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Yadi koi pooche” (If Someone Asks) ~ Haiku by Shiki
R#2
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| Posted by Narayanan Raghunathan Fri, May 12th 2006, 13:31 :: English | |||
The Review
“The paucity of Haiku related material to readers in Hindi made me take up the task of presenting this book It was an arduous task and some might question the translation. However since one must start somewhere, I felt it would be worthwhile to introduce in Hindi this selection of Shiki’s work, originally done by the sixteen translators of the Shiki-Kinen Museum Matsuyama. It has taken three years to do this work.” “I have taken the liberty to omit the Japanese and Romanization of the original text and this book is presented in a bilingual format only. Ordinary, everyday language has been used rather than literary Hindi to make it easier for Shiki’s Haiku to be understood and appreciated by the reader - eg. in Hindi ‘nurse’ is ‘paricharika’ and a diary is called ‘dainandini’ : both words are not commonly used, so the words nurse and diary have been preserved in the translation too.” [ Page 0 ] After the Hindi translator’s note and preface, there is a brief biography of Shiki and a fine chronological account of his life followed by notes on Haiku, Translation, and Romanization which are all rendered in English and Hindi translation. Translating these Haiku surely must have been very challenging. She bestows a great honour to the Hindi Language and Hindi readers by rendering this great service to popularize Haiku and Shiki in Hindi. A few Haiku afford straightforward translations like this one a letter ek patr [ page 49 ] But majority are a challenging task for the translator and Angelee Deodhar has shown her deep sensitivity to the genre of Haiku and its unique expression in Hindi. This is not surprising since Ms. Deodhar is a distinguished Haijin writing in English. We provide below a few samples. Matsuyama matsuyama [ page 16 ] deutzia blossoms jostling deutzia ke phool dhakkam-dhakka [ page 18] So pleased – kithna prasann – [ page 20] plum blossoms aaluche ke phool [ page 21 ] torn banana leaves phatte kele ke pathe [ page 21] opening the back gate pichlaa phaatak khol kar [ page 22] the train passes through relgaadi gujarthi hai [ page 27 ] crying rota hua [ page 31 ] in the snow barf me [ page 37 ] again and again baarbaar [ page 39] Here are three translations of the same haiku lying on my back lying on my back lying on my back peet par leta hua peet par leta hua peet par leta hua [ Page 42 ] The season and the kigo are given for each Haiku and this enhances the reading experience. There are excellent notes by the English translators and these are rendered in Hindi too. Perhaps, Ms. Deodhar could add additional notes about her Hindi translation too which would be useful to potential translators and readers too. Ms. Deodhar has taken considerable care to make this translation as perfect and useful as feasible. Of course, one may sometimes feel an alternative possibility: this is inevitable since translation is a subtle art that can be approached from different perspectives. Altough it is legitimate and appropriate to use English words like ‘nurse’ ‘diary’ ‘violet’ ‘deutizia’ etc. in the Hindi version, in some cases like ‘kingfisher’ and the ‘mount’ in ‘mount Tsukuba’ one may wonder why some Hindi equivalents are not used. These are general observations not to detract us from the general excellence of this meticulous translation. The book closes with a brief suggested reading of English books on haiku, index by season in a bilingual format, a note about the orginal translators from Japanese into English with their names and their original acknowledgments also in English and Hindi. The page design of the book is excellent. My only suggestion is that font sizes could be slightly increased. The few photos of Shiki and paintings by Shiki in the beginning of the book are a rare collection. The book’s cover looks somewhat ordinary and gives it a solemn appearance of a textbook in my opinion. Perhaps, Angelee Deodhar could use one of Shiki’s paintings or even one of her digital Haiga on a Shiki Haiku and design a more exotic cover in a future edition.[ The Shiki self-portrait now on the cover could be pasted inside ] She has many lovely digital Haiga also to her credit we may note in passing. [ For Angelee’s Haiga Please See ]
I also humbly suggest that a possible edition with the Japanese originals with Romanizations may be useful to a minor group who have some knowledge of Japanese and who are adept in Hindi. A brief biographical note of the translator will also be appreciated. The Title of the book “If someone asks” [“yadi koi pooche” ] is appropriately taken from Shiki’s Haiku given on the back cover trilingually. if someone asks yadi koi pooche Well begun is surely half done. This is a great beginning made by Ms. Angelee Deodhar. We may hope that many more such translations of Haiku and Haiku related materials will appear in Hindi and other languages, Indian and otherwise. About the translator Dr. Angelee Deodhar needs no introduction in the international Haiku scene
angelee deodhar
I would want it to be made of ice so that it would commemorate the ephemeral spirit of my haiku.
http://www.blogger.com/profile/18947908 Following the developement of a life-threatening illness, Indian ophtalmologist, Angelee Deodhar turned to writing as a lifetime and second career. Dr Deodhar was born just before the partition of India and schooled in the best "English' tradition. Her home in the foothils of the Himalaya was filled with books and music and even during medical school she wrote short stories, articles and poems. It was not, however; until she developed a recurrent pulmonary thromboembolism necessitating repeated prolonged hospitalizations that she developed a passion for poetry, especially haiku. She has produced award-winning poems which have been published in the USA, the UK, Canada, Australia, Japan, Croatia, Romania, Finland, Poland, and India. Angelee Deodhar. 1224, Sector 42 B
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