What is the connection between Goa and Bengal prior to Goa’s Liberation? It was the intellectual Member of Parliament, Tridib Choudhury who had written about his Nineteen Months in Salazar’s Prison in Bengali, which described his struggles in the jail. After the release of the original Bengali book in 1960, and the subsequent releases in English an Hindi in 2021, now ‘Salazarache Bandkhannit Ekunnis Mhoine” (Nineteen Months in Salazar’s Prison), a Konkani translation of the book, will be released today, October 12 at Black Box of Ravindra Bhavan Margao, at 4.30 pm, on the occasion of 56th Death Anniversary of Dr Rammanohar Lohia. The Konkani version is translated by Goa’s eminent sociologist and educationist Dr Narayan Desai, and published by Dr Rammanohar Lohia Research Foundation of New Delhi.
A Sahitya Akademi Translation award winner, Dr Narayan has translated books from Marathi, English and Hindi to Konkani, yet this is the first Bengali book that he has translated. “I started work on the book in 2021 and then I got Covid in the third phase and then the work got delayed but now it’s ready for release in 2023. Dr Rammanohar Lohia Research Foundation approached me because they have already got the book translated into English and Hindi in 2021. It was released at a conference by the foundation in Mapusa. That time, they proposed that it should also be translated to Konkani,” says Dr Narayan. Abhishek Ranjan Singh, chairman of Dr Rammanohar Lohia Research Foundation and a veteran journalist took the initiative to translate this 63-year-old book into English, Hindi and now into Konkani.
Speaking about the author and his life, Dr Narayan says, “Tridib Choudhury was here in Goa from July 10, 1955 to February 2, 1957, so 19 months he was in prison, under arrest, in police custody and then prison. The book came in Bengali and initially it got published as column. It was serialised as a weekly column called ‘Desh’ in 1958 and in 1960, it was published in a book. He was released from the prison in February 1957. We got liberated in December 1961 but we didn’t have a connection with those people and even the government. He was a member of the parliament and that time, still nobody noticed the book. In Bengali, it also came as a second edition and later the foundation, found the connection with Goa and looked at the book and said it must be translated.”
He further adds, “The Bengalis who are here for the last 40-50 years, hardly anybody knew about the book and they were surprised. This gentleman was a member of the first Lok Sabha and till his death, he was a member of parliament of which the last two terms he was a member of the Rajya Sabha. From 1952 to 1957, he was in Lok Sabha and from 1987 to 1997, he was in Rajya Sabha. He passed away in 1997 as a member of parliament in Bengal.”
The 404-page book was written and published in Bengali by Tridib Choudhury, a seven-time Marxist MP from West Bengal. He had led one of the Satyagrahas in July 1955 and had entered from Bhironda village of Sattari taluka. He was the only MP of the Indian Parliament, who was arrested and imprisoned for 12 long years by the Portuguese colonialists. A Konkani preface to this book is written by Sandesh Prabhudesai, a Goan journalist and son of freedom fighter parents.
“He was a well-read man and has written other books also on politics. This particular book because it was a column, he has written as memoirs in a very nice lucid language. It focuses on food, football, leisurely life and all that that the readers can relate to it. He has really answered so many myths people have about Goa. For example, overall impression is that Goa is a Christian state, he has given statistics that this is how it is. Secondly, that Christians always sided with the Portuguese, that myth he has explored. He has explained it in such detail. Thirdly, the argument that Goa’s Liberation was played by Jawaharlal Nehru. He has painted the international scenario, the diplomatic relations of NATO and Portugal and how Nehru tried to get Goa liberated. We feel that there are so many unanswered questions and also manifested questions that’s why it is very important that this book is come at such a time. For Goans, it is somebody who didn’t travel much in Goa but sitting in prison, he could relate to Goa and the Portuguese. He has a section on Salazar and as a ruler, he was bad, his policies were bad but Portuguese people were not bad, they were nice as he describes in the book. He has written about Portuguese culture and society,” he explains.
He has mentioned many Goans who were with him in jail. “He has mentioned about the leaders as well as common man. A petty trader was mistaken and arrested as a political leader. One poor beggar in Assonora market was arrested mistakenly and the way he was tortured, he became half mad. He has narrated so many stories. The whole narrative was so captivating and I enjoyed it while translating. I am sure that Konkani readers will relate more to it to see how the whole picture is created.”
Earlier Dr Narayan translated ‘Rajwade Lekhsangraha’, the history, socio-culture, literature by historiographer Vishwanath K Rajwade. He translated it from Marathi to Konkani for Sahitya Akademi and also received the Sahitya Akademi Translation Award 2018. “Many people thought, what is the necessity to translate a book from Marathi to Konkani but it was a challenge in the sense, it was all about literary criticism, culture but when it comes to translation and you want to make it Konkani, then it was a challenge and I enjoyed it,” he says.
He has also translated a book for National Book Trust, New Delhi, ‘Your Food and You’, which was about food and diet and it was translated from English to Konkani, almost 28 years back. He has also translated songs of Rabindranath Tagore to poems which are in the form of video album, ‘Rabin Rang’ and it was released by the Bengali Cultural Association, Panjim, two years ago. For All India Radio, he used to translate from Hindi as well as English, because their national plays, cultural programmes had to be translated for the listeners.
Today, the function will be chaired by K C Tyagi, a 73-year-old Socialist leader of India, a staunch Lohiaite and a two-time MP from Bihar. Prof Anand Mense, a retired principal, writer and Marxist ideologue from Belgavi, would be the chief guest. He has written 12 books, including one documenting the contribution of the Communist movement to Goa’s liberation struggle. His father Krishna Mense had played a leading role in Goa’s liberation. Dr Suhsila Mendes, a history researcher, columnist and daughter of a freedom fighter Adv Louis Mendes, will speak on the book. Dr Narayan Desai will also share his experience of translating the Bengali book into Konkani.
The book will be available for readers in English, Hindi and Konkani, online on Amazon, Varsha Book Store, Panjim and Confidant Book Store, Margao.