CONTENT

CHAPTER TITLE PAGENO

I INTRODUCTION 01

II TRANSLATION OF AMMA ORU KOLAI CEYTAAL 14

III PROBLEMS FACED DURING TRANSLATION 39

III CONCLUSION 40

WORKS CITED 43
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CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Translation is an anglicized form of Latin word .The English word

„translation‟ which comes from „trans‟ which means „across‟ and „ferre‟ which

means „to carry‟, latio in turn coming from latus , the past participle of ferre . It is

an art of carrying across of the matters of one Source Language (SL) into a Target

Language (TL). The Theories of translation developed from purely linguistic

approach of the sixties to the textual focus of seventies have now yielded place to

the culture based theory. In the past there were few books on Translation . Now it is

different scenario that there are theories and hundreds of books on Translation

leading the learner into a trouble of confusion.

Translation in its crudest and simplest definition is an act of rendering a text

from one language into another .Translation involves the transfer of meaning

contained in one set of language signs into another set of language signs. Some

scholars such as Theodore Savory define translation as an „art‟ others such as Eric

Jacobson define it as a „craft‟ , while others describe it as a „science‟. Horst Frenz

even go so far as to opt for „art‟ but with the qualifications claiming that translation

is neither something creative nor an imitative art but which stands somewhere

between the two .

Translators have always played a major role in society. Early medieval

translators contributed to the development of modern languages and national

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identities around these languages. Translators went on playing a major role in the

advancement of society for centuries. After being highly regarded alongside

literary, academic and scientific authors for two millennia, many translators have

become invisible in the 21st century. The translation of the Hebrew Bible into

Greek in the 3rd century BCE is regarded as the first major translation in the

western world. Most Jews had forgotten Hebrew, their ancestral language, and

needed the Bible to be available in Greek to be able to read it. This translation is

known as the “Septuagint”, a name that refers to the seventy scholars who were

commissioned to translate the Hebrew Bible in Alexandria, Egypt. Each translator

worked in solitary confinement in his own cell, and according to legend all seventy

versions proved identical.

In the third century B.C, Dargon , the king of Assyria , used to proclaim his

conquests and exploits in many languages of his empire . For the sake of a large

Greek speaking community, in Alexandria , the Old Testament was translated from

Hebrew into German. In about 240 B.C, Andronicus , a greek by birth but a Roman

slave , translated Homers Odyssey into Latin . Therefore , Savory call Andronicus ,

the first translator in Europe . Ennius , the father of Latin poetry , translated a

number of Greek plays into Latin. The translator‟s role as a bridge for “carrying

across” values between cultures has been discussed since Terence, a Roman

playwright who translated and adapted Greek comedies into Latin in the 2nd

century BCE.

Other ancient translated works include those carried out by Buddhist monks

who translated indian documents into Chinese. Ancient Greek texts were also
 3

translated by Roman poets and were adapted to create developd literary works for

entertainment. In Second century B.C French soldiers through shepherd found

stone near Rosetta on the Western bank of the Nile. It contained translations from

Egyptian language into Greek . George Steiner in After Babel , divides the

literature on the theory , practice and history of translation into four periods as

follows:

i. The first period extends from Cicero and Horace to 1791, the year

of the publication of the Tytlers‟s On the Principles of Translation.

ii. The second period extends from 1791 to 1946, the period of the

development of vocabulary and methodology of translation.

iii. The third period extends from 1946 to 1960 the period of Machine

Translation, Introduction of Structural Linguistics and Communication Theory into

the Study of Translation.

iv. The fourth period extends from 1960 till date.

Geoffrey Chaucer produced the first “fine” translations into English in the

14th century. Chaucer founded an English poetic tradition based on translations or

adaptations of literary works in Latin and French, two languages that were more

established than English at the time. The “finest” religious translation was the

“Wycliffe‟s Bible” (1382-84), named after John Wycliffe, the theologian who

translated the Bible from Latin to English.

In the sixteenth century non-scholarly literature continued to rely heavily on

adaptation. Tudor poets and Elizabethan translators adapted themes by Horace,

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Ovid, Petrarch and others, while inventing a new poetic style. The “Tyndale New

Testament” (1525) was regarded as the first great Tudor translation, named after

William Tyndale, the English scholar who was its main translator. For the first

time, the Bible was directly translated from Hebrew and Greek texts. After

translating the whole New Testament, Tyndale began translating the Old

Testament, and translated half of it. He became a leading figure in the Protestant

Reformation before being sentenced to death for the unlicensed possession of the

Scripture in English. After his death, one of his assistants completed the translation

of the Old Testament. The “Tyndale Bible” became the first mass-produced English

translation of the Bible on the printing press. The Bible was also translated into

Dutch, French, Spanish, Czech and Slovene. Martin Luther, a German professor of

theology and a seminal figure in the Protestant Reformation, translated the Bible

into German in his later life. The “Luther Bible” (1522-34) had lasting effects on

religion. The disparities in the translation of crucial words and passages contributed

to some extent to the split of western Christianity into Roman Catholicism and

Protestantism. The publication of the “Luther Bible” also contributed to the

development of the modern German language.

Dolet a French Humanist , formulated a theory of Translation in 1540. His

“How To Translate from One Language into Another” established five principles

for translator :

I. The translator must fully understand the sense and meaning of the original

author

II. The translator should have a perfect knowledge of both SL and TL .

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III. The translator should avoid word for word renderings .

IV. The translator should useforms of speech in common use .

V. The translator should produce the correct tone through his choice and order

of words.

In the second half of the 17th century, English poet and translator John

Dryden sought to make Virgil speak “in words such as he would probably have

written if he were living as an Englishman”. Dryden also observed that “translation

is a type of drawing after life”, thus comparing the translator to an artist several

centuries after Cicero. Alexander Pope, a fellow poet and translator, was said to

have reduced Homer‟s “wild paradise” to “order” while translating the Greek epic

poems “Iliad” and “Odyssey” into English, but these comments had no impact on

his best-selling translations.

