Comments on: Achchamillai (No Fear).

By: Ravages

Ravages — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 03:20:56 +0000

One thing I’ve tried to do when translating Bhaarathi (I’ve done about 4 translations) is that keep the tone of voice aggressive and strong through out the poem - to me, THAT is Bhaarathi. I don’t see him as defiant, submissive or quiet.

And that, is what my translations will feature. It’s perhaps biased, but isn’t that the beauty of Bhaarathi? Open to different interpretations, prejudices?

By: Ravages

Ravages — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 03:16:39 +0000

Vijay! Thank you for the links, and for understanding that a poet like Bhaarathi cannot be translated without losing the beauty of his language and the purport.

Your translation is near perfect…I especially liked the part about busty maids - that was a line I had difficulty translating.

Thanks once again!

By: jmb

jmb — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 00:09:26 +0000

Hi Vijay,
As you say, translation is a tricky thing.
To me, the two English translations say different things.
The first I see as Don’t be afraid, an exhortation to himself (because he is afraid), trying to give himself courage in the face of these tribulations.
Your translation I see as a defiant stance, I’m not afraid even though this is happening to me.
Probably totally off the wall.
In a fairly advanced Italian course I took one time, we had to translate a poem from Italian into English. Then a few weeks later we had to translate it back to Italian. Oh how it changed. Now I’ll listen.
Regards jmb

By: Moof

Moof — Sun, 04 Mar 2007 21:32:17 +0000

Wow! Vijay! That’s powerful … and I like your translation far better. It actually brought tears to my eyes.

You know, you should consider putting the spoken version online … because it sounds like music. Thank you so much for going through so much trouble, and sharing that with us!