Written by: Express News Service
2 min readVadodaraMay 3, 2010 02:35 AM IST
First published on: May 3, 2010 at 02:35 AM IST
Gandhian scholar Tridip Suhrud has translated book on Harilal Gandhi into English
Noted Gandhian scholar,Professor Tridip Suhrud,who was recently awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award for his English translation of the book Harilal Gandhi: A Life,was felicitated by the Bhasha Research and Publication Centre on Sunday. The book was originally written by Chandulal Bhagubhai Dalal in Gujarati.
The book has been translated into 15 Indian languages and has been critically acclaimed. “It is only when you listen to a language you don’t understand that you realise the need for translation. That is the reason we had people who spoke about the book in their own mother tongue,” said linguist Ganesh Devy.
About the complex relationship between Mahatma Gandhi and his son Harilal,Suhrud said: “Dalal’s work was a masterpiece,but it wasn’t marketed well so much so that it was completely unknown to the Gujaratis. There was also a need to bring out this aspect,as Gandhi’s life is incomplete without talking about his relationship with Harilal and other children.”
He added: “Even today,we see Gandhi as a contemporary figure as his teachings are still relevant. But we forget that he was a father too. Father-son relationship was much different than what it is today.”
The felicitation programme also coincided with Harilal’s wedding anniversary. One of the speakers,N R Dash,spoke in Oriya: “Harilal Gandhi’s relationship with his father has
always been seen with a biased eye and this book is a much needed clarification. The chapters not just show a relationship between an ordinary father and a son but also the relationship between the Father of the Nation and his son.”
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