Translation is perhaps as old as language. It arose as the human need of communicating with others who did not share one’s language was compelling. Co-speakers don’t need translation among themselves as what they speak is directly understood. It’s always meant for those who are aliens in the linguistic sense; they speak a different language. A different language invariably implies a different culture whose soul or soullessness it represents.

Diverse cultures have to interact and translation provides the most effective conduit for the travel of literary and cultural expressions from one society to another. In other words, translation is a story of cross-cultural communication and interaction. It’s through translation that thoughts, experiences and ideas of one society are transferred to other societies, which triggers a process of cross-cultural fertilisation. It helps a wide range of things such as trade, business, political relations and conflict- resolution, for example. At a higher level, translation of literary works has been/is a potent means to bring cultures together, facilitating the sharing of what is shareable in a specific culture. Great literary compositions have been/are accessible to the most of people because of translation. We are no exception.

Waseem Gardezi’s book of translations, titled ‘Rung Rus’, published by Sanjh Publications, Lahore is a good sign. Gardezi is a good writer and translator. The book contains a selection of world short stories translated into Punjabi. There are fourteen stories selected from diverse cultures, which represent an impressive array of celebrated fiction writers such as Hermann Hesse, Knut Hamsun, Naquib Mahfouz, Ernest Hemingway, Mikhail Sholokhov, William Faulkner, Franz Kafka, Joseph Heller, Guy de Maupassant, Aldous Huxley, Erskine Caldwell and Ray Bradbury. Along with the translation, we find concise biographical notes on the authors, carefully prepared by Gardezi. The notes serve a purpose of briefly introducing the great writers to Punjabi readers. The quality of translations is good as they reflect a serious effort aimed at conveying the original narratives of the stories in Punjabi as well as evoking cultural ambiance subtly concealed beneath the surface. The language is not far removed from the speech and its flow makes them highly readable without losing literary embellishments. ‘Rung Rus’ is an enjoyable read. Don’t miss it.

Dictionary is something we are all familiar with. Every literate person at some point of time needs a dictionary of his/her own language or of some foreign language. Language is a mysterious product if it’s a product at all; it is always bigger than what its speaker imagine it to be. Language never fully exposes itself to its speakers as it reveals itself in measures to each according to his need. And individual need is always immeasurably less than what his/her language can fulfill. Language has the capacity to grow bigger than what its speakers know it as at a particular moment. Subsequently, it conceals more than what it reveals. Dictionary is one of the tools with which we try to measure its length and breadth. But still even the most comprehensive dictionary of a language cannot grasp its full spectrum. By the time a dictionary comes out of printing press, language throws up some new words and phrases because of ever self-generating and self-expanding power of language. But still dictionary is what opens window to the secrets of treasure trove that language is. Among others, a student is the one who constantly needs a dictionary. Teaching and learning at school, college and university is hardly imaginable without the help of dictionary. Even kids need it to learn language and improve their expression.

Realising such a need Suchet Kitab Ghar, Lahore has published ‘Punjabi Baal Dictionary’ edited by Maqsood Saqib. The editor has taken help from Bhasha Vibhag Patiala’s Primary Punjabi Dictionary in preparing the dictionary in question. The dictionary gives meanings of the words along with their usage, which throws light on how words can be used in writing. For some strange reason, the prevalent alphabetical order has been discarded in favour of a new one but no convincing explanation has been given for such a radical decision. It can make the search for words time consuming and thus a hassle. Our kids are more comfortable with our Arabic-based alphabetical order.

“In this dictionary, the words are listed which school going children use or may use,” says the editor. The statement is partly correct because there are words that cater to higher level students. On the title, for example, we have Punjabi words ‘Ukka’ (totally, entirely, completely), ‘Ukka Pukka’ (total, all, in entirety, lump sum), which are beyond most of the children in the urban area. The dictionary is a good work that fulfills one of our children crucial needs, which has been ignored for long. It will be very useful for children, especially for secondary school students who are offered Punjabi as an elective subject. Schools must have it in their libraries. Your personal library will be poorer without it.

Have you heard of Bahawalnagar? It’s a sleepy boondocks town on the radar of a few people. But actually it is an interesting district sandwiched between two rivers, Hakra and Sutlej. Unfortunately, both have gone dry. The former died out due to natural causes but the latter was sold to India by one of our foolish rulers for a paltry sum. Hakra supported a vibrant society, which was a part of Harappa civilisation way back in time. With the selling of Sutlej came a fulcrum point, which tipped the future against the region depriving it of a vital source of economic activities, water. Defying the odds, it can boast of valuable agricultural production. Fortunately, the entire area has been deeply influenced by our giant poet and mystic Baba Farid at literary and spiritual level. Saghir Tabassum, a poet and writer, has attempted to capture the literary history of the region in his book ‘Asaan Chup Nahi Vattni Dharti Te’ published by Print Media Publications, Lahore. The book ‘is a historical and critical evaluation of Bahawalnagar’s Punjabi literature…’ says the author.

The fact is that it’s a history of poetry. Scores of poets have been included. Each entry has the biographic sketch of the poet followed by a sample of his/her representative verses. The book is a compendium of poems that deal with diverse experiences that evoke the ethos of a particular region. The book is a commendable effort. — soofi01@hotmail.com

Published in Dawn, December 13th, 2021