Some poems may refuse to be translated for their nature: Dr. Mukul Dahal

Poet Mukul Dahal

Dr. Mukul Dahal is a poet and translator. He has one Nepalese poetry book 'Seemateet Seemanta' to his credit. He was an Absolute Winner of Nosside International Poetry Contest - Italy (2009). His literary writings have been published in various Nepalese and English literary journals including Madhuparka, Garima, London Grip, Glasgow to Saturn, November Sky Poetry, Snow Jewel. Dr. Dahal has translated a number of works of fiction and poetry from Nepal. 

The Editor of Cactus, Gopi Sapkota, recently had conversation with him about his writing and current projects. Following are the excerpts:

What are you working on nowadays?
I’m currently contemplating and working on two ambitions: an anthology of poems and an anthology of prose pieces.

I have poems written over a considerable period of time after I got my first anthology published fifteen years ago. These poems need to be anthologised.

Secondly, the prose I mentioned is in my head for long. I had started toying with the idea when I was in Nepal. I thought of writing about poetry and poetic process. The idea has seen a little shift now. I wish to include travel memoir and reflections on various activities I got engaged in during all these years. These pieces would be pieced together and will bear diverse colours in terms of writing style and perspectives.

Why do you write? What would happen if you don’t write?
This is an important question. I began writing not even knowing why I write. Later it became my way of living, way of looking at things around me, nature, life and responding to the incidents in a specific way. I began to be more aware of the sensibility I inherently possessed and the sense of empathy. These and my imagination urged me to read books and play with words, language and create something of my own. To create something of your own gives a fascinating feeling. It purges you off many cluttered experiences. I also believe that writing purifies your soul and your being. The feeling of purgation and going through a process of purification gives an immense pleasure. I write to relish this.

Not writing or reading for me is like being separated from a beloved. You have so much a desire to say something and your mouth is shut. It would be a feeling of pain and agony. Life is never ending source of inspiration for art and writing. It throws at you miracles, unpredictability with a call to write about them. How would you remain aloof from writing?

It would be interesting to know about your motivation and passion towards literature. Could you please tell us about your early days of writing?
To reflect on my early motivation, I remember my growing up in the rural village of eastern Nepal. My family had farm and I remember the hard work, my affinity with the soil and the awareness of passing of time year after year being aware of each season and its offering to plants and animals we kept. I was imaginative by nature, the mystery of nature wondered me a lot. We had a tall wooden house with tin roof. It leaked at places whenever there was a downpour. During a stormy night, the house shook and we woke up and stayed awake until the rainstorm subsided. All these had a deep effect in my mind and left me with more imagination and wonders. I felt like doing something but did not know what. Later when I went to school, I held fascination towards creative pieces we had to study in our textbooks. My elder brother who was in high school used to write poems. I started copying his poems and making my own with some changes and moderation. This was my early inspiration and motivation. When I was in high school, I began reading literary works, specifically books of fiction. I remember reading ‘Sirishko Phool’ by Parijat and ‘Chapaieka Anuhar’ by Daulat Bikram Bista. In the text book of Nepali subject, I came across poems of maha kabi Laxmi Prasad Devkota, Lekhnath Paudyal and short stories of Poshan Pandey, Vijaya Malla, Guru Prasad Mainali, travel essays of Taranath Sharma and many other great writers and poets of Nepali literature. These works moved me, fascinated me and I was unresistingly drawn to them. Later, when I was in post-secondary education, I got similar exposure which paved my way to writing.

Your poems are published in international literary journals. You are the winner of Nosside International Prize for poetry for 2009. Could you please tell us about your poetic journey to competition?
My journey to the UK higher education and my study of creative writing provided me with avenues of exposure to international journals. The writing course was a chance to know even more seriously, the importance of editing and honing.

Towards the end of the writing course, our gurus discussed publication and the ways to get our voices heard. They encouraged us to send our work to journals and literary contests. I sent to journals and got rejections from many and acceptance in some of them. However, submitting to the contests posed limitation as one needs to pay the entry fee in each of them. I sent to many without any positive result. I had almost given up as I came across Nosside World Poetry competition. It was a different kind of contest in which the poets required to submit their poems in their native languages accompanied by a translation in one of five official European languages. It also waived entry fee to those poets from developing countries. I submitted my poem titled ‘Chorieko’ meaning ‘Stolen’ which, to my pleasant surprise, won the prize of ‘absolute winner’.

