Sridevi Hariharan
on translating O.N.V Kurup
Translating this poem was not easy. First came the challenge of even finding a poem to translate at all. I did not know many famous Malayalam poets, although I knew there were many, but I did not initially have many resources online or know where to start. Thankfully, my parents, having grown up speaking Malayalam, gave me some names, O.N.V Kurup and Suguthakumari among others. I had to search their bios and find some of their works in books and Malayalam poetry blogs. I realized that some works had already been translated into English, but many had not, so I thought I would try to translate those.
Next came the challenge of actually translating. Translation of Malayalam poetry is hard, even for native speakers sometimes, because much of the language in poetry is not used in casual settings. It is more literature-based, often using flowery and archaic vocabulary and grammar. Reading the script is hard sometimes for a reader like me, not only due to the curvy shape of letters, but because Malayalam words can run on and be extremely long. Due to the concept of sandhi, where the forms of words can change when combined. For example: the word രാ മൻ (Raman) combined with ആയി രി ക്കുക (was/were) becomes രാ മാ യി രി ക്കുക (Raamaayirikkuka), which can be hard to understand at first glance when reading. Being a bilingual speaker, it was easy for me to pick up on words being spoken that had sandhi, but reading them was a completely different animal. Many problems I had with translating involved sandhi and grammar, while others also included vocabulary and pacing of the verses. I didn’t have many dictionaries to go off of when I came across words I didn’t understand. Mainly I had some Malayalam apps, websites, and Hermann Gundert’s dictionary to help, along with the occasional correction from my parents, and my Malayalam professor at University of Texas at Austin when she looked over my full translation rough draft. My professor and classmates also debated the numerous ways to write the same concept in different ways to better form sentences that make sense in English. As a linguistics major, I’ve spent a significant amount of time studying syntax, sentence structure, and word order, and I really had to put my knowledge to use here. Many lines in the poem turned out to be part of the same sentence, so I was at first unsure of how to properly organize the structure of my translation. Now, I don’t think my translation is perfect and I can always work to make it better, but I think I put in the right effort to make it polished for understanding, and now have a better idea on how to translate Malayalam poetry than before. It’s funny how Malayalam has a high literacy rate in the state of Kerala, but it’s only one language of hundreds within India. I think it is a difficult language in which to write poetry and harder yet to respect poets’ efforts from the standpoint of a translator. Overall, this translation took over a month and was a harsh, grueling process, but I found it equally fulfilling. The poem’s meanings were very beautiful once I was able to attain a better essence of them.
about the author
Ottaplakkal Neelakandan Velu or “O.N.V.” Kurup, was a South Indian poet and lyricist who wrote primarily in Malayalam, the language of Kerala. He was born in 1931 and spent his childhood days in Chavara, Kollam, in Kerala. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in economics, he went on to pursue a Masters in Arts in Malayalam literature at Travancore University. He later went on to become a lecturer at various colleges and the vice president of the Government Women’s college in Trivandrum as the head of the Malayalam department. He was also a visiting professor at Calicut University and one of the leading lyricists of the Malayalam film industry. His first poetry collection titled Porutunna Soundaryam was written in 1949. In 2007, he received the Jnanpith Award, the highest literary award in India. He was the fifth Jnanpith laureate from Kerala and the second Malayalam poet to win this award. Due to old age, he passed away at the age of eighty four and at the time of his cremation, eighty four singers representing the eighty four years of his life, led by the famous Malayalee singer K. J. Yesudas, paid homage to him by reciting his works. Many of his works have been translated into English, such as Mayilpeeli (Peacock Feather), and Agni Shalabhangal (Fire Moths). Many of his poems tend to be about nature and the meaning of life, and his poem “Bhumikkoru Charamageetham” (“A Dirge for the Earth”), composed by Devarajan, became an iconic environmental anthem. His poems are beloved by poetry and cinema lovers alike, making him an iconic figure in Kerala.
about the translator
Sridevi Hariharan is a twenty two year-old undergraduate college student majoring in linguistics at the University of Texas at Austin. She was born and brought up in Houston, so English is her first language. However, she also grew up in a South Indian household where her family spoke Malayalam and Tamil which are spoken in the South Indian state of Kerala. As a child, she was taught the Malayalam alphabet and picked up on various phrases as well as verses of poetry incorporated into Malayalam songs, but never got the chance to learn Malayalam in a formal setting until she attended UT Austin, the only college in the US that teaches Malayalam courses. In the course, she learned how to read and write more complex stories and classic writings, and speak in not only a casual setting which she am extremely grateful for. Aside from Malayalam, she has also studied languages such as Japanese and French, and enjoys learning about different languages as a hobby.
photo by Katherine Rozsypalek
