translating. Frankly speaking, if the source touches my heart and brain, I
decide to translate that content. I always try to view my translation from the
readers’ angle or point of view only. Having said that, I must share with you
that many challenges still exist. I think, to translate a literature, you must
know the culture of the particular country and its people. Language
automatically evolves from one’s culture.
I would like to share
one of my experiences here. Once, I was translating Rosario Barahona Michel’s
(Bolivian) novel, where I found many Christian religious connotations. Here in
this part of India (Calcutta or West Bengal), readers are mostly aware of Hindu
or Muslim connotations, and not much of other religions. So I studied to know
them in detail, tried to imbibe the spirit, and brought them as smoothly as
possible for Bengali readers.
KM: What kind of writing is the most difficult to translate from Spanish to
Bengali? What kind of material do you most enjoy translating?
JC: My observation in this is that new age
writers use metaphors and allusions, very frequently, from the myths, legends
or animals of their country, especially references to the aboriginal people. We
have seen Nauhatl influence in Carlos Fuentes’ literature or Guarani or Aymara
influence in Miguel Angel Astutias’ literature. Now, my challenge comes when I
want to make my readers comfortable in their understanding. At the last Calcutta
Book fair, I translated Gladys Mercedes Acevedo’s Argentinian novel ‘Las Tres Muertes de
Camilla,’ which had numerous Guarani myths. By the way, I keep on taking help
from the writer while translating just to ensure the comfort and understanding
for the reader to comprehend fully the writer’s meaning, after my translation.
All the sources are not
universal urban writings from writers like Roberto Bole├▒o or Javier Cercas or Mario Vargas Llosa,
although I do enjoy translating this type of writing very much. And of course,
poetry. In fact, poems came to me first when I began translating. Till date, I
have translated more than 100 poems of poets from various countries of the
Hispanic world, and three collections of Nicanor Parra (Chile), Gabriela
Mistral (Chile) and Carla Fabri (Paraguay).
KM: What kind of projects are you currently working on?
JC: Recently I have completed translating a
novel by a Uruguayan writer, and currently I am translating an anthology of contemporary
stories of revolts of various Latin American countries, and two collections by
poets from two different countries (Honduras and Colombia). I do have a few
other projects currently running in tandem.
KM: I understand you have written poems in Spanish. What kind of poetry do
you write? Any specific themes?
JC: I write in Bengali, and so far, I have
written one novel and one and half books of poetry in Bengali. These poems are
included in a printed collection of poems entitled “PRAKRITA SARASI”, along
with four other women poets. I have sixteen poems in that collection, and one
solo E-Book. Anyway, I have also written a few poems in Spanish, some of which
will be published within a couple of months in a Cuban blog, and translated
into Portuguese in a magazine from Portugal. The central theme of my poems is
mainly love. However, I prefer more of a philosophical approach to this theme.
KM: Please add any other comments to your responses.
JC: I was really taken aback, and amused too,
when Nabanita informed that you are interested to conduct an interview with me.
I was not aware about you, but who doesn’t know the greatest post-colonial
English language Indian poet, Nissim Ezekiel? You are his daughter! Then I
plunged into your work and also found that the magazine Setu was started solely
to promote literature. I felt extremely happy to learn about your poetry, and
the magazine too. I do hope that we will work together in future for the
prosperity of translation literature.
Thank you, and I pray
to the Almighty for your good health, peace and tranquility of the world which
is affected severely by COVID pandemic.
Kavita and Jaya are jointly translating Nissim Ezekiel’s poetry into Spanish.
Bionote: Kavita Ezekiel Mendonca was born and raised in a Jewish family in Mumbai. She was educated in Mumbai, with Masters’ Degrees in English and Education, from India and the U.K. Her career spanned over four decades, teaching English, French and Spanish. Her first book, Family Sunday and Other Poems was published in 1989. Her poems have appeared in various publications. Kavita is the daughter of the late poet, Nissim Ezekiel.
Grt. JC
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