International Journal of English and Literature (IJEL) ISSN 2249-6912 Vol. 2 Issue 3 Sep 2012 1-6 TJPRC Pvt.

. Ltd.,

A CRITIQUE OF THE HOLY WATER A CULTURAL TRANSLATION OF THE WELL OF THE SAINTS TRANSLATED BY BASAVARAJ NAIKAR.
S.LAVANYA Assistant Professor of English, PSGR Krishnammal College for Women, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India

ABSTRACT
Dr. Basavaraj Naikar has made a unique attempt in retranslating his Kannada translation of J.M Synges The Well of the Saints into English. This retendering of this play again into English has enabled the Indian audience to value and relish the Irish play. The aesthetics and the rigidity of the theme are maintained with precision in the translated version. The retranslation has enabled to bridge the cultural in equivalence between the source text and the target text. The Indian audiences have gained the golden opportunity to enjoy the grandeur of the classics within the percepts of their native cultural context due to the yeomen services rendered by Dr. Basavaraj Naikar who has taken great pain to render the classics in simple language so that it would benefit multitudes of people with literary fervor. This paper attempts to analyze the play The Holy Water,as a unique example of retranslation and also as a case study of a cultural translation.

KEY WORDS:Cultural Translation, Basavaraj Naikar, The Holy Water, The Well of the Saints, J.M
Synge.

INTRODUCTION
Retranslation is a unique aspect of translation that helps in delineating cultural constrains when translation is undertaken between culturally unrelated languages. Bhabha says: Translation is the performative nature of cultural communication (228). Dr.Basavaraj Naikar translated J.M Synges play The Well of the Saints into Kannada entitled Johibhavi which was highly appreciated by the Kannada audience. Dr.Basavaraj Naikar has re-translated the Kannada play into English and re- titled as The Holy Water. When a work is translated it is not just a linguistic translation but a cultural translation. Apart from linguistic and semiotic problems translation involves cultural dimensions which have to be adapted so that it would lend itself to the aesthetics of the audience. Language becomes a pivotal instrument in communicating the original cultural interaction. The context of culture is the substratum of a literary text. In effect, one does not translate LANGUAGES, one translates CULTURES. [] That it is possible to translate one language into another at all attests to the universalities in culture, to common

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vicissitudes of human life, and to the like capabilities of men throughout the earth, as well as to the inherent nature of language and the character of the communication process itself; and a cynic might add, to the arrogance of the translator. (Casagrande 338) Good translation is judged in terms of the faithfulness in finding equivalence for cultural situations. Faithfulness and equivalence depends upon the parallelism which implies the possibility of similarity between the source language and target language texts in the cultural context. Cultural relatedness between languages yields to translation of a context into the target language. As I see it, a societys culture consists of whatever it is one has to know or believe in order to operate in a manner acceptable to its members, and do so in any role that they accept for anyone of themselves. Culture, being what people have to learn as distinct from their biological heritage, must consist of the end- product of learning: knowledge, in a most general, if relative, sense of the term. By this definition, we should note that culture is not a material phenomenon: it does not consist of things, people, behavior or emotions. It is rather an organization of these things. It is the form of things that people have in mind, their models for perceiving, relating and otherwise interpreting them. As such, the things people say and do, their social arrangements and events, are products or by- products of their culture as they apply it to the task of perceiving and dealing with their circumstances. To one who knows their culture, these things and events are also signs signifying the cultural forms or models of which they are material representations[].(Goodenough 36) In this era of globalization and internationalization translation plays a vital role in liberating the cultural difference from the bonds of specified and localized context. Bert Esselink cites the following definition of internationalization, Internationalization is the process of generalizing a product so that it can handle multiple languages and cultural conventions without the need for re-design. (qtd in St.Pierre 165) Language is the medium through which cultural context is transferred or transmuted. Finding equivalence to cultural situation is found in relation to socio- cultural, political-economic context. This makes the notion of equivalence socio-cultural and not just linguistic. The notion of equivalence involves, among other things, social psychology, cultural anthropology and ethno methodology. (Krishnaswamy 249) Culture happens to be the foundation of the text upon which the nucleus of the plot develops. Most of our own ancient and recent literatures in various Indian languages are available to us in the English translated version. The translated texts in English have served as an eye opener to the rich and variegated indigenous culture of our Indian nation. Translation has paved a great way in globalization of culture and in creating an intra cultural bonding between Indians. We must be able to recognize the locales of the specific cultural context in the translations. Migrancy, often upper class, elite, migrancy as for example from India, has already provided the First World with as much newness as it needs and can cope with, and give it the illusion that this tiny fraction of the Third World has already made the First World the whole world , the only world there is .

