A WISH UNFULFILLED
It was scintillating early April morning, sunny and breezy. I, in a buoyant mood was paying for my favorite yogurt at the counter of the mother dairy booth of my local market. My cell phone rang displaying an unknown number. My hello was replied by calm, determined & direct voice “Is that Amrita Bera?” Before my “yes” could slip out completely from my mouth, I heard “This is Prof. P. Lal from Writers Workshop, Kolkata. I have gone through your manuscript and I am ready to publish it on the terms………….” Awestruck, I could mumble just a few words and before my “Thank you sir” reached the other end, the line snapped.
Vaguely seeing the attractive, handloom cloth bound cover page of a slim poetry book of some unknown poet at one of my friend’s place, I was given a suggestion to try along with other publishers, Writers Workshop, Kolkata to get my first ever work of translations of poems and Ghazals from hindi to English, published. My translations of poems and ghazals were not of any legendary, past era poets, but of my own friend who is steadily making mark in the hindi literary arena and is relatively well known poet and writer of U.P and the Northern belt of India, especially Delhi, where he lives.
Interactions began through e-mails and by the time I sent my manuscript to Prof. Lal, realizing the stature and the kind of respect he owns in India and world-wide as a scholar, professor, publisher, poet, writer and transcreator, I was certain that my work would not see the day of light, atleast from Writers Workshop.
Born on 28th August, 1929, Professor Purushottam Lal, called “Profsky” by his friends was known as ‘The Bhishm Pitamah of publishing Indian writing in English’ and also mentioned as ‘The cornerstone of Indian writing in English’. Writers Workshop was founded in 1958 and over the years Prof. Lal published innumerable poets and writers, who became big names and celebrities be it Vikram Seth, Agha Shahid Ali, Keki N.Daruwala, A.K.Ramanujan, Chitra Bannerjee Devakurni, Ruskin Bond, Jayant Mahapatra, Nissim Ezekiel or Kamala Das to name a few.
P. Lal was professor of English in the prestigious St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata for over 35 years. He was also special Professor of Indian Studies at Hofstra University, New York and as distinguished visiting Professor and Consultant he visited Great Britain, USA & Australia at various colleges, like the Albion College, Ohio University, Hartwick College, Berea College and Western Maryland College.
He completed the mammoth work of transcreating, (Prof Lal chose to use the word ‘transcreation’ and not ‘translation) 18 volumes or ‘parvas’ of the epic Mahabharata by Vyasa in English, which is longer than collected works of Shakespeare or both Iliad & Odyssey, consisting 100,000 slokas. Prof. Lal used to say that, “perhaps the most famous sloka of the epic, the most quoted is the one that says, “What is in this epic on Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha may be elsewhere. What is not in this epic is nowhere else” (1.62.67).” He also transcribed the Brihadarankya and Mahanarayana Upnishads.
It was in October 1999, near the turn of the millennium, that Prof. P.Lal, D.Litt, Padma Shri and Nehru Fellow, began to read his transcreation to a live audience. The Sunday one hour morning session was devoted to a sloka-by-sloka reading by him at the Sanskriti Sagar Library in Kolkata, of his complete English transcreation of the Mahabharata.
Writers Workshop is a non-profit and non-political publishing house which survived only due to tremendous efforts and personal fund of one man with the vision to give platform to serious creative writing and writers who are sympathetic to the ideals and principles commonly accepted as embodied in creative writing and not impressed by desire for quick fame and money.
Over 51 years (1958-2009), Writers Workshop has published close to 3500 works and that too without any office, modern publishing infrastructure and even a secretary. It operated from his residence 162/92, Lake Gardens, Kolkata-700 045, from the living- room and a multi-purpose bedroom. Prof. Lal used to do the herculean task of proof reading, correcting, editing and publishing, all by himself. At the initial stage of setting up of printing press, his neighbor P.K.Aditya moved out his car from his garage and installed a hand-operated printing machine that cost him all of Rs.6000/-. Then there was Tulamiah Mohiuddin, who meticulously for years (now done by his sons) did the binding of each book with handloom cloth with borders taken from Orissa saris. Each book is gold-embossed, hand stitched, hand pasted and hand bound. Tulamiah Mohiuddin has even received the President’s award for binding. The hallmark of WW and Prof. Lal is the calligraphy. The layout & lettering of each book was done with a sheaffer calligraphy pen by him. There is a particular incident as narrated by Pritish Nandy (a poet, painter, journalist, politician, television personality, animal activist and film producer) “Prof Lal was inconsolable when the nib of his pen broke after decades of use. That particular model was no longer available in stores. He wrote a letter to Sheaffer, wondering whether they could help him locate a nib. They sent him a new pen, with a similar nib specially made for his use. I will never forget the childlike delight with which he told me the story, showing off the pen as a priceless trophy.” His different colored bird logo for different genres of writing is also exclusive. So the end product of Prof. Lal is always distinctive, ethnic and unique. There is no distribution network except for a kiosk “Book Nook”, a retail outlet at his residence, where all his products are available.
The book “LIGHT THROUGH A LABYRINTH”, poetry of Vivek Mishra, transcreated from hindi to English by me, saw the light of the day in November, 2009.
After the first very short telephonic conversation with Prof. Lal, I did not happen to talk to him anymore and all communications were through e-mails only. Prof. Lal’s sweet granddaughter Ms. Shuktara always reciprocated by sending informations, instructions promptly. I expressed my desire to her to meet Prof Lal, as I planned to go to Kolkata, in the beginning of the year, 2010. I never had an inkling that the Prof. was unwell and going through transfusions. After my manuscript got accepted and already knowing the greatness of the man I was now associated with, I had an intense longing to personally meet him, hear him, thank him and pay my regards in person. I am myself born in Kolkata, though shifted to Delhi at an early age; I visited the city almost every year. My wish to meet him was gaining in strength, each day, but my schedule to go to Kolkata kept getting delayed.
Do all wishes get fulfilled in a lifetime? Certainly, NOT. When I heard the dreadful news of his demise on 3rd Nov, 2010, I could not react for a few minutes. A sense of loss of not having met him numbed my heart, so much so, that I could not bring myself to send my condolences to the bereaved family, in time.
I ponder; do people like Prof. Lal ever fade away from hearts, minds, society, country or history? No they cannot. Such people become immortal through their exemplary life and work, their greatness, their dedication and the indelible mark they leave in the history of time. He will always be there through his writings, books, works and the difference he brought in the lives of those who wrote from their hearts and aspired to make a little space for themselves in the world of literature.
After many sulky days and rumination, I observed what I had overlooked - that I had been so fortunate that my book was published from WW which in itself is an endorsement that I need not to be apprehensive about the quality and standard of the work (the original substance of the poetry, as well as the translations) and that - my very first work with just the name of WW placed me in the best of literary circle and amongst the distinguished writers. My heartfelt thanks to Vivek Mishra, whose meaningful, sensitive poetry and ghazals gave me an opportunity to bring out my best in the translations.
I feel the best way to pay tributes to this great man is by knowing him more through his works and treasuring them as many one can. Prof. Lal’s own writings and works of other writers published through WW are available on his website www.writersworkshopindia.com
amrita bera
amrujha@gmail.com
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