8 Cult FOLLOWING THE TIMES OF INDIA, BENGALURU

SATURDAY, JUNE 10, 2017

Ghachar Gochar
goes global while
tions in the mid-1990s and all of
the first decade of the new millen-
nium. Some of them systemati-
cally published 6-8 books a year,
We have become
slightly better
sourcing from different languages
Dweepa is read by and genres. Others did just two or
three, only in contemporary fic-
undergrads in tion category, and even that of
extremely uneven quality.
Chennai. This The process of translation isnt
easy. Shanbhag says literature in
newfound interest Indian languages is a gold mine.

translations are
But you have to process tons of
in regional ore to get one gram of gold. So is
the act of finding right works and
literature stems taking them through the complex
process of translation without

#trending
from publishers which one cant get to great litera-
ture in Indian languages, he says.
bringing out a The effort seems to have paid
off. Now there are prizes for trans-
small but steady lation, and slots for translators at
literary festivals. There is aggres- City-based band their engineering college days and
decided to jam using Urdu and
stream of English sive marketing of translated
books. The bias against regional
Parvaaz has been Kashmiri poetry, they have stuck
strong with almost the same line-
translations and languages is turning positive.
But many questions remain.
putting Kashmir on up from the start. Seven years is
no-biggie for the members.
some aggressive Are stereotypes being broken in
the English publishing world?
the map with its music When you have bands like Indian
Ocean that have survived for over
marketing What about English translations Mahalakshmi.P@timesgroup.com 25 years, seven years is nothing,

T
of award-winning novels that are says Ahmed, but about how they
religiously put out by the Sahitya