In the eighteenth century witnessed a pleothora of translation. Alexander

Pope and William Cowper attempted to put Homer into English verse . Pope‟s Iliad

appeared 1719 and 1720 and his Odyssey in 1725 . Cowper kept as close as

possible to the original but Pope had not done so. J.H Voss published his German

translation of Odyssey in 1781 and Iliad in 1793.

According to Goethe , every literature must pass through three modes

of translation:

i. To make us familiar with foreign countries in our own terms .

ii. To absorb the sense of a foreign work but to reproduce it in his own

terms , and
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iii. To aim at perfect identity between the SL Text and the TL Text .

An exception was the translation and adaptation of Persian poems by

Edward FitzGerald, an English writer and poet. His book “The Rubaiyat of Omar

Khayyám” (1859) offered a selection of poems by Omar Khayyám, an 11th-century

poet, mathematician and astronomer. FitzGerald‟s free translation from Arabic to

English has stayed the most famous translation of Khayyám‟s poems to this day,

despite more recent and accurate translations. Other translators consciously

produced literal translations, especially translators of religious, historical, academic

and scientific works. They adhered closely to the source text, sometimes stretching

the limits of the end language to produce a non-idiomatic translation . A new

discipline named “Translation Studies” appeared in the second half of the 20th

century. The term “Translation Studies” was coined by James S. Holmes, an

American-Dutch poet and translator of poetry, in his seminal paper “The Name and

Nature of Translation Studies” (1972).

In the 21st century internet has fostered a worldwide market for translation

and localisation services, and for translation software. It has also brought many

issues, with precarious employment and lower rates for professional translators, and

the rise of unpaid volunteer translation including crowdsourced translation.

Bilingual people need more skills than two languages to become good translators.

To be a translator is a profession, and implies a thorough knowledge of the subject

matter. Crucially , the need to understand the culture of the original country and

that of the target audience is further enhanced by modern tools and practices .

Although some instant translation services are capable only of metaphrase

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translation (literal word –for-word translation ), specialist firms , platforms and

translators are able to translate texts and spoken word into multiple languages

whilst observing the relevance and culture of the target receiver.

Jacobsen distinguishes translation into three types in his article „On

Linguistic of Translation‟ as:

i. intralingual - rewording or paraphrasing, summarizing, expanding or

commenting within a language;

ii. interlingual - the traditional concept of translation from ST to TT or

the shifting of meaning from one language to another”;

iii. intersemiotic - the changing of a written text into a different form, such

as art or dance.

During the seventeenth century John Dryden brought out his version of

Juvanel (1693) and (1697) . Theodore Savory considers Dryden as one of the

significant translators of the age . Dryden expresses his views on Epistles by

formulating three basic types :

I. Metaphrase : Word for Word translation

II. Paraphrase : Sense for Sense translation

III. Imitation : Abandoning the text of the original as he sees fit.

Dryden prefers paraphrase to the other two he considers it a balance path or

a golden mean and cautions: „Imitation and verbal expression are in my opinion the

two extremes which ought to be avoided‟.

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A translation can never be as equal as the original text. There is always a

question of equivalence between the original and the translated text . Eugene Nida

distinguishes two types of equivalence . Formal equivalence focuses attention on

the message itself , in both form and content. Dynamic equivalence is based on the

principles of equivalent effect that is the relationship between the original receiver

and the SL message . In his definition of translation Linguistic equivalence ,

Popovic distinguishes four types :

i. equivalence , where there is homogeneity on the linguistic level of

both SL and TL text. This occurs in „word for word‟ translation.

ii. Paradigmatic equivalence , where there is equivalence of the

elements of a paradigmatic expressive axis that is elements of grammar , which

Popovic sees as being a higher category than lexical equivalence.

iii. Stylistic (translational) equivalence , where there is functional

equivalence of elements in both original and translation aiming at an expressive

identity with an invariant of identical meaning.

iv. Textual (syntagmatic) equivalence , where there is equivalence of

form and shape.

When the difficulties are encountered by the translators, the whole issue of

the untranslatability of the text is raised . Catford distinguishes two types of

untranslatability , which he terms linguistic and cultural. On the linguistic level,

untranslatability occurs when there is no lexical or syntactical substitute in the TL

and SL item. Cultural untranslatability is due to the absence in the TL culture of a

relevant situational feature for the SL text.

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The study of proper principle of translation is termed as translation theory.

This theory, based on a solid foundation on understanding of how languages work,

translation theory recognizes that different languages encode meaning in differing

forms, yet guides translators to find appropriate ways of preserving meaning, while

using the most appropriate forms of each language. Translation theory includes

principles for translating figurative language, dealing with lexical mismatches,

rhetorical questions, inclusion of cohesion markers, and many other topics crucial

to good translation .Basically there are two competing theories of translation. In

one, the predominant purpose is to express as exactly as possible the full force and

meaning of every word and turn of phrase in the original, and in the other the

predominant purpose is to produce a result that does not read like a translation at

all, but rather moves in its new dress with the same ease as in its native rendering.

In the hands of a good translator neither of these two approaches can ever be

entirely ignored.

Conventionally, it is suggested that in order to perform their job

successfully, translators should meet three important requirements; they should be

familiar with:

i. the source language

ii. the target language

iii. the subject matter

Based on this premise, the translator discovers the meaning behind the

forms in the source language and does his best to produce the same meaning in the
 10

target language using the forms and structures of the target language. Consequently,

what is supposed to change is the form and the code and what should remain

unchanged is the meaning and the message. One of the earliest attempts to establish

a set of major rules or principles to be referred to in literary translation was made

by French translator and humanist Étienne Dolet. The translator should understand

perfectly the content and intention of the author whom he is translating. The

principal way to reach it is reading all the sentences or the text completely so that

you can give the idea that you want to say in the target language because the most

important characteristic of this technique is translating the message as clearly and

natural as possible. The translator should have a perfect knowledge of the language

from which he is translating and an equally excellent knowledge of the language

into which he is translating. At this point the translator must have a wide

knowledge in both languages for getting the equivalence in the target language,

because the deficiency of the knowledge of both languages will result in a

translation without logic and sense.

