TUESDAY, JULY 02, 2024
Damodar Mauzo is a noted writer whose literary world spans
from short stories, novellas, novels, children’s stories to film scripts. He is
recipient of the 57th Jnanpith Award, and will be awarded the award at a
ceremony at Raj Bhavan on May 27. Besides the nomination at the Valley of Words
award for his recent book, ‘The Wait’, his earlier book, ‘Teresa’s Man and
Other Stories from Goa’, was nominated for the Frank O’Connor International
Prize in 2015.
The Valley of Words (VoW) awards recognises English and
Hindi literature awarding fiction, non-fiction, books for young adults and
books for children. “This has been a great start to a wonderful week. I am
excited to receive the Jnanpith Award on May 27 right here in Goa and hearing
about the nomination added to that excitement. I was also honoured to be
nominated for the Frank O’Connor International Prize as it is also a very
prestigious award in the world of literature. It is also one of the richest prized
and many important writers are nominated for the award. Amitav Ghosh informed
me about the nomination then,” says Damodar Mauzo,
The book in Konkani, ‘Tishttvani’ was released in 2020 and
the English translation, ‘The Wait and other stories’ was published in 2022.
The English version has four added stories. “In Konkani, I generally don’t have
a problem with pages and I usually have books in 140 pages. I added four more
stories in the English book which include ‘The Coward’, ‘The Lover of Dreams’,
‘I was waiting for you’ and ‘I haven’t tied my shoelaces’. Over the years, I
have realised that the demand for translations in English has increased. When
the Konkani book was published by Katha Publications, Penguin Random House
India was quick to get onboard after my literary agent, Kanishka Gupta, pitched
the book,” informs Damodar.
Xavier Cota from Betalbatim has been seamlessly translating
literature from Konkani to English and has won the 2005 Katha Award for
Translation. His works have appeared in publications like the Week, Man's
World, Katha Prize Stories and Sahitya Akademi. Xavier Cota has translated ‘The
Wait and other stories’ in from Konkani to English “Xavier Cota is my friend
first then translator. I have known him right from the 1970s when he returned
to Goa after the liberation of Tanzania. He was working for Bank of India in
Vasco and would board the train from Majorda railway station. Since my shop was
very close to the station, he would leave his bike near the shop and we would
chat regularly. He had a mutual interest in literature and exchanged books. He
is a voracious reader and has a very good taste in literature. He was not
fluent in Devnagri Konkani but his mother was a proud Konkani speaker. I forced
him to try his hand at translation and he has till date translated my four
books, ‘These are My Children’, ‘Teresa’s Man and Other Stories from Goa’, and
‘Tsunami Simon’,” says Damodar.
He further adds, “Xavier is very meticulous with his work
and since we live close, we are always discussing the book as it gets
translated. We have our arguments but I like a translator who questions the
writer. He understands the characters and the nuances written in the story.”
Speaking about his books being translated into English, Damodar says, “I feel
that English is a bridge language. It helps writers reach out to a wider
audience and it makes it easier for books to be translated from English in
other Indian languages.”
One of the key locations that Damodar used for observing
people to create his characters, was his general stores in Majorda. However, he
shut the store around ten years back when he decided to concentrate on his
writing. “I wanted to focus more on my literature and I feel there is a
noticeable change in my writing style. Many readers who have been following my
books will be able to see the writing has improved over this period. I have
been travelling to many countries in these past years and that has helped me
observe people and form various characters. Even in the village, I am mostly
out of the house, meeting and interacting with people,” says Damodar.
His most recent short story collection which is titled, ‘Jiv
Dium kai Chea Marum (Should I Kill Myself or Have a Cup of Tea)’ has been
translated into Kannada and Hindi and will be translated into English by Jerry
Pinto, a noted author and the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2016 for his novel, ‘Em
and the Big Hoom’. For now, Damodar is having a very pleasant week, filled with
the love and appreciation he is receiving for his literary wonders.