S
Prathibha Nandakumar
ometime a go, Amy
Kazmin wrote in
Financial Times that
many of todays young
re gional language
writers, who come from
more diverse social, economic and
educational backgrounds than
their predecessors, have no option
but to write in the vernacular as
they lack sufficient command of
English. The comment had
writers snig g ering for its
presumption that if they were
proficient in English
they would have
opted to write in it.
That, definitely, is
not the case.
Many cele-
brated Kannada
authors have
been English
professors, and
this has been the
PAGE TURNERS: (above) Covers of Mohanaswamy
and Gachar Gochar (top) Mini Krishnan
heres nothing better than have evolved over the years as mu-
Akademi? Maybe, some changes a Reddit AMA session to sicians, he jests, We have become
will take more time. give a band a peek into slightly better musicians.
t h e i r f a n fo l l ow i n g . As a band that started pre-You-
Bengaluru-based band Parvaaz had Tube, today, its easier to make
Literature in one such enlightening session last music, but tougher to be a musi-
Indian month, where their fans asked cian. Says Iqbal, Today, your
languages is a them everything from their main source of revenue is from
favourite original composition to concerts. You have to do that non-
gold mine. You dont find whos the funniest band member? stop. Theres nothing like retire-
gold coins in a mine; you There were comments about lead ment for a musician because you
case for more than a century now. making all the right noises. My Koippally, have got rave reviews. have to process tons of guitarist Kashif Iqbal looking like need constant means for suste-
The current crop of Kannada Days in the Underworld by Agni OUPs Short stories by Paramita a prettier version of Frank Zappa nance. The digital revolution, they
writers are more comfortable in Sridhar that portrays the alternate Satpathy in Odia, Joe DCruzs ore to get one gram of and how their sound is so Pink say, is not sustainable.
English. Yet their language of ex- history of Bengaluru has gone epic novel about the coastal com- gold. So is the act of F l oyd - e s q u e . O ve r a l l , t h e You only get a minute share of
pression is Kannada. What has into three editions. Sirigannada, munities of Tamil Nadu, finding the right works interaction was a tangible thumbs revenue from digital sites like
changed is that the English an anthology of contemporary Ocean Rimmed World, up from fans to keep the iTunes. And people expect
publishing world is looking Kannada short stories published and Bheda, the first and taking them music flowing. songs to be freely available
at regional language by Westland, too has done well. Odia Dalit novel, are through the The band is effusive Outset by online on streaming
books with curiosity, What is really significant is all eagerly awaited. complex process when it comes to talk- Parvaaz is on sites, says Iqbal.
while readers are pick- that translations are being pre- Old Kannada ing about fans. We Ahmed and Iqbal
ing up translated books scribed for study not just in Eng- classics also seem of translation have some very faith-
Saturday, June
hail from Kashmir but
at minchina ota. lish major but even for founda- to be doing well. without which ful fans in Bengaluru 10, 9 pm, at they choose not to make
Thats Kannada for tion English packages. Both Ananthamurthys who attend almost The BFlat Bar any comments about the
one cant get to
lightning speed. Vaadivasal (Tamil) and Dweepa books continue to get every concer t here. current political situation
Evidently, regional (Kannada) have been prescribed translated with the lat- great literature in They have become famil- in their state. They let their
literature is #trending. for general English courses in est being Bara, which was Indian languages. iar faces and we look out for music do it instead. Our songs
Srinath Perurs trans- colleges in Chennai. That is a big translated by Chandan Gowda. them at our gigs, says vocalist focus on our personal experiences.
lation of Vivek step forward, recognizing the en- SL Bhyrappas novels get trans-
VIVEK SHANBHAG | AUTHOR Khalid Ahmed. We talk about conflicts we see
Shanbhags ergy of translated texts and a lated into several languages, in- After over a year of touring the around us today, which always
Ghachar Gochar, glad appreciation of contexts that cluding English, soon after their But the focus on regional country, the bands just taken a arise from the root of all problems
incidentally the are close to the students, cultur- Kannada launch. might not go away that easily. break to work on new material, ego. It all just boils down to hu-
first Kannada ally, says Mini Krishnan of Ox- The sudden interest con- Journalist Christopher Kenneally which they will be presenting this man nature, says Ahmed whose
novel to be pub- ford University Press, an author- cerns only fiction, and not poetry once famously quoted that for Saturday, at a concert called Out- childhood memories of live music
lished in the US ity on translations. or nonfiction, which are cultur- success in India look to local au- set. We are calling it Outset as a performances involved going for
and UK markets, And it is not just Kannada lit- ally more important than fiction, thors and translation. Theres a way to say this is a new begin- local concerts, mostly of Kashmiri
has been creating erature that is getting its fair says Krishnan. This trend, she reason writer Amish Tripathis ning, says lead guitarist Kashif folk musicians, in school.
waves internation- share of readers. Cobalt Blue, the says, coincided with a certain mo- books are translated into Indian Iqbal. Ahmed adds, You can call As one of the few bands that
ally. Mohanaswa- English translation of Sachin notony that one began to see in languages. The writer believes it a test drive concert because we sings Kashmiri songs, Ahmed says
my, Vasudhendras Kundalkars 2006-Marathi novel, Indians who were creating fiction that regional languages are the will be playing five new songs the response from people there is
coming out novel Malayalam novels like Hang- in English. I also think a certain key to reaching the masses. along with our old material. always positive. Not many bands
a first in Kannada woman by K R Meera, translated climate of preference and taste For a band that started off from Kashmir are on the national
translated by by J Devika, and Goat Days by was created by publishers who The writer is an author, rather casually when Ahmed and stage like us. The people of Kash-
Rashmi Terdal, is Benyamin, translated by Joseph committed seriously to transla- journalist and filmmaker Iqbal met in Bengaluru during mir always give us their blessings.

WHEN PHOTOS RECREATE ART Its for the audience

Tanushree.Mukherjee1
@timesgroup.com

J
agdish Raja, who directs David

to think and decide

Rohit Chawla Mamets play Oleanna for a
TIMES NEWS NETWORK Jagriti production of the same
name, reiterates time and

