When Tagore Meets Magic Realism
Detective Noore Chhafa’s arrival in Sundarpur sets the stage for a thriller filled with disappearances, secrets, and a restaurant with an unusual name. The Bengali novel, Tagore Never Ate Here (Harper Collins) written by Bangladeshi author Mohammad Nazim Uddin, takes its name from this very restaurant curiously named Tagore Never Ate Here. Excerpts of a conversation with translator V Ramaswamy on bringing the story to English readers, of a bestseller that is a cross-border hit, picking up pulp fiction, and more:
How much freedom do you think a translator should have when approaching an author’s work compared to a classic or historical text?
Given that I began my translation with a master writer, Subimal Misra, fidelity to the original text has been a fundamental aspect of my work. I brought that to bear in this work as well. That being said, I also believe that a translator still has sufficient freedom to exercise his or her own creativity and leave a stamp in the translation.
You have translated other Bangla writers before, how is Nazim Uddin’s style and storytelling distinct from them? What kind of stories do you prefer taking up for translating that aligns with your own style?
His book is a work of popular fiction, loved by thousands of readers and so I thought it merited translation. Most of the works I have translated are of a serious nature so this was a pleasant break, like a moment of levity. It took me back to my early teen years and it was with a child’s sensibility of thrill and suspense that I did the translation. I have realised that a personal, subjective link with the text is essential for me. I simply sought to accurately convey the original work.
What made you pick up Mohammad Nazim Uddin’s Tagore Never Ate Here and translate it into English?
Actually it was Abhijan, the publisher of the Indian edition, who approached me for suggestions regarding getting the book translated; I was somewhat tickled by the idea of translating it – since I had been an avid reader of pulp fiction in my early teen years – and said that I would do it. I pitched the book to HarperCollins, and happily, it was accepted. Translating the book took me back five decades!
Were there particular passages, idioms, or cultural references in the book that were especially challenging to translate? How do you keep the essence of the original text in Bangla while also making it readable for English readers?
I did not really encounter any challenges while translating the book. However, two of the characters speak in their respective dialects, which also adds to their colourfulness, but since the form of dialect speech cannot be translated, that was a definite loss in translation. But I think the reader in English will also find the book engrossing.
The novel’s title, 'Tagore Never Ate Here', is quite intriguing. What significance does it hold in the story, and how did you approach rendering it in English?
The title – is the name of a much-loved restaurant, run by a mysterious woman. An air of mystery is created right from the beginning of the novel. The reader is eager to know why the restaurant was given such a name. The author felt that “Tagore”, rather than “Rabindranath” (which appears in the original Bangla title, Rabindranath Ekhane Kokhono Khete Ashenni) would be more appropriate in English, and my editors, too, felt the same. And thus the title in English.
How do you see this work fitting into contemporary literature on both sides of the border?
Bangladeshi literature is a vast and thriving field. One can find amazing literary works, extraordinary voices, and various genres of writing. Mohammad Nazim Uddin decided to become a full-time writer of crime, thriller fiction, and his books have been extremely successful in the two Bengals. The serious non-Bangladeshi reader too would get something of life in Bangladesh from the book.
Did you have the chance to work with Nazim Uddin during the translation process? What was that collaboration like?
I did not work with the author, but I remained in touch with him as I was translating his book, exchanging quips and so on. He is considerably younger than me, so a nice bonhomie was created between us. I would like to translate the sequel to this book as well!