Without Brothers

#11
That is true about Punjabis, and for that matter for any liguistic group. i.e. we can read and understand in any laguage but can `feel` only in mother tongue.

#10,

The trauma of the partition or any personal loss cannot be captured in any language.....

The beauty and verstality of Punjabi is that it stirs the soul unlike another language.....

#9 shobig, thanks for your comments.

you are right that translated work can never provide the same `ras` as the original work, but there is no other way to make people of other languages aware of literary work of one language.

It was more of an emotional attempt on my part. Its not my expertise.

This is one of the reasons why I tend to deride translation of literary works, in particular fiction, from one language to another. Unless it is done with immaculate expertise, translation deprives the reader of the spirit and intensity, and most importantly the eccentricity, of the original work, and the latter ends up looking like a juvenile attempt at story-telling! No offense there Dr sahib, you know I am a great fan of your original works, that`s perhaps why this piece has left me slightly disappointed. Also a severe lack of editing and polishing is a bit too conspicuous.
Nevertheless, good to be introduced to an important Punjabi literatus and his work.

regards

#7 dullabhatti

you are right, there are many other stories in Punjabi, which need to be translated. Even Navtej Singh himself had written better stories.

This story was published in the current issue of Preetlarhi and it has a very subtle ffect on the reader which stimulates other emotions.Any recollection of the partition can never be without sadness, sorrow,feeling of helpnesness and also anger.The moment I read it, I started translating( fortunately, had the time for that). My closeness with the Preetlarhi family has also something to do with this. At some stage,I had written for Preetlarhi continuously for many years.

Thanks all the interactors for the appreciation.

Good translation dr sahib...read original long time ago. Navtej Singh was a sincere and idealistic writer who kept the mishaal of PreetlaRhi burning.. but this story is kind of plain...there is no climax no great plot. This story is like a thought or fantasy flight that most villagers of Navtej singh`s age, living close to the border, having lost relatives, friends and known places on the other side of the border, may have often talked about.

but there is more literature...more seriosuuthan this story in Punjabi that needs to be translated.like Iliyas ghumman`s ``Ill Koko``...Afzal Randhawa`s short stories are vivid decription of pre-partition Punjab...Kulwant Singh Virk`s stories are good on the subject...Gulzar Sandhu`s few stories on the subject are good too.

It would be great if you can translate some of those for Chowk audience.

Good read and a good translation. must read more Punjabi lit.

This was really nice. Thanks.

poignant...really enjoyed reading it...

Dr. saheb,

Nice translation.

#1
Yaar, this theme is forever current. The serpentine line will never be outdated until the serpent gets killed.

nice.

once you overlook the `beaten-to-death` historyof partition, it becomes an enjoyable tale.