Guv pitches for translation of Manipuri literary works into English
Source: The Sangai Express / DIPR

Imphal, November 18 2021: Governor La Ganesan today conferred the 12th Manipur State Award for Literature to Beryl Thanga, a 65 year old writer, for his book 'Ei Amadi Adungeigi Ithat' a novel published in the year 2015 at Jawaharlal Nehru Manipur Dance Academy, Imphal.

The awardee was selected for the year 2020 by a board of eminent persons set up by the Government.

Speaking at the ceremony as chief guest, Governor La Ganesan congratulated the awardee Beryl Thanga for his book entitled "Ei Amadi Adungeigi Ithat" (I and the then island) .

He also conveyed his deep appreciation to the Directorate of Language Planning & Implementation, Manipur for the initiative taken up to recognize outstanding writers for their contribution towards enrichment of Manipuri literature and hope that this initiative will encourage creative writers.

The Governor stated that Manipuri language, one of the 22 scheduled languages under the Constitution of India, with its own script is regarded as the most advanced of the Tibeto- Burmese languages spoken in India.

Guv pitches for translation of Manipuri literary works into English

Though some scholars contested the classification of Manipuri language as Tibeto-Burmese, most accepted the classification made in the Linguistic Survey of India conducted under the leadership of George Abraham Grierson of the ICS from 1894 to 1928 .

Incidentally, the LSI describes 364 languages and dialects, while the 1991 Census recorded 1576 mother tongues with separate grammatical structures, he added.

The Governor further stated that in the fast changing global environment, with English becoming the international language, languages with lesser number of speakers are being wiped out and languages with more speakers are pushing out the smaller ones.

It has been assessed that one language or dialect is beco- ming extinct every two weeks in the world.

Hence, for a language with limited number of people speaking it, Manipuri and its sister dialects face tremendous challenges for its survival for posterity.

So, the richness of Indian literature is mainly contributed by the works in the different Indian languages, many of which await translation to either English or other languages.

Hence, this richness is left unknown to those who do not know the particular native language.

This is true for Manipuri literature also as during the last few decades, Manipuri literature has grown tremendously, with books on different genres available.

However, this is almost unknown to the outside world, he urged.

While appreciating the department for its initiative in recognizing outstanding creative talents, the Governor also said that he would venture to request that efforts need to be made for translating Manipuri works into English and other languages which will enhance the popularity of the work and he believed that, if this is done, many creative writers will become household names in both inside and outside India.

This will also help in getting publishers for creative writers who ultimately publish their own work as there is a serious dearth of publishers.

The Governor advised the audience that awareness on Manipuri literature is very small, specially with the influence of TV which has taken the younger generation away from reading.

"Even though our creative writers are second to none, the number of creative writers who have got Padma Awards in literature and education from Manipur is still very less.

This is mainly due to the fact that the richness of Manipuri literature is largely unknown to the outside world, though every year there is a Sahitya Akademi Award", La Ganesan said.

He said that conferring the Manipur State Award for Literature will no doubt encourage creative writers but more needs to be done and he wished that more support and patronage will come from the State Government as the State can provide the needed patronage in a systematic manner for the growth of any language.

Mention may be made that this award is sponsored by the Government of Manipur from 2008-09 to honour Manipuri writers in recognition of their contributions to Manipuri Literature.

The award is given every year to the author of the most outstanding book, first published during the last five years immediately preceding the year of the award.

At present, the award includes a plaque, a citation, cash component of Rs 3,00,000 and a shawl.

The Manipur State Award for Literature is the highest official recognition for Manipur literature in the State.

The award presentation ceremony was also attended by Chief Minister N Biren Singh as functional president and Minister (Education, Fisheries & CADA) S Rajen Singh as guest of honour respectively.

The award presentation ceremony was organized by the Directorate of Language Planning and Implementation, Manipur.