WHAT I LEARNT IN DILLI

An Iranian researcher travels to India for tourism; the experience changes her worldview and triggers her new career as author and translator

- Sougand Akbarian

A small event can change someone’s life forever. My life also changed, it has got a new and special colour, after my first visit to India and especially New Delhi (which I prefer to call by its old Hindi-Urdu-Punjabi name Dilli, dil ka sheher, city of heart).

Just one trip changed everything for me: my life, my career and my perspective towards life.

I lost my heart to my dilruba (beloved) Dilli in the very first trip, and decided to write a travelogue in English based on my travels. The book, which is called SouganDilli, was a bestseller in my country Iran. Thereafter, as an interpreter, researcher, author and scholar in translation studies, my work has taken me often to India as I now translate Indian literature to Farsi.

When destiny decides to surprise you, no one can stop it. And my first trip to India was an unforgettable surprise to me, just days before Holi festival in India and Nouruz, Iranian New Year, in Iran. I still hold those memories close to my heart.