A
rt often inspires photography
and fashion, and this again that it is not an adaptation
intersection is exactly what of the original play. Raja mentions
Inspired Frame, an exhibition of that he doesnt edit or adapt a play
photographs by Rohit Chawla at script and for the current play, he POWER PLAY:
Tasveer, celebrates. The adman- has faithfully followed the script of A still from
turned-photographer has Mamet who, in Rajas words, is a Oleanna
reconstructed the compositions of master of the spoken word. All
famous works of art, using Raja has done is render the script
contemporary models to recreate the in the spoken format where it
originals. So you have Lisa Haydon spurts forth from the mouths, the
dressed by fashion designer bodies, the gestures, the movements
Sabyasachi and modelled to and the interaction of the actors.
resemble the famous photograph of According to the producers, the
Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, Frida On controversial premise of the play
A White Bench, shot by Nickolas one may term it sexual harass-
Muray in the 1930s. Actor ment but it encompasses much
Chitrangada Singh is styled and more is as relevant today as it was
presented in a digital version of in 1992 when it was first staged.
Austrian painter Gustav Klimts The two protagonists of the
Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I from play, a university professor named
the early 1900s. Entrepreneur Ayesha John and his student Carol, played
Thapar Arora has been turned into by Preetam Koilpillai and Rebecca
the beauty stringing flowers in Raja Spurgeon respectively, start with a
Ravi Varmas Lady Making a Garland.
discussion of her grades. The con-
Theres also a series of recreations of
versation rapidly degenerates into very close to my heart: Educa- us with questions that are as, if
miniature artworks featuring
a situation where she accuses him tion. In so many systems, includ- not more, relevant today as they
designer Tarun Tahliani as Emperor
of sexual exploitation. And the ing our own, education has been have ever been.
Jahangir. Its an intriguing exhibition
entire action of the play happens reduced to a mindless regurgita- As a director, Raja presents both
for Chawla has made no effort to
within the four walls of Johns uni- tion of facts and figures. This sides of the story. But is there some
make the paintings his own as hes
stayed true to the original artists versity office. John eventually kind of education produces a sort of subtle support for either of
vision yet these recreations of loses the tenure position he was particular kind of individual; an the two protagonists? Subtle and
popular, easily-recognisable images supposed to be accorded and Car- individual incapable of inde- not so subtle support, he says add-
are quite unique. They tell a story of ols charges against him escalate pendent thought and deed; and a ing, All the clues and pointers that
yesterday and today, of old and new to attempted rape. society in which dogma, authori- one needs are in the script. It is
ways of making art, and make you Commenting on the theme, tarianism and even extremism, for the audience to decide what re-
stop and look again at what youve Koilpillai in the concept note ob- become the norm. Oleanna might ally is going on.
The Inspired Frame is on show at Tasveer, Sua House,
seen a hundred times before. serves, One of the themes that have been written in a different Jagriti will be presenting 11 shows
Kasturba Cross Road from June 9 to 30
Oleanna deals with, is something time and place, but it confronts of Oleanna between June 9 and 18.

