<p><br />Literally, Dr A Mohana Kundar’s endeavor has been to bridge the gap between river Payaswini that flows through the serenity of Kasargod in Kerala and Thungabhadra, the river that takes it’s birth in Karnataka, through literature. <br /><br /></p>.<p>Kundar, the Head of Department of Translation Studies at Kannada University in Hampi was of the opinion that mutual translation of the two sibling languages stood as a solid platform for the exchange of two vibrant cultures. <br /><br />Dr Kundar, hailing from Kundar near Mulleriya in Kasargod district has so far introduced four major literary works of Malayalam to Kannada literature through his erudite translation. It includes the much acclaimed works of towering litterateurs of Malayalam, ‘Basheerinte Kathakal’ (stories of Basheer) by Vaikom Muhammed Basheer, ‘Thottiyude makan’ (scavenger’s son) by Thakazhi Shivashankara Pillai, ‘MTyude Kathakal’ (stories of MT) by M T Vasudevan Nair and ‘Sundarikalum Sundaranmaarum’ (The beautiful and the handsome) by Uroob. <br /><br />In return, Kundar has given Malayalam, the translation of ‘Kuvempu, Vyakthi Matha Vyakthithwa’ penned by Hampa Nagarajayya and published by Kuvempu trust, Shimoga. The Kannada version of ‘Thottiyude Makan’ , published by Yaj Prakashana will be released on December 15 in Bangalore. Apart from this, an umpteen number of literary articles of Kundar has been published in Kannada literary magazines. <br /><br />Rather than just translation, Kundar says his intention is to invite readers into a magical world of an unknown language where the beauty of local rural culture, lives and its myriad hues have been interwoven in a spectacular manner. <br /><br />Puzzles of translation<br /><br />While translating Thottiyude Makan, Kundar stumbled upon a word called ‘patta’ in Malayalam which is most commonly used in colloquial terms (patta means mug). Even after search and queries, he can not find a similar word in Kannada. When asked villagers of Bellary, they said that they were using the English word, ‘mug’ for the same. But Mohana Kundar decided to keep the same word in Kannada hence paving the way for contributing one Malayalam word to Kannada language.<br /><br /> “Translators come across such tricky situations very often. In fact, my teaching subject itself is about tackling such difficult situations in the re-creation of a work from one language to other,” Kundar told Deccan Herald. He underlines the need for focusing on each literature’s unique style of writing during translation. <br /><br />“Kannada readers are more curious knowing about the literary style adopted by Basheer or MT, than the content,” says Kundar. In a work, ‘Kerala Kathana’ published by Kannada University, Kundar dwells into the cultural history of Kerala. In the book, he has made an interesting observation that it was the aftereffect of the matrilineal inheritance prevalent in the erstwhile joint families in Kerala which prompted Malayalees to set out of their home state and become settlers elsewhere. <br /><br />Apart from literature, Kundar’s area of interest is Yakshagana. He has penned two books on the cultural art of South Kanara viz. ‘Yakshagana Vachikadhyayaglu’, ‘Yakshagana Aharya’, both published by the publication division of Kannada University. <br /><br />Dr Mohana Kundar started his literary life by translating a short story of Malayali writer, E Harikumar’s ‘Muzhumikatha yathra’ (uncompleted journey) into Kannada way back in 1989. It was followed by another translation, Karur Neelakanta Pilla’s much noted collection of short stories, ‘Pothichor’. Kundar’s literary contributions came into the notice of Jnanpith awardee Chandrashekhara Kambar who at once invited him to join at the newly commencing translation studies department in the University in 1992. Kundar started his career as a Research Assistant and currently is holding the post of HoD. <br /><br />He fondly reminisces the 10 day translation workshop jointly conducted by National academy of letters, Kannada Varsity and Kerala Academy of literature in 1995 in Hampi. <br /><br />Completely barring English, the workshop saw Malayalam poets rendering their poems in their native language and upon hearing that Kannada poets translating those into Kannada on the spot. Without any interpretation or explanation in a third language, those unraveling of creativity uncovered a hitherto secluded space between the two languages, he said. <br /></p>
