Daughter finds the feminine in her dad

KOCHI: Translating a classic is never an easy job. But for Jayalekshmy P K, the challenge was not just of translating a novel - ‘Ini Njan Urangattey’ - loved by generations and one of her favourites. She had to ensure that nothing is lost in the process of translating it, a book written by her father.
“It took me many years to finish the work. I started it in 2002, juggling between my own and translating my father’s work.Around 2010, a rough first draft was completed. Till it went to print last year, I kept on revising and changed much of it,” Jayalekshmy said.
The translation titled ‘Battle Beyond Kurukshetra’ published by Oxford University Press will be launched at Kerala Literature Festival, Kozhikode, on February 8.
“After reading his books, the one I liked most was ‘Ini Njan Urangattey’. I felt he was a good writer, worthy to be known beyond the borders of our locale. And for that the best bet was this book, and so I started working on the translation,” Jayalekshmy said.
However, she still wonders how her father, whom she knew only as a strong masculine personality, could articulate so well from the viewpoint of a woman in the book.
“I don’t know how he got that perspective of a female character. The father I knew was not someone who had a feminine aspect to him, and rather was quite the opposite. It was quite strange for me that he could think from such a standpoint, without his manliness reflecting in it. These are the questions I’d have asked him if he was alive,” Jayalekshmy said.
According to the writer, there is hardly any change in the relevance of the book published in 1976, which has Draupadi, a strong female character as a protagonist, as opposed to her role in the myth.
“The feminist perspective and the concept of war which are ubiquitous in the novel are so relevant now as before. Most people don’t behave oppressively to women blatantly nowadays. They have just become more ‘politically correct’ in expressing opinions,” Jayalekshmy said.
But it was no easy task as Balakrishnan’s writing had a unique touch to it, the kind hard to capture in a translated work.
“The language was hard, tough words were used frequently throughout the writing, and it has very long-winding sentences, which adds a musical, poetic flow to it. So basically, it was not just about translating the work with its essence, but an attempt to gather all of its charm,” Jayalekshmy said.