Meghani’s ‘Vevishal’ translated into Russian and Mandarin

AHMEADBAD: Gujarati novelist and folk historian Jhaverchand Meghani’s novel ‘Vevishal’ is among the 10

Indian literary works

that got translated into Russian and Chinese (Mandarin) languages by the Sahitya Akademi. A press release by

Sahitya Akademi

announced the completion of translation work.

PM Narendra Modi had announced the translation at the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization) Summit in June 2019 at Bishkek. Venkaiah Naidu, the Vice-President of India, announced the completion of translation of ‘10 great titles of modern Indian literature’ on November 30. ‘It is bound to encourage wider interest among masses outside in ancient and rich Indian cultural heritage,’ the release quoted Naidu.

The titles also included one work each from Assamese, Bengali, Hindi, Kannada, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu.

Sources close to the development said that the translation is based on the English translation of the work, titled ‘The Promised Hand’ by Meghani’s son Ashok in 2002. Earlier, Vevishal was also translated in French. The novel, capturing the socio-economic dynamics of Saurashtra in the pre-Independence era of 20th century, was serialized in

Phoolchhab weekly

in 1938 where Meghani was the editor.

The language of the novel uses colloquial expressions of Saurashtra region, said experts. The year 2021 will mark 125th birth anniversary of the littérateur, who was given the sobriquet of ‘Rashtriya Shayar’ by Mahatma Gandhi.