Leeladhar Mandloi has seen and rated commendable works of Indian literature as the director of Bharatiya Jnanpith that gives away the country’s highest literary award. And as a writer, he know literature is more about feelings than language.
Probably why he feels literary works in the country’s regional languages should reach out to more people. For that, more books have to be translated into different languages. But, dearth of quality translators is a serious issue, according to him. “One of our main objectives at Bharatiya Jnanpith is to bring out translations of books in India’s regional languages,” Mandloi told The Hindu . “We publish 100 books every year. I feel the government should also encourage regional literature and translations. For that, we need more translators, who understand literature well.”
Mandloi, who is in the city for presenting the Moortidevi Award to M.P. Veerendrakumar for his book Haimavathabhoovil , said he was happy to find writers being revered in Kerala, unlike in other parts of the country. “I have seen young kids going up to M.T. Vasudevan Nair seeking autographs,” he said. “Apart from Kerala, you would find so much respect for writers only in Bengal.”
He said he had high regard for Malayalam literature. “I am familiar with Malayalam fiction and poetry through translation,” he said. “I admire writers such as MT, S.K. Pottekkatt, O.N.V. Kurup, Akkitham and K. Satchidanandan.”
Mandloi, who is also a poet in Hindi, said the media needed to devote more space to literature. “I know The Hindu has special sections for books and writers, but you would hardly find any columns for literature in most other papers, in English or regional languages,” he said. “When it comes to television channels, they give time for those who write in English, even if their only claim to fame is pulp fiction.”
Before taking over as the director of Bharatiya Jnanpith, which gives India’s highest literary award of Jnanpith, he has served as the director general of All India Radio (AIR). He believes the future of radio is FM.
“I was there when AIR began its FM broadcast,” he said. “I am not at all surprised that FM has become extremely popular over the last couple of years; the quality is much superior to broadcasts on short or medium wave.”
He said the government should invest more on broadcasting programmes meant for the rural poor and farmers who were not covered by the private FM stations. “That is the duty of a public broadcaster,” he said. “Not just for broadcasting, more allocations should be made for culture in the Union Budget,” he said.
