‘A first-of-its-kind compilation’ : Mahisagar prof releases book on Hindi translations of Gujarati Dalit poems

Perhaps a first-of-its-kind compilation in Hindi, the book, titled ‘Gujarati Dalit Kavita’, carries seven selected poems from each of the 13 poets, including Babaldas Chavda and Jayesh Jiviben Solanki—one of the youngest Dalit Gujarati poets—who died in 2020. Other Gujarati Dalit poets whose poems have been translated include Kisan Sosa, Dalpat Chauhan, B N Vankar, Madhukant Kalpit, Arvind Vegda, Nirav Patel, Pravin Gadhvi, Harish Mangalam, Pathik Parmar, Sahil Parmar and Nilesh Kathad.

The book also carries the introduction of each of the 13 poets whose poems have been selected and translated.

Gautam said she came to know about Gujarati Dalit poetry from close quarters while doing translation of some Gujarati poems commissioned by a magazine on world poetry. “I knew Nirav Patel well. So I called for his poems for the translation. And during that time, I realised that all of Niravbhai’s poems were full of Dalit Chetana.

It stunned me… I knew about Marathi Dalit poetry, but not much of Gujarati Dalit poetry. So, I thought that I should read more Gujarati Dalit poems. Accordingly, I started reading and translating Gujarati Dalit poems into Hindi… Eventually, I decided that I should do the work in totality. And then started the work on this book,” Gautam said.

According to her, all the poems selected in the compilation are free-verse poems. She said she could do more justice in translating free-verse poems into Hindi than to geet or ghazals. “Maybe, I will try translating geet or ghazals (by Gujarati Dalit poets) in the future,” she added.

Noted Gujarati Dalit poet Raju Solanki said, “This compilation of Gujarati Dalit poems’ Hindi translation is a welcome development. Most probably it is the first such work. It will increase the reach of Gujarati Dalit poetry at national level. Gujarati Dalit poetry is rich and powerful in content as Marathi Dalit poetry. However, owing to the lack of its translation into Hindi language, it has not got its due recognition.”