If China conquered the world with its industry, then India has invaded it with culture. These are the two largest countries in terms of population and growth. China’s population exceeds 1.4 billion, representing 18 per cent of the world’s population, while India’s 1.3 billion people comprise 17 per cent of the global populace.
There is no place on Earth that does not have something that originates from either of these countries, whether it is their people, a product, dish or dance.
Before dazzling the world with its information technology (IT) skills, India made its presence felt on the global scene with its cinema. After all, Bollywood was the only entity that went head-to-head with Hollywood in terms of investments, size and fame. While Hollywood glorified white people and forged the legend of ‘invincible American heroes’, as well as the fantasy and horror genres, Bollywood focused on the beauty of nature, the sweetness of music and the personality of handsome protagonists who symbolise goodness, or are usually one of the oppressed and end up being the hero.
Love, goodness and peace always prevail in Bollywood films. India succeeded and amazed the world with its cinema, and through it, the world was introduced to its religions, music, stunning nature, as well as its poverty, sorrows and the dreams of its people. However, this success, investment and dissemination did not succeed in other fields that are not less important than world domination and cinema.
There is, of course, a world of literature, culture, sciences, civilisations, and innovations. The reach of Indian books never matched that of its cinema. This is where translation comes in.
According to Unesco statistics in 2013, 440,000 books were published in China — the highest in the world, while India was placed sixth with 90,000 books. Around 26 per cent of those books were written in Hindi, while 24 per cent of them were in English. The rest were in other Indian languages.
Aside from those published in English, there are plenty of well-known Indian books in science, technology and other fields that have been translated into English. But what about other languages, such as Arabic?
There is a long and rich history between India and the Arabs, which has influenced both sides. Let me recount just one of those minor influences that applies to the Arabian Gulf. In the 1940s, before the publishing industry took roots in the region, there was a printing boom of Arabic publications in India. An example is the book titled Pearls, which was printed in Mumbai in 1928, by Saeed Bin Mohammad Al Midfa.
How many Indian books on culture, thought, art, science and music have been translated into Arabic? Dozens, if not hundreds. The most popular and important translation project in the modern era is the Kalima project, which has translated around a thousand books from 13 languages. Thirty-five of those were from India, and these were translated into Arabic from English.
There have been great writers whose literary works in Hindi, their mother tongue, should be translated directly into Arabic and other languages without the use of an intermediate language. The problem is that this requires professional translators, particularly when translating into Arabic. There are many proficient Arabic translators for languages such as English, French, Spanish and German. Yet, good translators for Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Hindi are difficult to come by.
The numerous languages in India, the tendency of some Indian authors to present their innovative works only in English and the lack of professional translators have all hindered the availability of Indian books in the Arab world.
What India did with its cinema, it should do with its books too by making the translation of Indian books into foreign languages an ambitious project in cooperation with other nations.
India is a powerful country that has a rich history, and such a cultural project will consolidate its identity, civilisation, arts and culture among different cultures.
Saeed Hamdan is an Emirati writer based in Abu Dhabi.
