Karthigeyan Sivaraj is a Google Serve campaign volunteer who has worked with StoryWeaver to help translate several storybooks into Tamil, including I Can Climb! and My Best Friend.

In this Q&A, Karthigeyan shares his experience about translating on StoryWeaver, his insight into the translation process, and his love for children's literature.

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Q: Do tell us a little bit about yourself, your interests, your work

I'm a Googler by profession and by practice, and I'm proud of that! At work, being a Googler means respecting my colleagues and welcoming their opinions and ideas, howsoever different they may be to my own, and keeping things necessarily simple to my stakeholders, and I attempt to do the same outside the walls of my office as well. Having learned how to analyze data on the job, I brand myself as a data story-teller - i.e., processing data and presenting meaningful information in a way that pushes the audience to take the desired action. The interesting aspect of my job is that it allows me to improve the existing processes through imaginative ways and take ownership of some of the workflows in my organisation, thereby ensuring candidates joining Google have a lasting positive impression about their onboarding experience. 

Q: Do you remember the first time you heard about StoryWeaver? What are your thoughts about the platform?

Of course, it's quite vivid in my memory the first time I heard about StoryWeaver. The concept of weaving children's stories is quite dear to my heart, and it's really gladdening to see the team working behind crafting stories as well as making them available in multiple different languages for the young audience to read and relish. I personally nurtured a similar idea a few years ago when I was an avid blogger but didn't have the imaginative power nor the enterprising capabilities to venture into this domain - I was really happy to find the StoryWeaver team doing some marvellous work in this field. Kudos to all!

Q: What was your experience of the GServe campaign, and translating books with fellow Google volunteers?

It's always a very humbling experience to take part in any GServe campaign, no matter what the cause that's being championed. The StoryWeaver campaign was very well thought through in many ways - for one, it didn't require us to sacrifice the luxury of our desks and we could contribute while at work or on the move. It was also so much fluid socializing with fellow Googlers who were taking up similar translation work. Overall, it was a rewarding experience to be able to contribute our might in little ways possible to make a huge change!

Q: We are so glad that you came on board as a commissioned translator even after the GServe campaign! What prompted you to stay in touch?

As I had mentioned previously, contributing to children's literature was always dear to me, and when I got to know about StoryWeaver's mission and their robust infrastructure, I felt relieved knowing that I didn't have to worry too much about the modus operandi, but rather focus on the work itself. With a major piece of work shouldered by the StoryWeaver team, I wanted to work with the team even after the GServe campaign, so that I could do what I like to do - writing, crafting and translating.

Q: What was your experience of being a commissioned translator? Did you pick up any new tips and techniques?

A lot I must say! One very important technique I adopted pretty early on was that I realized that translating the original work into the language of my preference required knowing the cultural nuances deeply. For instance, while translating a story from English targeting the Hindi speaking audience and translating it into Tamil would mean we will have to take into account the various cultural aspects such as the equivalent idioms used in the region. Internalizing all these cultural & regional nuances in the local language while translating is imperative if the audience has to relate to the stories. Else, they wouldn't 'stick'!

Q: How tricky is it to translate stories to Tamil? Are there any phrases that you particularly spent time on because they were difficult to translate?  

Tamil, for all its richness, is a very unique language in that there are several different dialects in use across the Tamil diaspora. It becomes even trickier when you realize that the written form of the language is very different to the conversational style, and even the conversational style assumes a different shade when it comes to young audiences. Stories will have to be narrated to children in a style that's neither too formal nor too conversational and we should be ready to use a few English words that are in daily use, so they can relate to them. Also, unfortunately, tools such as Google Translate provide very literal translations of phrases which is sometimes very challenging even to the mature audience, hence you have to take a judgement call based on your own intuition and observation. I bet this is true for many Indic languages!

Q: What has been your favourite book to translate on StoryWeaver? 

That's a tough one! Each of the books takes you down memory lane and makes you relive your childhood :) Be it Rani's First Day at School or the restless lad who couldn't wait to open this birthday gifts the next day or the fearless little girl - each provides a glimpse of your own childhood. For the sake of picking one, I would go for I Can Climb! which is packed with a lot of positive self-talk for young kids who are taking baby steps as they encounter different activities for the very first time in their lives.

Q: What are some of your favourite books from childhood? Is there any memorable reading moment that you would like to share?

