Lost and found in translation

Lt Gen KJ Singh (retd)

WITH the installation of Mulayam Singh Yadav as the new RM, there was a flurry of activity in South Block. The policy section of the Military Secretary’s (MS) branch had the onerous responsibility of briefing the new RM on HRD-related issues. While briefings were a regular occurrence and standard briefs were available, the challenge was of a different kind —  the RM had to be briefed in Hindi. We had heard of the much-quoted ‘old wine in new bottle’, but my challenge was to literally serve  ‘som ras’. It was also being watched with some interest by others as it was the first in series, and as they say in the forces, with no ‘PCK’ — previous course knowledge — on the issue.

Unlike the current apps, which make switching to Devanagari easy,  we had to hunt for the elusive New Delhi font and install it. This had to be complemented with putting stickers on the keyboard to correspond to Hindi letters. An even bigger challenge was the process of official translation, which seemed to be progressing at slower than a snail’s pace. A chance encounter with the minister’s PS, coupled with an old association of flood relief from his SDM and my subaltern days, resolved the problem. It was clarified that the minister preferred working Hindustani over Sanskritised one. There being no officially mandated agency for this, we were on a roll, it was as if IMFL instead of ‘som ras’ will also do. 

 Such high-powered briefings have restricted attendance and one problem was to get my boss in. Like a good subordinate, I volunteered to sit out, but he knew the perils of dealing with moody computer technology. So, he opted to stay out and let me be on the chopping block. The real and bigger threat for me was my annual confidential report (ACR), which was with the boss.

Just before the briefing, we were told that RRM, Mr NVN Somu, will also be present. He belonged to Tamil Nadu and his parents were the leading lights of an anti-Hindi agitation, and had even been jailed for it. He didn’t know Devanagari. We had a new emergency on our hands. Luckily, I was carrying a printout of our original briefing in English and my boss could now be injected as a translator to assist the RRM. The briefing passed off well, both ministers, chief and MS were pleased and the boss was  thrilled. 

In the lighter vein, it was ultimately the good old English wine served along with ‘som ras’ that saved the day, for me at least. It may also be a lesson for those in a hurry to discard English.