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.

---

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)

---

Do leave your thoughts in the comments section below. You can also reach out to us through our social media channels: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Be the first to comment.

---

Unnati Institute for Social and Educational Change has been working in the district of Akola Akot and Telhara in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra with children from the Korku tribal community since the last five years. They work towards the improvement of literacy skills of these children. Since the Korku language does not have a script, the organisation is developing resources using the Devanagari script to ensure that the children learn to read and write Korku. These resources include storybooks, songs, curriculum-related resources and reading material. It runs a programme on ‘Enhancing Language Skills of Children from Tribal Communities’ through education support classes with the objective of facilitating improvement in tribal children’s basic reading and writing with comprehension skills in Korku, their mother tongue and Marathi, which is a medium of instruction in schools. Tribal youth have taken the lead in translating Hindi and Marathi storybooks into Korku as part of this programme and children are excited and happy as they are getting to read stories in their own mother tongue. Sharad Prakash Suryawanshi, Program Manager Unnati ISEC shares the journey of building a Korku digital library.

                      

उन्नती संस्था गेल्या पाच वर्षापसून अकोला जिल्ह्यातील अकोट आणि तेल्हारा या तालुक्यातील कोरकू आदिवासी मुलांना वाचन लेखन यावं, याकरिता काम करीत आहे. कोरकू मुलांना वाचन लेखन यावे, याकरिता संस्था कोरकू भाषेत उपलब्ध नसलेले साहित्य देवनागरी लिपी वापरून विकसित करण्याचे काम करीत आहे, कारण कोरकू भाषेला लिपी नाहीये. त्यात गोष्टींचे पुस्तके, गाणे, वाचनपाठ, शैक्षणिक साहित्य असे निर्मिती करीत आहे.

त्याचच एक भाग म्हणून विविध प्रकाशनाचे गोष्टींचे पुस्तके भाषांतर, रुपांतर करून मुलांना वाचनास उपलब्ध करून देत आहोत. त्यांना त्यांच्या भाषेत पुस्तके मिळाल्याने ते सुद्धा आनंदाने वाचन करतात. हे पाहून खूप समाधान वाटत आहे. हे भाषांतर करण्याचे काम कोरकू आदिवासी युवक-युवती हेच करतात. त्याची प्रक्रिया ही पुढील प्रमाणे सांगता येईल.

टप्पा पहिला - पुस्तकांची निवड : उपलब्ध पुस्तकांपैकी पुस्तकात ग्रामीण भागाचे चित्र, मजकूर, आशय पाहतो. तसेच स्त्री-पुरुष समानता दर्शवणारे, मुलांच्या भावविश्वाला स्पर्श करणारी. अशा पुत्कांची निवड पूर्ण कार्यकर्ते करतात. 

टप्पा दुसरा - भाषांतर : निवडलेले पुस्तकाची प्रिंट काढली जाते, मग तीन कार्यकर्ते एकत्र बसतात, चर्चा करतात, आणि गोष्टीचे भाषांतर  सुरु होते. त्यांना काही शब्द समजत नाही, त्याचा अर्थ समजत नाही, त्यासाठी मग समन्वयकासोबत, शब्दकोश मध्ये पाहून चर्चा केली जाते. त्यानंतर जी गोष्ट भाषांतर केली, त्याची प्रिंट काढली जाते. आणि परत अजून भाषांतर बरोबर झाले का हे पहिले जाते, त्यावर चर्चा करून बदल केले जातात.  

टप्पा तिसरा - रुपांतर : जे पुस्तक भाषांतर केले, ते कार्यकर्ते घरी घेऊन जातात, आणि घरातील वरिष्ठांना, समुदायात लोकांना वाचून दाखवतात, त्यावर त्यांचे मत विचारात घेऊन, नोंद केली जाते. तसेच गावात ज्यांना लिहिता वाचता येतं, त्यांना मराठी आणि कोरकू भाषेतील पुस्तकांच्या प्रिंट वाचण्यास दिल्या जातात, त्यावरून त्यांच्या काही सूचना आल्या तर, त्या नोंदवून घेतल्या जातात. ही प्रक्रिया झाल्यावर, कार्यलयात दुसऱ्या दिवशी तिन्ही कार्यकर्ते परत बसतात, दोन्ही नोंदी पाहून चर्चा करतात, आणि तसे बदल करतो. 

टप्पा चौथा – पुस्तकात सर्व चर्चा करून संकलन केले जाते. त्याच्या मराठी, हिंदी आणि कोरकू भाषेतील पुस्तकाच्या रंगीत प्रिंट काढून किंवा दुकानातून पुस्तक विकत घेऊन, काही पुस्तके मिळत नाहीत, मिळाले तरी पाहिजे तेवढ्या प्रतींमध्ये मिळत नाही. हे पुस्तके मग शिकू आनंदे वर्गातील मुलांना, गावातील मुलांना उन्नती पुस्तक पेटी प्रकल्पांतर्गत वाचनासाठी, गोष्ट सांगण्यासाठी उपलब्ध करून दिले जाते.  

काम करीत असतांनाच्या येणाऱ्या अडचणी:

पुस्तक निवड करण्यात अडचण येते, कारण कोरकू भागातील घटक पुस्तकात असत नाहीत.

काही शब्दांचे अर्थ लवकर समजत नाही, सापडत नाही.

गावात लोकांना विचारून नोंद घेतांना बऱ्याच वेळेस दिवसा लोक उपलब्ध होतात, असे नाही. त्यामुळे रात्री उशिरा पर्यंत किंवा सकाळी एकदम लवकर त्यांच्या वेळा पाहून काम करावे लागते.