Translation involves a clash of interests . There are three ways of translating

. One gives ptimacy to the author , the other to the text and the third to the reader .

There are three methods of translating.

i. Author-Centered Translation , stresses the primacy of the translator‟s

familiarity with the author

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ii. Text-Centered Translation , stresses the primacy of the text . The intention

is to convey the truth and to keep the readers well-informed. Informative

texts are text-centered .

iii. Reader-Centered Translation, stresses the primacy of the reader.Vocative

and Imperative texts are reader-centered.

The purpose of translation theory, then is to reach an understanding of the

processes undertaken in the act of translation and, not, as is so commonly

misunderstood, to provide a set of norms for effecting the perfect translation, in the

same way, literary criticism does not seek to provide a set of instruction for

producing the ultimate poem or novel, but rather to understand the internal and

external structures operating within and around a work of art . Once this point is

accepted, two is sues that continue the bedevil Translation Studies can be

satisfactoraliy resolved; the problem of whether there can be a science of

translation and whether translating is a secondary activity.

The project is an attempt to translate few short stories of Ammaa oru kolai ceytaal from

Tamil to English.

C. S. Lakshmi (born 1944) is an Indian feminist writer and independent researcher

in women's studies from India. She writes under the pseudonym Ambai. Lakshmi was

born in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu in 1944. She grew up in Mumbai and Bangalore. She

obtained her Bachelor of Arts from Bangalore University, Master of Arts from Madras

Christian College and her PhD from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. She draws

great inspiration from her mother who asked her to study in Chennai if it would

contribute to a change of any extent in her life. Her dissertation was on American policy
 12

towards refugees fleeing Hungary due to the failed revolution of 1956. After completing

her education, she worked as a school teacher and college lecturer in Tamil Nadu. She is

married to Vishnu Mathur, a film maker, and lives in Mumbai.

In 1962, Lakshmi published her first work Nandimalai Charalilae (lit. At Nandi

Hills) – written when she was still a teenager. Her first serious work of fiction was the

Tamil novel Andhi Maalai (lit. Twilight) which came out in 1966. It received the

"Kalaimagal Narayanaswamy Aiyar" Prize. She received critical acclaim with the short

story Siragukal muriyum (lit. Wings will be broken) (1967) published in the literary

magazine Kanaiyazhi. This story was later published in book form as a part of short story

collection under the same name in 1976. The same year she was awarded a two-year

fellowship to study the work of Tamil women writers. The research work was published

as The Face behind the mask (Advent Books) in 1984. In 1988, her second Tamil short

story collection titled Veetin mulaiyil oru samaiyalarai (lit. A kitchen in the corner of the

house) was published. This established her reputation as a major short story writer. Her

work is characterised by her feminism, an eye for detail, and a sense of irony. Some of

her works – A Purple Sea (1992) and In A Forest, A Deer (2006) – have been translated

English by Lakshmi Holmström. In 2006, she (along with Lakshmi Holmström) won

the Vodafone Crossword Book Award (in the Indian language fiction translation

category) for In a Forest, A Deer. For her contributions to Tamil literature, she received

the 2008 Iyal Virudhu (Lifetime Achievement Award) awarded by the Canada-based

Tamil Literary Garden. In 2021, she won the Sahitya Akademi Award, India's highest

literary honor, for her collection of short stories Civappuk Kazuttu Tan Oru Paccaip

Parava.
 13

Lakshmi has been an independent researcher in the field of women's studies for

over thirty years. She uses the pen name Ambai for publishing Tamil fiction and her real

name (as Dr. C. S. Lakshmi) for publishing her research work and other articles in

newspapers like The Hindu and The Times of India and in journals like Economic and

Political Weekly. In 1992, she was a visiting fellow in the University of Chicago's

Institute for Culture and Consciousness. She was instrumental in the establishment

of Roja Muthiah Research Library (RMRL) by persuading the University to acquire Roja

Muthaiah Chettiar's collection of books and other published material.[13][14][15] She has

been a research Officer in the Indian Council of Historical Research and a college

lecturer in New Delhi. In the 1990s, she worked in two research projects – Illustrated

Social History of Women in Tamil Nadu sponsored by the Ford Foundation and An Idiom

of Silence: An Oral History and Pictorial Study sponsored by the Homi J.

Bhabha fellowship. The resulting research has been published as two volumes of

the Seven seas & seven mountains series.

The first volume, The Singer and the Song (2000), is a collection of interviews

with women musicians and the second volume, Mirrors and Gestures (2003), is a

collection of interviews with women dancers.[16][17][18] In 1988, Lakshmi founded

SPARROW (Sound and Picture Archives for Research on Women) a non-governmental

organisation (NGO) for documenting and archiving the work of female writers and

artists. SPARROW has published a number of books on women artists and writers. As of

2009, she continues to be the organisation's Director and a member of its board of

trustees. She is a current member of the University of Michigan's Global Feminisms

Project. She considers herself as a "feminist who has lived without compromise.
 14

CHAPTER II

TRANSLATION OF AMMAA ORU KOLAI CEYTAAL

Mother committed a murder

Only a few programs are so heart-pounding as Amma. Sister Kalyani fainted

often

She was falling. will understand

I am not old. Four years old.

I wake up in the morning. Something sounds like Tamam. I go to the door and

see. Kalyani is seated on the board. Someone is standing in front of a bunch of leaves.

Ah, my brother Papa, who only smiled for a few months, is in the cradle in the same

room where I was.