SHELF ESTEEM EVENT SCHEDULE

IVE ALWAYS FOUND IT EASIER
TO MAKE PEOPLE CRY
What are you reading right now?
Im reading Saroo Brierleys
Lion A Long Way Home.
Ive got this habit of reading
the book that a movie is
based on, before watching
the movie itself, so Ive
actually delayed that. Im
devouring it at the moment because Ive
heard so many good things about the movie,
and its also made possible because the book
itself is endearing and simply written. The
fact that it isnt really fiction but is fact,
embellished with real pictures of the
characters makes it all the more appealing.
When and where do you like to read?
Anywhere and anytime I can. I just try and fit
it in whenever I get time off from work.
Sometimes, after few weeks of continuous
writing, I get lucky and have a few days
break. My rocking chair with its cushions
then becomes a natural habitat for me. But
sometimes when I dont have that luxury, I
just keep a book in my car. No wonder
Moni Mohsins books always make me laugh. All that punning of mispronounced English
words takes me back to my childhood memories of growing up in Delhi
Gajra Kottary is an award-winning story and screenplay writer for television. She has published two short
story collections - Fragile Victories, The Last Laugh, two novels - Broken Melodies and Once Upon A Star,
and co-authored a Hindi novel, Kora Kagaz. Girls Dont Cry is her latest writing effort
Mumbais traffic doesnt really get to me.
Name one book you picked up at the airport
that blew your mind?
Oprah Winfreys What I Know
For Sure. I have always
admired her and although
theres been tons of stuff
written about her, I wanted to
know what she herself had to
say after having lived the life
she has, and interacting with the greatest
and the weirdest of society. I fell in love with
it because its an easy read while being
intensely personal, inspiring and hard-
hitting. Just made me feel so empowered.
Who are your favourite contemporary
writers, and your favourite writers of all
time?
(Hahaha) Im definitely not your person to
talk to about contemporary writing. That
being said, I do end up reading more
nonfiction than pure fiction. Im a huge fan of
Elizabeth Gilberts Eat, Pray, Love. Its
brutally honest and has a great structure to
it. An all-time favourite of mine remains John
Grays Men are from Mars, Women are from make people cry than to make them laugh.
Venus. I also adore the old
classics written by Tagore and
Premchand, poetry by Gulzar
and the works of Jane Austen
and Ruskin Bond and can go
back to these authors anytime.
Which was the last book that made you
laugh?
All of Moni Mohsins books. Somehow all
that punning of mispronounced English
words takes me back to my childhood
memories of all growing up in Delhi
surrounded by cute Punjabi aunties, who
insisted on speaking English their style. I do
appreciate British and American humour
but comedy that is native to the lingo I knew
and the things I have experienced holds a
special place in my heart.
Which book do you wish you had written?
I wish I had the ability to write humour like country.
Moni Mohsin or our very own Twinkle
Khanna. Ive always found it easier to
then Governor of
(Like most other people!) Its
very difficult to write
humour, without it either
being too intelligent, cheap
or slapstick. For me, it would
be a huge challenge to make
people laugh.
If you had to get the PM of India to read one
book, which one would it be?
I would most certainly want him to read
Lion, for Saroos description of his life on
the streets and in the villages of India. The
hardships faced by his poverty- ridden
mother are heart-wrenching, although he
has written about them totally objectively.
I would also want him to read about the
support we need for our
adoption agencies, as that
is another area that
needs attention in our
EXHIBITION COMEDY
10 good years: The
The jokes on you: The citys funny girls, Sumukhi
Indian Cartoon
Suresh, Punya Arora and Sejal Bhat come together for
Gallery was
the third edition of Bras and A Beard. The comedians
inaugurated on
will wield the mike to talk about their funny
June 14, 2007 by
experiences and observations. Hosting the show will be
writer and comedian Suman Kumar.
Karnataka, TN
Chaturvedi. The
one-of-its-kind
institution was set
up to recognize,
showcase and
popularize the art
form in the country. The continuous exhibitions and
workshops organised have made it a hub for all
cartoon lovers. This year, the institution completes
a decade of its existence. To mark the occasion, the
gallery will be organising an exhibition of best
Indian cartoons.
Indian Institute of Cartoonists, Jun 14, 11 am
Murphys Brewhouse, The Paul, Jun 15, 8.30 pm
THEATRE
Celebrating a thespian: Online Kannada magazine, MUSIC
Avadhi, is organising Shripad Bhat Ranga Utsav, a
Melodies of Lata: Nothing works like nostalgia and
three-day theatre festival dedicated to noted
thats what Chitrahaar 2, the Bollywood musical
theatre person, Shripad Bhat Sirsi. Three plays that
evening aims to do. Dedicated to Lata Mangeshkar, the
have been directed by Bhat, namely, Misteek by
Sadat Hasan Manto, Chitra and Kempu Kanagale by show will feature some of the best songs, both solos
Rabindranath Tagore, will be staged. The festival and duets, of the legendary singer. The singers for the
schedule also includes poetry recitals, discussions evening are Samanvitha Sharma, Govind Kurnool,
and talks. Mohd Yaseen, Subrat Sahoo and Rohini Prabhunandan.
Chowdiah Memorial Hall, Malleswaram, Jun 17, 6 pm
Ranga Shankara, JP Nagar, Jun 15, 7.30 pm