By NEHA MEHTA
Language professionals have played an important role in society in the construction and development of national languages and literature. They have been working as translator, interpreter, professor, author, they have been working in travel industry or working overseas etc. But among all of them especially the translators are concealed from the sight in the 21st century that is to say they did not receive proper acknowledgement despite of their tremendous efforts and contribution in the restoration of cultural heritage from one century to another. It all started with the translation of religious texts like Bhagawad gita, Bible or Quran. Thanks to all the translators because of them the rich culture and tradition of Indian religion and epic stories like Ramayana, Mahabharata have been translated, disseminated and modified in different versions by different translators.
India being a diverse country has many different languages to offer which in turn has lead to huge communication gap due to the diversity of the languages spoken everywhere. This gap is being bridged by language professionals.
Translation of epic books like Ramayana and Mahabharata have been done in almost all regional languages which has further lead to the propagation of Indian cultural consciousness. It shows that translation activity has been going on in India and other countries since the time before we can even remember which has strengthened the spiritual and mental bond between one region to another. Translation have been there since ages when there were travelers or colonizers who came, invaded, learnt, applied and propagated distinguished works to list some of them like that of art and class, food and beverage, clothes and shoes, language and literature, culture and religion. What would we do without the essence and core of every nation which is their culture? What if the world would like to have only one culture prevalent to their motherland which is restricted only to their world? What is it like to have this recent phenomenon of globalization which has certainly made translators come into limelight as they are the ones responsible for transferring the knowledge from one country to another.
If they are the ones who are responsible for something as vital for human survival as it is the food which is meant to feed and nourish us with the correct nutrients and minerals then why is it that their role has never been appreciated or come into bigger picture to everyone and why is it that it is always the content or theme of a particular book, art, recent discovery or innovation which has attracted masses more than the decipherer himself. Translators who have strong authority to impart essence of one country to the other or to the locals of the same country have always worked behind the scenes without any recognition and praise in return. But with the changing world and its demand slowly and gradually there is a shift in the mindset of people and translators who are now realizing the change which they can cause to create, spread and enhance this world by interconnecting with others and by working and forming a great network of people living across the borders.
Translators when form their own set of circle with other translators in order to spread their knowledge of a particular topic to mention a few like legal, medical, business or political translation then in this process great value is created for them as well as the society. Without them there won’t be any possibility of new innovation. In this world of Globalization role of translators and translation happen to exist and succeed when there is practice and perseverance by the decipherer. As Steve jobs says “I am convinced that about half of what separates successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance”. This can become possible when translators will develop their work into passion and consistently hone their language skills and completely take it as their duty to work together with the support of government and people in order to come into limelight as an entrepreneur. This new phenomenon of translators as an entrepreneur is actually a very old one which failed to be recognized in the eyes of translators, public and big enterprise in general. Becoming an entrepreneur will certainly help and elevate the standard and remuneration for them but that is not restricted only to them but it will actually open up the opportunities for the Indian market or of that respective country where translators being the unsung heroes are working behind the scenes. They will get the power to come in front this time to preserve and manifest it around the world so that this identity is never taken away from them.
The advantages of strengthening the potential of one’s own country will contribute to the economic advancement for the entire nation. Modernity is not an evil word to use but by being modern we can still use our inherent language skills to get linked with the other language speaking world ushering to the betterment of everyone from north or south to east or west of every region in this planet earth. Everyone with the passion to work as an entrepreneur can make it a reality for their progress, their country advancement as well as the transformation of the entire world.
When regional languages are made global and are united and promoted with the help of government and common man then the natural patriotic feelings are strengthened and respect for languages spoken in their mother land are encouraged and incorporated in the global world and those languages then naturally will be able to enjoy the same status as that of other European languages. In other words translator as an entrepreneur can become a huge success when supreme importance is given to the language; culture and value of one’s own country.
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