A group of Indian writers gathered at Carleton Oct. 24 for the first of a two-day event to discuss and represent different Indian languages in literature.
The writers who attended the event represent India’s Sahitya Akademi, the National Academy of Letters, which was established in 1954 in light of India’s independence.
The Akademi works with 24 Indian languages and is designed to help writers and facilitate the translation of their work, said Agrahara Krishna Murthy, secretary of the Akademi.
After India’s independence, its literary system required a rejuvenation, free from English patronage. The spelling Akademi was decided upon to “Indianize the concept of ‘academy'”,Murthy said.
“We would like to see not just Indian authors who write in English,” said India’s High Commissioner to Canada Shashishekar Gavai.
Writers and scholars spoke about how literature should exist in the Indian context, with so many regions and languages, and thousands of years of history.
“Dear friends, after such wisdom, let there be some madness,” said Punjabi poet Surjit Patar, introducing the poetry reading section of the evening.
Four poets read from their work in their native languages, followed by translations into English.
“Translations could never do justice to the original work,” said Urdu poet Tarannum Riyaz.
But Patar said that translation is “better than nothing.”
“These are languages of India that you don’t usually hear,” said Sukeshi Kamra, event organizer and an associate dean of Caleton’s faculty of arts and social sciences.
“It gives you a sense of the magnitude,” said David Mastey, a Carleton PhD student who attended the event. “It gives us a bit of perspective to see that our narrow obsessions are not the be-all and end-all.”
To understand each other across languages and as a result, across cultures, is an “active struggle” that’s a reality for India, Kamra said.
“With India having 22 official languages and many more, they’re very keenly aware of it,” she added.
She said she sees value in Canadians hearing more Indian poetry.
“Ancient civilizations and cultures usually have a lot of the weight of history to them, so I find they write poetry that there’s huge depth to,” Kamra said. “For me, that’s the value: for a very young country such as Canada to listen to voices from across centuries.”
