International Translation Day: What the power of being understood means

This year’s International Translation Day is themed Linguistic Diversity and Language Rights, with the subtitle ‘The Power to be Understood’. The act of translating a text is more than a verbatim, word-for-word translation; it holds the power to show a new world to the reader. A world that would otherwise be denied to the curious mind. How else would a Malayali sitting in a small town in Kerala, comfortable reading Malayalam, have accessed Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist and found hope, comfort and purpose? Translated by Rema Menon, and published by DC Books, it is said to be one of the best-selling translations. Meanwhile, Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai’s Malayalam classic Chemmeen is said to have been translated into more than 20 languages worldwide.

Prasanna Varma | Photo Credit: THULASI KAKKAT