Powwow in the Indian Capital
They came from the four corners of the Nation for the powwow- eager to put a feather in the cap of the Indian translator. The tribe buried the hatchet, using sharp implements only for the carving of the fine fare at lunch.
The air was full of camaraderie as Translators Meet 2004, this powwow�s nickname, went on air, a grassroots movement in 5 star settings.
Puneet Kaur and Sangeeta Pahwa of the Max Mueller Bhawan launched the Meet with an expose of the genres of translations being done in India today. With the help of slides, these fine women shared with the eager listener the fact that the market demand is mainly for legal documents, contracts � both personal and business, financial transactions, patents and other technically oriented materials. They also went into the details of the training provided for future translators (German language) at the Max Mueller Bhawan, Delhi.
Dr. Ravi Kumar (Modlingua) followed up with a talk on the various steps taken by the Government to facilitate trade and the avenues that these have opened for work in translation. He also revealed that there is a great demand for Spanish language translators. His talk was like a short flight to the land of El Toro and the Flamenco as he embellished his discourse with anecdotes from his recent visit to Spain.
The audience participation approach adopted by Vijay Khemani who had come all the way from Singapore to demonstrate Trados was an instant hit. But it will take many more workshops on translation software before its use becomes more widespread in India - especially since there is a dearth of translation software to provide for the languages of a country whose population constitutes one sixth of that of the world and which is home to more than 800 languages! Mr. Khemani assured us that Trados was indeed interested in this huge market. However we should also face up to the fact that this is our job and one which our own software industry should take up.
Mr. Ashok Bagri followed up with a talk on editing and tips on how to upgrade the quality of a translation. He is to be greatly commended for his sustaining this powwow with a constant stream of pertinent guidance and with the invaluable sacrifice of his time and his expenses to honour us with both the Trados demo as well as his own much needed presentation.
Ajith Kanna, from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, regaled the crowd with a look at translation as an act of creation, exploring the cultural roots of language. His participation and that of several university professors, as well as the goodwill message from the Vice-Chancellor of one of the foremost Institutions for Linguistics and Translation Studies in India today was proof that the Indian mind set is progressive.
Students from translation courses enjoyed the powwow thoroughly and took extensive notes, evidencing their serious involvement in this field.
Dr. Sanjay Ray�s PowerPoint presentation drew the audience to its feet with a standing ovation as he succinctly exposed the problems faced by us. He has been with this Powwow almost since its conception and though busy, he has lent solid support, being responsible for the participation of quite a few of those who attended.
Desert came in the form of a platform for Many Voices. The huge auditorium was full of good cheer as each of the participants took to the stage to lend voice to the joys and the woes of being an Indian translator- Jaswinder and Jasbir of Dastak, Ashish Jain of Indian translator, P K Warrier from Mumbai, Vimal Panchal from Gujarat, Pinaki Talukdar all the way from Kolkatta, Mukesh on behalf of BITS Pune, Subbana Varanasi the frolicsome Hyderabadi, Dr. Akram the courteous and scholarly Luknowi, Soumick Bagchi from Bangalore, Professors Ravi Kumar and K S Dhingra from DU and JNU, Priya Pall from the local Alliance Fran�aise,� one and all wreathed in smiles and drawing applause from their colleagues as they basked in the limelight for a couple of minutes each, watched by an able but indulgent Vibha Agarwala of SOS, Mumbai.
Yes! It was more than well worth it!
This powwow also owes its existences to the loving guidance of Rajiv and Suman (Parliamentary Interpreter in the Lok Sabha at The Parliament Of India) Arora of Lego's, Jaya Bhat of Saravu Services, Jasbir and Jaswinder of Dastak, N. Siddiqui of Glorious Translations, Maswood Zafar of Softlingua, Dr. Anjan Dasgupta, ex-secretary of ISTA, Anil Goyal of LinguaIT, Rachna, Sudhiyeen and Asit Mund from Crystal Hues who provided the fine badges so generously, Sandhya Murthy who helped out without reserve, Roomy Naqvy, the translator with a soul and a big heart, Kaushal Goyal of the General Book Depot, and so many others who each in their own and very special way helped this powwow flower and spread its shoots throughout India. A most special thanks to the following who paid to support although they could not attend: Anil Goyal, Rajiv and Suman Arora, Hira of Diamond Translations, Padma Natarajan, Dr. R. Vijayaraghavan from Mysore, Dr. C.V. James of the Instituto Hispania and Dr. Yashoda, Naresh T. Advani who popped in all the way from Bombay before the Meet to say hello, PC of Lingoclinic, Jagruti Trivedi who translated 'Harry Potter and Philosopher's Stone' into Gujarati, Rashid Syed Hasan, Dhananjaya Sharma, Itikela Satish Krishna from , Antje Heinzle whom I do not know at all, Pradeep Tyagi, Brunda Rao, Ruchira Shukla, Syeda Tanbira Zaman from Guwahati, ...
We hereby toast Proz.com as the inspiration for this act of creative collaboration.
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