I relished reading across different genres in both English and Tamil. In Tamil literature, especially that was taught to us in school, all messages were delivered in a cryptic fashion replete with metaphors and similes. That allowed for deep learning, situational paraphrasing and lateral thinking. For that very same reason, I preferred the works of John Milton, Rudyard Kipling & John Keats in English and innumerable poets in Tamil. 

As a kid, I was an avid read of Tinkle Kids' magazines, and I used to eagerly await the next monthly edition. I am really glad to see that same level of curiosity now possessed by my niece. It seems the magazine hasn't lost its attractiveness to date!

Q: The translations you have contributed to our platform have been read over 1800 times - thank you! How has your StoryWeaver journey been? What is one big takeaway from this experience?

The biggest takeaway for me has been that we shouldn't shy away from walking in the little shoes of our young audience to truly understand what holds their curiosity and interest. Many a time, we - adult learners - tend to wear our own caps, and view children's literature in a rather lop-sided manner. However, we should be ready to speak the language of the kids (sometimes even practise prattling), simplify the language (without over-simplifying at the cost of losing the essence) to suit them and be more imaginative (what helped me to feel the pulse of the audience was to subject my work to, what I like to call, the 'niece'-test - i.e., talking to my nieces and having them vet some of my initial works)

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New books on StoryWeaver! 

Presenting ‘The Sustainability Stories’ - a collection of stories conceptualised and published by not-for-profit organisation Why Waste?, written by young adults, for young adults in the making. Explore concepts of water conservation through the lives of Zelly the Zebra, Hali the Elephant, Lonely Cloud, and many more. Learn about the water cycle, Why Waste’s famous #GlassHalfFull concept, the mindful usage of water, and most of all, inspire young minds to be the change that they wish to see in the world!

Learn about Why Waste's work and the inspiration that led to the creation of the Sustainability Stories, in this conversation with their Founder & CEO, Garvita Gulhati:

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Tell us about Why Waste?, and your work in the area of water conservation.

Garvita: Why Waste? is a not-for-profit organisation, with a team of like-minded youth who are taking water positivity to the world stage, by means of innovative education and ideas that bring about a systemic change. Why Waste? was founded in 2015 with the aim of changing the mindsets of people towards natural resources, specifically water and envisioning building a world of water conscious citizens. Why Waste?’s #GlassHalfFull movement to conserve water in restaurants went viral in 2019 and continues to have a massive positive impact on the industry with the support of NRAI. Why Waste? has been recognised as an ‘Ashoka Youth Venture’ in 2016. In 2020, the team became India’s largest youth-led movement by an organisation working towards water conservation and have been named as “Water Heros” by Republic TV in a collaborative initiative with the Government of India (Ministry of Jal Shakti). 

Some of our initiatives include: 

The Urban Water Challenge which is an annual child development programme that helps rural children to come up with innovative ideas towards sustainability. 

Prerana- Story-telling sessions at NGOs and rural schools where the team talk about the sustainable stories created by Why Waste?.

Annual World Water Day Event where the team of Why Waste? celebrate water and demonstrate the importance of water conservation with fun-filled activities.

Hopeschooling, a recent initiative by Why Waste? in order to spread hope, motivation and raise awareness about pressing issues in the current world. This initiative was started during the peak of Covid-19, to encourage people to be better.

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Vasrha Gajendragadkar is a creative writer and translator. She has authored and translated more than 25 books including children's  books, creative prose, fiction and non- fiction works and environment related writing. She is also the recipient of two state literary awards.

Q: Can you tell us anything about yourself and your job that would surprise us:)? 

A: Basically I am a creative writer and a translator. The number of books authored and translated by me is 25+. As a professional, I am in the field of content creation and development for last 25 years. Besides literary writing and translation I have dealt with variety of assignments like script writing for educational documentaries, storyboard writing for E learning courses, copy writing for advertisements, case study report writing, technical and scientific translations and many more.

I am glad to mention that my story book for children has received the state literary award in the children’s literature section in 2013 and my translated fiction has received the state literary award for best translation in 2014.

Q: What is your personal relationship to language and/or translation?

A:  I am blessed with a strong and rich legacy of literature. My father (Dr. R. C. Dhere) was an erudite literatieur and scholar in the field of ancient literature, culture and folklore. I am born and brought up in a house where books are regarded as a major asset. Naturally I have a closer bond with language and literature. It is not just a medium of expression for me; but language is my identity. So in spite of having a post -graduate degree in science stream, I chose to focus on writing.

