Lost in Translation

"Yen idhayam udaithaai norungavey, en maruidhayam tharuven nee udaikave"...

So you don't know Tamil, then you won't understand what these words really mean. Try the Hindi translation...

"Dil hotey jo, merey seeney me do, doosra dil bhi mein, tumhe deta todney ko"..

These lines are from a popular song aka Hosanna...The first time I heard this song, it was in Tamil. I was captivated by the melody. Another superb track by Rahman. I was equally disappointed though as I had remotely no idea what the words meant. The movie was remade in Hindi. But I'm sure something got lost in the translation. And that's what I keep hearing when I hear about a nice movie from one language translated to another. Why is translation not perfect?

The other day at work (Pune), there were 2 guys from computer maintenance in my cubicle helping out with a network connection set-up. Our team had just moved to a new floor and there were quite a few logistics that needed to be sorted out. They conversed in Marathi for few minutes and I was standing there with a loss of understanding. Finally they made a move and a frustrated 'me' requested bluntly, 'Translate please'. One of them replied, 'No worries, this can be fixed'. This was not a translation, but I know from where they were coming from. He provided me the answer I wanted to hear but I would have still preferred to go back in time and know the details!

Having spent the last few years in US, I have been in company of friends from different states of India who spoke distinct languages - Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Kannada, Gujarati etc. In any social gathering we would rely on English as the medium of general communication. But folks would often naturally switch to their mother tongue making it impossible for the ignorant ones to understand. Even when the speaker realized the lost look of others who didn't understand and quickly translated it, the words often lost their original effect, the original gag, the magic of the moment...

Why do we still have so many regional languages in India? Why do we have so many across the globe? It's rhetorical. I do understand the historical, cultural and social significance. I understand the beauty of diversity and magnificence of ancestry. It is unreasonable on my part to question. But it is such a helpless condition. I think overcoming the language barrier is one of the most critical issues of our time. Aren't we all in our own ways trying to find solutions to meet our needs in order to live, work, travel or operate abroad? Thankfully English is understood and spoken widely but there are so many exceptions.

That is why a recent email at work from HR caught my attention. It was titled - 'Do you want to learn French?'. It made me think that probably some day I might go to France and knowing French will help me. But I wish the mail read 'Do you want to learn Marathi?'. Now that would be so helpful in the day to day interactions of the city I'm living in. Sure I can opt for some after office classes but having this provision in office campus would make it so much easier.

Coming back to translation, I know it will never be perfect, because it just cannot be. Words have the heart and soul of a person. It has one's understanding, which is bound to differ when translated. But how I wish there were just a few languages to know. There won't be anything to get lost in translation then!