Kolkata, July 12 (IANS) Highlighting the rich tradition of Nepali language writing in India, the Jadavpur University Press here has launched a collection of English translations of 19 short stories penned by Indian authors in the language.
Titled "Call of the Hills", the course book of Indian Nepali literature in translation brings for readers a bouquet of 19 short stories from the Darjeeling area of the Indian Himalayas.
The translation is a collaborative outcome between students associated with Department of Comparative Literature, Jadavpur University (JU) and Southfield College, Darjeeling.
"There is a rich tradition of Nepali language writing in our country, such as in West Bengal. The stories are by 19 different writers. Our intention was to collect some of the more important stories from representative writers from this tradition and have them translated into English for dissemination," Sayantan Dasgupta, one of the editors of the volume, from JU, told IANS on Tuesday.
Kabita Lama, who teaches Nepali at Sikkim University is the other editor. Four introductory essays set the context for the myriad experiences and the socio-cultural and economic issues portrayed in these stories, said Dasgupta who teaches comparative literature at the varsity.
Elaborating on the significance of translations, he said: "Some languages are more visible, some are less visible so Nepali is a language of which we haven't had too much of text translated into English. People don't really realise there is this kind of a tradition."
"Also, the intention was to prepare a volume that would be helpful academically... the book has some critical matter on Indian Nepali literature," said Dasgupta, also the coordinator of Centre for Translation of Indian Literatures (CENTIL), Department of Comparative Literature, at the varsity.
