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About Me
Ruth Vanita, born in 1955, is the author of several books on homosexuality and has also translated several works of fiction and poetry from Hindi to English. She was one of the founders of Manushi—a Journal About Women and Society. She is a professor at the University of Montana and has also worked as Reader in the English Department in Delhi University. Among her other translations is the book, Chocolate, also authored by Panday Bechan Sharma ‘Ugra’. Panday Bechan Sharma ‘Ugra’ was born in Chunar, Uttar Pradesh in 1900. Though he was formally educated for only a few years, his contribution to Hindi literature can’t be ignored. He was a non-conformist and it showed in his depiction of homosexuality in Chocolate, overt eroticism in Chand Haseenon ke Khatoot and also the fact that he never married all his life. His other works include Phagun ke Din Char, Dilli ke Dalal, Yeh Kanchan Si Kaya, Poli Imarat, Kal Kothri, Jab Sara Alam Sota Hai. This autobiography, About Me, has been translated from the Hindi original Apni Khabar. The introduction of the book by Vanita is one of the high points of this translation. She aptly analyses the writer’s work and compliments it with an extensive section of translator’s notes. These notes are important in dealing with the subtle differences and hidden meanings of the text and the book would otherwise have been meaningless. Very rightly she surmises Ugra’s approach to life when she says that although he considered himself victimised by controversies his works generated, yet seemed to revel in his notoriety. Inspired and motivated by his contemporaries, the author takes us on a tour of his life in his autobiography. He acknowledges that the most difficult aspect of writing a memoir is dealing with the reactions of people whose experiences get quoted alongside your own. Not that it really rattled him, but he didn’t think it right that an unimportant incident should mar the reputation of a worthy men. He recounts the time when caste system was followed but there existed biases even among equals of the same caste. Although he was born into a Brahmin family, he was barely more than a glorified beggar. He takes immense pride in extolling his birthplace, Chunar, which he likens to Ayodhya. For him it is a place replete with history and has been the scene for so many unforgettable events that Ayodhya stands nowhere compared to it. How Bechan came to be his name is an account worth pondering over! It gives a glimpse of the superstitions and gender biases in existence in those times. He can’t help but rejoice when he surpasses the achievements of his peers at any stage, for he believes that it has been a more arduous journey for him, as his background showered on him none of the privileges that many of them had. His formative years were spent in Ramlila troops that taught him more than any formal school could ever have. He was a mute witness to the atrocities committed on boys of his age by the people in positions of power. Ugra was spared the agony as he was under the wings of his brothers who were both feared and respected. He fleetingly mentions his first love and how it was to stay unrequited forever. His brother used to beat him up and was an avid gambler, but that he attributes to being a norm rather than being a stray incident in his household only. He gives his brother the credit for being the direct or indirect influence that led him to be a writer, for Ugra often saw him compose verses and write articles. The translator has taken good care that the work be reproduced to as near as the original. Though the content remains the same, the soul cannot be recreated as most of the cultural undertones and the linguistic connotations are lost. Her work doesn’t hamper the author’s tale in anyway. It is a commendable effort as it brings to the fore, work of such a distinguished writer.
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THERE are few things in
life that are more full of emotions than a walk down the memory lane,
introspection. Just as a biographer is apt to let biases affect the
making or breaking of another person’s life story, writing your own
story, lays it bare for other people’s interpretations. What may seem
a tongue-in-cheek incident at the time of writing may create brouhaha
beyond the author’s wildest imagination. But then again, it could have
been put there to seem inconspicuous but generate more than a casual
interest.