A Critique of the Holy Water A Cultural Translation of the Well of the Saints Translated by Basavaraj Naikar

Those of us still located on our own home turf and in our own cultures and speaking our own languages can no longer be seen or heard no such (financial) support is forthcoming for the Indian languages, which seem to be equally endangered by the increasing decimation of world languages by the one all devouring, multinational, global languages, English.(259-260) Translation is an art that requisites complete honesty to render the essence of the original in the target language. The playwright has attempted a creative translation by producing a new version of the original work. Basavaraj Naicker has transplanted the play The Well of the Saints of J.M Synge into the cultural ethos of the Indian sensibility as The Holy Water. In the translators note the author has highlighted that the religious theme lent itself to the cultural transformation. The Christian saint was transformed into a Lingayat Swami. The blind couple, Martin Doul and Mary Doul was transformed into Chennamalla and Chenni respectively. Timmy and his fiance Molly were transformed into Manappa and Malli. The Irish village is transformed into Jogibhavi. i.e the well of jogis or yogis.(viii) Chennamalla and Chenni were poor blind couple who led a contented life in spite of their adversity. They lived in a world of illusion visualizing beauty of the world in their minds eye. Though in reality they were poor and haggard beggars, they created a chimera of their self in their psyche which kept them contented, cheerful and their love towards each other ever green. As it is the habitual nature of humanity to bother over our loss than our gains, so also these blind couple was more bothered about physical beauty which they neither possessed nor could they visualize. The village people kept the blind couples spirits high by falsely praising their physical charisma. Though their form was imperfect they saw perfection in their inherent visualization. Their lack of eyesight gave them an opportunity to imagine flawless beauty. Chennamalla and Chenni were seated on the pedestal of the well and were discussing about their beauty. Chennamala argued that Malli, a young girl with a sweet voice should be endowed with physical beauty and this made Chenni jealous of Malli. Manappa, a young man in an ecstatic mood announces the blind couple that a miracle is going to happen in the town. Manappa builds the suspense and then recounts the miracle that is to happen in the town.

MANAPPA
I am telling you the same. Please listen to me carefully. There is an old well behind the monastery. If a few drops of holy water from that well are sprinkled on the blind people, they are going to get their eyesight instantly. They also can see the world like others. They also can see and enjoy the varied beauty of the world. (6) A great Swami from the Sivanandha monastery is to visit their town. He carries a bowl filled with the holy water which has the power to restore eyesight. The saint visits the poor people, many people follow him, and they sing religious songs in benediction. The saint utters mantras and sprinkles holy water on the blind couple restoring their eyesight. Bestowing of the eyesight turns to be a curse than

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a blessing. The blind couple who have been lurking in an illusionary world of their own were unable to cope up with reality. The genuine love that they had nurtured for years breaks to pieces. They hold each other responsible for beguiling each other with false notion of physical beauty.

CHENNI
O my Lord Siva! Is this man my husband? I dont know why the Lord God gives me my eyesight generously and makes me see an ugly and shapeless man standing in front of me. I dont understand anything. I dont know whats true and whats false. (19)

CHENNAMALA
My dear girl, although God has given you your eyesight, he has done a great favour to you by making your face invisible to you. That is why you have to praise Him endlessly. Had you seen your face in a mirror, you would have gone mad like that crazy Gangi and wandered in the mountain shouting and screeching. (19) The couple who were willingly sharing their burden in their adversity stands apart with their blessing of the eyesight. They were not used to any hard work; they eked out their living by depending upon the benevolence of the people of the town. Once they got their eyesight they had to work to earn their livelihood. Chennamalla was employed in Manappas workshop to split the wood into pieces and Chenni had to work in the farmland. Once Chennamalla saw Chenni, he turned the other side in order to avoid her.

