Jerry Pinto says, “all translations are ultimately a failure. But they are the noblest failures.” With this noble failure in mind, so Beckettian in spirit, we welcome you all to the gulmohur Translation Collective. We envision this as a voluntary, group-based project where we can work at the translation of texts from Indian languages. The Collective is open to all who can read or write in English and any of the Indian languages with confidence. The choice of text, the possibilities of translations, editing, and polishing the work could be decided by groups of 3-4 people based on your language interest and proficiency. You can become part of the group as a translator, editor, or reviewer. We are very grateful to our past contributors and translators and would be delighted to see them as part of this Collective. In this Collective, gulmohur will play the role of a facilitator and of a platform too. The translations will be published in the quarterly issues of the magazine. We are also in the process of working with regional publications to figure out the prospects of such a collective literary endeavour. We believe that there are literary works in many languages that have been neglected for reasons of commerce, censorship of content, and preferences of certain literary styles, or otherwise. We hope, through this collective attempt, to approach texts with a serious engagement as translators and to make them accessible in English. We had our first call for applications in April 2023. We're currently in the process of working with about 75 members in the Collective. We'll open up for participation again in October 2023.
'Live only, if you can, under the shade of your own gulmohur Or die, if you must, wandering in pursuit of that gulmohur' - Dushyant Kumar
Reviewer & Copy editor
Alina is a writer and editor, and is also the co-founder and host of the original podcast, Bitches Brew. She earned her MA in film-making from Prague Film School (2017) and is an alumna of the Dum Pukht Writing Workshop (2019). Alina’s current fiction and non-fiction, about female identity and its various schisms, found their form during her time living in several cities in India, the Gulf and Europe. Her short stories, essays and poetry have appeared in Livemint, Himal Southasian, The Swaddle, Out Of Print Magazine, Anti-Heroin Chic, Helter Skelter, Jamhoor Magazine and various other publications. Her debut novel—about a queer, Muslim protagonist in contemporary India—is being represented by A Suitable Agency.
Editor
Amarkant is a research scholar in Philosophy at IIT Bombay. He holds a degree in Physics and has taught Theatre at a high school. He has lived in Pune, Bangalore, Delhi and Chennai. He loves Hindustani classical music and cats. He published a weekly called The Company of a Reader with subscription based circulation during the lockdown.
Reviewer
A student of yoga and animal telepathic communication, bhavani is plant powered and Earth-inspired. Her fiction is part of the anthology A Case of Indian Marvels published by Aleph. Her short fiction "A Fragrance That Could Have Been" was the winner of the 2016 Out of Print-DNA Contest.
Reviewer & Copy editor
Deepshikha (she/they) is an amateur poet from a small town in India. Currently studying literature, her interests lie in exploring the various intersectionalities that frame our identities. They believe in the transformative power of literature to bring about the radical changes society needs. She is also mildly obsessed with manga, xianxia novels and AO3.
Editor
Jagjit is a point-blank poet and a compulsive photographer. Trained as an engineer ("which is not education, but a conspiracy by intelligent machines to enslave humans"), he later moved to Humanities, travelled across the length and breadth of India like a missionary, flirted with activism and labour politics for a couple of years, and like a true Kashmiri scorched his hands at all the rebellions. These days he's home: day-dreaming, evening-drinking, night-writing and morning-sleeping. When asked what went wrong, he replies "everything, except literature." An aspiring Proustian, he believes words will make sense of all that's been lost and shattered.
Editorial Assistant
Lakshmi is an art educator and lover of all things that sustain the world. Hailing from Chennai, she finds comfort in a hot cup of filter coffee and aesthetically pleasing spaces. With a passion for memories, she believes that every object holds a special moment, person, or feeling close to her heart. When she's not teaching, she can be found painting or cooking to find solace. She has an unwavering belief in love and hope in humanity. You can usually spot her draped in a gorgeous saree with mallipoo adorning her hair. (She wrote this bio using ChatGPT!)
Editor
Rajesh reads widely and has a special corner in his shelves for translations into English and Tamil. He dreams of researching the world of contemporary Tamil literature in the near future through his anthropological pursuits. His idea of good literature exists both in modern silicon beams on screens and in traditional tiny blots on cellulose. He has frequented small towns and villages where he is more comfortable discovering literary groups, writers and fellow readers who live away from the glare of urban existence. He is based out of Coimbatore.