Garg in translation

Mridula Garg, a familiar name in the Hindi literary scene, is noted for her emphasis on women centric narratives. Extensively translated into languages including English, Marathi and Japanese, the author has been introduced to the readers of Malayalam fiction with the translation of her award-winning novel ‘Kathgulab’. The work is considered a landmark in the fictional oeuvre of this activist-writer who strongly identifies with the cause of women empowerment and environmental protection.

The translation by noted  scholar and writer K G Balakrishna Pillai and former department head of Hindi at the Kerala University, S Thankamani Amma, has earned the author a commendable readership in the state. The original text, which won Garg the ‘Vagdevi Samman’ in 2003 and the ‘Vayasa Samman’ in 2004, is a work that voices the disquiet of disintegrating patriarchal structure, falling apart to the inevitable female power that is striving to break free.  The story is divided into five parts, four named after the female protagonists - Smita, Mariyan, Narmada and Aseema - whose lives overlap each other’s in the mysterious patterns woven by fate. The translation has successfully carried down the vigour and life of the tale.

Mridula Garg, a prolific writer even at 72, was awarded the Hammett- Hellman prize in 2001 for courageous writing by Human Rights Watch, NewYork. She is also considered an accomplished Indian English writer with three English novels to her credit. Kathgulab, draws on the experiences of the writer who widely travelled and interacted with women across the world and from all social classes. Underscoring the fact that women everywhere have to fight the long arms of a restrictive order inorder to break free, the novel classifies itself as a work that transcends linguistic and cultural barriers.  The translation, well-recieved by the Malayalee readers will hopefully pave way for seeing more of Garg in Malayalam.