Someone says, "Neerajatsi, go and bring it."

I care for mom.

I remember the navy blue saree. She is going through menopause. Mother enters

the small room adjoining my room. She deletes the title. She slowly takes milk from her

breast in a small bowl in her hand. Watery eyes.

In the dark of dawn, mother wakes up every day to boil hot water by putting

firewood under the big blanket buried in the bathroom. One day I will see her. Mother's

head

Marmudicharandu hangs. He is squatting. mother The hair extends half over the

cheek and half over the ear. Aduyabu grabs hold of the half face of the bathed mother, the
 15

scent of fire blows. On that day, mother is wearing a red saree. As she stares, she

scribbles. Sundal is crippling to the core. Through the parted headpiece, bare breasts with

green veining were visible beneath the unbuttoned blouse. She appears as a girl of fire

who flew in from somewhere and stood there. Is she a mother? Is it mom?

Why comes to mind the sloka "Kali Kali Maha Ghani Bhatra Kali

Namostude..."?

"Mom..."

Amma looks back to herself.

"What are you doing here" I can't speak and my body is sweating.

Homam is going on at home. By the kiss of mother's lips or by the sight of

saffron, she becomes the image of a burning flame. "Agniye slaaa.ha.." they hold out the

swaha and pour ghee on the street.

Mother rubs oil and takes a bath. She lifts the saree and tucks it in. The wipe

looks white and smooth. Green nerve when stooping.

Mom, are you the only one so pale, Emma? Is Emma black?"

laughter

But who will get your beauty?"

Shows have nothing to do Mother is their queen, the fire that burns and purifies

impurities She is the one who with a smile makes thousands of beauties appear in the

mind, Lord of creation, when she lies with her head on his lap he strokes her with long

slender fingers and says, “I will give you a dance. She would say something mundane

like Maiir, but whatever blooms in her mind will blossom.

 16

I don't know whether it was my mother who instilled such feelings about my

mother or I thought it myself. I don't know if she planted the seeds of many beauties in

me.

Thirteen years old then. Skirts are starting to get shorter. Mom lengthens

everything.

I ask my mother when I suddenly remember the lines I read somewhere in the

evening while lying on my mother's lap.

Amma Barumana or what?

Silence.

A long silence.

She says suddenly.

"You let your dark skirt wander like this,

Run away..."

Siddhi girl comes to see Radhu. Mother goes there. Mom on that important day

No.

It is Kalyani who rubs her hair with oil on Deepavani. Through the window of

Kunialara, the sword of unending darkness can be seen.

"Kallus... I woke you up too early, Pataga

The sound is still a scream.

Rub "I will rub oil on you and I will rub you too

Don't you? Age does not come. For you, thirteen and six. number

Kalmani has no patience. Headache as if peeling coconut

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Kalyani rubs. Mother has stitched a skirt for me in Katharipoo Raid's Tulari for

that Diwali, as it slipped and ran on the sewing machine, my heart longed. That time

mother took the measurements and sewed the skirt. I want to measure you” size

After taking it, mother becomes arrogant. "Grow Two Inches To This Girl"

Eggplant Satin Skirt Other Skirt Patterns

Not short. Slips and hits the ground.

'Uluk' stood up and held his head

Kalyani sweeps,

Grabbing Shimmy and running to the pooja room. Among the new clothes on

the table, father gives me mine.

"This beard is black..." Dad would call like that.

When dad says that, sometimes I stand in front of the mirror that hangs in the

hall and look, it's like mom whispers "how beautiful you are" in my ear.

Slipping like a fish in a glass case in the sauna house, I put on a skirt and a

velvet shirt and go in front of my father. "Oh, it's okay!" Dad says.

I take the batal and keep it in the front room and run to climb the sandalwood

tree.

In the eternal morning, climbing the sandalwood tree and plucking flowers is a

double task. If you fill the flower gut with flowers and give them to mother, she will

widen her eyes and say, "Robbery flower". I don't know my fingers.

Wad's skirt is slippery. The roof horn has no hair and is dark. A firecracker

bursts into the air on the way down. The body is a jump from high boon. Flow in the

house breathes.
 18

Relieved, I run to the front room and burst my stock of crackers. Only then does

Pookutala come to mind.

It's dawn.

I bend down to pick up the flowerpot from under the tree as if to lift the skirt.

The flowers are somewhat variegated. The skirt flares to the floor when taken in a good

crouch. Stains here and there on the skirt. Because the tree climbed?

"Kalloos..." came in as he called and said, "I want to get all the skirts dirty,

mother, will you?" I stand in front of her with a flower pot.

Kalyani stares for a minute and then says "Daddy".

She keeps shouting.

The sight of Kalyani, the fact that she ran inside without even buying a flower

gut, makes the caterpillar squirm in the mind. Looking at the satin skirt. I try the velvet

shirt.

Nothing happened?

God, nothing happened to me? When I ask myself something seems to have

happened. Sounds can be heard everywhere. With a vase in my hand, I am breathing fast

and my lips are throbbing.

How comes the cry.

I want to see my mother. The head should be pressed on the shoulders of the sari

with the sari. I want to cry without shame saying "I'm scared" and mother rubs her head.

Something terrible has happened.. from somewhere.

Kalyani is bringing along the bald grandmother who is coming.

Grandma comes near.

 19

"What are you crying for? What is it that is not in the world now?" I don't know

what Grandma said. Unless my sense is that I understand something and get scared

Nothing reaches knowledge. From the depths of the mind

Only one call that came out with an insatiable thirst... Mom..!

I think back to the time when I was five and disappeared. I walk in a big park

unaware of the long darkness. Suddenly the darkness, the trees, the sounds and the

silence create fear in the mind. Father is searching. But only when he sees his mother, he

bursts into tears.

Mother puts it on the side. Apply

She gives “Nothing happened. Everything will be fine”

She says softly. Red lips like a streak of fire

Jwalika puts her face on mine.

