Interview
"A translator has no style of his own"

HAVING translated over 600 short stories and more than a dozen novels into English, Jai Ratan could easily be the most prolific translator in the country. He has translated the works of almost all prominent Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu writers. Born in 1917 in Ludhiana Jai Ratan completed his masters from Foreman Christian College, Lahore. For a brief period he taught at the Women’s Christian College at Ludhiana before moving to Kolkata as a business executive in the Thapar Group. In 1991, he was awarded the Divagish Award. A year later the Sahitya Akademi prize for translation came his way. Aditya Sharma met this octogenarian humble man of letters for an interview.

I became a translator by accident. In 1957, when I was working in Kolkata, P. Lal, the editor of Writer’s Workshop, suggested that I translate Prem Chand’s Godaan into English. I had enjoyed the book and so the idea appealed to me. I translated the first two chapters and sent them to Jaico Publishers. They liked it and agreed to publish it. Around that time there were rumours that Stephen Spender in England had commissioned Agyeya for the same task. Initially it unnerved me but I completed my project at breakneck pace. While Agyeya’s volume never saw the light of day, my version was published in 1958. After that I never looked back.

Indeed, it was and still is difficult to make a living out of translations or, for that matter, creative writing. I had a regular job and did translations for the sheer fascination of it. Whenever I read something beautiful, I felt an urge to render it into English. Moreover when writers such as Rajinder Singh Bedi, Bhisham Sahni and Mohan Rakesh, among others, brought their stories to me for translation, it inspired me to continue my work.

While Punjabi is virile, poetic and rhythmic, Hindi is mellow and soft. Urdu is a robust language and has humour and sparkle in it.

Among the novels I’d say Bhisham Sahni’s Tamas was the best. While among short stories I greatly enjoyed the works of Krishan Chander, Rajinder Singh Bedi and Manto. I also relished translating Dalip. K. Tiwana’s autobiography, The Journey on Barefoot.

A translator has no style of his own. His basic task is to interpret the writer correctly. With every new writer his manner of writing is bound to change.

It just happened. I found that there was scope for creativity even in translation. Perhaps I had more of a translator in me than a writer.

Cricket has always fascinated me. Whether it is a T est match or a one-day game, I rarely miss a delivery. Apart from that I have always enjoyed travelling. I have been to a number of places, both in India and abroad.

HOME