Hardly any buyers of poetry in India today, says poet Mani Rao

She left her media job to pursue poetry. She has written eight poetry books and even translated the Bhagavad Gita. Pursuing her Ph.D in Religious Studies, Indian poet Mani Rao just saw the release of the new version of her Bhagavad Gita. Speaking to dna, the poet throws light on her experience in translating the Bhagavad Gita, poetry in India and more. 

Were you conscious of the fact that ‘Kalidasa for the 21st century Reader’ had to connect to your modern-day reader during your translation?

That title seems a little too strategic, but really it is a way of telling people that Kalidasa is relevant now too. Also, it is Kalidasa who does all the connecting, his poetry is evocative, and his dramas give insight into human situations, so the reader can relate to his works. I just had to make sure not to get in the way between him and the reader, remember not to use irrelevantly bombastic, convoluted and formal language.

When translating the Bhagavad Gita, one of the most sacred Hindu texts, what did you have to keep in mind?

Before translating a verse or a section, I tried to feel the lines words syllables, let it all sink in—their sound and play—and let the connotations as well as questions rise in my mind. First, I was Arjuna, then I was Krishna talking to Arjuna. My main motivation was that I wanted to be there.

When translating from Sanskrit, what are some of the difficulties dangers?

It is easier to translate Sanskrit into Indian languages. With English, one translates into another conceptual world, terms are especially tricky. I am never satisfied. In English, the rhythms are different. Short, pretty lines of Sanskrit can become gawky monsters in English. The biggest danger, I believe, is when people translate Sanskrit literature just because they know Sanskrit. To translate literature from the source language, the translator must have literary flair in the target language, otherwise you ruin the art.

 What inspires your poetry?

That this world is a vast, amazing poem. That I am holding a mirror to the divine, of herself, this world.

What do you think about the poetry scene in India today?

Good poets seem dissatisfied, there are not enough publishers and hardly any buyers of poetry. At the same time, there are too many venues where average writing circulates under the name of poetry. There is not enough study of the form. Poetry is a slow art— like wine, it cannot be aired before it matures. Every time someone asks me for a ‘new, unpublished poem’ I feel frustrated. Everything has become too fast. I don’t have a new poem. Read my old poems first.

Describe yourself in five words.

The voicccce in the noisxxxe.

One line from the Bhagavad Gita that is symbolic for you.

Verse 65 in chapter 18 is stunning for me. Krishna says to Arjuna: You’ll come to me, I promise, truly, you are my love (mAm evaiSyasi satyam te pratijAne priyo asi me). What a wild reassurance from the divine to all of us in Arjuna's shoes.