As regards translation, I have an intense passion for it. At the age of 22 I dared to start translating a classic and the best seller Gone with The Wind. It was my first ever translated work (It took 11 more years to see the light. It was published in 2009.) I have been in both literary and professional translations for last two decades and madly love translating fiction, especially children stories. My science background is an added advantage for me, since I am able to translate STEM content with more ease.

 Q:  When you’ve been given a story to translate, what’s your process, and how long does it generally take?

A: I read the entire story, first as a reader, to enjoy it. Second time when I read the same, I start retelling it to myself. It helps me to avoid the literal, word to word translation. Then I begin with actual translation. Even after completing the entire story, I read and re read it loudly to bring it maximum close to the original work, still giving the flavor of Marathi language and culture.

It is really difficult to tell the time required for a translation. It can happen so that a seemingly simple and short story is too difficult to translate. In such cases it requires more than 3-4 drafts to make it final and satisfactory.

Q: What do stories in translation bring to young readers?

Similar to original works, translated stories are treasures of entertainment for children. But more than that translations abate the young readers to know different regions with different cultures. In short they introduce children to the broader world and connect them with the distant people. These bonds help for their intellectual and emotional development. Moreover, translations increase the vocabulary and linguistic skills of children, since many a times new word are either coined or used creatively by the translator to bring the exact sense of the original content.  

Q: How did you cultivate the skills needed to translate books for children?

Right from my school age, I happened to read variety of translated books. I read translations of Rabindranath Tagore, Sharadchandra Chattopadhyay, Premchand, Tolstoy, Maxim Gorky, Arthur Conan Doyle and many more. When I began with the translations it was at the back of the mind that the young readers must enjoy the translations like I did. The translated work should be as enriched and interesting as the original work so that children will be able to relate themselves with it. I consciously make it a habit to retell a story to myself, assuming that I am a child. This makes me think and select the appropriate words and phrases that would be close to the children’s world. I am always agile that my translations should help them cross socio-cultural boundaries without feeling they are doing so. I am of the opinion that translation is not entirely related to developing skills. It is related to your ability to unite with soul of the original author and what it requires is sensitivity, more than the skills.

Q: You’ve translated many stories for us. Which has been your favourite to work on?

A: I have translated more than 30 stories for Pratham Books. It is really a wonderful bouquet of variety of stories originated by writers across India. Actually it is difficult to name any one but I have enjoyed translating ‘’What Happened to the Old Shawl?”  and 'Neelumbera on a Full Moon Night”.

Q: What is the hardest thing about translating from English into Marathi? How do you navigate words or phrases that are tricky to translate?

A: There are two major challenges in translating English fiction. Socio-cultural disparities and different literary expressions create hurdles in translation process. Secondly, it is as difficult as a rope walk. On one hand you have to stick to the original work (means you have limited freedom) and on the other hand you should be careful not to create a corrupt copy.

When there are no parallel words or phrases in Marathi, I squeeze out the essence of the content and re formulate the same so as to bring an original flavor. The words I use may not be of the same meaning but they underline the same emotions.

Q: How do you feel when your story reaches the child?

A: It is an ultimate delight when your creation is the hands of those for whom it is targeted. I do feel that translation is a creation just like the original work.  In fact, it is more difficult and complex a creation since you have limited freedom.

Q: How else do you think we can join hands to take more stories to more children in more languages.

A: As far as I know, currently we are translating the stories mostly from English or Hindi. We can also do the other way. Stories from regional languages can also be translated into English and Hindi and then taking them into other regional languages.  As for expanding the reach, we can always join hands with the schools and NGOs working for children.

Q: Can you tell us a bit about the xx translation community?

A: Marathi has a long tradition of translated works. Many known authors have translated very good books from both regional and foreign languages. For last couple of decades many versatile translators have come up in Marathi and they have effectively translated both fiction and non -fiction work from variety of languages. The number of youngsters interested in translations is also on rise. Translation as a profession is also blooming with speed for last few years.

 Q:What type of person do you think makes the best translator for children’s stories? 

A: In my opinion, a sensitive and creative person having literary skills will be able to translate children’s stories.

Q: Do you have any advice for anyone interested in becoming a translator?

 A: I would like to suggest them that keep reading, keep writing and keep rehearsing until you are able to bring the intensity of the original work in the translation. Let translation become your passion, before it becomes your profession.

Q: A book you'd like to recommend to other translators?

A: Stories by Hans Chistian Anderson. He is a Danish author. And his enigmatic fairy tales are translated into English by H. P.Paull and some other writers. Some of his stories have also been translated earlier into Marathi. But there is surely much scope to retranslate those and take up some more. They are really mesmerizing.  

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