The Soul of Gulzar, the Craft of Rakshanda Jalil

In the delicate art of translation, few challenges compare to capturing the essence of a poet as iconic as Gulzar.

-  Pria Raiyani and Swapna Peri

For Rakshanda Jalil, the journey was one of profound collaboration, where every word, pause, and metaphor was carefully molded to preserve the soul of Gulzar’s verses. With a steadfast commitment to bridging linguistic and cultural divides, Jalil’s translation work offers readers a rare glimpse into the heart of Urdu poetry through the lens of English. Together, they embarked on a poetic journey that transcended language, making each line a bridge between worlds.

Reading about you and your literary journey is indeed fascinating and inspiring. What was your experience working with Gulzar Saab like? How closely did you collaborate? Was the process highly collaborative? Were there any surprising, joyful, or challenging moments during your collaboration?

It was a very close collaboration. In fact, I have translated many people before but I have never found any other writer so invested in the act of translation. Let me share exactly how we have worked from our respective homes in Mumbai and Delhi. I would complete work on the poems in one book and email it to him. He, in turn, would do a very close careful reading, marking suggestions, comments, and feedback on each page. Once done, we would begin the process of going over each translation, line by line, word by word. For two hours every day, usually from 3-5 pm on weekdays, we would work on Facetime. Occasionally, when the connection was poor, we would switch to WhatsApp video. Every day, Gulzar Sahab would be waiting, punctual to the dot, ready with his Urdu originals and my English translations open beside him. And this is how every single poem from the six books contained in this collected works was worked upon, face to face, line by line, word for word!

What challenges did you face, if any, while translating from Urdu and Hindi into English right from your first book till today?