Translating Tagore

The Sahitya Akademi, in July this year, advertised a literary translation competition in the leading newspapers of the country. The Akademi is celebrating the 50th year of publishing translations through its journals; hence the competition. Entries were invited - translations from Indian languages into English in the genres of poetry, short fiction and oral literature could compete for the following prizes:

• 3 first prizes, one each in Poetry, Fiction and Oral Literature, of Rs.10,000/-
• 3 second prizes, one each in Poetry, Fiction and Oral Literature, of Rs.7,500/-
• 3 third prizes, one each in Poetry, Fiction and Oral Literature, of Rs.5,000/-
• 5 consolation prizes in Poetry, Fiction and Oral Literature, each of Rs.2,500/-
• 50 consolation prizes, of a one-year subscription to the Akademi's bimonthly journal Indian Literature

My entry, Subha, a translation from Bengali into English of a short story of Rabindranath Tagore, won a prize in the last category.

I am thrilled to bits. My entry will actually get published in the Akademi's Indian Literature. Wow!