Poet Mukul Dahal performing his poems at 'An Evening with Mukul Dahal'

How do you see the role of research when you do creative writing?
Research does have a positive role in creative writing. Poets and writers not only write from their lived experiences, but also about far off realities, experiences of people with different cultural and life experiences. In such context, research, a systematic and in-depth study of the subject, is the only way of acquiring the knowledge of the subject the writers would like to portray and infuse life in their writing. For that reason, research provides the depth and authenticity of the creative writing.

Who are your favourite writers?
It is hard to take a few names as there are so many good writers and I know, so doing, I will miss many. In Nepali literature, classic poets such as Laxmi Prasad Devkota, Lekha Nath Paudel, Siddhicharan Shrestha are my favourites as they of everyone else. Modern poets who have become inspiration for all the following generations such as Gopal Prasad Rimal, Hari Bhakta Katuwal, Bairagi Kaila, Bhupi Sherchan, Ishwor Ballav, Mohan Koirala, Bijaya Malla just to name a few. There are other poets such as Krishna Bhusan Bal, Abhi Subedi (also a critic, playwright) Shailendra Sakar, Shyamal, Parizat, Manjul, Abinash Shrestha, Bimal Nibha, Min Bahadur Bista and more. I’m sure I have missed good poets whose works I adore and draw inspiration from. Among fiction writers and playwrights Guru Prasad Mainali, Poshan Pandey, Bhimnidhi Tiwari, Bisheswor Prasad Koirala, Parizat, Bal Krishna Sama, Daulat Bikram Bista and so on. There are good many from the following generation of writers. The list will go long.

In the world literature there are many great literary figures ranging from Rabindra Nath Tagore, Mulk Raj Ananda, R.K. Narayan to T.S. Eliot, Pablo Neruda, Emily Dickinson, Sylvia Plath, Robert Frost, Nazim Hikmet, Anton Chekhov, Boris Pasternak and Lev Tolstoy to name only a few.

How do you think we can promote Nepali writing in English at the international level?
The best way could be to get such writing published by an international publisher. When such publisher accepts a work for publishing, the work will have an international circulation and readership. Thus, it will get a global attention. The second, is to get it reviewed by world’s top journals and papers. The library cataloguing could be the next step.

Whenever we talk about uplifting Nepalese literature in the international level, people talk about the issue of translation. You have translated some literary works from Nepali to English. What are the key issues related to translating Nepali literary works into English?
The key issues are about retaining the flavour of the original of the translated piece. There is a risk of getting lost of so much of the original in translation. The case is more common with the poetry, but not limited to. While translating, the work that has grown out of a culture and matured in a linguistic frame is carried into another language. The music of the original language, onomatopoeic nature of some words and a playful pun created from within the creative potential of the language can be partially or in many cases totally lost in translation. For instance, these lines from Nawaraj Parajuli’s poem 'Sagarmathako Gahirai':

yo arabma rab chai kaha chha (यो अरबमा रब चाहीँ कहाँ छ?)
yasto lagyo u ish..wara  haina ish..para ho ( यस्तो लाग्यो उ इश..वर हैन इश..पर हो)

These lines can somehow be translated but the beauty in them created out of the design and the playfulness of the words will surely be lost in translation. In addition, the metrical verses can have giant hurdles. Some poems may refuse to be translated for their nature and the experiment in their form and use of language.

The prose may have less bumpy journey of translation. Yet, it cannot be without issues. In fiction, certain characters use particular use of Nepali, for example the translation of Nepali used by the characters such as Kaluwa and Prem Lalwa in Nayanraj Pandey’s novel ‘Ulaar’ would loose the beauty of their accent. There may be numerous such examples.

However, these issues cannot undermine the importance and value of translation. The world’s great classics originally authored in languages other than English have found their ways into English and have gained wide spread recognition. Great works of Nepali literature must be translated to gain global attention. Some have already been translated and many are in a wait. A coordinated body for a collective effort is required for that.

How do you see the contemporary Nepalese writing?
There is a great promise in contemporary Nepali writing, in all fronts: poetry, fiction and non-fiction. I see a surge of writing from groups of writers with diverse socio-economic, ethnic backgrounds and creative consciousness. This has enriched Nepali literature.

What would you suggest to the new writers?
Continuous commitment is required for someone to grow as a writer. One can draw as much from reading of the classics and contemporary writing as from the life experience and the world a writer is living in. Never hurry for publication, getting feedback and editing are important steps for gaining maturity.