Even now it beats as if it has disappeared somewhere.

I sat down and buried my head in my knees and cried. It looks like something is

over. It looks as if you have left something behind and come out after showing 'Supham'

in the theatre. At that time, it seems that only one person in the history of the world

experienced such grief. I weep as if bearing all the sorrows on thin shoulders wearing

velvet shirts.

I wonder why mom didn't tell me about it during the evenings together.

The only feeling that pervades the mind is fear. In a new situation, it is not the

normal fear among new people, the fear of seeing a snake and cowering in fear, fear

hangs in the corners of the mind like cobwebs.

 20

An image of white lips being parted appears in the mind. The skull hit the stone

and the soft red head that was walking in front of me suddenly opened like a cave mouth

and dark red blood gushed out. Blood rushed to his head. I stared at the blood. The red

seemed to spread everywhere and flow into the eyes. The mind screamed again and

again, “Oh, how much blood, how much blood.” There was no sound in the mouth. A bed

of blood. The old man stood with his mouth open, his eyes staring, his chest pounding.

How terrible is the blood... the lips are white...

Hands and feet become motionless...'

Need mom. The heart yearns for Amma to get rid of this fear, just as it hugs and

comforts when it is afraid of the dark. Shouldn't mother be giggling and put her hand on

her shoulder and say, "This too is a beauty"?

"Wake up please, how long are you going to cry?" Kalyani pleads as she sits

with me and cries.

"Mother, please come next week. I have just written a letter about this. Please

come as soon as the woman sees Radu. Now you wake up. Clean."

Headache." Kalyani starts to get angry. "What do you want me to do?"

"How many times has your head turned into a skull?"

Saying

"Should I not climb trees all the time?”

'Thick! I beg you to get up at half past one and change your skirt. Are you asking

another question? "Daddy, is she sleeping a lot?" she called out to her father.

Dad comes and says, "Don't be rude, ask Kalyani."

 21

The curmudgeonly grandmother says, "What a shame! It's fate for everyone,"

after Dad leaves.

Seven days, seven more days until mother comes. Radu

After seeing the girl.

Seven days like stumbling in the dark.

Aunty next door, aunty across the house, everyone is coming one day to throw a

scarf and make a kalyani.

"It's all after mom came, mami. This is it

The owner I will listen only if my mother tells me."

"Everything will be alright from now on

Condensation will come."

Why?

What will happen next?

Why wear a scarf? Mother said... "It's dark like this; let the skirt flutter..." Why

should I change?

No one explains.

They make me sit like a doll and talk to them. When father comes, they talk

slowly, covering the topic.

On the fifth day, Kalyani pours oil in a bowl for me to fry with oil, "You rub the

oil yourself".

I stand in front of the mirror with Shimmys.

Dad says I have to dress in the bathroom from now on.

 22

I slam the door after dad leaves. Let me spin the shimmies. The mirror reflects

the black body. The shoulders, arms, chest, middle, run of soft wipes that are slightly

lighter in color than the face. Am I not the same girl? What is mother going to say?'

I will put on a cool uniform. Opening the door, Kalyani comes. "What do you

say when you ask why you don't come to school?"

Staring at Kalyani. Like a bird freed from its cage, the speed that was leaving for

school is slowing down.

Don't say anything. be quiet"

He did not play in the 'games' period that day. I hide behind a broad tree. I have

never played like that before. The next morning Miss. Leela Menon asks the class "Who

are the idiots who didn't play yesterday?"

she said. Just didn't wake up. Why didn't you wake up?" she said.

"I said no stupid miss. Progress

Ms. Leela Menon was not even afraid of scolding if she wrote 'Important' in the

report.

Nothing else ever seems to affect me. Enid Blyden does not sit under the tree

and read as usual. I ask the ripe leaves scattered in the hollow cut below, "What has

become of me and is lost?"

Looking at the mouth of the prisoner judge in the cage, the mind expects only

one word from Bose Amma.

Mother lowered her eyes and looked at me and said, 'This is also beautiful for

you'?
 23

Scary Twisted Grandma. Kalyani is different as she sweeps everyone aside in a

flash of a smile. She will pay where she stands. Everything is beautiful to her.

Mother is very needy. Something needs to be explained. Kathripoo thickens her

satin skirt and puts the lot in her mouth like a log, and suddenly it turns dark and before

she looks back, the sound of 'Nang', the bleeding, elongated body seems to appear in the

dark, someone needs to explain it with gentle words.

I feel as if there is no one in the day and I slowly go home after waking up the

gardener.

"Why are you so late? Where did you go?"

"I wasn't going anywhere. I was sitting under a tree

"Alone?"

"Um.*

"Andee, are you still a little girl? What if something happens?" Dropping the

school bag. The face becomes all warm; Covering the ears with hands I scream.

“I will sit like that. I don't care"

Stretching and straining each word, I scream out loud. Dad and Kalyani are

shocked.

I get angry and sit on the terrace. Right there with the smell of sandalwood May

be. Kalyani and father should not come here. Only Noon and Sanpaka Maravasana. The

silent, untouchable scent becomes closer to the housemates. How much will it be if these

people do not speak! Wide-eyed smile like a mother

If mom looks like that, something will do in her heart.. She will smile and sing.

All the joy, happiness and beauty. Turn the head and make a smile
 24

The summoner.

Kalyani comes up.

Come eat, little Rani, Mother pampered you and made you a little wall."

I get up biting my lip nonchalantly.

Mother comes next morning. Opening the door of the taxi, Mother enters the

house, draped in dark green silk.

"What's up" says dad.

“The girl is black. The creditor said no.

"You mean your sister?"

"Unrepentant Sin"

"We also have a barber."

I suddenly went and stood in front of my mother.

It seems that I should explain myself more than Kalyani wrote in the letter.