<p><br />Literally, Dr A Mohana Kundar’s endeavor has been to bridge the gap between river Payaswini that flows through the serenity of Kasargod in Kerala and Thungabhadra, the river that takes it’s birth in Karnataka, through literature. <br /><br /></p>.<p>Kundar, the Head of Department of Translation Studies at Kannada University in Hampi was of the opinion that mutual translation of the two sibling languages stood as a solid platform for the exchange of two vibrant cultures. <br /><br />Dr Kundar, hailing from Kundar near Mulleriya in Kasargod district has so far introduced four major literary works of Malayalam to Kannada literature through his erudite translation. It includes the much acclaimed works of towering litterateurs of Malayalam, ‘Basheerinte Kathakal’ (stories of Basheer) by Vaikom Muhammed Basheer, ‘Thottiyude makan’ (scavenger’s son) by Thakazhi Shivashankara Pillai, ‘MTyude Kathakal’ (stories of MT) by M T Vasudevan Nair and ‘Sundarikalum Sundaranmaarum’ (The beautiful and the handsome) by Uroob. <br /><br />In return, Kundar has given Malayalam, the translation of ‘Kuvempu, Vyakthi Matha Vyakthithwa’ penned by Hampa Nagarajayya and published by Kuvempu trust, Shimoga. The Kannada version of ‘Thottiyude Makan’ , published by Yaj Prakashana will be released on December 15 in Bangalore. Apart from this, an umpteen number of literary articles of Kundar has been published in Kannada literary magazines. <br /><br />Rather than just translation, Kundar says his intention is to invite readers into a magical world of an unknown language where the beauty of local rural culture, lives and its myriad hues have been interwoven in a spectacular manner. <br /><br />Puzzles of translation<br /><br />While translating Thottiyude Makan, Kundar stumbled upon a word called ‘patta’ in Malayalam which is most commonly used in colloquial terms (patta means mug). Even after search and queries, he can not find a similar word in Kannada. When asked villagers of Bellary, they said that they were using the English word, ‘mug’ for the same. But Mohana Kundar decided to keep the same word in Kannada hence paving the way for contributing one Malayalam word to Kannada language.<br /><br /> “Translators come across such tricky situations very often. In fact, my teaching subject itself is about tackling such difficult situations in the re-creation of a work from one language to other,” Kundar told Deccan Herald. He underlines the need for focusing on each literature’s unique style of writing during translation. <br /><br />“Kannada readers are more curious knowing about the literary style adopted by Basheer or MT, than the content,” says Kundar. In a work, ‘Kerala Kathana’ published by Kannada University, Kundar dwells into the cultural history of Kerala. In the book, he has made an interesting observation that it was the aftereffect of the matrilineal inheritance prevalent in the erstwhile joint families in Kerala which prompted Malayalees to set out of their home state and become settlers elsewhere. <br /><br />Apart from literature, Kundar’s area of interest is Yakshagana. He has penned two books on the cultural art of South Kanara viz. ‘Yakshagana Vachikadhyayaglu’, ‘Yakshagana Aharya’, both published by the publication division of Kannada University. <br /><br />Dr Mohana Kundar started his literary life by translating a short story of Malayali writer, E Harikumar’s ‘Muzhumikatha yathra’ (uncompleted journey) into Kannada way back in 1989. It was followed by another translation, Karur Neelakanta Pilla’s much noted collection of short stories, ‘Pothichor’. Kundar’s literary contributions came into the notice of Jnanpith awardee Chandrashekhara Kambar who at once invited him to join at the newly commencing translation studies department in the University in 1992. Kundar started his career as a Research Assistant and currently is holding the post of HoD. <br /><br />He fondly reminisces the 10 day translation workshop jointly conducted by National academy of letters, Kannada Varsity and Kerala Academy of literature in 1995 in Hampi. <br /><br />Completely barring English, the workshop saw Malayalam poets rendering their poems in their native language and upon hearing that Kannada poets translating those into Kannada on the spot. Without any interpretation or explanation in a third language, those unraveling of creativity uncovered a hitherto secluded space between the two languages, he said. <br /></p>
