Mumbai, Mar 1 (PTI) Jnanpith awardee Damodar Mauzo on Friday said translations help languages grow, and they are particularly important in a country like India which has a plethora of languages.
Writers should become “fighters” using their pens, he said, delivering the keynote address after inaugurating `Gateway Litfest 2024′ here.
“Writers need to become fighters. We don’t need guns and swords to fight our battles. We have our most important tool, pen. We must put it to use,” the veteran writer said.
“Whatever reputation I have earned today is because I am widely translated, and have a pan-India reach. Translations help languages grow,” Mauzo said.
Translations build bridges that help writings reach readership beyond linguistic barriers, and serve regional literatures as “arteries that carry blood to the vital organs of the mainstream literature,” he said.
A country with a plethora of languages and diverse cultures needs translators, Mauzo added.
Mauzo, who writes in Konkani, was awarded the 57th Jnanpith Award, India’s highest literary honour, in 2022. PTI MR KRK
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