Book Translation
The fascinating outcome of a
.
Random Convergence of Events
I received an email from Peddi Sambasiva Rao. He was visiting the U.S. from the city of Chennai, India.
(An interesting foot note: In 1986, at the age of 24, I arrived in Chennai – then called Madras. I was with two friends, Al and Dianne Darce. We had purchased a Volkswagen van in Penang, Malaysia and had it converted to a camper. We sailed across the Indian Ocean to Madras with the plan to travel throughout India and on to Europe. Rao, as his friends call him, was also 24. The first convergence.)
Rao visited friends in Dallas, Texas. While there, Rao attended a book fair. The book, the human key, caught his attention. He scanned several pages and purchased it. (Another convergence.)
After reading, Rao came to a conclusion. He believed that it was imperative that the knowledge contained within the human key be shared with an audience beyond those who read English. Rao considered making a personal investment into translating the 58-thousand word book into the Indian language of Telugu.
Rao, I later discovered, is a lexicographer – a person who compiles dictionaries. He has written and edited 50 dictionaries in six languages. He also authored six biographies in the Telugu language and published two editions of Book on Quotations in English. Of specific note, the book was translated by a man whose life's work is the study the meaning of words.
(Telugu the 4th largest language in India. It is spoken by 82 million people. This is larger than the population of England and France; equal to the population of Germany. 82 million equates to approximately 1/4 of the population of the United States. Telugu is the 3rd most spoken Indian language in the United States. Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, speaks Telugu.)
It was after his decision to translate that Rao emailed me. This was followed by a phone conversation. From that call, it was decided that he should come to Houston, Texas so we could meet face-to-face. It was during this visit that Rao asked for permission to translate the.human.key.
Dr. Hari Padma Rani, expressed an interest in the book and joined the translation project with Rao. Dr. Hari Padma Rani, with 27 years of teaching and 25 years of research experience, is a Professor of English and Literature at Sri Padmavati Mahila University in the city of Tiurpati, India.
Dr. Hari Padma Rani told me that, more than anything in her years of lecturing and research, this experience had significantly changed her approach to teaching.
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Who could have conceived of or found a better collaboration of talent, experience and knowledge than in the combination of a prolific lexicographer/author and a seasoned professor/researcher of English?
Other Convergences
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Rao and I discovered that we were both products of classic 1943 vintage. Additionally, by sheer chance and incalculable odds, we have converged from different continents and cultures to collaborate on a common cause. This is a 10,000 mile connection; 40% of the distance around the earth.
Four years after Rao came to Houston,
Rao & Dr. Hari Padma Rani
completed the translation of
the human key.
The translation is now published open source on line; free. Consider Rao's decades-long professional writing and linguistic background. He as authored several books and his dictionaries. Then ask, who invests and dedicates 4 years of their life on such a challenging project and then gives it away?
Rao had come to the same conclusion that I had when I published the information on this website. We had independently concluded that we had the obligation to share this information with the greatest number of people in most expedient way. It has been re-titled "Prasna Enduku" ప్రశ్న ఎందుకు? (Why Question?) for Telugu readers. It directly uses a question to ask about questioning - right to the point. Click here for book translation.
After less than a month after the translated book was released it became a front-page story that continued for two pages in the "Eenadu" (Today) newspaper in India. It is the largest circulated newspaper in the Telugu language with a readership of 1.25 million.
Link to relevant websites:
