Translation Work In Kutchhi

Gautam Joshi has done pioneer work in the enrichment of the Kutchhi language by his original literary creations as well as translations of sacred and literary works into the language.

So it was appropriate that Gautam Joshi should present a paper on translation work in Kutchhi in the two-day Kutchhi Bhasa Sammelan(Conference) held at Bhuj on 11-12 March 2010 by the Sahitya Academy (Delhi) and the Kutchhi Sahitya Academy (Gandhinagar).

Translation Work in the Kutchhi Language

In his paper titled "Translation Work in the Kutchhi Language", Gautam Joshi has treated the subject of translation in all its aspects and has traced the history of the translation of various literary works into Kutchhi.

Gautam's overview of the history of the translation work, which occupies the better part of his paper, is of utmost importance for the reason that except for those in the literary field, most Kutchhi people are largely unaware of the work that has been done in their mother tongue. Gautam Joshi's paper fills that knowledge gap to a great extent.

Advancement of Kutchhi

It is from this paper that we learn what tremendous work has been done over the years to enrich the Kutchhi language by various people. He narrates how a number of people, devoted to the Kutchhi language, have translated historical, literary and religious texts into Kutchhi over a long time.

While it is conceivable that people from Kutch should be at the forefront in the efforts to develop Kutchhi, you would be surprised to learn here that an English padre had not only learned Kutchhi as long back as 1834 AD but had also written a religious text in the language, ostensibly to recruit disciples to his faith.

If all this work has enriched Kutchhi, the language of Kutch too has added value to other languages as a number of Kutchhi works have been translated into other languages.

One of the notable examples of the flow of Kutchhi into other languages is Kavi Niranjan's Kutchhi patriotic song: "Munji Matrubhumi Ke Naman" which has been rendered into English, French, Russian, Bengali, Sanskrit and Marathi.

Media and Kutchhi

Print and broadcast media in Kutch has also been contributing to the spread of the Kutchhi language since long. Well-known instances of this are the Kutchmitra's weekly Kutchii section and Akashvani's Kutchhi broadcasts.

But from Gautam Joshi we learn of others which though not that well-known among the general public have been doing very much vital work in the enhancement of the Kutchhi language. He has given numerous examples of publications and periodicals which not only feature translated work but also original works in Kutchhi.

A Strong Case For Kutchhi

This paper read out at the Kutchhi Bhasa Sammelan provides a strong argument in favour of inclusion of Kutchhi in the list of reconised languages.

It does this by showing that Kutchhi is not just yet another dialect in the pantheon of thousands of Indian tongues. It, in fact, has a distinct identity with a treasury of rich literary heritage which has been enhanced by inclusion into it the works of other languages from India and abroad and as such deserves its rightful place in the list of recognized Indian languages.

While this paper was written primarily for the Kutchhi Bhasa Samellan, it deserves a wider general publicity as it would serve to enlighten the general public with the great strides that Kutchhi has been taking over the years.