Mangalore: Translation Widens Scope of Writers - Dr Gurudath Pradhan

Pics: Brijesh Garodi
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore (NM)

Mangalore, Oct 29: The valedictory of the three-day workshop on translating short Konkani stories to Kannada was held at the World Konkani Center, Shakthinagar here on Sunday October 28.

The workshop was organized by the Konkani Language and Cultural Foundation, Mangalore in collaboration with Kuvempu Bhasha Bharati Pradhikara, Bangalore.

Dr Pradhan Gurudath, chairman of Kuvempu Bhasha Bharati Pradhikara, Bangalore was the chief guest.

Addressing the gathering, Dr Gurudath said that the National Translation Mission, New Delhi has already been set up and hence there is good scope for writers as their works will be recognized.

"In the coming years, the Pradhikara has planned to translate 50 important literary works in Kannada to different languages," he said, adding that the translated works will be released in a volume next year to mark the centenary celebrations of senior litterateur S V Parameshwar Bhat.

He also said that the Pradhikara will support translators wanting to translate Konkani works to other lnaguages.

Kannada litterateur Gopalkrishna Rai said that though he knew Konkani he started writing in Kannada as the latter had wider audience and scope. "There is a need for publishers to support Konkani writers," he said.

He also urged the Foundation to set up a publication centre to support writers. "But merely selling books will not help; writers need to be given subsidy," he added.

He said that translation plays an important role in literature. "Without translation it is not possible to spread literature. If works were not translated, we would never have heard of the likes of Leo Tolstoy," he said.

"The translator should be able to understand what the author has meant and not just what is written. Translation should be sense-to-sense rather than word-to-word," he said.

Writer Dr Gokuldas Prabhu said that there is a need to take Konkani literature to the world level, and the only way to do this and reach the people is through translation.

Basti Vaman Shenoy, president of Konkani Language and Cultural Foundation, welcomed the gathering and asked the participants to implement what they learnt during workshop. He also extended support in publishing their works.

The 20 participants of the workshop were given certificates on the occasion. Mementoes were presented to resources persons Dr Na D'Souza, Dr S M Krishna Rao and Dr Geetha Shenoy

Poet Melvyn Rodrigues and Kudpi Jagadish Shenoy, treasurer of Foundation were present.