6 months ago
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Catherine Thankamma calls herself the accidental translator, who stumbled into it erstwhile she translated a mates of NS Madhavan’s Malayalam abbreviated stories for The Little Magazine published by Antara Dev Sen. Madhavan was a person of her husband’s friend, cartoonist EP Unny. She was based successful Delhi astatine the time. For the adjacent seven-odd years, from 1995 to 2002, she translated a fewer much of Madhavan’s abbreviated stories. The remark pops up arsenic she talks astir her archetypal anthology of abbreviated stories, A Kind of Meat and Other Stories, published by Aleph.
Even arsenic she came to beryllium known arsenic a translator of Malayalam works into English specified arsenic Narayan’s Kocharethi, Aliyah: The Last Jew successful the Village by Sethu, Paul Chirakkarode’s Pulayathara, and Ajay P Mangattu’s Susanna’s Granthapura, she had been penning abbreviated stories. Kocharethi won the Crossword Book Award successful the Indian connection translation class (2011). Her translation of MR Renukumar’s Ayyankali: A Biography is scheduled to beryllium published adjacent year.
“I person been penning for the past 30-odd years, I did not person the clip to constitute a caller but I person written implicit 40 abbreviated stories implicit the years. But, of course, these person to beryllium sent to idiosyncratic for them to beryllium published,” she states.
And implicit the years immoderate of these person been rewritten, the endings changed successful keeping with the changing times. Also, she adds, that she delayed publishing the anthology due to the fact that the stories, erstwhile she had written them, “were precise antithetic and precise conventional. The nun successful ‘Blood Sacrifice’ dies by termination successful the original, it was written successful 1997. In 2024, I thought wherefore should she? Because she has raped? That does not marque her a victim, alternatively she is the unfortunate of a societal bid that allows specified things to happen.”
Some stories, portion of this anthology, similar ‘Blood Sacrifice’ and ‘Madhu’ were published earlier, successful different literate magazines. Catherine, who retired arsenic an subordinate prof of English, has taught successful authorities colleges crossed Kerala, and astatine Jesus and Mary College, Delhi. Knowing Malayalam is truthful important. Catherine says, “I learnt Malayalam successful the archetypal 10 years of my beingness arsenic a teacher successful North Kerala. It was applicable learning, I tried to find retired the meanings of the unfamiliar words I came across. Like each students of literature, I similar each literature.”
Short communicative arsenic a medium
Doing a heavy dive into A Kind of Meat and Other Stories, Catherine starts with wherefore she chose the abbreviated communicative arsenic a medium. “I similar abbreviated stories for their focus-driven brevity that makes it perfect to operation the communicative astir fleeting incidents, accidental encounters wherever you tin operation the communicative focussing connected characters. The repercussions of the actions of the characters origin ripples which impact the lives of the others.”
Women prevarication astatine the bosom of the 20 stories that marque up the anthology. Be it Eli cheduthi of ‘A Family Affair’, Radha Rukmini of ‘Standpoint’, ‘Polling Day astatine Nenmara’s’ Alli, Uma of ‘Tara’ oregon Sister Anne of ‘Blood Sacrifice’…these are not mean women and the happily ever afters are few, similar successful life. Also showcased is however women enslaved with each other.
“The stories are women-centric, celebrating womanhood. Happy endings are not guaranteed, but however they respond to the curveballs beingness throws astatine them is what matters. Their resilience, and however they face their struggles is celebrated successful these stories! Like however Sister Anne informs Dr. Malhotra (in ‘Blood Sacrifice’) of her willingness to registry a ailment astir her rape. She asks ‘why hold it?’... That is the resilience I privation to portray.”
The themes pivot othering, she reveals. “There are assorted kinds of othering which is based connected prejudice oregon calved retired of a consciousness of privilege, similar successful stories specified arsenic ‘A Kind of Meat’, ‘Polling Day astatine Nenmara’, ‘Devayani’, ‘Madhu’ and ‘Ellunda’.”
We spot successful these stories assorted kinds of biases — based connected diet, age-old casteism and class-based. The stories resonate due to the fact that we, astatine immoderate constituent successful our lives, would person had these thoughts. The introspection it forces is discomfiting for, chances are, we volition spot ourselves successful immoderate of the protagonists.
Toxic household structures
Toxic household structures are different recurring theme, patriarchy and its galore manifestations find a telling including the 1 where, successful Catherine’s words, “toxic household structures wherever relationships are transactional similar successful ‘Upma for Breakfast’, wherever determination is othering also; of the child. These shatter household structures.”
Patriarchy sometimes ties successful with immoderate of these themes. “It manipulates women to beryllium its staunchest and fiercest advocates. In ‘Standpoint’, Radha Rukmini is ‘judged’ by women who deliberation she is not a ‘good’ idiosyncratic due to the fact that she is sleeping successful a compartment of a parked train. There are each those comments astir her ‘virtue’ and the dynamic changes erstwhile she pulls retired papers with the seal of a assemblage which reveals that she, successful fact, teaches astatine a college. At that constituent they don’t cognize however to react.”
Another important taxable which reveals itself is however the state has changed implicit the past 3 decades. “The governmental changes that person ripped the societal cloth of the country, that shows successful ‘Burqa’ wherever 2 adjacent friends who shared a beardown enslaved are not adjacent friends, 1 ignores the other. The strongest, closest narration is fractured…”
The seeds of her stories are from what she has observed astir her — of society, individuals and societal constructs. “My subconscious notices things and people. Ideas for the stories travel from these soundless dramas that instrumentality spot each around. I jot down these ideas arsenic they travel erstwhile I americium doing chores oregon different work.”
There is ‘Manufactured Destiny’, astir the coaching institute improvement of putting children successful these truthful they get admittance into colleges that would ‘make’ them doctors oregon engineers. The decision resonates because, each entranceway exam season, we perceive oregon work of respective specified cases. Another communicative from the collection, ‘Tara’, astir a kid connected the autism spectrum, is particularly nuanced successful however it is told. Nobody is ‘suffering’ oregon is simply a martyr due to the fact that of it, they instrumentality steps to determination forward.
‘Pieta’, inspired by the Pieta connected the outskirts of Kottayam, is simply a excavation astatine the hypocrisy of radical for whom going to the religion is an juncture to amusement off. Pieta is an creator depiction of the Virgin Mary cradling Jesus Christ aft his crucifixion, considered 1 of the evocative forms of Christian imagery, it means ‘the mercy’ oregon ‘the pity’ successful Italian.
“I wanted to amusement the Virgin Mary arsenic an mean pistillate who cannot recognize her son. I wanted to amusement the communicative of Christ done the eyes of his mother.” Then determination is ‘Ellunda’, astir however the caste strategy works successful Christianity.
From translation to writing
When a translator turns writer, 1 expects them to consciousness a definite consciousness of freedom, not being restrained by the archetypal text. “It is freeing arsenic a creator without the ‘burden’ of being loyal to the text. As a translator you are besides birthing the book, thing similar surrogate motherhood.”
Even if the translator’s imaginativeness does not bash the writer’s ‘job’, Catherine speaks of being delicate to the archetypal text. “It is the astir important factor, and cognition of some languages excessively successful bid to beryllium capable to recognize the nuances of either language.” Incidentally, she wrote ‘My Death’, from the anthology, successful Malayalam.
“The translator undergoes each symptom arsenic the writer, who tin usage their imaginativeness portion we carnivore the load of loyalty to the original. Translation is casual but penning is therapeutic and empowering!”
A Kind of Meat and Other Stories published by Aleph, ₹699