गावात शिकलेले लोक त्यात महिला यांचे प्रमाण फार थोड्या प्रमाणात आहे, त्यामुळे रुपांतर करायला मर्यादा येतात. 

तसेच कार्यकर्ते नियमित राहत नाही.

त्यांना भाषांतर, रुपांतर याचे प्रशिक्षण देऊन लगेचच समजत नाही, म्हणून काही दिवस त्यांची समज बनण्यात जातात.

कोरकू भाषा ही दर १० किलो. अंतरावर थोडी बदलते, त्यामुळे एकूण क्षेत्राचा विचार करून रुपांतर करावे लागते. 

कार्यालय हे गावात असल्याने बऱ्याच वेळेस लाईटची अडचण येते.

संगणक कमी असल्याने त्या ठिकाणी मर्यादा येतात.

कार्यकर्त्यांना तांत्रिक माहिती जास्त नसल्याने अडचणी येतात. 

स्तर एकचे एक पुस्तक रुपांतर करायला किमान एक पूर्ण दिवस लागतो. स्तर नुसार कालावधी वाढू शकतो. आणि मनुष्यबळ, तीन कार्यालयातील कार्यकर्ते, आणि गावातील किमान पाच लोक. 

भाषांतर, रुपांतर करणारे युवक युवती :

१. राजकन्या शांतीलाल गवते,  गाव: धोंडा आखर,  तहसील: तेल्हारा,  जि. अकोला, राज्य: महाराष्ट्र 

२.  माया श्रीराम मावस्कर,  गाव: भिली,  तहसील: तेल्हारा,  जि. अकोला,  राज्य:  महाराष्ट्र 

३.  ब्रिजलाल मोतीराम मावस्कर , गाव:  भिली,  तहसील: तेल्हारा, जि. अकोला,  राज्य: महाराष्ट्र 

४.  सुभाष चांदुजी केदार,  गाव: चंदनपुर, तहसील: तेल्हारा, जि. अकोला, राज्य: महाराष्ट्र   

Here's a little  glimpse of the stories Unnati ISEC has translated into Korku on StoryWeaver. Do take a look at all their stories here. 

Be the first to comment.

---

September 30th is celebrated around the world as International Translation Day. We're very fortunate that some of our wonderful translators and language reviewers shared their thoughts on translation with us on this occasion.

Madhu B. Joshi prefers to be known as a communication practitioner. She sees a great need for demystification in daily life and has been trying to work towards it. She has taught translation and a short, self-designed course of Indian Culture; mentored content teams of major education NGOs and designed educational audio-video programmes for CIET, NCERT. Joshi is a translator of Hindi poetry and short fiction in English and has presented major black feminist writers in Hindi. She is also a prolific and visionary collaborator of StoryWeaver. All of this, and we also know and love the other मधु बी. जोशी (in her own words)... जो खाना पकाना, इलाज करना, पौधे और कुत्ते पालना, राय देना.. जैसे बहुत से मुफ़्त काम करती हैं। उन्हें सब से ज़्यादा मज़ा बच्चों के लिए काम करने में आता है और वह इसका कोई मौका नहीं चूकतीं।

My interest in translation is the result of two socio-political accidents. A very courageous father and a supportive family allowed me to turn crisis into opportunities; I shudder at the thought of my contemporaries who suffered what I did.

I was in school in Delhi. Teaching science in Hindi in Government run schools was high on the agenda of the government at that time. In 1969, when I needed to choose the medium of instruction as a science student, coming from the hardcore Hindi-Hindustani following family, I chose Hindi over English. I had been educated in Hindi Medium government schools, most of my English came from my father, an ex-Royal Navy man in rough circumstances he had never expected to be in.

In earnest I (and hundreds of thousands other Delhi students) began to study science subjects in Hindi. The catch was, except for about three volumes of Biology books published by the NCERT, there were few CBSE syllabus compatible science textbooks available in Hindi. I remember our maths, chemistry and physics teachers who had studied in UP and Madhya Pradesh recommending some books that were compatible with the Intermediate/Secondary Board syllabi of those states; we supplemented that list with available books in English. As a result, we ended up reading in English and writing our answers in Hindi.

I had a good command of written and spoken English and Hindi, still my grades fell. I passed my Higher Secondary exam with not exactly flying colours. But I had unwittingly acquired translation skills and a deep respect for, and interest in facilitating communication.

Years earlier, seeing my interest in singing, my closet music-lover father sent me to the neighbourhood aunties who taught music and dance to about a dozen Bengali girls. The aunties were shocked to see a Garhwali girl wishing to be their student. In that gormint clony of Dilli, whoever had heard of a Garhwali girl wishing to sing? They refused point blank, “we only teach Bengali girls.” That was the end of my music dream. In school, the dumbest of children chose music and art as subjects. There was no other music education available in the vicinity. I followed the only course available to me - AIR was giving so much music for free, I learnt my music from Manna Dey, Mohammad Rafi, Malika Pukhraj, Begum Akhtar, Asa Singh Mastana, Salil Chowdhury, Madanmohan......

Much later I guessed the good aunties had not been able to communicate that they only taught Raubeendro Shaungeet which no one else in our colony showed the least interest in. I am sure they would have taught me just as well as they taught the rest of their students had they only known I wished to learn music irrespective of the brand.

These two incidents made sure I did a certain amount of translation besides other things.

 

Be the first to comment.

---