CHENNAMALLA
(very sadly) It is a great punishment to get back ones eyesight and live with people like you. (Cuts up a small piece of wood and throws it aside.) or with an ugly wife. (Cuts up another piece.) It is a great punishment for God also to create the world with people like you and keep on watching your dirty deeds. God also seems to have committed a great sin in his previous life.(25) Chennamalla got his eyesight but loses his wit. He considers physical beauty to be the ultimate in life, he lusts upon Malli, who is to marry Mannapa shortly. He explains to Malli that the restoration of his eyesight has turned his life into a different angle. Reality struck upon him as a rude shock.

CHENNAMALLA
Where is the happiest day, my dear girl?( Stopshis work, bends towards her and says sadly.) On the day I got my eyesight, my condition was that of small children listening to old womens tales. When you listen to the tales all through the day, you see the same pictures in your dreams also at night. In your dreams you stay in a big mansion with golden beams and columns. In that mansions there are white stallions fit for Kings and Emperors to ride on. But when you wake up suddenly in the morning cold weather, the golden mansion and the white stallions will have vanished into air and you can see only a thatched hut and an ugly mule. Dont you? (29-30)

A Critique of the Holy Water A Cultural Translation of the Well of the Saints Translated by Basavaraj Naikar

Chennamalla proposes love to Malli, the enraged young couple drive away Chennamalla from their home. Chennamalla suddenly feels that his eye sight is getting dim. Once he feared losing his eyesight, he caught hold of Chennis hand, whom he had spurned for a long time. Chenni slapped her husband in anger but she accused Malli and Mannappa for beguiling them with falsity which had wrecked their happiness. Chennamalla wanders in the outskirts of the town as he again becomes blindfold. He finds great solace in locating Chenni who has also lost her eyesight. They plan to live happily henceforth in each others company. They happen to listen to religious songs sung by a procession. They anticipate the arrival of the saint and try to flee the place. Unfortunately the blind people are spotted by the saint who is heading the marriage procession of Manappa and Malli. When the saint again tries to restore their eye sight they protest and say they are contented with their blindness.

CHENNAMALLA
(angrily) Your Holiness, we used to see more beautiful things than these even when we were blind. When we sat on the ledge of our hut, we used to enjoy the fragrance of the flowers wafting in the air. The birds used to flap above our heads. (His Holiness steps back a little.) Then we used to enjoy seeing the beauty of the wide sky, hills and dales, big lakes and rivers, mountains and oceans with our minds eye. (48) J.M Synge is a playwright who ends the play with a note to the readers and audience to reach a reasonable, meaningful consensus with reality. To highlight this spirit to the world scenario Synge took pains in creating characters from ordinary walk of life and revealed the poetic excellence on the very existence which is always rounded with pristine love. Dr.Basavaraj Naiker has depicted the inner feelings and emotions of the hero and heroine authentically for the world of love is always filled with lot of hopes and despairs.

CONCLUSIONS
Translation is an art depicting the original sentiments of different cultures in an amazing manner. To create the essence of the original aesthetics in an elevated manner in the target language is really a Herculean task. Dr. Basavaraj Naikars dedication in bringing forth an everlasting truth on reality and dream on life and love is very evidently revealed in this impressive play. A play which opens the eyes of the lay men on the essence of love and the enigma surrounding creation is worth one. Dr. Basavaraj deserves every appraisal from all the corners of the world artists, especially those who wanted to know the real spelling, meaning and spirit of the existence.

REFERENCES
1. Naikar, Basavaraj. The Holy Water: A Cultural Translation of The Well of the Saints. New Delhi: Sarup Book Publishers, 2010. Print.

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2. Casagrande, J.B. The Ends of Translation. International Journal of American Linguistics. 20.4. (1954):335-340. Print. 3. Goodenough, Ward H. Cultural Anthropology and Linguistics. Dell Hymes (ed.) Language in Culture and Society: A Reader in Linguistics and Anthropology. New York: Harper and Row.1964. Print. 4. St-Pierre, Paul and Prafulla C.Kar.Ed., In Translation Reflections, Refractions, Transformations. 5. New Delhi: Pencraft International.2005. Print. 6. Bhabha, Homi. The Location of Culture. London, New York: Rouledge, 1994. Print. 7. Krishnaswamy N., S.K .Verma and M.Nagarajan. Modern Applied Linguistics. Madras: Macmillan, 1992. Print. 8. Harish Trivedi, Translating Culture vs Cultural Translation. In Translation: Reflections, Refractions, Transformations. Paul St. Pierre and Prafulla C. Kar, eds. Delhi: Pencraft International, 2005. Print.