My tryst with translation.

As the title says, this post is all about translation. What it belies though, are the tribulations I've had to face in regards to 'T'. That will be explained in the next few paras.

You have to realise that this post was not written in one sitting; the first 3 or so paras were written last week, while the rest fell into place tonight, or should I say this morning as it's almost 5am?

I don't really know what got me interested in translations- it just happened that a few years ago while reading a Marathi travel book, I had this urge to translate it into Englishand get it published! I had visions of approaching the author and publisher with a fully translated copy, hoping they would be open to publishing an English version. As it turned out that plan fizzled, probably because the task was too big too early. For the record I haven't finished reading the book as well!

My second go at translating happened a few days back, when I responded to an ad in the paper, where Hindi translators were required. I met the concerned person and was given about six pages to translate on a trial basis.As of now I've submitted them and am waiting for a reply, as the boss is out of town and she takes the decisions.

What do I enjoy about translating? In my opinion there's nothing comparable to writing an original piece of prose or poetry, if one's lookingat creating something new. The sense of satisfaction one derives out of writing something is probably on a completely different level. Having said that, though, translation has it's own joys. The process of making the first, rough draft, looking up the dictionary for the most apt word is enjoyable in itself. This is followed by a second and in most cases the final draft. Here, it's about giving the finishing touches; most of the hard work is done in the first draft. I quite enjoyed the way a certain passage shapes up, first the rough cut and then the polishing as in the case of a diamond. The challenge lies in conveying as closely as possible the essence of a certain sentence in the original language.This has to be done as lucidly as possible, without the language getting too weighty. In my opinion, a translator can take some liberties with the words she uses as long as the meaning conveyed remains the same and she doesn't deviate too much from the original language.

This brings us to my third go at translating. Fed up with waiting for the lady boss to return, I scouted a bit more on job websites and found another translating job up for grabs. I met the concerned person and guess what...this time I had to translate a Hindi movie into English. Looked exciting to me...I got the DVD home and did the first 15 minutes as a trial. A small aside here; the movie I was given was Tezaab, a movie I'd enjoyed as a child. It brought back fond memories, was fun translating the song Ek, Do, Teen..., something which I'd hummed endlessly. The translation was okayed, and then I was told I'd have to wait a few days for someone from their office to call back with remuneration details. I waited a few days and got back in touch with my contact there. She tells me of all conceivable reasons that her boss is out of town and we'd have to wait till she gets back!! Just look at the heights of coincidence being scaled here:)! As things stand today, I'm still waiting for them to call me.

I have this uneasy feeling that I may have to look for another translating assignment here, and am not up to the task really. Guess I'll persist with these people for the time being. And will keep you updated on developments on the translating front.

That's all about the big 'T', folks. See ya and take care.

Update

Been a long time since I posted last, almost 3 weeks...I guess the first rush of posts for my blog ended at just 3 :(! I hope to add a few posts in the next few days, as I've been busy these last few days. There'll be a post on translation as promised earlier, also another one on Hyderabad which I visited last weekend. Also another one on the joys of vicarious pleasures! So do visit in the next couple of days. Till then see ya!

Some Superlative Music 2!

Here's the final installment of the music review. As mentioned in the previous post it's about Mademoiselle K and her band. You would have noticed that I had just begun raving about them in the previous post and that will continue here :):).

The band consisted of Mademoiselle K on vocals and lead guitar, a drummer and bass and supporting guitarists. They launched straight into their set and unbelievably played without a break in music for almost 45 minutes! The only lull in music was right in the beginning when, mid song, all 4 of them held their poses for nearly 2 minutes, being cheered on by an excited crowd. It was just these kinds of antics which they kept up throughout the show, at times playing lying down on the ground!

Mademoiselle K herself made quite a statement, with her leather outfit and throaty vocals, not to mention her excellent guitaring. For me the other standout performer from among 4 excellent ones was the drummer. Effortless is how one could describe his drumming, arms flailing everywhere, communicating with the audience as well. Reminded me of John Bonham (Led Zeppelin) almost from the start.

