Ranjana Shrivastav Translating from Hindi to English, and English to Hindi
Ranjana (Sinha) Srivastav prefers to be called Rini. Born in Faizabad (UP, India) in 1952, Rini went to school in Meerut and then shifted to Delhi, where she did graduation in English and masters degree in Hindi from Delhi University. This unusual combination of her studies has led to her involvement in translation of works of Indian writers from Hindi to English (and from English to Hindi). She also teaches the deeper nuances of translation to graduate students at Miranda House in Delhi University. Translation is a passion with her.
"Translation is as creative as original writing. It is similar to acting. An actor uses body and expressions to present the work of someone else, in translation, you express the works of others in words," Rini says, "Some people are born translators, you need to have the aptitude for it but training does help."
It was not a conscious decision for Rini to take up translation as a work. From her school age, she was fascinated by translation and thought it can be interesting. Her career in translation started in 1993, when she translated Lidia Evelove's book "Chekhov in my life" from English to Hindi and it was serialized in the Hindi literary magazine, Hans.
This was followed by translation of many short stories from English to Hindi for publication in Hans. She also did translation for Hindi service of a German news programme.
In 1996, she started translation from Hindi to English by translating a book of short stories by Pratibha Ray. She also worked for the magazine Hindi published by the Mahatma Gandhi International Hindi University, at that time edited by Ashok Bajpai, which publishes only original works in Hindi translated into English.
One of the most significant works that she has translated is the novel "Tatsam" written by Raji Seth, and it took her almost two years to complete. Her most recent published work is the Hindi translation of a book on the French writer Balzac by Stephan Swaig (2023).
About her teaching Rini says, "There are many opportunities of work for translators, with Government agencies, with commercial companies, for television, for literature, etc."
Rini has also translated the novel "Kuch Zindagiyan Bematlab" (Some Meaningless Lives) by Om Prakash Deepak, available on this same website for downloads in different versions.