A proficient writer, poet and translator, Ajay Patnaik is a recipient of multiple awards such as Dalmiya Award (1983), Ramchandra Shukla Shikar Samman (1999), Hindi Sebi Samman (2005) and Netromani Puraskar (2006) among others. He is all set to bag the prestigious Kendra Sahitya Aakademi Puraskar this year. In a freewheeling chat with Chaitali Shome of Orissa Post, he throws light on his journey
Why did you choose to pursue Odia and Hindi literature?
My grandfather Ananta Padmanav Patnaik is an Odisha Sahitya Akademi winner. He inspired me to get into literature. During my high school, I wrote poetry in school competitions and won Cuttack Kala Bikash Sishu Manjari award in the year 1962-63. This enhanced my write-ups and led me to write essays.
Tell us about your reaction upon winning Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award.
I have already won Kendriya Rastriya award eight times for my Hindi write-ups. However, winning the Kendra Sahitya Akademi award for my translation of Shrestha Hindi Galpa in Odia has elated me. I am so glad that I have finally won an award for my Odia write up.
Is there a need to translate Hindi works into Odia?
Yes, there was a huge need to translate Hindi works to our language. There is a big difference between speaking the Hindi language and knowing Hindi literature. Hindi write-ups have a wider popularity which led me to translate Hindi stories into Odia language. Raja Radhika Raman Prasad Singh’s Kanno mein kangana, Usne kaha tha by Chandradhar Sharma Guleri, Gunda by Jayshankar Prasad, Kafan by Premchand, Biswambar Nath Sharma Koushik’s Tai and Radhakrushna’s Lalia ki Shaadi are all great stories which I have translated and compiled under a single work ‘Shrestha Hindi Galpa’. There are 25 short stories in the book.
Does translation help in bringing people and cultures together?
I wanted people to unite as one and that is one of the main reasons which forced me to take up the translation work. Through literature, we must create harmony as the world is getting compact. Hindi is being taught in 126 colleges across the globe.
Odia works are not quite popular in neighbourhood states like West Bengal and Telangana? What needs to be done to ensure translation of these works into Bengali or Telugu?
Yes, there is a growing need to translate Odia literature into Hindi language. However, we are facing lack of seminars in Odia literature. There is no institution that can translate our literature into other languages like Bengali, Telegu and Hindi. Due to our lack of capacity and translators, we are not being unable reach a wider audience.
