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INTRO:
We are sitting
at Oxford Bookstore where there is a dedicated section for ‘Translations’
albeit only at the end of the store. Amongst the books by Premchand, on Gandhi
and others, there are books like Meluha ke Mritunjay, Nagao ka Rehsay, Chanakya
Mantra – translations of popular English books Immortals of Meluha, Secret of
Nagas, Chanakya’s Chant. The placement of books is a telling sign of the demand
of Hindi books: it is enough to find a proper shelf space in a big book store
in the capital. But is it enough to keep Hindi Literature alive among the
English speaking youth today? To understand the current demand for Hindi books in metros, and to
bring out how it can be made more relevant for the young readers, DIVA arranged
for a dialogue between two Hindi writers: Ranju Bhatia, who has published two
Hindi poetry books (Kuch Meri Kalam Se and Saaya) and has been writing for
various newspapers, magazines and blogs for the past ten years and Alexshendra
Venus Bakshi, a young writer, who recently released her first book in Hindi
‘Aarambh ki gyarah kahaniya’…
Alexshendra Venus Bakshi (AVB), a bilingual, could have
chosen to write her first book in English. A graduate in BA (History) from
Gargi College, Delhi, she later studied Law to become an advocate at Supreme
Court. Being born and brought up in Lucknow, she decided to write in Hindi as
she felt the language gave her a better command than English for expressing her
thoughts. She recently released her book
Aarambh ki Gyarah Kahaniya,
which is based on the social problems in the society. A purist
Ranju Bhatia (RB) began writing when she was 13. A voracious
reader, she found inspiration from writers like Amrita Pritam, Harivanshrai
Bachchan, Shivani and Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay and developed an interest in
writing poetry. She recently released her second poetry book
Kuch Meri Kalam Se after her first book
Saaya in 2006. She writes columns and
articles for various magazines and newspapers and is an active blogger with an
aim to promote Hindi especially among the youth.
DIVA: What do you feel about the current state
of Hindi language? Is the English speaking youth of today interested in reading
Hindi literature? Have your books reached out to this segment?
AB: You know when
I started writing my book, I felt I may not find many readers in metros and
they may be confined to Lucknow alone. I was surprised by the reception the
book received in Delhi. A lot many people showed interest in the book. It’s too
early for me to gauge the audience because the book was released only two
months ago; however, what I’m seeing till now is that the readers are mostly
middle-aged people with an inherent interest in the language.
As for the youth taking interest in the language, I feel we
are embarrassed to talk in Hindi and consider speaking in English as a sign of
being modern. That’s largely because of the colonial hangover the country has
been living under, which I feel is now slowly receding. The architects of our
Constitution predicted that English would soon replace Hindi and other
languages in the country. But that did not happen. But people now want to read simple
Hindi. ‘Sanskritised’ Hindi is hard to follow. Hindi as spoken by common man is
much easier to understand. Harishchandra wrote in Sankritised Hindi to keep its
original form intact but if we want to attract more readers, it has to be in
simple Hindi.
RB: I agree with
you on that. I write short poems in Hindi and the younger in my extended family
have trouble following it since they do not read in Hindi at all. But at the
same time there are a lot of youngsters, like my daughters’ friends, who share
their attempts at Hindi verses to get my feedback. If you look at the broader
picture, Hindi has never been short of readers. I see a whole lot of fresh
readers as well as writers like you Alexshendra who are interested in reading
and writing in Hindi. So that’s an encouraging sign. But that’s only scratching
the surface. A lot more needs to be done to keep Hindi literature alive. Hindi or
Urdu as a combination is the fourth top-rated language in the world - after
Mandarin, English and Spanish. But our publishing industry does not reflect
this
AVB: The problem
is that the traditional virtue of patience is lost and attention spans are
lost. Young readers want everything instantly. Even as they start reading a
story they want to know the end.
RB: …Which makes
me wonder why pulp fiction died. Smaller towns and cities may still have
readers but I remember the time when authors like Dharamvir Bharti, Gulshan
Nanda, Dushyant Kumar Premchand, were hugely popular among college students. You
know why they were so immensely popular? Because these were pocket-sized books,
short stories, available at railway stations, roadside vendors and even grocery
stores. Perhaps, the key is better
distribution and short format stories.
AVB: I don’t
think the amount of words really makes a difference. It is the idea that sells.
Ideally speaking, I think we shouldn’t fall prey to what is in demand. We
should write what we want to without thinking whether it’ll sell or not.
RB: Absolutely
agreed, it should come from within. But, let me ask you… you’re a bilingual and
this is your first book. Suppose a publisher approaches you and convinces you
that your idea will sell better if you write it in English, would you insist on
writing in Hindi because of your love for the language?
AVB: Like I said,
idea is more important than the language. When I thought of writing my first
book, I thought Hindi should be given its due. English is only a linking
language; I feel we can correctly and completely express our emotions through
Hindi alone. But if tomorrow if I feel I can express some idea better in
English, I might try.
RB: May be you
should write in Hinglish. (
Laughs). Why,
it is after all the ‘common’ language we were talking about. Youngsters relate
to it. I recently read this book written in Hinglish by a young boy. Speaking
strictly from the point of view of Literature, it may not be the best thing but
to look at it differently, it can actually draw young readers who are taking a
liking to the new crop of books written using Hindi in English. It’s an attempt
by large English publishing houses to attract new readers. So Hindi Literature
can follow the model.