Slowly her lips tremble on the nape of her neck and it seems as if she wants to lick

everything in her soft voice. A heart-wrenching fear beats to be told.

Her face looked like she was going to explain something mysterious - the feeling

of choking when I lay down at night, the agony of my body changing over me.

see He is going to hug me with his arms like banana stalks. I'm going to cry out

loud and run my fingers through my mother's hair with wails.

Mom looks at me.

I don't know if I am changing before her eyes just for a moment.

"What's the rush for this loss? It's just another burden." The question is, who is

she blaming?
 25

Amma's lips, nostrils, forehead, nostrils and eyes appear to be emitting blood-

colored flames.

In that fire, she becomes a mere human mother, naked, and the divine form

wrapped around him falls away. Those wet words rise up like a knife and blindly kill all

the beauty that has sprouted before. Unresolved fears cling to the chest like dark images

only impurities are not burnt. Buds and flowers are also scorched.
 26

Travel 7

As soon as Chandrakant entered the Bandra train, the crowd pressed closer.

Some people ran, knocking and pushing. Some people walk calmly blocking the way.

Queues, fights, skirmishes, row violations as usual at the tickets offering window. The

cries of the coolies to give way.

A Delhi-bound train was standing on the platform. Chandrakant gave her his

handbag and went to buy her platform ticket. It was only when she stood a little aside that

she caught his eye. By the wall next to the platform entrance was a trunk box, two

bundles of clothes, and Magau, who was drinking milk. A six-year-old boy who was

amused by the crowd was surrounded by all this. She was sitting on the floor. As soon as

two feet were placed in the infant's trunk, it started screaming. Pulling the boy and giving

him two small balls on the head, he sat on the trunk box and cried loudly. Tears welled up

in her eyes after making the two children cry. She looked like she was standing upright

while wiping.

"Mousejee, O MauRp..." she called out to her. She went to the side and said,

"What's the matter?"

"When will the bus to Madura come?" she asked.

When will it come? Standing on the platform. So see which town you want to go

to

“One near Madura

Village. After this cart

Do you have any cart, Mousejie?

 27

Why not go in this carriage? Shall I take the ticket?" No. I will take the next

carriage. When will it arrive?

"This is the last carriage, the next carriage is tomorrow." She hugged the

children tightly and kept silent.

Chandrakant came. He asked what was the matter. When he explained, he also

went to the woman and tried to talk to her. He turned back to answer without her

bothering him. "Come on, let's go. There seems to be some problem," he said.

When they both entered the platform and found his box, he got on. She also

climbed with him and he left his handbag and sat down next to Channal. After talking

about this and that until the carriage left, when the carriage started to leave, she gave

urgent advice, "Eat properly. Don't drink too much." 'Same advice for you,' he said aloud

and waved his hand.

He had an unshakable belief that alcohol was the cure for all physical and mental

ailments. It is a panacea. If one of the two snorts or coughs a little, the bottle of brandy

will come out. "Can you stay off the medicine?" He said. She'll agree. Rum with hot

water if you're feeling down, a Bloody Mary with vodka mixed with tomato juice or a

Screw Driver with vodka mixed with orange juice, Chandrakant's own invention of vodka

with watermelon juice.

He had a long list of prescriptions: wine for a spirited day, champagne for

celebration, Kanenfidish malt whiskey for an action-packed celebration.

Chandrakant's comments on Gudi were shocking to his family, who were aware

of proverbs like 'gudi' means 'de Gudi' and the over-acting that started to falter in Indian

cinema. They faced culture shock for the first time. They insisted to her that she should
 28

'treat' her daughter-in-law. They stopped talking about it after saying that drinking is a

cultural thing and that even women like to drink alcohol and told the story that fifty years

ago in northern villages women brewed and sold it in pots at their doorsteps.

She was about to go out with a small smile on her face when she was stopped by

the sound of "Mousegee Mousegee". When he looked back, the woman was calling him

by waving his hand. She went, "What?" she said.

"Mouseji, please hold him. I'm just going to the bathroom," she said holding the

baby. The child jumped up smiling at her as he had been used to for a long time, "Oh

Kishan, don't disturb Talee-Moussi.

"Don't," she said to him.

Honey-mouse? Grandma in a minute

she ate “Mousejee, keep an eye on the baggage.

She grabbed the boy's hand and tried to leave.

"what is your name?"

"Rupathi. The boy's name is Arjun," she said.

"Okay, go and come soon," she said.

The child had only a top. With one hand she opened her bag and wrapped Dalal

around the child's waist, carrying the child in her arms. The child, who had no hand in fat,

leaned on the shoulder with great authority and pulled the chain. Fingers through hair. Gh

Gh He laughed at something and drooled, then rubbed his face on her.

 29

"Look, I'm not your nanny. Don't move too much," she told him with a stern

face.

Laughed out loud. MBMP untangled her hair.

The Railatic crowd was coming and going.

After ten to fifteen minutes, Rupamati was seen in the distance. She was tired of

standing there to compensate for the child's poisons.

When Rupmati came near, she put the baby in her arms. Rupmati held the child

in her arms and stood looking at her.

"The last carriage is gone. What to do

Are you going?” she asked her.

"If Pentatti, who left home at eight o'clock in the morning, doesn't come home,

why don't you come looking for me? I've been here since nine o'clock. No one has come

looking for me. I want to go to Mathura and catch a bus to our village..."

"Who's there?"

"Our Bhai Saheb, Babaji, Baoji. I don't have a mother... Our village is far away."

I remembered. As a Daughter Says to Her Father A Santhal Poem by Nirmala Puthil

A composed poem.
 30

Baba.

Don't tie me up so far that you can only come to see me by selling your sheep

Where only Gods live without humans

Do not arrange a wedding

Do not marry me in a town without forests, rivers and mountains

Of course

Cars fly faster than thoughts in place

Avoid places with tall buildings and big shops.

