Having looked at the literature of Indian languages, including English since 2011, the focus of Samanvay IHC Indian Languages Festival 2014, an annual event, is on the bigger picture, i.e. languages with transnational presence like Bangla, Bhojpuri, Chhattisgarhi, English, Hindi, Konkani, Malayalam, Punjabi and Sanskrit while featuring 20 Indian languages and dialects from across India and South Asia. Explains Satyanand Nirupam, editorial director, Rajkamal Prakashan Group and festival’s creative director: “We intend to talk and discuss about these languages at a grand level, study their global mapping and connectivity and how they join the people.”
Giving an example he adds that Bhojpuri spoken by a sizeable population in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, has moved to different parts of India –– through migrating workers at the jute mill in West Bengal, textile mills in Mumbai, casual labour at farmlands of Punjab and daily wagers at Delhi. “It is present in 18 countries of the world due to the migration of labour force during the British colonial period,” says Satyanand. The effect of migration during last so many years on the people is evident with the Railways being treated as an “enemy” in the Bhojpuri folk music and literature, simply because they transported the native of the soil to unseen and unknown lands, from where the time and day of return was uncertain. Also the yearning for the return of the migrants too is vivid.
Languages being organic have contributed to the ethos and culture of those nations where they have reached and in turn also enriched themselves. The festival looks at the difficulties, specialities and benefits of this exchange.
The standout feature of this 4th edition of the four-day festival is the participation of writers from other South Asian countries, namely, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal. Giriraj Kiradoo, founder-editor of bilingual journal Pratilipi, and also creative director of Samanvay says, “There are Indian languages which are present outside our borders. Bangla is shared by West Bengal and Bangladesh. The latter has more affinity with the former due to language and literature than with Pakistan with which it shares religion. The live bonding binds them historically and for life –– an organic bonding based on language.” The popularity of Rabindranath Tagore and Nazrul is a case in point. Same is the case with Sri Lanka and Nepal which are linked to India through Tamil and Hindi respectively. “Unfortunately, the visit of an Urdu writer from Pakistan did not materialise,” adds Giriraj.
Satyanand views translations as a means to achieve “national unity through literature”. He states that literature deals with issues of life at local, regional and national levels. “Irrespective of the medium they all talk about gender issues, human emotions, price rise, joys and sorrows of life –– reflecting concerns and subjects which are universal.” He adds that the literature on India’s freedom struggle in 14 languages talked about farmers’ plight, British exploitation and the urge to overthrow the yoke as did the Bhakti movement. “Every Indian language has had a bhakti poet who preached against exploitation in the name of birth and caste and professed love for the humanity,” he adds. In present times too fight against the corruption in the form of war with words will remain the same irrespective of whether it is Hindi, Bhojpuri or Maithili or any other language.
This apart, translated Indian works help the unfamiliar to know about the customs, rituals, peculiarities and uniqueness of the place of origin of that literature. Satyanand says, “Translation of works by MT Vasudevan Nair brought Kerala close to the readers from Bihar. The entire nation became aware of Bengal through the writings of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay and Rabindranath Tagore. Having been associated with Rajkamal Prakashan, he reveals that in the market the translations of the writings of Indian authors fare better than that of foreign authors.
He goes on to add that translation must capture the essence and spirit of the original text without disturbing the culture, language or uniqueness of the region and the period it talks about. “Literal translation limits the beauty of the literature,” he comments.
A major highlight this year will be a tribute to UR Ananthamurthy, Bipan Chandra, Rajendra Yadav, Nabarun Bhattacharya and Khushwant Singh. The Samanvay Bhasha Samman 2014 will be conferred upon Ashok Vajpeyi, a leading Hindi poet, chosen by a jury headed by K. Satchidanandan and comprising Alok Rai, Udaya Narayana Singh, Sitanshu Yashaschandra and Raj Liberhan.
The session “The Metaphors of Partition” brings to the fore the metaphors of refugees and minorities in India and Pakistan while discussing the loss of dear ones by people on either side. Interestingly the session on information war will review Right to Information Act and the challenges ahead in this sphere while specifically dealing with the crucial issue of whistleblower. This will be juxtaposed with the blurring of information and misinformation on the Internet with no effective check on the latter and affecting adversely women, minorities and marginalised.
Giriraj hopes that the festival will be able to draw a larger audience. In an introspective vein he says, “We also want to take stock of how the festival has contributed and affected the Indian languages and dialects.”