AVB: I would
disagree with you on that. I feel language should be pure. A mix of other languages
would dilute its essence and purity. While I wouldn’t criticise others for
doing it, I know I wouldn’t use Hinglish in my work.
RB: But you can’t
ignore it; it’s all around you. Bollywood loves Hinglish; media is, in fact, a
large promoter or mere reflection of the reality. You have lyricists like Gulzar
writing Hinglish songs, admen saying ‘yeh dil maange more’, leading English
dailies using Hindi words in headlines and stories, and even telephone operator
saying ‘Dial
kiya gaya number
vyast hai’. It’s everyday common
language that we hear on streets. I was surprised when some critics suggested I
replace some of the pure Hindi words I used in some of my poems and articles
with basic English words to make it interesting. So many writers in the past
have done it like you can find Bengali words in Sarat Chandra’s stories.
AVB: You’re right
but maybe I am a traditionalist and feel language must remain pure. Simple,
non-Sanskritised Hindi, yes but Hinglish is a strict no-no for me.
DIVA: To each his
own! But do you think we have enough talent today? As one of you mentioned the
phenomena in English writing where many young, new writers have come up to meet
the youth's demand for aspirational content. Does Hindi already have or is
still waiting for a good crop of new original writers whose books would sell
over the counter?
Ranju: You know
it’s the readers that make one a great writer! So, if there are enough readers
for Alexshendra’s or my work, tomorrow we’d be talked about as great writers of
our time. (
laughs). Coming to your
point, the talent is immense and many are writing. But the problem is that publishers
still depend on references and recommendations from various sources to finalise
the authors and deserving writers lose out to lesser talented candidates when
it comes to getting their work published.
Also, there is a paradigm shift in the writings. The great
writers of yesterday wrote about varied topics concerning
art and society like Dharamvir Bharti who wrote Suraj ka Satva Ghoda, Amrita Pritam, who
wrote novels like Pinjar…Concerns
have changed today and so has the writing style. But I feel there is a huge gap
in supply of good biographies, autobiographies and travel books.
AVB: I am not
much of a reader myself as I feel reading too much influences your original
thought process. But I found inspiring books talking about morals are missing in
Hindi. And this is what made me write this book. It’s a collection of 11 stories,
each with a moral in the end. There is definitely a missing link that needs to
be filled. I hope we will see a new breed of writers who are young not age wise
but thought wise, bringing in a fresh perspective.
DIVA: What
according to you are the problem areas in making Hindi attractive for English
speaking youth?
RB: Marketing is
the need of the hour. Hindi books and writers need good marketing. It is a huge
problem with Hindi books especially poetry books. I find publishers are still
promoting short stories but poetry, which one might think would be more
popular, is losing out.
AVB: Publishing
is made up of the publisher, author, distributor and reader, and all four
should benefit and get together to promote Hindi. Government should also take
steps. There can be contests and schemes to encourage the use of Hindi
language.
I feel after invasion in the country, there was a loss of
identity that the country faced. Post-liberalisation, however, there has been a
movement towards search of identity. Now, there is a definitive visible revival
but what we need is a sense of direction. Trying to fit in to a ‘globalised’
environment, we are ashamed of speaking in Hindi. We immediately become
judgmental of people who can’t communicate in English…that is a sad condition.
We need to be comfortable with who we are and define our identity. And language
plays a big role in defining a nation’s identity. If there is a dedicated momentum, I see things
improving in the next 10-15 years.
RB: I’d give it a
shorter time. I believe if marketing and distribution is worked upon, Hindi
literature will boom. E-commerce should be exploited to reach out to a wider
audience. Social media is a great platform where writers can connect with the
readers. I use the platform a great deal to know what my readers are thinking,
they share their honest feedback with me, and so I get compliments as well as
criticism for my work.
AVB: Well, I am
not very tech-savvy. In fact, my book isn’t available for purchase online yet,
it will be soon. In fact, it was only recently that I even created my Facebook
account!
RB: I’d suggest
you use the online medium more. It has tremendous potential; it is the medium
of the future. I am waiting to see e-books in Hindi. Though I love holding a
book in my hand, I am quite used to reading online with mails, blogs, websites –
everything in Hindi.
AVB: Actually, I’ve
been born and brought up in Lucknow where even today people focus on real and
not virtual dialogues and discussions. When I am not occupied with work, I like
to spend time with myself rather than connect virtually. But yes, I agree with
you that technology cannot be ignored and can be helpful in reaching out.
RB: Yes, contrary
to what one might think, Hindi readers are tech-savvy. A growing number of websites
in Hindi and number of clicks and comments they get are a proof. The readers
are from all over the country. What smaller towns and cities also need is book
fairs. The ones held in Delhi also could do with more number of stalls. There
are so many halls selling English books while Hindi gets only one.
Neha: There has to be a joint effort on the part of
publishers, readers, writers and of course the Government.
Our writers here clearly seem optimistic about the future of
Hindi language. Young readers and writers are showing interest but that’s just
a minuscule percentage of what may be required to keep it flourishing. Packaging and marketing are
still the grey areas that need support from not just publishers’ side but
writers as well as the readers’.