In Muzhappilangad village in Kannur district, Muhammed Shafi alias Shafi Cherumavilay is a mason helper. Like every other helper, he rides to Shafi rides to construction sites to carry bricks and cement mortar. But apart from this cement, bricks, there is whole different world for Muhammed Shafi.
In Muzhappilangad village in Kannur district, Muhammed Shafi alias Shafi Cherumavilay is a mason helper. Like every other helper, he rides to Shafi rides to construction sites to carry bricks and cement mortar. But apart from this cement, bricks, there is whole different world for Muhammed Shafi.
This school dropout is a unsung translator, who has translated several Tamil novels and stories into Malayalam. Till date, he has translated 11 novels, four story collections and essays from Tamil to Malayalam in the last 10 years.
Publishers often knock at the door of his three-roomed house, situated on four cents of land in Muzhappilangad, seeking Shafi’s Malayalam rendition for Tamil literary works. Sahfi was a avid reader from his school days and was a contributor for children’s pages of Malayalam publications. He failed his class 10th exam and his education was stopped.
At the age of 16, Shafi boarded a train to Pune where he worked at a shop for two years. Then he returned home. After two years, he moved to Bangalore to work at a small tea stall, owned by a distant relative.
Shafi recalls as quoted by The Indian Express, “Tamil workers used to turn up for tea and snacks. I slowly learned a bit of Tamil.”
While working on the tea stall, Shafi started reading started reading Tamil publications brought to the stall by workers. “At night, I would read them, especially ones on films. I developed an interest in translating a Tamil story, which was originally from Russian, to Malayalam. The translated story was dispatched to CPI’s Malayalam daily Janayugam, which published it in 1985. That gave me confidence", Shafi said as quoted by The Indian Express.
It was year 2008, when Shafi translated Tamil writer Thoppil Mohammed Meeran's work and there was no looking back for him. Shafi takes around four months to translate a work. Early morning, he goes to the construction site. After toiling till 3 pm, he rides back home on his two-wheeler.
As his translation work doesn't provide him enough money to feed family iof six, he work as a mason's helper at the construction work. “That will not help me run a family comprising wife, three children and a daughter-in-law. My daily toil at the construction site is my bread. I get Rs 750 a day. Hence, I work six days a week", said while talking to The Indian Express.
Last year, Shafi translated Perumal Murugan's Ardhanaari to Malayalam, which was brought out by Chintha Publications. He is now engaged in translating M V Venkitram's Kathukal.
(Inputs from The Indian Express)
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