In a house without a yard where the chickens are not cooked

Sun in the mountains from the backyard

In a house where you can't see the sunset

 31

Do not look at the bridegroom who has never planted a single tree or grown a

crop.

Not carrying the burden of others

He could not even write the word hand

Don't hand me over

If I want to get married

You come in the morning and walk at sunset

Make it reversible

Here I cry by the river

Then you should come with silk in your ear...

Opposite Rudmati stood confused. It was dark outside. Looking at her, it seemed

that he would not have eaten for a whole day.

 32

"I'll be here in a bit" he said, holding Arjun's hand and hurrying. At the canteen,

she bought two vada-pavs, Mumbai's hunger pangs. She bought milk in a plastic cup and

a packet of biscuits. After giving everything to Arjun, she bought three cups of tea and

walked away holding them in both hands without spilling. He even came with a safe and

secure grip.

Rupmati and Arju sat on the trunk box. Rupmati feeds Kishan milk and biscotti

and puts him down, he is a cupAs he watched them both nibble on an inch-heavy pav-roti

stuffed with potato filling, Rupmati appeared to be twenty-two years old. Big black hair,

thick eyebrows. Her hair was red and she wore a dark green saree. Manchan blouse.

After finishing the meal, after throwing the paper plates and cups in the dustbin,

Guppati came back to her with the kishan. What do you intend to do!”

Look, Mouziji, driving an auto with a bottle of wine in his hand, getting up at

seven o'clock and having breakfast now, is it possible? There is no kerosene at home.

There is no sin. No milk. No tea powder. My lazuma went to see their work. It takes an

hour to massage and bathe the baby beds and children with oil. Their food will also be

something. Arjun and Kishan are looking at my hand. Arjun should be sent to school.

There is not even wheat flour to make bread in the tip box. When there was nothing in the

house, our landlord rolled everything and left me behind. He told me to leave the house

and go to the house where I was born. I also got angry. Time went by and I was sad. I

packed up and left. See, they don't care. Not even a single person came looking for it."
 33

"How do you know that I will come here? You must be looking for me there."

It seemed as if two people stopped and stared at her.

"Well, you can't stay here for the night. That's not right.

"Where else to go?"

See how he can tell you to leave home! It is your house or not, go back without

talking. Trunk is not the door Open the box and sit and let everyone see. Let's ask her

four questions. Won't your master tell him anything?"

"He himself is a drunkard;"

"Right. Sassuma

"Are they? How do you know which side to lean on?"

Can you tell?" Arjun's trunk is on his head. Cloth bundles are on Rupmati's head.

Kishan is on her waist.

 34

She got out of the train and parked an auto aside. It was well known that the auto

driver was from Uttar Pradesh. Ninety percent of Mumbai's autos and taxis are in their

hands.

"Which place?" said Rube. He said.

"Malvani."

Malvaniya? Is it too far to go by road? How did you come when you came?" He

came by bus to Mud Island and said, 'Botula Varsova.'

We reached the village and caught a bus from there."

There were power boats in the backwaters. Fishermen's boats. Low fees. You

can cross the sea in five minutes. By road, the round trip will take one hour.

Will you be 'putting it last'? OK, OK, buy," she loaded the luggage into the auto.

She asked them to sit. They sat down to cover the entire space of the trunk. After giving

directions to the auto driver to go through the highway and enter the expressway,

"Look, it's your housekeeper. If you go through the Malad here, I'll give you two

hundred rupees, one hundred and one hundred and fifty rupees. Can you safely destroy

them at home?" He asked.

 35

"There is something like a fight in the house, man, I called him and hit him or

something Put it..." He hesitated. Then, "You also bought it. I will leave you at home

then". Bhai Varaheb says rightly. Moulijee comes. Rupmati says "Nali-moli, get it."

Arjun opens his mouth for the first time.

From now on it seems like he is a permanent grandmother, Kishan smiled

showing the necessary grass. She hesitated. The auto guy said to Arjun, "Peta, let Antiji

sit in front of the fire."

Arjun jumped over the barricade to that side, ran and sat next to the automan.

She moved towards Rupmati and sat with her leg on top of the trunk.

Auto left.

Polo Sri Ramachandra Ki J! Bhavan Putra Hanuman J” chanted the auto driver,

God cannot bring them without equal. Arjun excitedly shouted J as it seemed.

The highway is always jammed with vehicles. Crying is fast, running without

stopping. She warned the auto driver not to go too fast as there is a child in the cab.

After cursing drunken husbands, Rupmati fell asleep with her head on his

shoulder. Keesan also fell asleep. Both its legs were lying on her thigh.
 36

When Maloney arrived, he woke Roopmati and asked him to guide her, by

which time the auto stopped in the area where Arjun guided her. With the help of the auto

driver, they unloaded the trunk and placed it in the house. Rupathi was sitting on the bed

with her two children on either side. Shan was still sleepily leaning on her mother when

the neighbors slowly came and joined her.

A man in his fifties or sixties was sitting on a rope bundle outside, holding a

beedi without raising his head. Hearing the noise, a young man came from inside.

Rupmati's husband, when he saw Rupmati, said, "The man who left at eight o'clock at

night came back, where did he go? Who did he go with? Why did he come back? She

stopped when she saw the presence of others. Kishan woke up and started crying.

Someone in the crowd said, "Someone has brought a mother. Don't just shout."

He looked at her and waved his hand.

* Why bother you madam? All this is not a proper puppet house. Whoever calls,

go. She should be trampled all over. That's what I did," he began.

Many people in the crowd around him started cursing at him. The auto guy told

her, "Buy Antiji." Does anyone in this house open their mouths?

Murder falls. Oh yes. If you want to talk, go to your father

 37

"Home, this is my house," he continued to shout. Before she took a step towards

him, she heard a woman's voice from inside.

"Which drunkard is the doorbell screeching?"