They kept up the relentless pace of their music for nearly the whole set, at times winding down a song and then slowly building up into the next high octane one. It's quite likely, many in the audience had multiple musical orgasms that night! Probably that explains the many smiling faces in the audience!

Frankly I don't think anyone in the audience expected a performance of such a high quality. They had everything- a great tight sound, showmanship, energy, it was all there. I feel privileged to have attended their concert; in my opinion among the best if not the best concert I've attended till date. All in all an evening well spent.

That's all for now..I'll catch up with you later. Am considering a post on translations next, so look out for that one. Ciao!

Some superlative music!

I attended a music concert yesterday. It was organized by the Alliance Francaise at Razzberry Rhinoceros and called the French Kiss Festival. It brought together three lady performers; this was the Bombay leg of a nine city tour.

Starting off proceedings was the band Vayu. They played an all original set as requested, they said, by a lot of people. They were competent, but never really rose to any great heights. And by the way, they had some really raucous fans rooting for them.

Following them was Anais, singing solo without a band. She also strummed a guitar and blew on a kind of whistle. Unfortunately she was suffering from a bad cough which she could’ve done without! But for that her performance would’ve even better. She sang well and displayed a good range despite the cough. She also managed to do a bluesy song and a Celtic one, both accents almost upto the mark. And yes before I forget she also had a quirky sense of humour, a good chatty style too. In fact that’s one thing that was common across all performers, they got the crowd involved.

Next up was Emily Loizeau and her band. It consisted of a violin cum guitar player, a drummer and herself singing and playing the piano. They started off with a violin solo by Olivier which was interesting. The real highlight of their performance was Emily’s singing. She had a really powerful voice which also managed to hold some low notes well. She sang both in French and English. Their songs were interspersed with some interesting activities like when the drummer painted on the LP turntable throughout a particular song. I really liked Emily’s personality as well- spontaneous, lively, like a real temptress. The power in her voice really hit home when she sang the last song without a mike. She managed to fill the entire room with her soulful voice. Sweet. And yes there was the instance of a friendly slanging match between the band and the audience, when they announced that their next song would be the last and we differed.

If Emily’s band was a treat, we really weren’t prepared for what was about to hit us next. That was Mademoiselle K and her band. I am at a loss for words about how to describe them and their music. In fact what I’ll do is post separately on them, such was the impact.

That’s all for now. Cheers!

Genesis.

Hmmm…here goes. I’ve wanted to start a blog for some time now, more than 2 years in fact. Here I am, penning my first few words. It feels a bit exciting, doing this. Can already dream of a few months down the line when I’ll have a few posts under my belt.

I must tell you how this blog came to be named such. If I had had my way it would’ve been called Justaboutanything.blogspot.com. That was unavailable so had to settle for Sunmoonandpotatoes, which is actually the name of a restaurant in Malad in Bombay I used to frequent. Quaint little place just like the name. Decent food too.

A short introduction is in order. Rather I’ll just speak about my hobbies and interests. I am an avid reader. I read magazines- current affairs, sports, music. Also read a lot of books of all kinds- non-fiction, science fiction, Indian fiction as well. Also love music a lot. Like rock, Indian classical, Old Hindi songs, a bit of trance. Forgot to mention I read some Marathi books as well, mostly short stories. Though I don’t read poetry, want to start that too. I love traveling. Would want to travel to as many destinations as possible. Also love Eating out and trying new cuisines. I also love maps and can spend hours poring over them.

A lot of things interest me ranging from politics to sports to investing (more of a necessity really!). I also like gadgets and technology. Have recently started translations, from Hindi to English right now. Ideally would want to translate from Marathi and the long term goal is to translate a book. Also like trekking though haven’t done it for a few years now. Would want to correct it soon. Also looking at paragliding once the monsoons are over.

Expect posts on anything under the sun really. Also a disclaimer that I don’t intend on offending anyone intentionally through the posts in any way. I will write on controversial topics which are close to my heart once in a while.

That’s all for now. Will get back to posting in a few days. Till then cheers!!