THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The visits of national leaders have exposed the scarcity of good translators. But Jyothi Vijayakumar, who translated Sonia Gandhi’s emotional speech in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday, has proved an exception. The 36-year old who is working in an IT company in Technopark in their corporate communications department was congratulated by Ms Gandhi herself saying she did better than her.
It was KPCC president V. M. Sudheeran who requested Ms Vijayakumar to translate Ms Gandhi's speech from English to Malayalam after he remembered her translation of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s speech in Chengannur, her hometown, during 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Before that, she had translated Mr Gandhi’s speech in Chengannur in 2011 too.
When a majority of the Malayalis shy away from their mother tongue, she fondly recollects that it was her Malayalam medium school training at St. Anne's Girls High School, Chengannur, which has always kept her in good stead when it comes to translating the speeches of national leaders. But since the last nine years, she has been working mostly in English.
“I was speechless when Soniaji congratulated me saying I did a better job than her. It is easy for leaders when they come with a prepared speech, but it was difficult for me as I didn’t get the printed copy. I have been watching the videos of Soniaji the last few days to get familiarised with her vocabulary,” said Ms Vijayakumar, who teaches sociology to IAS aspirants.
In fact, Jyothi had twice cleared the prelims of IAS exam but then realised later that civil service is not her cup of tea. A postgraduate in English literature, she was the first woman chairperson of Mar Ivanios College, Thiruvananthapuram, in 1999. She holds a PG diploma in journalism from Thiruvananthapuram Press Club and is also a law graduate.
She is married to R. Paari, an IT professional from Tamil Nadu, now based in Bengaluru. The couple has got a four-year-old son, Govardhan. She is the daughter of D. Vijayakumar, former Alappuzha DCC general secretary, and Radhika, a homemaker. Ms. Jyothi also occasionally anchors a Malayalam programme, Saamohya Padam on Doordarshan.
