Bihar’s literary legacy is more than two thousand five years old. From religious texts and secular poetry in Pali and Prakrit to Kamasutra and Chanakya Niti in Sanskrit, Bihar has produced many timeless masterpieces. In Hindi and Urdu, Bihar has given us luminaries like Dinkar, Renu, Baba Nagarjun, Shad Azimabadi and Jameel Mazhari. Deen Mohammad, the first Indian to get a book published in English way back in 1794, was from Patna, the capital of Bihar. When it comes to Bihar's own languages, we have master poets like Bhikhari Thakur(Bhojpuri) and Vidyapati(Maithili). Unfortunately, very few people outside Bihar are aware of such a rich literary heritage as most of the materials were not available in translation. But, now, Abhay K, a well-known poet, translator and diplomat, has come out with a wonderful collection of Bihari literature in English translation allowing the world to have a taste of Bihari literary traditions. Here, Abhay is not just an editor and contributor but has also translated several poems and stories from various languages like Magahi, Sanskrit, Pali and Prakrit. In this interview, Abhay K talks to Abdullah Khan about Bihar's linguistic and literary heritage and his latest literary project The Book Of Bihari Literature (Harper Collins India).
Q1: At the outset, I would like to congratulate you for the The Book of Bihari Literature through which you have given English readers an opportunity to get acquainted with more than two millennia long literary traditions of Bihar. And my first question is what and who inspired you to think of this anthology?
Abhay K. : Thank you for your kind words about the book. It was my complete ignorance about the rich literary tradition of Bihar, including in my own that set me on the quest for learning more about various languages of Bihar and literature written in them.
Q2: What were your criteria for selection of writers and poets for this anthology?
Abhay K. : I was looking chronologically from ancient to contemporary times. Some names I was familiar with as I had read their works during my school years, while I learnt about the others during the process of editing this book.
As far as the literary works are concerned, I was mainly looking at poems and short stories as they lend themselves well to the process of anthology making. I did not include excerpts from the novels as they felt incomplete in themselves.
Q3: Two poems by Mutta and Sumangalmata, Buddhist nuns from the 6th century BCE, are included in this collection. The verses are not only beautiful but also talk about women's emancipation and sound almost contemporary? How come these poets were ahead of their time? Have you come across more such female poets or authors in ancient Bihar?
Abhay K.: If you read ancient Sanskrit or Prakrit literature, you’ll find that the works written in these languages sound relatively contemporary. For example, I have translated Kalidasa’s Meghaduta and Ritusamhara and I find him a great contemporary eco-poet. There are many other female poets, not only in Bihar but all across India, whose works have been ahead of their times and are relevant even in contemporary times. For example, many poems in Gatha Saptasati put together by King Hala, are written in Prakrit by female poets.
Q4: You have included a chapter from Sake Dean Mahomed's first book, The Travels of Dean Mahomet, who was the first Indian (and Bihari) to publish a book in English? Can you tell us more about Dean Mahomed and his writings? Were there any other Bihari writers who wrote in English in the 18th and 19th century? How do you look at the contemporary Bihari literary scene in English?
Abhay K.: Yes, that’s right. He is the first Indian to write a book in English. He was from Patna, his father who worked in East India Company’s Bengal army had been killed in a local battle when he was just eleven and he lived with his mother. An Anglo-Irish officer Captain Baker took him under his wings and took him along to Ireland. After marrying an Irish lady he moved to London, where he made a fortune, opened the first Indian restaurant in London and introduced Indian cuisine and the practice of shampooing. His progeny continue to live there to this day. There are several Bihari writers who wrote in English, such as Avadh Behari Lall, whose works have been included in this anthology.
The Contemporary Bihari literary scene in English is quite rich and promising with writers such as Amitava Kumar, Tabish Khair, Siddhartha Chowdhury, you yourself with your Patna Blues and a number of other writers creating remarkable literary works in the field of both prose and poetry.
Q5: Bihar has its own languages like Bhojpuri, Magahi, Maithili , Angika, Bajjika but anyone outside the state barely knows about the rich linguistic and literary traditions of these languages. Even within Bihar, the new generation is learning English and Hindi which have become a kind of mother tongue for them. In your views, what kind of future do these languages have? What initiatives are required to save these languages?
Abhay K. I think we need to make more translated literary works from various languages of Bihar available to the readers.
Once people read the translations, they also want to explore the original. We also need more anthologies of both prose and poetry of various languages in Bihar which can be a kind of repository of the literary works in the respective languages of Bihar.
Q6: In this anthology, Angika and Bajjika have one story each and I understand that the literary output of these languages are less vis-a-vis Maithili, Bhojpuri or Magahi. Do you see any specific reason for this trend?
Abhay K. It is because of the lack of good translations and the limitations in the number of pages a book can have. There is a need to put together a book of Angika Literature and Bajjika Literature. I am sure there are treasures out there in these languages which need to be anthologised.
Q7: You have translated almost one third of this book from different languages including Pali and Sanskrit. Which language do you find easy to translate and what was your process of translation? Since you are also a poet, I guess it must be easier for you to translate poems than prose?
Abhay K. Yes, that’s right. I did these translations because I felt the urge to translate them myself. Besides, no other translator was readily available to translate them then. I am comfortable with translating from a number of languages. The key is to be well versed in the destination language i.e. English. I feel it is easier to translate prose than poetry and poets are in general good translators!
Q8: I am sure that many well known writers and poets could not be included in this anthology because of various constraints. Are you planning a sequel in order to include those writers and poets who are not part of this collection?
Abhay K. I would love to do a sequel of The Book of Bihari Literature someday.
(Abdullah Khan is a Mumbai based novelist, screenwriter, literary critic and banker. His debut novel, Patna Blues, has been translated into ten languages. )