A woman in her fifties came out following Darla. It was certain that it was

Rupmati's mother-in-law. When he came out, she took the khazi in the corner in her

hand. He said to his son, “Why, dog, is this your house? This is the house I got when I

worked in the Tal Municipality. I bought a house with money. This house is in my pearl.

what did you say? Shouldn't this house be a joke? let's talk I will also speak. My

daughter-in-law will also speak..."

Rumati started crying saying 'Sana Ma' Arjun hugged her saying 'Dadi...'.

Ongiya Azhi has not gone down yet. 'Don't you get drunk and make a fuss, dog?

I have been suffering since morning by asking for Rs. Have you come to Pathirama

Tukku? Are you playing with a drunkard and a boy in the name of God? To Bongada

Vall Nadangada Police Station..." she hummed in the gutter.

"What have I done.." he moaned. The old man was demolishing the beedy.

The crowd cheered her on, “Listen, listen, okay. Some explained to her, "If you

tell them that puppets are not orderly, they will get very angry."
 38

The auto driver nagged her to leave.

Rupmati's husband asked her to get up and tried to take the iranga box and

bundles of clothes inside. As he turned inside, Zazuma stomped on his leg. He said.

When the pit was filled again, Rupmati held her egg.

She went near Roopmati and gave her a card with her address printed on it. She

waved at her mother-in-law. He rubbed Arjun's head. She touched Kishan's cheek.

Autokar has created Autolike. She is Kadav Vathal Rupmati with Kishan on her

waist. Sitting in the auto, she said to Rupmati, "Your Lazuma is very good."

Rupathi put her head inside the auto and whispered, "They are also drunk

today..." When she turned her head, the auto driver was looking at Ven on the opposite

side.

Auto left. The crowd moved away.

Time, June 2007

 39

CHAPTER III
PROBLEMS FACED DURING TRANSLATION

There were few problems faced while translating the two short stories of Kalki.

It includes the vocabulary, cultural aspects in the SL text and there were no equivalent

words found for some of the Tamil words. The major difficulties include:

 Dialect is, without a doubt, one of the most challenging aspects of this

translation process, and if it‟s not handled right, it can lead to materials being

incorrectly translated, or even losing their meaning and intention.

 Some dialogue was unfinished in SL, so felt some difficulty to translate it into

English.

 Word for word translation was not applicable for many sentences. There was

no way other than opting sense for sense translation.

 It is difficult to find the equivalent textual and literary material of the SL in the TL.
 40

CHAPTER IV

CONCLUSION

Translation has established itself as a serious discipline in the present century.

The theory and the practice of translation has gained immense popularity as the activity

helps in bringing about a cross-cultural exchange. In a globalised world the role of

translation has become even more challenging and interesting. New theories are emerging

with the production of translation from different parts of the world. The practice of

translation in the west and in the post-colonial world contributes towards different

debates on it. The area is enriched through all the deliberations and theories proposed and

opposed at different moments. Translation as a process involves a careful reading of the

texts to be translated. This process of reading is foremost in the activity of translation as

it is not influenced by external considerations like market forces, if done in the right

spirit.

Every language is set inside a defined structure with its own agreed upon rules.

The complexity and singularity of this framework directly correlates to the difficulty of

translation.

Translator‟s job is not transferring words for words, but it is the transfer of the

meaning of sentences to the target language. Each language has different rules and

structures that need to be followed in order to to maintain the same meaning. Without the

correct language structure, it is easy for a sentence not to make any sense in the target
 41

language. As a result, translators frequently have to add, remove, and rearrange source

words to effectively communicate in the target language.

Idiomatic expressions explain something by way of unique examples or figures of

speech. And most importantly, the meaning of these peculiar phrases cannot be predicted

by the literal definitions of the words it contains. Many linguistic professionals insist that

idioms are the most difficult items to translate. In fact, idioms are routinely cited as a

problem machine translation engines will never fully solve. Ideally, publishers should try

to limit the number of idiomatic expressions contained in content they hope to translate.

But if they insist on keeping these potentially confusing phrases, cultural familiarity must

be a priority in translator recruitment.

A language may not have an exact match for a certain action or object that exists

in another language. Sarcasm is a sharp, bitter, or cutting style of expression that usually

means the opposite of its literal phrasing. Sarcasm frequently loses its meaning when

translated word - for - word into another language and can often cause unfortunate

misunderstandings. Ideally, a publisher would remove sarcasm from the source text prior

to translation. But in cases where that style is central to the content requirements, the

publisher should explicitly underscore sarcastic passages.

For the basic work of a translation knowledge of both source language and the

target language, along with the socio-political-cultural nuances and connotations is

essential for quality product. At times the use of a team of translators, rather than an

individual seems to be a better option for translation procedure. In this project, there

emerges a problem that though the source language is Assamese, the target language

being English does not only aim at the western reader for its reading public. In India, with
 42

its multicultural and multilingual readership, English has become the language through

which the voice from a region can be made public. So the goal of the translators should

be to make the readers aware of the voices of a particular time therby making the time

get reflected through the translated works.

Moreover, it became evident that the study of translation could be of great value to

the further development of linguistics, as it could bring out certain features and

possibilities in a language which could not be discovered in any other way. The linguists

realized that translation is a sort of dynamic comparison of languages in action which

gains a new insight into the way languages function in speech and reveals much of both

their universal and specific features. The obvious conclusion was: “Any comparison of

two languages implies an examination of their mutual translatability; widespread practice

of interlingual communication, particularly translation activities must be kept under

constant scrutiny by linguistic science.”(V N 37)

 43

WORKS CITED

Primary source

Ambai. Ammaa oru kolai ceytaal. Kalachuvadu Publications, 2016.

Secondary source

Bassnett,Susan. Translation Studies. Routledge, 2013

Net source

Komisarov, V N. “Language and Culture in Translation: Competitors or Collaborators?”

TTRdoi.org/10.7202/037080ar