Translation Tally

Nulkar shares that the translation industry has witnessed many changes in the past year. A primary change,he points out,is the shift of focus from foreign languages to local Indian languages. “The meaning of the word ‘local’ has changed. Now it does not only mean a particular city or an area but has broadened its boundaries to engulf the entire country. When a company wants to do local business,they want to make their presence felt throughout India,not just in one city or state. So they need their websites to be translated in a number of different Indian languages to reach out to more people,” says Nulkar. He points out that the nine most sought after Indian languages are

Gujarati,Bengali,Hindi,Marathi,Punjabi,Tamil,Telugu,Malayalam and Kannada.

Another addition to translation services includes an advanced technical process. Nulkar explains that when a company’s website is translated into different languages,it might require some changes in the design,which is now being taken into consideration by the translation team. “For example,we need to translate two buttons — ‘Okay’ and ‘Cancel’. In a situation where after being translated into the desired language,the word that represents ‘cancel’ exceeds six characters and does not fit into the button box,we have to redesign the button box and increase the size to accommodate the new word. Also,while redesigning the button,one must also consider the web page in entirety and make the design elements fit accordingly,” says Nulkar,who is part of a committee that felicitates literary translators annually.

He shares that apart from the translation services required by international companies,there is a large demand for literary translation of self-help books and best-sellers in both fiction and non-fiction genres.

Translating for a year now,Mehta says she realises the importance of her job. “When I translate marketing,auditing and various other documents for multinational companies,I feel that I am doing a very important job. I am aware that even the slightest mistake can have dire consequences,” says Mehta,who successfully completed seven levels of studying German language from Max Muller Bhavan before joining a translation company in

the city.

Despite a high demand for translated work,Nulkar points out that literary translation does not pay adequately. “A 200-page book would take you almost two months to translate. Going by the average pay rate,you would be given about Rs 150 rupees per page,which means that you make approximately Rs 30,000 in two months,a sum that would not be comfortable for anyone who has to run a home and a family,” he shares.