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Translation in Progress
From current work (but I liked it too much not to share it): लोग कहते है, विद्रोही के विचार संकुचित हैं, उसका मस्तिष्क कमजोर हैं, उसका हृदय टेढा हें। लोग यह भी कहते हैं कि उसके स्वप्न छूँछे,...
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Makhdoom Mohinuddin in translation
(a joint effort with Pranav Jani) “Ask the soldier who’s leaving for war” by Makhdoom Mohinuddin (apologies for not posting it in Nastaliq characters, too). जाने वाले सिपाही से पूछो वो कहाँ जा...
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Thoughts on nationalism and culture (in response to KN Panikkar)
The most recent issue of Frontline has a very interesting reprint of a lecture by K.N. Panikkar, a scholar whose work I very much admire. (Incidentally, his father was also quite an important...
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The Infinite Regress of Translation
Translation from Hindi of high canonical literature poses some really interesting challenges. I’m currently working on a novel by Ajneya (Sachhidanand Vatsayan) with this very interesting line: चीन की...
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City of Irreverents
Jeet Thayil’s Narcopolis Penguin Press, 2012, 304 pp. It’s difficult not to like Jeet Thayil’s Narcopolis, not the least because the novel irreverently does what few in Maharashtra (or in India) are...
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The Ghosts of Dumbledore
Casual Vacancy JK Rowlings Little, Brown & Co., 2012 512pp. The best thing that JK Rowling’s new novel, Casual Vacancy, has going for it is the success of the author’s Harry Potter franchise....
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AuthentiCity and AlieNation — a review of Zadie Smith’s NW
In a controversial essay penned in 2008, Zadie Smith campaigned for a shift in the way that we understand and read novels. Her New York Review of Books essay, “Two Paths for the Novel,” took the...
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The Spider’s Proverb
An attempt at a translation … مقولہ عنکبوت جون ایلیا میں پیا پے جو موجود ہوں صرف موجود ہوں صرف موجود ہونے کی حالت میں ہونے کو جو حوصلہ چاہیے وہ خدایا خدا میں بھی شاید نہ ہو :عنکبوت رواق کہن کامرے یہ...
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The nights are real, the days, lies
The nights are real, the days, lies John Eliya Scratch out my eyes if you will, I’ll never let go of my dreams Neither their comforts nor their tortures will drive me to break my promises New vistas do...
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खून अपना हो या पराया हो नस्ल ए आदम का खून है आखिर जंग मशरिक में हो या मगरिब में अम्न ए आलम का खून है आख़िरबम घरों पर गिरें कि सरहद पर रूहे-तामीर जख्म खाती है खेत अपने जलें या औरों के जीस्त फाकों से...
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