This post is based on one section from the book ‘Talking to Strangers’ by Malcolm Gladwell, where he talks about the historic meeting between the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés and the Aztec Emperor Montezuma II in the 16th century. The meeting happened in the city of Tenochtitlan. A city which was much advanced in its technology when compared to the Spanish cities. It had ‘grand boulevards, elaborate aqueducts…public gardens and even a zoo’ and it was ‘spotlessly clean.’ One thing which aroused my interest in this encounter was the way these two figures interacted with each other. The only language that Cortes knew was Spanish. In his entourage, there were two interpreters/translators. An Indian woman named Malinche, who was held by the captive by the Spanish and she knew the Aztec s which were Nahuatl and Mayan. Cortes also had in his company a Spanish priest Geronimo del Aguilar who knew Mayan because he was shipwrecked in a Yucatan island. Cortez spoke to Geronimo in Spanish. Aguilar translated the same into Mayan for Malinche who translated Mayan into Nahuatl for Montezuma. Malcolm Gladwell describes this communication in these words “The kind of easy face-to-face interaction that each had lived with his entire life had suddenly become hopelessly complicated” - Excerpt From Malcolm Gladwell. “Talking to Strangers.” Apple Books.
Fast forward to the present. A few weeks ago, the Chinese President Xi Jinping met the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Mahabalipuram. When watching the videos of the informal summit in the YouTube channel of DD news, I was fascinated by the presence of the two translators/interpreters who were positioned right behind the two leaders. It was great to watch how these two were listening to every word that the leaders spoke. The two interpreters followed Modiji and Xi wherever they went. They were even travelling with them in the golf buggy which took the two leaders to their meeting place inside the Taj Fisherman's Cove Resort & Spa.
The world of interpreters/translators took me to the world of literary translation. I am excited to note that this virtual space once hosted Dr E.V Fathima who translated the book by Subhash Chandran into English. My professor at St. Joseph’s College Devagiri, Calicut has translated Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis into Malayalam. I came upon this post by the author Benyamin in Facebook announcing that his book Jasmine Days is longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Prize. A visit to the website will take us to the world of books. https://dublinliteraryaward.ie/book-category/2020 I have added a few book titles here which are all works of translation.
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