Translation Philosophy

For me, translation is not just about carrying a text from one language to another. It is about carrying across life, texture, and truth. At the heart of my translation philosophy is a quiet, persistent attention to what each text demands from me: not just linguistic fidelity, but cultural humility, emotional resonance, and political responsibility.

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My translations move across three or more major Indian languages—Hindi, Marathi, English—but more importantly, they move across genres, generations, and worldviews. From translating the fierce lyrical voice of Ramdarsh Mishra (Aag ki Hansi) to co-editing and rendering stories from Marathi children's literature (Kisson Ki Duniya), and from bringing to English the sharp prose of Premchand, Mamta Kalia, and Ramnika Gupta to co-translating Rajinder Singh Bedi’s haunting “Quarantine,” my work reflects a deep commitment to multiplicity—of tone, of tradition, of truths.

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My interest in translating from the margins—Dalit, women's writing, regional, or children’s texts—is not incidental. It is central to my translation training and practice. I treat these works not as raw material to be made palatable for a wider readership, but as already-formed, culturally loaded interventions that must be met with respect. My translations do not seek to smooth over linguistic roughness or domesticate cultural difference; they preserve the grain of the original voice—even when it resists the expectations of the target language.

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As an editor of Introductory Topics in Translation Studies: An Indian Perspective (forthcoming), I also acknowledge the urgent need for translation theory to grow out of Indian conditions. I believe that translation cannot be governed by abstract universalism—it must be rooted in lived multilingualism, in asymmetrical relations of power, and in the ethical choices a translator makes at every step.

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Across my writings and interviews, I repeatedly return to translation as a form of transformation—of the text, yes, but also of the translator, and of the systems that determine what is considered worth reading, remembering, or retelling. For me, translation is not a one-time act but an ongoing conversation—between languages, between times, and between the storyteller and the reader.

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In a multilingual, multi-vocal country like India, I insist that translation is not an optional supplement—it is the condition of cultural survival and shared understanding.