A Discussion on Manoranjan Bapari’s “Chandal Jibon” – A Life in Other Tongues

About the Event
This event centres around a set of readings and discussion on Manoranjan Bapari’s autobiographical fiction trilogy Chandal Jibon.In every way, Manoranjan Bapari’s life is the archetype of an outsider. He was an East Bengali refugee, a Naxalite, a communist, and always extremely poor. But above all, he is a Dalit, something that defined his life from the day he was born. When he took to writing, he ended up storming the Bengali cultural scene. In a caste agnostic society, Bapari’s writing came as a shrapnel reminder that however one might one to see it neutralised in everyday life, caste touches and singes as many lives and aspirations in Bengal as it does anywhere in India.
For this discussion, we are delighted to have two eminent translators, V Ramaswamy and Amrita Bera, who have published the first two parts of Bapari’s trilogy into English and Hindi respectively. The first two volumes of both translations have been widely appreciated. The third one in both languages, to be published this year, is eagerly awaited.

About the Speakers
V Ramaswamy has translated into English, almost without exception, some of the most underappreciated work in Bengali literature. His early fame rested on having brought the unapologetically avant-garde Subimal Mishra to the English tongue; which was followed, somewhat naturally, by Shahidul Zahir, Adhir Biwas, Shahaduz Zaman, and Manoranjan Bapari. He has held residencies at Sangam House, University of Liberal Arts, Dhaka, and Ledig House, New York among others; and has been awarded a Charles Wallace Fellowship, The PEN Presents Award from PEN, UK, and the New India Foundation Translation Fellowship. He lives in Kolkata.
Amrita Bera’s world of translation involves three languages – Hindi, English, and Bengali, across which she has published nine volumes of translations. She has also been translating, for over a decade, Taslima Nasreen’s column to Hindi for Hans, the preeminent Hindi literary magazine. Her Hindi translation of the acclaimed Bengali novel Dozakhnama was adjudged the best Hindi translation of 2015, and won her the Kamala Goenka Foundation Award. The Hindi translation of the first part of Bapari’s novel has fetched her the Valley of Words – Shabdawali award in 2023. Amrita lives in Delhi.